Australia’s War Diary

July 3 – Borneo. 77 Squadron Kittyhawks fly their first operation from Labuan, bombing and strafing Keningau. Kittyhawks from 82 and 77 Squadrons and ten Spitfires from 457 bomb and strafe Sapong.

July 4 – Australia. 92 Squadron’s first Beaufighter, A8-245, arrives. The unit had been formed at Kingaroy, Queensland, on May 25 under the command of S/Ldr Foot. Europe. In its first Victory formation flypast, 464 Squadron Mosquitoes are among over 140 aircraft participating in a show over Hamburg. A display over Brussels involving 36 Mosquitoes and 240 single engined types will follow on the 6th. Other 464 Squadron highlights for July include escorting Churchill’s Skymaster to Bordeaux on the 13th and on July 31 a flight to Berlin by eight Mosquitoes to escort the Big Three Conference’s British Delegation on their return flight.

July 5 – Borneo. A third RAAF Liberator is shot down during an observation flight, this time near Sepinggang airfield. A72-196 with S/Ldr J Redman & crew, plus another Army officer, is hit in its No.3 engine and wing fuel tank while only 60m off the ground. It explodes and falls into enemy territory.

July 6 – Borneo. On 4th, 5th and 6th, Kittyhawks, Spitfires, Wirraways and Austers from 81 Wing fly 230 sorties carrying out intensive bombing and strafing supporting the 9th Division. S/Ldr Jones of 76 Squadron crashlands. He escapes by dinghy down a small fast running stream, through a surrounding swamp and eventually into the main river to a bay. Next day, he manages to signal two aircraft with mirror flashes and is rescued by a Catalina.

July 7 – Pacific. Mosquito A52-521 of 87 Squadron at Morotai is the sole RAAF fighter bomber example of the type in the SWPA. The decision is made to put it to good use. Operating under the auspices of 1st TAF, and flown by F/O Dean Barrett, it begins participating in daylight strafing attacks against targets of opportunity; on the first two operations with Spitfires from 79 Squadron. Borneo. Three Kittyhawk missions set out from Tarakan but abort because of poor weather. P/O M Gilbert of 75 Squadron bales out when his aircraft spins out of control. He is seen to parachute from his aircraft and land safely but he will die later while a POW.

July 8 – Borneo. A brigade of Australian troops operating near Miri is ambushed. At 4pm they break out supported by six Beaufighters of 31 Squadron from Tarakan led by S/Ldr J Black & P/O Davis in A8-198. Guided by radio and coloured smoke signals, the Beaufighters drop twelve 227kg bombs and then strafe, apparently with considerable success. A message of thanks is later received from the Army.

July 10 – Borneo. Four Spitfires and eight Kittyhawks bomb and strafe Tawao in cooperation with American PT boats. They destroy two bridges and several huts. F/Lt N Cullen of 452 (Spitfire) Squadron is last seen recovering from dive bombing. He fails to return.

July 11 – Borneo. When dive-bombing Tawao, S/Ldr K Barclay of 452 Squadron has his Spitfire hit by AA fire. He parachutes into the sea and is rescued by a launch.

July 13 – Borneo. Eight Kittyhawks of 76 Squadron attack the Riam road. Four others bomb and strafe the Tengoa River area. W/O W George fails to return. Searches for his crashed aircraft continue until the 19th, when a report is received from guerrillas that he had died of injuries.

July 14 – Borneo. Four Kittyhawks from 80 Squadron carry out an armed reconnaissance of Redeb. This unit had moved to Tarakan from Morotai on the 13th.

July 15 – Borneo. By July 13, a 900m (3000ft) runway has been prepared at Sepinggang. A USN Catalina leads in 452 Squadron, led by S/Ldr Barclay. Planning for the Balikpapan operation had called for the Spitfires to be at Sepinggang by July 7 and to remain there until relieved by 54 Squadron but the airstrip had not been ready. 452’s first sorties from Sepinggang are to strafe entrenched Japanese army patrols. 77 squadron suffers its first casualty since operating from Labuan. While strafing at Ravau, Kittyhawk A29-827 crashes after hitting treetops and bursts into flames. F/Lt H Cooper is killed.

July 16 – USA. The Manhattan Project. On the Alamogordo desert bombing range, 300km from Los Alamos, New Mexico, 250 scientists and observers witness the first atomic bomb test. Suddenly, without any sound, the hills are bathed in brilliant light. After the glare comes a massive blast wave, then thunder. The atomic age has arrived.

July 17 – Burma. After the capture of Rangoon, the USAAF had withdrawn from operations in Burma. Its remaining task has been to clean out large Japanese concentrations biding their time in the Pegu Yomas, awaiting an opportunity to escape across the Sittang River into Siam. Throughout June and July, they have been heavily attacked by air strikes and ground forces in the foothills. When the break out begins, Spitfires maintain a cab rank patrol. 6270 are killed and 740 captured from a total enemy force of over 18,000. Meanwhile, with the end of fighting in Europe, the Australian Government has recalled all Australians serving with the RAF, including RAAF aircrew serving in SE Asia. Irrespective of their tour positions, they are replaced by RAF personnel as soon as possible. On repatriation, according to the amount of operational service remaining, the Australians are discharged or posted for service in the SW Pacific. They are withdrawn in the following order: (1) fighter pilots; (2) heavy bomber crews; (3) crews of transport aircraft. There is therefore a rapid decrease in the number of Australian Spitfire and Thunderbolt pilots left in RAF squadrons supporting the army in Burma. F/O B Bohane, a Spitfire pilot of 607 Squadron, who has taken part in these bloody mopping-up operations, is killed in a jeep accident at Mingaladon. He had completed the final operation of his second tour with 607 just the day before.

July 17/August 2 – Germany. The major Allies confer at Potsdam to decide on achieving the rapid defeat of Japan.

July 18 – Britain. 453 Squadron receives its first Spitfire XIVs, all except one will be FR.XIV fighter reconnaissance variants. Both 543 and 451 Squadrons are preparing to move to Germany as part of the occupation force. While ferrying a new machine on the 20th, F/Sgt D Trevoragh suffers engine trouble and bales out.

July 19 – Borneo. From Tarakan, Eight Kittyhawks from 75 Squadron, eight from 80 Squadron and fifteen Spitfires from 452 Squadron support ground forces in the Balikpapan area. The Spitfires sweep the waterways of upper Balikpapan Bay burning or sinking 11 barges. F/Lt A Blumer explodes a barge carrying 15-20 Japanese singeing his arm and scorching the paint on his airscrew. The Kittyhawks also bomb a barracks area.

July 22 – Borneo. Four Spitfires from 452 Squadron at Balikpapan attack motor transport, destroying four trucks and damaging seven others.

July 23 – Borneo. It is anticipated that the Japanese can only mount light air raids on Balikpapan from Java or Singapore, probably by staging through the Bandjermasin airfields in south Borneo. Twelve Kittyhawks (four each from 75, 78 and 80 Squadrons) attack the Bandjermasin fields to eliminate them as staging bases. They shoot up hangars, huts and the control tower at Ulin and report the Tabanio airstrips are unserviceable. A Mosquito and two Beaufighters of No. 86 (Attack) Wing arrive at Labuan from Morotai. The Mosquito Squadron (No. 1 commanded by W/Cdr Little) has been trained in low level intruder work. The other squadron, No. 93 (Beaufighter) commanded by S/Ldr Gulliver, will not leave Kingaroy, Queensland, until the 31st. Pacific. F/Lt Kearney & P/O Hardwick in Mosquito A52-9 fly 87 Squadron’s longest successful photographic mission, to Semarang, east Java – 3700km in nine hours.

July 24 – Borneo. Eight Kittyhawks, led by S/Ldr Sudlow again bomb Ulin airfield and then strafe the Ulin-Bandjermasin road, hitting a steam roller. Six Liberators of 82 Wing from Morotai bomb Limbung airfield across Macassar Strait from Bandjermasin.

July 24/25 – Borneo. Japanese aircraft drop 25 bombs on Balikpapan in the biggest air attack made by the enemy since the beginning of the Borneo campaign. Shrapnel damages an RAAF Catalina. Two Spitfires of 452 Squadron try to intercept. F/Lt J King almost collides with one enemy plane and, shortly afterwards, he spots the twin exhausts of another which he shoots down in flames.

July 25 – Pacific. Mosquito A52-601 (F/Lt Bell & W/O Strange) of 87 Squadron flies a low level reconnaissance using an F24 oblique camera in the aircraft’s nose for the first time. Japanese radar stations on the south coast of Timor are successfully photographed with the new installation.

July 26 – Borneo. Two Beaufighters of 93 Squadron of five which had been despatched to Labuan ahead of the main body, carry out the unit’s first strike. F/O H Williams & P/O A Anderson in A8-86 and F/O K Shirley & F/Sgt G Douglas in A8-123 accompany a Mosquito of 1 Squadron on an armed reconnaissance to strafe targets of opportunity in the Rajang, Mukah and Bintulu areas. They fire eight rockets each into the Residency building at Sibu, where it is suspected local Japanese commanders are in conference followed by a strafing run over the general administrative area at Bintulu.

July 27 – Pacific. Liberator operations continue from Morotai. Propaganda leaflets are dropped on Timor, Flores and the nearby island of Lomblen. A formation strike is made against Limbung airfield in the southern Celebes. F/Lt K Hanson’s aircraft, A72-92, is lost over the northern tip of the Celebes. The Liberator is hit by flak, bursts into flames in the air, and explodes on crashing into a hillside. Three men jump from the plane, one without his parachute. The other two are reportedly captured by the Japanese, interrogated and executed.

July 30 – Pacific. Four Spitfires from 79 Squadron carry out a sweep over Halmahera and destroy a Japanese bomber on Lolobata airfield.

July 31 – Europe. Repatriation to Australia during July 1945 amounts to only 421 men from the UK and 18 from the Middle East. Priority is given to former POWs provided they are well enough to travel. Pacific. In a follow up raid, 79 Squadron Spitfires sweep over Halmahera and destroy another Japanese bomber on Lolobata airfield. F/O J Faviell & crew of 21 Squadron in Liberator A72-66 disappear without trace in the area of the Halmaheras. This brings 82 Wing’s losses for July to five Liberators – 48 aircrew plus several army personnel. During July, 30 Squadron Beaufighters fly only 26 sorties, mainly escorting 457 Squadron Spitfires. There have also been searches for rafts, convoy cover operations and the sole armed reconnaissance is flown today when S/Ldr G Wentworth & F/O R Miller in A8-201 strafe five barges at Kuching. A detachment of Beaufighters from 31 Squadron, which has moved to Labuan to operate under 86 Wing, attacks and damages a barge on the Sarawak River, east of Kuching. The Squadron has flown only 30 operational sorties this month, not enough in which for all aircrew to participate. In contrast, Kittyhawks and Spitfires of the 1st TAF have flown no fewer than 877 sorties from Tarakan and Sepinggang. In North Borneo they conduct a heavy series of attacks against Sandakan, practically wiping this town out. By the end of July every objective of the Borneo campaign has been achieved – Brunei Bay, Balikpapan, the important airfields, rich oilfields and vital refineries which had been lost in 1942, are all recaptured. The Japanese have been defeated and driven into the hills.