No. 86 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 fighter squadron of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The Squadron was formed in March 1943 and was disbanded in December 1945 after seeing action in the South West Pacific Theatre of the war.

History

No. 86 Squadron was formed at Gawler, South Australia

Gawler, South Australia

Gawler is the first country town in the state of South Australia, and is named after the second Governor of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is located north of the centre of the state capital, Adelaide, and is close to the major wine producing district of the Barossa Valley...

 on 4 March 1943 and was equipped with P-40 Kittyhawk fighter aircraft. The squadron moved to Townsville, Queensland

Townsville, Queensland

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2006 census...

 in May where it completed its training. In July, No. 86 Squadron was deployed to Merauke

Merauke

Merauke is a town considered to be one of the easternmost towns in Indonesia, located in Merauke Regency, Papua province, Indonesia. It is next to Maro River.In 2006 it had a population of 71,838....

, Dutch New Guinea to protect this base against Japanese air attack. There was little Japanese activity by this stage of the war, however, and the squadron saw little combat. The squadron fought its only major aerial battle on 9 September when it intercepted a force of 32 Japanese aircraft, shooting down three. In addition to its air interception duties, No. 86 Squadron also flew occasional ground attack missions against Japanese positions.

No. 86 Squadron was replaced by No. 120 (NEI) Squadron

No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron RAAF

No. 120 Squadron was a joint Dutch and Australian squadron of World War II. The squadron was first formed in December 1943 as part of the Royal Australian Air Force , and saw combat in and around New Guinea during 1944 and 1945 equipped with P-40 Kittyhawk fighters. Following the war, No...

 on 25 April 1944 and returned to Australia. The squadron was reduced to cadre status in June 1944 with all aircraft and most of the pilots being transferred to other units. The squadron received a number of replacement Kittyhawks and conducted routine training until June 1945, when it began the process of converting to P-51D Mustang

P-51 Mustang

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...

 fighters. The squadron had not completed this conversion by the end of the war, however. No. 86 Squadron was disbanded on 20 December 1945.

Aircraft operated

• P-40 Kittyhawk (March 1943 – June 1945)
• P-51D Mustang
  P-51 Mustang
  The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
  
  (June – December 1945)