Sarah Luke
WHILE plenty of local residents are aware of RAAF Base, East Sale’s, presence on the outskirts of town, not many would be aware it is home to a military unit that played a critical part in a turning point for Australia during World War 2.
And during a special military parade on Tuesday, that unit was awarded a Standard, or the ‘Queen’s colours’, by Governor-General of Australia, David Hurley.
The Standard, a symbol of the Sovereign’s trust in the unit, was awarded to No 30 Squadron to recognise more than 25 years of combat support service in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Already cancelled twice because of the pandemic, the parade was forced to readjust to an inside format with fewer people and no flyovers, as the base’s weather station recorded more than 30mm of rainfall on Tuesday.
But even raining on the parade could not diminish the sense of pride and pageantry present in the RAAF base’s stadium.
The ‘consecration parade’ involved an inspection by the Queen’s representative, the Governor-General, before the Standard was unfurled, blessed by three base chaplains and presented to the squadron for the ‘Trooping of the Colour’ – a ceremony performed by Commonwealth regiments where the Colour is marched past the parade.
Addressing the crowd, the Governor-General spoke of how much the world had changed in 12 months, and reflected on his arrival at East Sale a year earlier on his way to visit Mallacoota’s scorched residents after a horror summer of bushfires.
Governor-General Hurley reminded the squadron’s officers their dedication to service, and honouring those who served before them, remained a constant in unusual times.
“This Colour is given in trust by Her Majesty,” he said.
“Serve her and her people well.”
Current Commanding Officer of No 30 Squadron, Wing Commander Neil Foate, described the parade as a “very important occasion” for the ‘City of Sale’ Squadron.
“These days, the colours are used for ceremonial events, and have their traditions harking back to medieval times and beyond, when the colours were used as a rally point for troops in the field,” he said.
“No 30 Squadron has a proud history dating back to World War 2, with 11 battle honours on our Squadron Standard.”
Several Australian Defence Force dignitaries were at Tuesday’s parade, including the Chief of Defence Intelligence Lieutenant General Gavan Reynolds and the Deputy Chief of Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Stephen Meredith, but one VIP guest was celebrating two important milestones – the other being his 101st birthday.
World War 2 veteran Bruce Robertson is the last living No 30 Squadron veteran who was present during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea in 1943.
“I just think it’s wonderful to think I’m sitting in a special chair over there – I’m just a No 30 Squadron fellow,” he laughed.
“The ‘Queen’s Colours’ is what we always called it. Trooping the Colour is carried on in Britain with the Queen, and I think it’s going to be a wonderful occasion.”
Mr Robertson recalled an incident following the squadron’s formation in Richmond, New South Wales, in March 1942.
The squadron had no aeroplanes, awaiting their assembly at Mascot in Sydney, so he was working as a wireless operator in the Richmond signals office.
“Sitting there one night at 2am, turning a dial and listening in case an aircraft came up in trouble, we’d know where and when and what to do,” he said, describing when he picked up an odd transmission.
“But I couldn’t write it down in Morse code, it didn’t make our letters, so it hit me like a tonne of bricks – ‘it’s probably the Japanese!’.
“And sure enough, it was. Everyone came running. “We picked up where the signal came from – a mother sub at Sydney heads that had dropped off two midgets [submarines].
“There was a great to-do. We had two bombers bombed up on standby – they went looking but couldn’t find it, probably submerged and got away.
“When we finally got our aeroplanes, I flew in a Beaufighter – the most magnificent aeroplane and engine – from Richmond, not as high as the roof of this stadium, and flew down round every bend of the Hawkesbury [River].
“Around the bends, low in the gum trees, out into Broken Bay, over Triangle Island and Barrenjoey Lighthouse, and we fired some shots into the sea, dropped a green marker, and flew back again.
“Last year, the air force saw fit to take me on that same journey in a Hercules.”
Today, No 30 Squadron provides air base operational support to lodger and deployed units at the local base, but its motto of ‘Strike Swiftly’ was earned during its roots as a long-range fighter aircraft unit in the 1940s.
When No 30 Squadron was deployed to New Guinea, it became the first RAAF Beaufighter squadron to see action in the Pacific Theatre.
“[The squadron] excelled itself, especially in the Battle of Bismarck Sea, which according to the air force historians is one of the most historic battles ever fought of all time,” Mr Roberston said.
The Beaufighter, with its heavy cannon and machine gun armament, was particularly effective against ships and troop barges, flying at mastheight and providing suppressive fire.
The Japanese, under the mistaken impression that they were under torpedo attack, made a fatal tactical error and turned their ships towards the Beaufighters, leaving them exposed to attack by American and Australian bombers.
Eight Japanese troop-laden transports and four destroyers were sunk in this battle, compared to five Allied aircraft, including one Beaufighter.
Mr Robertson described No 30 Squadron as the “strike force” for the battle, which disabled 12 Japanese ships out of 16, and left the enemy as “sitting ducks” for the American bombers to do the rest.
“It was a turning point as far as Australia was concerned; if the Japanese forces had landed, we had no way to stop them – they had too many men,” he said.
“But here we are, we survived, and I was proud to be part of No 30 Squadron – a great bunch of fellows.”
The squadron was in continuous action for the remainder of the war, attacking enemy airfields, shipping, logistics hubs and top concentrations in support of Australian advances on the Kokoda Track, Owen Stanley Ranges, Lae and Buna.
The squadron disbanded at the conclusion of hostilities in 1946. It re-formed and disbanded a number of times all over Australia, before its current re-formation at East Sale in July 2010, under command of Wing Commander Sharyn Bolitho.
No 30 Squadron’s Standard is now in transit for to take part in the Queen’s Colour Presentation Parade in Canberra next Wednesday, as part of the RAAF’s centenary celebrations.
