No. 78 Wing RAAF
No. 78 Wing is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) operational training wing, headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It comprises Nos. 76 and 79 Squadrons, operating the BAE Hawk 127 lead-in fighter, and No. 278 Squadron, a technical training unit. No. 79 Squadron, located at RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia, is responsible for converting new pilots to fast jets, while No. 76 Squadron at Williamtown conducts introductory fighter courses; both units also fly support missions for the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Formed as a fighter wing in November 1943, No. 78 Wing comprised three flying units, Nos. 75, 78 and 80 Squadrons, operating P-40 Kittyhawks in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II. After the war, it re-equipped with P-51 Mustangs at Williamtown. During the early 1950s, the wing was based at Malta on garrison duties with the Royal Air Force, operating two squadrons of De Havilland Vampire jet fighters. Re-equipped with CAC Sabres, it deployed with Nos. 3 and 77 Squadrons to Malaya in 1958–59, flying sorties against communist insurgents in the final years of the Emergency. In the 1960s, it was tasked with providing regional air defence during the Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia, and supplied the equipment and personnel for the RAAF contingent operating from Ubon Air Base in Thailand. No. 78 Wing was disbanded in November 1967, and re-formed for its present role as an operational training wing in February 2000. History World War II No. 78 Wing was formed on 24 November 1943 at Townsville, Queensland, under the command of Wing Commander (later Group Captain) W.D. Brookes. Along with No. 77 Wing, it came under the control of No. 10 Operational Group, a mobile strike force supporting the Allied armies as they advanced in the South West Pacific theatre. No. 78 Wing's flying units were originally to have consisted of No. 80 Squadron, operating P-40 Kittyhawk fighters, and Nos. 452 and 457 Squadrons, operating Spitfires. The Spitfire squadrons could not be released from duty in the North-Western Area as planned, and Nos. 75 and 78 Squadrons took their place, making the formation an all-Kittyhawk force. No. 78 Wing flew combat air patrols and ground-attack missions during Operations Reckless and Persecution, the assault on Hollandia and Aitape, New Guinea, in April 1944. By the middle of the year, the wing's flying hours in New Guinea were consistently higher than those of its counterparts in the US Fifth Air Force. When No. 10 Operational Group was re-formed as the Australian First Tactical Air Force (No. 1 TAF) in October 1944, No. 78 Wing constituted its fighter contingent along with the recently arrived No. 81 Wing, which also operated Kittyhawks. The relegation of No. 1 TAF to areas of operations bypassed by the main Allied thrust towards the Philippines and Japan led to poor morale in late 1944 and early 1945. In April 1945, the newly appointed Officer Commanding No. 78 Wing, Group Captain Wilfred Arthur, helped bring about the