No. 22 Squadron was formed on 20 April 1936 at
Richmond, New South Wales, as part of the Citizen Air Force (CAF). Equipped with
Hawker Demons and
de Havilland Gipsy Moths, two-thirds of its personnel were part-time CAF members and one third belonged to the Permanent Air Force (PAF). Its first
commanding officer was Squadron Leader
D. E. L. Wilson.
Allan Walters commanded the squadron in 1937–38, during which time it received a number of
Avro Ansons. It also provided training support for Army anti-aircraft units, towing targets for them to shoot at. The squadron was equipped with
A-20 Boston bombers in April 1942. These aircraft had originally been intended to equip Dutch forces in the
East Indies, but the advance of the Japanese through Java meant that the aircraft were sent to Australia instead. As a result, they arrived without the necessary spare parts, instructions and other support equipment. This caused considerable teething problems; however, even before the conversion process was over No. 22 Squadron was called upon to undertake patrols along the eastern seaboard following the
attack on Sydney Harbour in May and June 1942. Twice during June aircraft from the squadron attacked Japanese submarines, inflicting damage but failing to sink them. It deployed to
Port Moresby in
New Guinea in October 1942 where it flew in support of Australian Army operations against the Japanese around
Buna and Gona. Initial losses were high, partially due to malfunctioning ordnance, the premature explosion of which resulted in the loss of three aircraft in separate incidents in the space of two months. an air-sea battle which resulted in significant losses for the Japanese. A member of the squadron, Flight Lieutenant
Bill Newton, was posthumously awarded the
Victoria Cross (VC) – the Commonwealth's highest military decoration – for his actions while flying a Boston on two separate missions between 16 and 18 March 1943. In April 1943, the squadron moved to
Goodenough Island, remaining there until November when they moved to Kiriwina. Operations during this time initially consisted of anti-shipping patrols and attacks around
Cape Gloucester, before later being expanded to include photo reconnaissance missions and ground attack missions on targets throughout
New Britain; a number of losses were experienced during this time. In November 1944, the squadron moved once more, this time to
Morotai Island. Further low level attacks followed, during which the squadron suffered a number of losses before switching to close support operations in April as part of
Operation Oboe Six, the Australian landing on
Tarakan. The following month, the squadron was scheduled to move to Tarakan, however, due to space and facility suitability issues the squadron's personnel were split up at this time, with the aircraft and aircrew remaining on Morotai, while the ground crew were quartered on Tarakan. They continued to fly operations right up to the end of the war in August. The squadron is currently staffed by a mix of 280 Permanent and Reserve personnel. ==Battle honours==