World War I from July to November 1918. The units listed are: No. 4 Squadron AFC,
No. 88 Squadron RAF,
No. 2 Squadron AFC, and
Nos. 92,
103,
46 and
54 Squadrons RAF.|alt= A chalked scoreboard for No. 80 Wing RAF claims by squadron. The claims are categorised as under columns headed "In Flames", "Crashed", "O.O.C." (Out of Control), "Driven Down" and "Balloons Destroyed". No. 4 Squadron was established as a unit of the
Australian Flying Corps (AFC) at
Point Cook, Victoria, on 16 October 1916. According to the unit war diary, Captain Andrew Lang took command of the squadron and its initial complement of one officer and 26 men on 25 October. Shortly after its formation the squadron departed for Britain, arriving at
Castle Bromwich for further training in March 1917. In addition, 33 enemy balloons were destroyed or driven down. Members of the unit included Captain
Harry Cobby, the AFC's leading ace of the war, credited with destroying 29 aircraft and observation balloons, and Captain
George Jones, who shot down seven aircraft and later served as the RAAF's
Chief of the Air Staff for ten years. Following the armistice, No. 4 Squadron remained in Europe and was based in
Cologne, Germany, as part of the
British Army of Occupation. It returned to Australia in March 1919 and was disbanded in
Melbourne in June.
World War II No. 4 Squadron was re-formed as a general
reconnaissance unit at
RAAF Station Richmond, New South Wales, on 3 May 1937, flying
Hawker Demons before taking delivery of its first
Avro Anson the following month. Re-numbered
No. 6 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron on 1 March 1939, No. 4 Squadron was re-formed again at Richmond on 17 June 1940, this time as an army co-operation unit. Originally equipped with Demons and
De Havilland Moths, it converted to
CAC Wirraways in September and relocated to
Canberra later that month. On 20 May 1942, No. 4 Squadron deployed to
Camden Airfield, where it flew
anti-submarine patrols as well as army co-operation training sorties until redeploying to Queensland and then in November to
New Guinea. On 31 January 1943, the squadron sent one of its flights to
Wau, where it participated in the
Battle of Wau. In May 1943, No. 4 Squadron was re-equipped with
CAC Boomerang fighter aircraft, It also operated six Piper Cubs as liaison aircraft during these campaigns. The squadron continued to support Australian, US Army and US Marine Corps units in New Guinea and
New Britain until March 1945 when it deployed to Morotai and then to the island of
Labuan to support Australian ground forces in the
Borneo campaign. It supported the 9th Division's
campaign in North Borneo and the 7th Division's
landing at Balikpapan. Casualties during the war amounted to 37 personnel killed.
Post-war years After the war, No. 4 Squadron returned to Australia on 14 November 1945 and was again based at Canberra. It re-equipped with late-model
P-40 Kittyhawks, having received a few of these aircraft while in Borneo, and this was followed by
CAC Mustangs and
Austers in early 1947. On 7 March 1948, No. 4 Squadron ceased to exist, having been re-numbered
No. 3 Squadron. No. 4 Squadron was re-formed on 3 July 2009 at
RAAF Base Williamtown to train
forward air controllers. The
Forward Air Control Development Unit (FACDU) of
No. 82 Wing, which operated Pilatus PC-9/As, was merged into the new unit, along with the Special Tactics Project. This continued the FAC presence at Williamtown that had been maintained by FACDU and
No. 4 Flight, which operated
Winjeels out of Williamtown from 1970 to 1989. No. 4 Squadron's Pilatus PC-9/As were replaced with four
Pilatus PC-21s in 2020. ==Aircraft operated==