No. 43 Squadron was formed at
Bowen in
Queensland on 1 May 1943, initially under the command of
Flight Lieutenant I.L. Addison. It subsequently moved to
Karumba in August. The squadron's first commanding officer was
Squadron Leader Charles Thompson, who took over soon after. Equipped with
Catalina aircraft, the squadron flew its first operational patrols on 8 September, with four aircraft conducting strikes against targets in
Ambon. The squadron was initially allocated a general reconnaissance role; however, like all the RAAF's Catalina units the squadron also operated in mine-laying, bombing and supply-dropping roles. As well as flying convoy protection and anti-submarine patrols along the Australian east coast the squadron conducted offensive operations against Japanese shipping in the
Solomon Islands and the eastern islands of the
Netherlands East Indies, with a detachment maintained at
Bowen during this time. After moving to
Darwin in the
Northern Territory in April 1944 the squadron became part of
No. 76 Wing RAAF along with
Nos. 20 and
42 Squadrons. On 10 May 1944, Squadron Leader L.M. Hurt took over as commanding officer, but was soon replaced by Squadron Leader P.J. McMahon in July. After this, they operated almost exclusively in the mine laying role. Operating alongside the other Catalina squadrons, No. 43 Squadron conducted mine laying operations throughout South East Asia, venturing as far as the Philippines, Hong Kong and the Chinese coast. Aircraft from the squadron flew up to 25 hours on such missions, often staging through airfields as far away as
Morotai. The squadron also undertook
air-sea rescue operations, supporting long-range Allied bombing missions in the Netherlands East Indies from early 1944. It also undertook harassing operations against Japanese installations and conducted anti-shipping missions. A number of aircraft were lost during these and other operations. One of its most significant actions came on the night of 5/6 April 1945, when three No. 43 Squadron Catalinas shadowed the
Japanese cruiser Isuzu, which was subsequently sunk by Allied bombers and submarines. Hurt was replaced as commanding officer by Squadron Leader R.M. Seymour on 19 May 1945. Following the end of the war No. 43 Squadron performed routine patrol and transport flights until moving to
RAAF Base Rathmines in November 1945. On 31 January 1946, Squadron Leader A.R. Emslie was appointed commanding officer. No. 43 Squadron was disbanded at
Rathmines on 11 March 1946. ==References==