1939–1945 At the outbreak of
World War II in September 1939, the
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) took over the Royal Queensland Aero Club facilities at
Archerfield Airport. Club aircraft were impressed into service and flying instructors were commissioned into the RAAF.
No. 2 Elementary Flying Training School RAAF was transferred to Archerfield to look after flight training.
No. 23 Squadron RAAF, now officially called "City of Brisbane Squadron", received the Australian built
CAC Wirraway to defend the city against air attack. Up to 1941, Archerfield was being upgraded as a military base for the RAAF pending completion of
RAAF Base Amberley. In 1940 a new administration block with control tower on top was built and the RAAF built hangars and huts along the southern boundary of the field. The attack on the US base in
Pearl Harbor coincided with another on US bases in the
Philippines. The loss of these bases made Australia, especially the north of the country, a valuable staging area for the war against the Japanese. In the following months, military aircraft of several countries competed for space with the civil airliners still operating. On 1 July 1942, the RAAF transferred control of the airfield to the
United States Army Air Forces. Visitors to the station included
General Douglas MacArthur and a young
Gough Whitlam, then a navigator on a
Lockheed Ventura. In March 1945, the
Royal Navy established its
Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard 1 (TAMY 1) at Archerfield. The Royal Navy's facilities were officially commissioned on 27 March as , the Royal Naval Aircraft Maintenance Yard at Archerfield. a plaque commemorating it and the British personnel who served in the Pacific theatre can be viewed in the old administration building along with plaques from the
RAAF and the US 5th Air Force. On 31 March 1946, HMS
Nabsford and the Royal Navy Air Maintenance Yard at Archerfield were
decommissioned.
1945–1956 No. 23 Squadron RAAF was reformed at Archerfield in 1947 flying the
CA-17 Mustang 20.
No. 1 Initial Flying Training School was based at Archerfield in 1951 until it was merged with
No. 1 Basic Flying School in 1955.
No. 23 Squadron RAAF re-equipped with the
De Havilland Vampire in 1955, but the grass fires started by the Vampires' jet exhausts on the grass runways necessitated relocating the squadron to
RAAF Base Amberley. The Station Headquarters was closed soon after. ==Units based at Archerfield==