No. 12 Squadron No. 12 Squadron was the first Vengeance-equipped RAAF unit to see combat. After converting to the dive bomber, the squadron was used on routine patrol and search-and-rescue tasks off the coast of the
Northern Territory. On 18 June 1943, twelve Vengeances from the squadron, escorted by six
No. 31 Squadron Bristol Beaufighters, were dispatched to attack two villages on
Selaru island in the occupied
Netherlands East Indies that were believed to be housing workers engaged in constructing an airfield. This operation was successful, and all the dive bombers returned to base. In July 1943 the squadron began moving from Darwin to
Merauke in
Netherlands New Guinea, where it was to operate as part of
No. 72 Wing. A party of 270 ground crew arrived at Merauke early that month, but little of the infrastructure needed to support the unit's aircraft was ready. As a result, No. 12 Squadron's Vengeances and air crew were stationed at
Cooktown, Queensland, from where they conducted anti-submarine patrols and escorted shipping. The aircraft were redeployed to Merauke over the course of September, and began regular patrol duties on the 28th of the month. No. 12 Squadron's only combat during this deployment occurred on 9 October 1943, when a Vengeance exchanged machine-gun fire with a Japanese
Aichi E13A reconnaissance aircraft. The Vengeances proved unsuited to the maritime patrol tasks they were assigned while at Cooktown and Merauke.
Initial New Guinea operations The commander of the Allied Air Forces in the
South West Pacific, Lieutenant General
George Kenney, requested in late August 1943 that the RAAF dispatch a squadron of dive bombers to New Guinea for use against pinpoint targets in the
Huon Gulf area. No. 24 Squadron was selected for this role, and its 18 Vengeances were rushed to
Tsili Tsili Airfield before crew training was complete. Little of the squadron's supporting equipment was dispatched as it was intended that the deployment would be temporary. After arriving at Tsili Tsili on 2 September, the squadron flew its first combat mission on the 7th of the month. This operation was frustrated by bad weather, and the aircraft almost ran out of fuel on their return flight due to difficulties in locating their airfield. An attack the next day was successful. On 18 September, No. 24 Squadron dispatched 14 aircraft as part of an attack on Japanese positions near
Finschhafen in preparation for a landing by Australian Army forces. The squadron destroyed a Japanese radio station on the
Tami Islands near Finschhafen area on 21 September. It provided support for Australian Army units involved in the
Huon Peninsula campaign during late September and October. This included playing a significant role in halting a major Japanese counter-attack during early to mid October. The lack of ground equipment complicated No. 24 Squadron's operations, especially as it took a long time for this material to arrive once a decision to retain the unit in New Guinea had been made. As a result of equipment shortages and inadequate aircrew training, the squadron was not fully ready for combat until December; this greatly frustrated Kenney's deputy, Brigadier General
Ennis Whitehead, who commented that "we have never gotten a mission out of that unit". Some of the training deficiencies were due to the RAAF's practice of stationing operational training units in southern Australia, with the result that aircrew were unfamiliar with flying in tropical conditions. During December, the squadron operated against Japanese positions on
New Britain and
New Ireland ahead of the American landings in western New Britain.
Mobile strike force In September 1943, Kenney asked the RAAF to provide a mobile strike force for offensive operations in New Guinea. The RAAF decided that the force should comprise a
wing equipped with Vengeance aircraft and another wing of fighters to escort the dive bombers.
No. 77 Wing was formed as the dive bomber unit in what was designated
No. 10 (Operational) Group, and comprised Nos. 21, 23 and 24 Squadrons as well as service and medical units. The other major element of the group was
No. 78 Wing, which included three fighter squadrons. It was originally intended for No. 10 Group to begin moving to New Guinea on 1 December 1943, but problems with planning the deployment and transport shortfalls meant that most of its elements did not depart Australia until mid-January 1944. No. 24 Squadron arrived at No. 77 Wing's intended base at
Nadzab in New Guinea on 16 January 1944. No. 23 Squadron arrived at Nadzab on 9 February and No. 21 Squadron on the 18th of that month. No. 77 Wing's initial combat missions were conducted by No. 24 Squadron. From 17 to 23 January the unit supported Australian Army units involved in the
Battle of Shaggy Ridge by conducting highly accurate dive-bombing strikes on Japanese positions. These attacks compensated for the Army units' lack of artillery, and assisted them to capture well-protected Japanese positions. The Vengeances were typically escorted by
Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk fighters from No. 78 Wing. No. 24 Squadron also attacked buildings on Gragat Island near
Madang on 24 January as part of a raid involving two squadrons of
North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. On 29 February the squadron bombed Japanese positions near the village of
Orgoruna and strafed the settlement in support of Army units; during this operation two Vengeances experienced engine problems, one being destroyed in a crash landing. Two days later, No. 24 Squadron attacked and destroyed a bridge defended by
anti-aircraft guns at the village of
Bogadjim. Only three of the five aircraft dispatched were able to locate the target, and two were damaged by fragments from the bombs they dropped. Historian Mark Johnston has judged this operation to have been "perhaps the Vultees' most notable achievement" in Australian service. No. 24 Squadron was withdrawn from combat for two weeks on 31 January to undertake what official historian
George Odgers described as "much-needed training exercises" for recently arrived replacement aircrew. The wing's operations expanded during February 1944. No. 23 Squadron entered combat on 11 February when six of its aircraft, operating in conjunction with six from No. 24 Squadron, bombed three villages south of
Saidor in support of
United States Army forces. The next day twelve aircraft from No. 23 Squadron and six from No. 24 Squadron made unsuccessful attacks against a road near Bogadjim after bad weather forced the cancellation of a close air support mission. For the remainder of the month, No. 78 Wing's main tasks were to attack the Japanese Army's
20th Division as it retreated from Allied forces and to strike Japanese airfields at
Alexishafen and Madang. On 22 February, aircraft from all three of the wing's squadrons attacked camouflaged Japanese barge harbours near Madang; this was No. 21 Squadron's first combat operation. The next day ten Vengeances bombed Saidor. On 24 February, 23 Vengeances from Nos. 21 and 23 Squadrons struck Japanese anti-aircraft gun positions at
Hansa Bay. Two aircraft from No. 23 Squadron were shot down with the loss of their crews. On 26, 27 and 28 February all three of the wing's squadrons attacked the airfields at Madang and Alexishafen to prevent Japanese forces from using them to attack the Allied forces which had
landed on the Admiralty Islands. The first and second of these operations involved twelve aircraft from each squadron. A total of 33 Vengeances were dispatched for the operation on 28 February, when they and No. 78 Wing combined to form an attack force of 62 aircraft. Despite the size of these operations, No. 77 Wing's aircrew judged that the airfields were not being used by the Japanese as damage from earlier attacks went unrepaired. No. 77 Wing conducted further combat operations during early March. On the second of the month, 24 Vengeances attacked Japanese positions on
Karkar Island, encountering only light anti-aircraft gunfire. Over the next two days the wing targeted Japanese positions on the
Rai coast in preparation for a US Army landing scheduled for 5 March. On 3 March, Nos. 23 and 24 Squadrons attacked
Mindiri village and a nearby camp site. Aircraft from all three of the wing's squadrons attacked a camp at
Pommern Bay on two occasions the next day. One Vengeance was damaged in a forced landing. The US Army unit's landing at Mindiri on 5 March did not encounter any opposition. On 8 March a force of 36 Vengeances from all three of No. 77 Wing's squadrons was dispatched to strike Rempi village near Alexishafen. Due to bad weather, No. 23 Squadron aborted its attack, and bombed a target to the north of the village. The other two squadrons successfully approached Rempi by making shallow dives through the clouds, and bombed the target area. Four Vengeances were lightly damaged by anti-aircraft fire. ==Withdrawal from combat==