RAAF No. 54 Squadron

Motto: -

No. 54 Squadron RAF
Group	Squadron	Base	County	Arrived	Comments
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	3/9/1939	Spitfire I.
11	54	Rochford	Essex	28/10/39
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	3/11/1939
11	54	Rochford	Essex	17/11/39
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	2/12/1939
11	54	Rochford	Essex	16/12/39
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	29/12/39
11	54	Rochford	Essex	16/01/40
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	14/02/40
11	54	Rochford	Essex	23/03/40
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	20/04/40
13	54	Catterick	Yorkshire	28/05/40
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	4/6/1940
11	54	Rochford	Essex	25/06/40
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	24/07/40
13	54	Catterick	Yorkshire	28/07/40
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	8/8/1940
13	54	Catterick	Yorkshire	3/9/1940	Spitfire IIa, 02/41.
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	23/02/41
11	54	Rochford	Essex	31/03/41
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	20/05/41	Spitfire Va, 05/41.
11	54	Debden	Essex	11/6/1941
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	13/06/41	Spitfire Vb, 07/41.
11	54	Martlesham Heath	Suffolk	4/8/1941
11	54	Hornchurch	Essex	25/08/41
13	54	Castletown	Caithness	17/11/41	Spitfire IIb, 11/41.
12	54	Wellingore	Lincolnshire	2/6/1942	To Australia 19/06/42.
Australia			Arrived	From
RAAF	54	Ascot Vale	13.08.42	24.08.42	Show Ground Building EPSOM Rd. Melbourne
RAAF	54	Richmond	24.08.42	13.01.43	Airfield Temp Huts Percival St Windsor
RAAF	54	Sydney	13.01.43	25.01.43	Sydney
RAAF	54	Parap	25.01.43	09.05.44	Airfield Temp Huts 2 Miles St. Darwin
RAAF	54	Potshot	09.05.44	19.05.44	Airfield Tents  Exmouth Gulf
RAAF	54	Livingstone	19.05.44	23.10.44	Airfield Huts.Tent 34 Miles Sth. Darwin
RAAF	54	Parap	23.10.44	30.10.45	Airfield Temp Huts 2 Miles Sth. Darwin
RAAF	54	Melbourne	30.10.44	31.10.45	Unit was disbanded

Japanese Dinah shot down by RAAF 54 Squadron
Truscott Airfield, July 1944

Pilot Lt. Kiyoshi Izuka (KIA)
Observer Lt. Hisao Itoh (KIA)
Shot Down July 20, 1944

Aircraft History

This aircraft was the last Japanese plane shot down over the Australian mainland. Also, the only Japanese aircraft shot down over Western Australia.

Mission History

Took off from Koepang at 0730 hours. Picked up by RAAF No 326 Radar Station at Cape Leveque and logged at 0835 hours. FLTLTs Gossland and Meakin and FSGT Knapp of RAAF 54 Squadron were placed on alert and placed on standby to scramble at 0845 hours. The three Spitfires intercepted the Dinah at 27,000' over Truscott. Gossland made the first attack, striking the engines, port wing and fuselage. The "Dinah" dove steeply towards the water and Meakin followed, his rounds taking the starboard wing off the aircraft. The wreckage was discovered by an American at low tide the following day, approximately 200 yards off shore.

Wreckage

Remains of the aircraft were loaded on to a barge on July 27 and transported to West Bay. No remains were found in the wreck, the only remains were apparently several pieces of flesh - it is believed these remains were buried in a quiet spot on the shore near where the aircraft crashed.

Re-Discovery of Wreckage

Contemporary reports were misleading and even the combat report made available after 30 years was misleading. The original report about the Ki-46 shoot down stated that the plane went down at Drysdale.

The plane actually crashed 20 miles away from where they reckoned it went down. The wreckage was found by accident in 1979 by John Hardie who thought it was the wreckage of a P-38 Lightning. When Stan Gajda saw his photos, he identified it as a Japanese plane, and traveled there during July 1980.

Stan Gajda adds:

"I brought back a 13ft x 4ft piece of the port wing which included the rear engine fairing and the complete flap which was half extended. Inside in Kanji was the serial number and I presently can't find any record of it and neither does my article mention it. This section also had two .303 bullet holes in it showing the Spitfire was striking from a low rear position. There was a lot of good paint remaining which was an off-white color. All skin overlaps and joints were filled with a material like our modern plastic body filler. The inside of the flap was a pale yellow color. This piece is still held by the WA Aviation Heritage Museum"

Presentation to Japanese Relatives

Stan Gajda sent some small pieces of the plane to the relatives of the crew in Japan who were extremely grateful, they had not known what had happened to it.

Web Reference:

Pacific Wrecks - http://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/ki-46/truscott.html