No. 84 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 fighter squadron

Squadron (aviation)

A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...

 of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

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History

No. 84 Squadron was formed at RAAF Base Richmond

RAAF Base Richmond

RAAF Base Richmond is one of Australia's oldest and largest air force bases. It is located within the City of Hawkesbury in the north-western fringe of Sydney, New South Wales, between the towns of Windsor and Richmond. The base is home to the Royal Australian Air Force's transport headquarters,...

 on 5 February 1943 and was the first RAAF Squadron to be equipped with the Australian-designed Boomerang

CAC Boomerang

The CAC Boomerang was a World War II fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia between 1942 and 1945. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation produced Boomerangs under the production contract numbers CA-12, CA-13, CA-14 and CA-19, with aircraft supplied under each subsequent contract...

 fighter. In April 1943 No. 84 Squadron was deployed to Horn Island, Queensland in the Torres Strait

Torres Strait

The Torres Strait is a body of water which lies between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is approximately wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost continental extremity of the Australian state of Queensland...

 where it was responsible for the air defence of Horn Island and Merauke

Merauke

Merauke is a town considered to be one of the easternmost towns in Indonesia, located in Merauke Regency, Papua province, Indonesia. It is next to Maro River.In 2006 it had a population of 71,838....

 in New Guinea alongside No. 86 Squadron

No. 86 Squadron RAAF

No. 86 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force fighter squadron of World War II. The Squadron was formed in March 1943 and was disbanded in December 1945 after seeing action in the South West Pacific Theatre of the war.-History:...

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Due to the limited Japanese presence in this area, this duty was largely uneventful, though Boomerangs from No. 84 Squadron did attempt to intercept Japanese aircraft on a small number of occasions. These attempts were unsuccessful, however, at least partially due to the poor performance of the Boomerang. In light of the Boomerang's shortcomings as a fighter, No. 84 Squadron was issued with superior P-40 Kittyhawk aircraft in September 1943, making the Squadron both the first RAAF unit to be issued with the Boomerang and the first to replace its Boomerangs with other fighter aircraft. After transitioning to the Kittyhawk, No. 84 Squadron performed ground attack missions in New Guinea

New Guinea

New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...

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In May 1944, No. 84 Squadron returned to mainland Australia and was briefly reduced to cadre status. The Squadron returned to operational status in June and provided training support for Army units in Northern Queensland. No. 84 Squadron was re-equipped with P-51D Mustang

P-51 Mustang

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...

 aircraft in May 1945, though the war ended before the Squadron had converted to these new aircraft. No 84 Squadron was disbanded at RAAF Base Townsville

RAAF Base Townsville

RAAF Base Townsville is, along with RAAF Base Tindal and RAAF Base Darwin, one of northern Australia's primary defence installations. It is also Headquarters for No...

 on 29 January 1946.

Aircraft operated

• CAC Boomerang
  CAC Boomerang
  The CAC Boomerang was a World War II fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia between 1942 and 1945. The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation produced Boomerangs under the production contract numbers CA-12, CA-13, CA-14 and CA-19, with aircraft supplied under each subsequent contract...
  
   (April 1943 – September 1943)
• P-40 Kittyhawk (September 1943 – May 1944)
• P-51D Mustang (May 1945 – January 1946)