No. 10 Squadron RAAF

No. 10 Squadron RAAF
No. 10 Squadron's crest
Active	1939–45 1949–current
Country	Australia
Branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Role	Maritime patrol
Part of	No. 92 Wing
Base	RAAF Base Edinburgh
Motto(s)	"Strike First"
Engagements	World War II East Timor Iraq Afghanistan
Battle honours	Atlantic 1939–45, Biscay 1940–45, Mediterranean 1940–43, Biscay Ports 1940–45, English Channel and North Sea 1939–45, Bismarck, Normandy 1944
Commanders
Notable commanders	William Brill (1949–50)
Aircraft flown
Patrol	AP-3C Orion

No. 10 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) maritime patrol squadron based at RAAF Base Edinburgh, South Australia, as part of No. 92 Wing. The squadron was formed in 1939 and saw active service during the Second World War, conducting anti-submarine operations and patrols from bases in the United Kingdom until it disbanded in late 1945. It was re-formed in Australia in 1949 and since then has contributed to Australia's East Timor intervention, and has been deployed to the Middle East as part of the War on Terrorism and the 2003 Gulf War.

No. 10 Squadron was formed on 1 July 1939 at RAAF Base Point Cook, under the command of Wing Commander Leon Lachal. Later that month aircrew and ground staff from the squadron departed for Britain to be trained on the Short Sunderland aircraft which had been acquired to equip the squadron. While it was intended that the aircrew would fly these aircraft to Australia after completing their training, following the outbreak of war the Australian government offered to retain the squadron in Britain. As a result, No. 10 Squadron was both the first RAAF squadron and the first British Commonwealth squadron to see active service in the Second World War, when one of its aircraft made a flight to Tunisia on 10 October 1939. It was also the only RAAF squadron to see continuous active service throughout the war.

The squadron's major tasks during the war were escorting convoys, conducting anti-submarine patrols, and air-sea rescue. It sank its first U-boat on 1 July 1940. Operating mainly from bases in southern Britain such as RAF Mount Batten in Plymouth, the unit flew missions as far afield as Oban in Scotland, where a detachment was based between late 1940 and mid-1940, and Malta and Gibraltar in the Mediterranean Sea.