No. 22 Squadron RAAF

No. 22 Squadron RAAF
No. 22 Squadron aircrew and ground crew preparing for a sortie in October 1944
Active	1936–46 1948–present
Country	Australia
Branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Role	Base operations and training
Size	Squadron
Part of	Combat Support Group
Garrison/HQ	RAAF Base Richmond
Motto(s)	Adsum
Commanders
Notable commanders	Allan Walters (1937–38) Charles Learmonth (1943)

No. 22 (City of Sydney) Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) mixed Permanent and Reserve squadron that provides support for the RAAF in the Sydney region. Formed in 1936, the squadron served in Papua New Guinea during the Second World War, and later followed the Pacific War as far as the Philippines. Following the war, the squadron was re-formed in 1948 but was converted to a non-flying support role in mid-1960. It is currently based at RAAF Base Richmond, New South Wales.

No. 22 Squadron was formed on 20 April 1936 at Richmond, New South Wales, as part of the Citizen Air Force (CAF). Equipped with Hawker Demons and de Haviland Gipsy Moths, two thirds of its personnel were part-time CAF members and one third belonged to the Permanent Air Force (PAF). Its first commanding officer was Squadron Leader D.E.L. Wilson.Allan Walters commanded the squadron in 1937–38, during which time it received a number of Avro Ansons.

No. 22 Squadron was mobilised following the outbreak of war in September 1939 and conducted anti-submarine patrols. Its first operational mission came on 10 September when its aircraft undertook a search for a submarine that had been reported off Sydney. The sighting came to nothing. In late December 1940, the squadron replaced its Demons with CAC Wirraways and over the course of the next year it slowly converted completely to this type, completing this process by the time Japan entered the war in December 1941. During this time the squadron undertook anti-submarine and convoy escort tasks, but saw no action. It was also provided training support for Army anti-aircraft units, towing targets for them to shoot at.

The squadron was equipped with A-20 Boston bombers in April 1942. These aircraft had originally been intended to equip Dutch forces in East Indies, but the advance of the Japanese through Java meant that the aircraft were sent to Australia instead. As a result, they arrived without the necessary spare parts, instructions and other support equipment. This caused considerable teething problems; however, even before the conversion process was over No. 22 Squadron was called upon to undertake patrols along the eastern seaboard following the Attack on Sydney Harbour in May and June 1942. Twice during June aircraft from the squadron attacked Japanese submarines, inflicting damage but failing to sink them.