No. 453 Squadron RAAF

No. 453 Squadron RAAF
Brewster Buffalo aircraft at Sembawang Airbase, Singapore, November 1941
Active	23 May 1941 – 15 March 1942 18 June 1942 – 21 January 1946 16 February 2011–current
Country	Australia
Branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Role	Fighter (1941–46) Air traffic control (2011–current)
Part of	No. 44 Wing
Motto(s)	Ready to strike
Battle honours	English Channel and North Sea, 1939–1945 Fortress Europe, 1940–1944 France and Germany, 1944–1945 Normandy, 1944 Rhine Malaya, 1941–1942
Insignia
Squadron badge heraldry	Perched on a branch a kookaburra
Squadron codes	TD (May 1941 – March 1942) FN (June 1942 – August 1942) FU (June 1942 – January 1946)
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Brewster Buffalo Supermarine Spitfire

No. 453 Squadron is an air traffic control unit of the Royal Australian Air Force. It was established at Bankstown, New South Wales, in 1941 as a fighter squadron, in accordance with Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme for overseas service with the Royal Air Force during World War II. No. 453 Squadron saw combat first in the Malayan and Singapore campaigns of 1941–42. Severe aircraft losses effectively destroyed the squadron and it was disbanded in March 1942. A successor unit by the same name was raised in Britain from mid-1942, to take part in fighting against Nazi Germany in Europe until 1945. The squadron was disanded in 1946. It was re-formed in its current role in 2011.

No. 453 Squadron was raised as an Article XV squadron under the terms of the Empire Air Training Scheme, at Bankstown, New South Wales, on 23 May 1941. It was deployed to Singapore in August 1941, as fears of war with Japan increased. No. 453 Squadron, along with No. 21 Squadron RAAF, No. 243 Squadron RAF and No. 488 Squadron RNZAF, converted to Brewster Buffalo fighters, which proved to be poorly built, unreliable and unpopular with the pilots. The squadron was initially deployed to Sembawang.