No. 91 Wing RAAF

No. 91 Wing RAAF
Officer Commanding No. 91 Wing, Group Captain Charlton (left), Commanding Officer No. 77 Squadron, Squadron Leader Cresswell (right), and members of No. 30 Communications Unit with Lieutenant-General Robertson in South Korea, 1950
Active	1950–55
Country	Australia
Branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Type	Composite wing
Headquarters	Iwakuni, Japan
Engagements	Korean War
Aircraft flown
Fighter	P-51 Mustang Gloster Meteor
Transport	C-47 Dakota Auster CAC Wirraway

No. 91 (Composite) Wing was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) wing that operated during the Korean War and its immediate aftermath. It was established in October 1950 to administer RAAF units deployed in the conflict: No. 77 (Fighter) Squadron, flying North American P-51 Mustangs; No. 30 Communications Flight, flying Austers and Douglas C-47 Dakotas; No. 391 (Base) Squadron; and No. 491 (Maintenance) Squadron. The wing was headquartered at Iwakuni, Japan, as were its subordinate units with the exception of No. 77 Squadron, which was based in Korea and came under the operational control of the United States Fifth Air Force.

No. 30 Communications Flight was re-designated No. 30 Communications Unit in November 1950, and No. 30 Transport Unit a year later, before re-forming as No. 36 (Transport) Squadron in March 1953. It undertook medical evacuation, cargo and troop transport, and courier flights. No. 77 Squadron converted to Gloster Meteor jets between April and July 1951, and operated primarily in the ground attack role from December that year. It remained in Korea on garrison duty following the July 1953 armistice, and returned to Australia in November 1954; No. 491 Squadron disbanded the same month. No. 36 Squadron returned to Australia in March 1955, leaving four aircraft to equip the newly formed RAAF Transport Flight (Japan), which briefly came under No. 91 Wing's control. The following month, No. 391 Squadron and No. 91 Wing headquarters were disbanded.

When the Korean War broke out on 25 June 1950, No. 77 (Fighter) Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was based at Iwakuni, Japan. For the previous four years, equipped mainly with North American P-51 Mustangs, it had served with the British Commonwealth Air Group, the air component of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF), initially as part of No. 81 Wing RAAF. No. 81 Wing was disbanded in November 1948, leaving No. 77 Squadron as Australia's sole air unit in Japan. It was now the largest squadron in the RAAF, comprising 299 officers and men, forty Mustangs, three CAC Wirraways, two Douglas C-47 Dakotas and two Austers. The squadron was preparing to return to Australia when it was placed on standby for action over Korea; it began flying missions as part of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force a week later. No. 77 Squadron's commanding officer, Wing Commander Lou Spence, was killed in action on 9 September 1950, and Air Commodore Alan Charlesworth, Chief of Staff at BCOF, temporarily took charge at Iwakuni, pending the formation of an overarching organisation for support and administration at the base. Squadron Leader Dick Cresswell arrived on 17 September to assume command of No. 77 Squadron.