3 Squadron Recommended Links

RECOMMENDED LINKS

Tips for Researching 3 Squadron Personnel and Operational Records Click the link above to see our recommended sources for online research into 3 Squadron personnel details, photos and stories. Includes instructions for searching the collections of the National Archives of Australia and the Australian War Memorial.

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE:
The Official RAAF Website Current Organisation; Bases; Aircraft; History and many other features.
Home of the Australian Hornets RAAF Base Williamtown, 3 Squadron's modern-day home base. Also featuring the men and women that work there.
Fighter Squadrons of the RAAF Links to all RAAF Fighter Squadron homepages.
Australian Military Aviation Art Online gallery of dramatic Aussie aviation artwork, including "Desert Hawks" by Robert Taylor, featuring 3 Squadron's Kittyhawks.
ADF Serials This ambitious multi-author website seeks to document the history of every single aircraft that has served the Australian Defence Forces. Search the string (including quote marks) "3 Sqn" to see their many pages referring to 3 Squadron's aircraft.

3 SQUADRON in WORLD WAR I:
The First World War 1914 - 1918 A clear and interesting overview of World War I by Rene Brouwer.
Australian Battlefields of WW1 France Robert Crane's beautifully-illustrated site covering Australia's commitment to the Western Front during WW1. 3 Squadron played a crucial role in suppressing German artillery and making revolutionary air-drops of ammunition to support General Monash's war-winning battle plans of 1918.
Australian Flying Corps Cam Riley's magnificent site covering all aspects of the AFC in World War I. This site's RE-8 page features stories and illustrations of 3 Squadron's faithful airplane from the Western Front - one of which logged more combat hours than any other Allied aircraft on the Front! Click the "Archives 2002" link for rare original WW1 colour photos and Cam's outstanding artwork and scholarship.
Who Killed the Red Baron? John Wood's website analyses this famous episode from 3 Squadron's history.
3 Squadron AFC and the Red Baron Russell Naughton's excellent webpage displays 3 Squadron's original Combat Report and many photos taken on the day of the Red Baron's death.

3 SQUADRON in WORLD WAR II:
Biplane Aces A delightful site on the admittedly unusual topic of biplane combat early in WW2. Packed with detail. 3 Squadron's Gauntlet and Gladiator boys get many mentions. Look for the individual articles on Gordon Steege, Peter Turnbull, Ian MacLachlan, John Perrin, Alan Gatward, Blake Pelly, Wilfrid Arthur, and Alan Rawlinson. Also exhaustive lists of the missions that the Squadron flew, and aircraft pages on the Gauntlet and Gladiator.
American Aircraft Production There's a strong line of reasoning which holds that Australia was saved in WW2 by America's production capacity. The aircraft that 3 Squadron flew for most of the War were built in America. Joe Baugher's site provides copious information about the differences between the various Marks and Production Batches of Tomahawks, Kittyhawks (P-40s) and Mustangs (P-51s).
Zeno's Warbird Videos Great contemporary training films are available online for some of the planes flown by 3 Squadron during WW2. These films are in small-screen format, but the size can be magnified by right-clicking once the video is running, and selecting "double" or "full-screen" size. The Kittyhawk II film is in colour, and illustrates an aircraft in typical Desert colours with a Rolls Royce engine, as flown by 3 Squadron from Alamein onwards in late 1942. The Mustang III (flown by 3 Squadron from late 1944) training film is in B&W, but nicely produced. They even squeeze in a few corny jokes, such as the scene showing "pilots who don't like the P-51"... They're Luftwaffe pilots!
The Great Escape Rob Davis's interesting site illustrates conditions in the Sagan Prisoner of War (POW) camp in Germany. - Well remembered by some of those unfortunate 3 Squadron members who were captured.

239 WING in WORLD WAR II:
Shark Squadron The excellent website of 112 Squadron RAF, who flew their spectacular "shark-mouthed" fighters alongside 3 Squadron in 239 Wing for three eventful years, in Africa, Sicily and Italy. 112 Squadron was led at one stage by the top Australian ace Clive Caldwell. The "Photos" section is fascinating, including a rare colour shot of "Buzz", the pet monkey of Tiny Cameron from 3 Squadron, and pictures of Brian Eaton's specially-painted Mustang IV from the time that he led 239 Wing.
The Desert Harassers 450 Squadron was the "other" Australian squadron sharing the travails of 239 Wing. There is much of interest in this official 450 Squadron Association page.
Close to the Sun 250 Squadron was another of 3 Squadron's "wing-mates". Their Association's official website displays many interesting items. Among many achievements, 250 Sqn. had a spectacular success against an entire squadron of German FW190s in Italy.
260 Squadron RAF (239 Wing) A brief history with illustrations of aircraft. James Edwards was one 260 Squadron pilot whose reminiscences are preserved by Canadian Veteran's Affairs.
A Brief 5 Squadron SAAF History Another 239 Wing-mate.

MALAYSIA:
The RAAF School in Penang Cynthia Matuschka's website will bring back many memories for families from the Butterworth days.