In 2017, one hundred years exactly after 3AFC went into action on the Western Front in WW1, our Association Secretary Vicki CRIGHTON went on an extensive motoring tour of the UK, France & Belgium.  She visited most of the 38 graves and memorials to 3 Squadron’s boys who died in the First World War.  Vicki’s beautiful photos are now displayed on our web-page “Gardens of Memory”.

The Association has now compiled the following summary of the Squadron’s WW2 Cemeteries, for those members of the “3SQN Family” who may be interested in visiting them. 

The count of 3SQN’s WW2 deaths is 78 men.
 – That’s double the Squadron’s WW1 toll.  
And to put this in perspective, 78 deaths is equivalent to 3SQN’s entire pilot-strength being wiped out four times over!  – A very high cost indeed, but a sacrifice that historians weigh against the huge operational successes of the Squadron.  3SQN stands out from all other RAAF single-seat fighter squadrons, having won far more decorations and destroyed far more enemy resources - including being the RAAF’s record-holders for aerial victories (192 in WW2) and ground-attack.  And also sinking a greater tonnage of shipping than many RAAF dedicated anti-shipping units!

You are probably aware that all military casualties in WW1 and WW2 were buried in the countries where they fell  - which contrasts with today’s elaborate repatriation ceremonies using air transport.  Imagine the effect on the WW2 bereaved families, having waved-off their child on a troopship, never to see him again.  This is why we have so many poignant War Memorials around Australia today.

Unfortunately, at present the Middle East is racked with tension and our Department of Foreign Affairs will try to discourage you from going there!  However, all overseas graves are still being cared-for in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and visiting any of these memorial gardens is always a moving experience.

1940 - The Squadron’s first WW2 air combats occurred in November 1940 - against the Italian fascists, who had invaded Egypt from their colony of Libya.  Both sides were flying biplanes that now seem amazingly archaic.  3SQN were mounted on Gloster Gladiators.

Two pilots from those 1940 battles are buried in Halfaya-Sollum War Cemetery, located near the Western-Desert border of Egypt. 

3SQN’s first battle casualty of WW2 was SQNLDR Peter HEATH.  Our online Roll of Honour includes an interesting analysis of his famous air battle.  (Which was even the subject of valedictions in Federal Parliament.)  Another notable point about this particular cemetery is that it also contains 3SQN casualties from later years, when battles repeatedly rolled backwards and forwards over this area.  For example, in 1941 Roy BOTHWELL was strafing down low and smashed into a German tank.  In 1942, Frank REID was shot down by the top-scoring Luftwaffe desert ace, Hans MARSEILLE.   

In early 1941, British and Australian forces had great success against the Italians and drove them far back into Libya.  Along the way, 3SQN re-equipped with Hawker Hurricane fighters.  That forward progress is marked by the grave of a single 3SQN groundcrew member in Benghazi, Libya.  (Who had suffered a fatal immune reaction to something in the desert environment.) 

From April 1941, the famous German General Erwin ROMMEL, with a strong force of tanks and aircraft, arrived in Libya to save the Italians.  3SQN was suddenly forced into a fraught retreat, all the way back to the Egyptian border.  Two graves mark the path of the retreat.

3SQN was then transferred to the Eastern Mediterranean, arriving in the British colony of Palestine (modern-day Israel) in preparation for the invasion of the Vichy-French colony of Syria.  3SQN converted to new Curtis Tomahawk fighters and made a big impact on the success of the Battle of Syria.  They left behind two graves: one in Israel (near Tel Aviv airport) of a replacement pilot killed in a training accident; the second in Syria - in the ancient city of Damascus.  [Normally a fascinating tourist destination - but not at the moment!]  - That grave commemorates SGT Mick RANDALL, 3SQN’s only operational casualty in Syria.  In both cases, these lone 3SQN graves are surrounded by hundreds of Australian Light Horsemen and other soldiers from the First and Second World Wars.

3SQN was transferred back to the Egyptian Western Desert in September 1941, preparing for a huge battle called OPERATION CRUSADER. 

Although the siege of Tobruk was successfully lifted by this effort, 3SQN suffered its blackest days of operational loss for the whole of WW2.  Six of the graves in the Knightsbridge cemetery, outside Tobruk, date from this period.

The start of 1942 found 3SQN re-equipping with Curtis Kittyhawks.  (Which featured improved armament and performance, compared with the Tomahawks, plus the ability to drop bombs.)  3SQN once again advanced to the familiar half-way point in Libya, before Rommel, now re-supplied, forced them back!  [Once again!]  The front-line stabilised at Gazala for a few months.  Two more of the graves at Knightsbridge War Cemetery date from radar-directed air-intercept missions from this period.

Rommel then broke through [again!] and a huge retreat ensued.  3SQN went back 700km, until the line stabilised at El Alamein, the gateway to the Nile River delta. 

We should be very proud that RAAF 3 Squadron fought from start to finish in the series of Battles of El Alamein, one of the key “turning points” of WW2 – lasting over four months!
El Alamein can truly be called 3SQN’s “Aircrew Valhalla”.  - It is the site of the “Memorial to the Missing” for the Egypt and Libyan theatres of war.  There are 24 3SQN names on this Memorial, remembering those who have no known grave.  (Mainly aircrew, crashed in remote enemy territory and never found.  – Also, in a few cases, desert graves that had already been marked were obliterated by later battles.)  Additionally, three 3SQN aircrew are physically buried in the El Alamein War Cemetery, including ‘ace’ pilot Pete GIDDY.  [Who suffered an airframe failure at low level while attempting a ‘Victory Roll’…]

Closer to the Egyptian tourist centres of Alexandria and Cairo, there are four cemeteries with single 3SQN graves.  (Two men who died of illness in hospital and two pilots who crashed during training flights.)

The Allied breakout from Alamein began on the 6th of November 1942, with a headlong advance of 1,100km before Christmas. 

The War Cemetery in Benghazi, Libya, holds a large group of 3SQN groundcrew dating from December 1942.  Five were killed by a single German “Bouncing Betty” anti-personnel mine at the ‘Marble Arch’ aerodrome. 
- The presence of a total of seven groundcrew and no aircrew here makes this 3SQN’s “Groundcrew Valhalla”. 

New Year 1943 found the Axis resistance stiffening as the Allies approached the Tunisian border.  Three of 3SQN’s pilots are buried in Tripoli, Libya. 

Tunisia was a French colony that had built a “Maginot Line” on their border with the Italians.  These fortifications were eagerly occupied by Rommel and it took a lot of Allied effort to bypass them.  However 3SQN’s casualties were relatively light.  There are only two 3SQN graves in Tunisia for the period up to the Victory in Africa in May 1943.

The Squadron’s next operations were flown from the Mediterranean island of Malta in July 1943.  [So FINALLY we arrive at a tourist destination with a “green” safety rating from the Australian Government!]  There are two groundcrew graves (victims of a petrol explosion on Sicily) and four pilots commemorated on Malta’s “Memorial to the Missing”, for those Lost at Sea in the Mediterranean.

3SQN’s missions from Malta involved “softening up” the Axis defences in Sicily prior to the Allied invasion on July 9th 1943.  The subsequent six-week slog to take possession of the island of Sicily left two 3SQN pilots in the War Cemetery at Catania, on the east coast. 

Catania War Cemetery in Sicily has a magnificent view towards the snow-capped Mount Etna volcano.

The Sicily battle also created a 3SQN mystery…
- Why was one missing pilot, SGT Doc McLEOD, buried at Marseilles in France?   The Association did some investigation, with the help of Italian historians, and we have reconstructed the story.  - Doc had been shot down by flak near Mt Etna in Sicily and had been captured by German Paratroopers.  He was then evacuated in a German Junkers transport aircraft back to the Paratroopers’ base at Istres, France, which is today the Marseilles International Airport.  Doc was then put to work by the Germans building aerodrome defences in Istres – where, very sadly, he was caught in the open by an American B-17 bombing raid and fatally injured. 
[This is only a brief summary of Doc’s story.  Further amazing plot twists are revealed in our article: “The Four Funerals of Doc McLeod”.]

The Allied victory in Sicily meant that mainland Italy was next to be invaded, in September 1943.  At this point the Italians suddenly swapped sides, joining the Allies (!) and 3SQN were able to share a drink with Italian pilots who they’d been shooting at in the preceding months!  

However, the Germans had been preparing for Italian unreliability and rapidly occupied the northern half of Italy.  German troops put up a tough defence for the next 1½ years.  By the time Christmas 1943 arrived, Allied progress had ground to a halt in the mountains south-east of Rome.  The single 3SQN grave for this period is at Moro River.

The first five months of 1944 were absolute hell for the Allied infantry facing the German “Gustav Line” near Monte Cassino.  3SQN had its longest stay at any aerodrome, 4½ months at Cutella.  (Which, by the way, is an Australian Aboriginal name, meaning “Eagle”.) 

3 Squadron Kittyhawk at Cutella, March 1944. 
- Note the steam train carrying Army tanks towards the front line, visible in the background.
 [AWM ART22244.  Painting by Dennis ADAMS.]

3SQN left behind two graves – one of them in the famous Anzio Beach-Head Cemetery.

In June 1944, the Allies finally broke-through, streaming past Rome, until German resistance again locked tight on their “Gothic Line”, near the beautiful Renaissance city of Florence. 

One 3SQN pilot now rests in Florence War Cemetery, two others are at Ancona, one at Faenza, and one more at Ravenna.  [Which is another wonderful tourist town.]  

We should especially remember the Ravenna pilot, Ray FARIA.  Our website has a story titled “The Kindness of Strangers”, which describes how the Association, with the help of an Italian archaeologist, was able to re-unite Ray’s long-lost family, 70 years after his death in combat had led to their dispersal as adoptees and an American war-bride.

In November 1944, 3SQN re-equipped in the field with the superlative Mustang fighter-bomber, requiring only a five-day pause in their combat operations!  They flew ops on Christmas Day 1944 and later had a big party.  – And then were unexpectedly put on ops again on Boxing Day morning - rather hung-over…  But they downed 3SQN’s last Messerschmitt! 

The first four months of 1945 saw intensive ground-attack missions.  The Squadron’s final three pilot graves are dotted around Northern Italy.

In Faenza lies “Jungle Jim” EDMONDS, a British R.A.F. exchange-pilot who had already done a full tour of combat duty in Burma.  Jim especially asked to fly with 3SQN, because he had enjoyed training some of the Australian boys back in Egypt.  Jim apparently blacked-out during a dive-bombing run, and crashed his Mustang at high speed.  His death was only three weeks before the end of the war.

Jim is 3SQN’s last battle casualty.  [A record that endures, right up to the current day…]

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