Western Area Command (RAAF)

Western Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II. It was formed in January 1941, and controlled RAAF units located in Western Australia. Headquartered at Perth, Western Area Command was primarily responsible for air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries. It continued to operate following the end of the war, before its responsibilities were subsumed in 1954 by the RAAF's new functional command-and-control system; the headquarters was disbanded two years later.

World War II
Prior to World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force was small enough for all its elements to be directly controlled by RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne. After war broke out in September 1939, the RAAF began to decentralise its command structure, commensurate with expected increases in manpower and units. Between March 1940 and May 1941, the RAAF divided Australia and New Guinea into four geographically based command-and-control zones: Central Area, Southern Area, Western Area, and Northern Area. The roles of these area commands were air defence, protection of adjacent sea lanes, and aerial reconnaissance. Each was led by an Air Officer Commanding (AOC) responsible for the administration and operations of all air bases and units within his boundary.

Western Area Command, headquartered in Perth, was formed on 9 January 1941 under the leadership of Air Commodore Hippolyte "Kanga" De La Rue. The command controlled all RAAF units in Western Australia. Pending Western Area's formation, these units had been under the direct control of RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne. Shortly after taking command, De La Rue lobbied RAAF Headquarters for a force of long-range Catalina flying boats to augment the Lockheed Hudsons of his general reconnaissance unit in the west, No. 14 Squadron, but none were made available.

By mid-1941, RAAF Headquarters had determined to form training units in the southern and eastern states into semi-geographical, semi-functional groups separate to the area commands. This led to the establishment in August of No. 1 (Training) Group in Melbourne, covering Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, and No. 2 (Training) Group in Sydney, covering New South Wales and Queensland. Western Area retained responsibility for training, as well as operations and maintenance, within its boundaries. Following the outbreak of the Pacific War, Northern Area was split in January 1942 into North-Western and North-Eastern Areas, to counter separate Japanese threats to Northern Australia and New Guinea, respectively. That May, the Air Board proposed raising No. 3 (Training) Group and No. 8 (Maintenance) Group to control training and maintenance units, respectively, in Western Australia but, though approved by the Federal government, this did not take place.

No. 77 Squadron, equipped with P-40 Kittyhawks, was formed at RAAF Station Pearce on 16 March 1942; it was at this time the only fighter squadron available to defend Perth and Fremantle, and De La Rue worked assiduously to prepare it for operations. As of 20 April, operational authority over all RAAF combat infrastructure, including area commands, was invested in the newly established Allied Air Forces (AAF) Headquarters under South West Pacific Area Command (SWPA). In May, a new area command, Eastern Area, was raised to control units within New South Wales and southern Queensland. Some finetuning of Western Area's boundaries occurred in August: as well as the Northern Territory, North-Western Area was given responsibility for the portion of Western Australia north of a line drawn south-east from Yampi Sound to the Northern Territory border. September 1942 saw the formation of RAAF Command, led by Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock, to oversee the majority of Australian flying units in the SWPA. Bostock exercised control of air operations through the area commands, although RAAF Headquarters continued to hold overarching administrative authority over all Australian units. De la Rue handed Western Area Command over to Air Commodore Raymond Brownell in December 1942.

By April 1943, Western Area was operating four combat units: No. 14 Squadron, flying Bristol Beaufort reconnaissance-bombers out of RAAF Station Pearce; No. 25 Squadron, flying dive-bombing missions with CAC Wirraways from Pearce; No. 76 Squadron, flying P-40 Kittyhawks out of Exmouth Gulf; and No. 85 Squadron, flying CAC Boomerang fighters from Pearce. The area command was also able to call on US Navy Catalinas of Patrol Wing 10 for reconnaissance and anti-submarine missions. In March 1944, Western Area went on high alert in response to concerns that a Japanese naval force would raid Western Australia. Perth was reinforced with Nos. 452 and 457 Squadrons, and Exmouth Gulf with Nos. 18, 31, and 120 Squadrons, but no attack ensued and the squadrons were directed to return to their home bases. The US Navy withdrew Patrol Wing 10 mid-year, curtailing Western Area's ability to conduct long-range maritime reconnaissance; No. 14 Squadron's Beauforts were forced to fly patrols of up to twenty-two hours in duration to search for German submarines reported in the area.

Having converted to Vultee Vengeance dive bombers in August 1943, No. 25 Squadron moved from Pearce to Cunderdin in January 1945 and re-equipped with B-24 Liberator heavy bombers. Between April and July, the squadron provided Western Area's contribution to the Borneo campaign, supporting the lead-up to the invasion of Tarakan, and later the invasions of Labuan-Brunei and Balikpapan. In July 1945, Brownell handed over to Group Captain Colin Hannah, who commanded Western Area to the end of the Pacific War and through to October 1946.

Post-war disbandment
Following the end of the Pacific War in August 1945, SWPA was dissolved and RAAF Headquarters again assumed full control of all its operational formations, including the area commands. In September 1946, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, proposed reducing the five extant mainland area commands (North-Western, North-Eastern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Areas) to three: Northern Area, covering Queensland and the Northern Territory; Eastern Area, covering New South Wales; and Southern Area, covering Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. The Australian Government rejected the plan and the wartime area command boundaries essentially remained in place.

In October 1951, Group Captain (later Air Commodore) Bill Hely took command of Western Area. One of his duties was coordinating air support for Operation Hurricane, the British atomic test in the Montebello Islands during October 1952, including supply and observation flights by Dakotas of No. 86 (Transport) Wing. He completed his term as AOC Western Area in October 1953. Commencing that month, the RAAF was reorganised from a geographically based command-and-control system into one based on function. In February 1954, the newly constituted functional organisations—Home, Training, and Maintenance Commands—assumed control of all operations, training and maintenance from Western Area Command. Western Area remained in existence, but only as one of Home Command's "remote control points". The headquarters was finally disbanded on 30 November 1956.

Order of battle
As of 30 April 1942, Western Area's order of battle comprised:
 * RAAF Station Pearce
 * No. 14 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron
 * No 25 (General Purpose) Squadron
 * No. 35 (Transport) Squadron
 * No. 77 (Fighter) Squadron
 * No. 6 Fighter Sector Headquarters, Perth