No. 457 Squadron RAAF

No. 457 Squadron RAAF
457 Squadron badge
Active	16 June 1941 – 7 November 1945
Country	Australia
Allegiance	United Kingdom (1941–1942)
Branch	Royal Australian Air Force
Role	Fighter
Nickname(s)	"Grey Nurse Squadron"
Battle honours	Fortress Europe, 1940–1944 Pacific, 1941–1945 Darwin, 1941–1944 Morotai Borneo, 1945 Defence of Britain, 1940–1945
Commanders
Notable commanders	Peter Malam Brothers
Insignia
Squadron codes	BP (June 1941 – March 1942)[1][2] XB (1943)[3] ZP (January 1943 – November 1945)[3][4]
Aircraft flown
Fighter	Supermarine Spitfire (1941–1945)
Trainer	CAC Wirraway (1942) Ryan ST (1942)

No. 457 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter squadron of World War II. Equipped with Supermarine Spitfire fighters, it was formed in England during June 1941 under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme. The squadron was transferred to Australia in June 1942 and saw combat in the South West Pacific Area before being disbanded in November 1945.

The squadron saw combat against both Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan during the war. From March to May 1942 it was based in southern England and flew missions over German-occupied France during which it shot down at least five Luftwaffe aircraft. After being deployed to Australia, No. 457 Squadron was based near Darwin as part of No. 1 Wing RAAF and intercepted several Japanese raids on Allied bases in northern Australia between March and November 1943. The squadron remained at Darwin and saw almost no combat during 1944, but moved to Morotai and later Labuan in 1945 from where it attacked Japanese positions in the Netherlands East Indies and Borneo as part of Allied offensives in these areas.