Description

‘We Find and Destroy’ is the history of 458 RAAF Squadron, that served in Bomber Command in World War Two, operating Wellington aircraft in Britain and later in the Mediterranean area.

From the beginning, 458, although being an Australian squadron, was a close family of men from many nations, united in the struggle against tyranny. Flying from their now-blanketed base at Holme-on-Spalding Moor in Yorkshire, Australian, Canadian, South African, New Zealand and British airmen, bombed Germany’s European fortress.

It is symbolic of the international nature of the Squadron, that the first two commanding officers were both Australian who had served in the Royal Air Force, followed by a South African.

Flying to Egypt, they began in the eastern Mediterranean. They carried bombs, mines, torpedoes and depth charges, playing a major part in strangling movement of enemy shipping. After pursuing the retreating enemy from Egypt to Algeria, through Sardinia and north into Italy, their was ended at Gibraltar. Sadly, 135 members of the Squadron had died in action