Area commands were the major operational and administrative formations of the Royal Australian Air Force between 1940 and 1954. Established in response to the outbreak of World War II, they underpinned the Air Force’s geographically based command-and-control system for the duration of the conflict and into the early years of the Cold War. The RAAF established four commands to begin with in 1940–41: Southern Area, Central Area, Western Area, and Northern Area. By the early 1950s, most operational units were based within Eastern Area Command, and most Air Force training was controlled by Southern Area Command. The three remaining area commands ceded their authority to the functional commands in 1954, and were disbanded by the end of 1956.
About RAAF area commands in brief
Area commands were the major operational and administrative formations of the Royal Australian Air Force between 1940 and 1954. Established in response to the outbreak of World War II, they underpinned the Air Force’s geographically based command-and-control system for the duration of the conflict and into the early years of the Cold War. The RAAF established four commands to begin with in 1940–41: Southern Area, Central Area, Western Area, and Northern Area. By the early 1950s, most operational units were based within Eastern Area Command, and most Air Force training was controlled by Southern Area Command. The three remaining area commands ceded their authority to the functional commands in 1954, and were disbanded by the end of 1956. The area command structure was no longer considered appropriate for delivering the concentration of force necessary for combat, and the Federal government decided to replace it with a functional command and control system. Home Defence, Training, and Maintenance Commands were formed in 1953 and were responsible for air defence, protection of adjacent sea lanes, and aerial reconnaissance. Home Command was re-formed as Home Command in 1954. The first area commands were established in March 1940, and took over the role of No.1 Group, which took the headquarters and role of Southern Area. A new area command covering RAAF units in New Guinea, Northern Command, was formed in 1944 and dissolved soon after the war. In November 1939, the RAAF’s initial move in this direction was to create Nos.1 and 2 Groups, the former based in Melbourne to control units in Victoria and the latter in Sydney to control Units in New South Wales.
In January 1940, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice-Marshal Jimmy Goble, proposed organising the R Air Force along functional lines with Home Defence and Training Commands. The Federal government did not take up this plan, but the Federal Air Board decided to implement a decentralised form ofcommand and control, commensurate with an envisioned increase in manpower and units. All units could be directly administered and controlled by RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne. Exceptions to this policy included aircraft depots and the Central Flying School that trained flying instructors, as their range of responsibilities and boundaries were under the direct control of RAAF HQs. The static area system was considered well-suited to training pilots, who could be mentored through initial squadron postings, all within the same geographical region. The four area commands initially covered Victoria, Tasmania, South and South Wales; Northern Area, covering all units in northern South Territory and Papua New Guinea; Western Area covering units in Western Australia; and Southern Area covering Units in South Wales, New Zealand, and Western Australia. The roles of each area command were the same: air defence and protection of nearby sea lanes. In 1942, a new command, Eastern Area, was created, making a total of five commands. The same year, two functional groups that assumed the maintenance role of the area commands; the latter focussed on operations until theend of hostilities.
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