Australia

 
Eighteen Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadrons served with the RAF during WWII in the European and Middle East theatres these being numbered 450 to 467. Of these, 451, 452, 453 and 457 flew Spitfires.
On 21 June 1942 452 and 457 Squadrons together with 54 Squadron RAF left Liverpool in HMT Stirling Castle, arriving at No 1 Equipment Depot, Aston Vale, Melbourne on 13 August "minus its aircraft which had been commandeered by the RAF whilst in transit".
In Australia the three squadrons formed No 1 (Fighter) Wing RAAF. From 1944 Nos. 548 and 549 Squadrons RAF also served in Australia.
For airframe serial numbering purposes, the RAAF allocated the stores prefix "A58-" although not all RAAF Spitfires were actually painted with this designation.
Between 14 August 1942 and 19 June 1945, 657 Spitfires were received comprising:
245 Mk Vc (trop) - RAAF A58-1 to A58- 259
2 Mk IIa/Vc - no RAAF serials
251 LF.VIIIc - RAAF A58- 300 to A58- 550
159 HF.VIIIc - RAAF A58- 600 to A58- 758
When in October 1948 the RAAF re-equipped with Mustangs which were superior in range, 13 Spitfire HFVIIIc and one MK Vc were handed over to the Australian Navy.
Additional surviving Spitfires arrived in Australia later.
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14 December 2007