63rd Squadron, of the 43rd Bomb Group

The 63rd Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group was stationed at the following locations during WWII:-

Sydney, Australia	28 Mar 1942 - 11 Jun 42
Charleville, Australia	11 Jun 1942 - 24 Jul 1942
Torrens Creek, Australia	1 Aug 42 - 20 Aug 42
Mareeba, Australia	20 Aug 42 - 23 Jan 43
Port Moresby, New Guinea	23 Jan 43 - 20 Oct 43
Dobodura, New Guinea	29 Oct 43 - 1 Apr 44
Nadzab, New Guinea	1 Apr 44 - 20 Jul 44
Owi, Schouten Islands	20 Jul 1944

William "Bill" Benn formed the 63rd Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group. Benn was later made Chief of Operations of the 5th Bomber Command. Benn was not happy to have been pulled from his combat role. Captain Ed Scott took over command of the 63rd Squadron when Benn departed.

The 63rd Bomb Squadron arrived in Sydney onboard the Queen Mary on 28 March 1942. The men marched into town in a heavy rain storm, then caught trams to Randwick Racecourse which became their new camp in Australia. On 11 June 1942 the 63rd Bomb Squadron departed Randwick Racecourse for Charleville where they were quartered in the local Charleville racecourse.

The book "Ken's Men - against the Empire" stated that their new camp at Charleville had abundant supplies of hot water from some nearby sulfur springs. Whilst the water had a pungent sulfuric acid odour to it, the men were happy to have it for bathing. Perhaps this could explain the so called bitumen baths on display at Charleville today. The 63rd Squadron still had no aircraft of their own.

The 63rd Bomb Squadron left Charters Towers for Torrens Creek on 24 July 1942. The 63rd Bomb Squadron's aircraft were assigned 12 aircraft and combat crews in the USA on 28 July 1942. The first 5 B-17 Flying Fortresses eventually arrived at Torrens Creek on 12 August 1942. The other 7 B-17s arrived on 14 August 1942.

The other three Squadrons of the 19th Bomb Group had consolidated at Mareeba on 24 July 1942 from where they flew bombing raids against Japanese bases in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. After completing their training with the 435th Bomb Squadron, the 63rd Bomb Squadron's 12 aircrews were ordered from Townsville to Mareeba on 20 August 1942 to carryout missions in coordination with the 28th, 30th and 93rd Bomb Squadrons of the 19th Bomb Group who proceeded to train the "green" crews from the 63rd Bomb Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group.

"Ken's Men Against the Empire - Illustrated History of the 43rd Bombardment Group during World War II- Volume 1: Prewar to October 1943, the B-17 Era" by Lawrence J. Hickey, with Steve Birdsall, Madison D. Jonas, Edward M. Rogers, and Osamu Tagaya"

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