RAAF Patch Sqn Royal Australian Air Force b 36 Squadron Crest

RAAF Patch 36 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force Crest Patch Queens Crown 1970s C 130 Hercules RAAF Base Richmond Embroidered on wool cut edge 121mm by 82mm four and three quarter inches by three and one quarter inches.

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Following its war time Pacific service in the transport role 36 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force provided a detachment of six C 47 Dakotas to establish a courier service between Morotai and Japan to support Australian units which formed part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force.

36 Squadron relocated with its Dakotas to RAAF Station Schofields New South Wales on 19 August 1946 under 86 Transport Wing along with 37 and 38 Squadrons also operating Dakotas and 486 Maintenance Squadron. 486 Squadron provided day to day servicing for the flying squadrons with deeper maintenance handled by 2 Aircraft Depot based at the nearby RAAF Station Richmond. Courier flights to Japan continued until December 1947.

On 25 August 1948 the Squadron sent twenty staff with five crews from 38 Squadron to take part in the Berlin Airlift which lasted almost a year and with the absence of these crews 36 and 38 Squadron operations were amalgamated with flying hours being recorded under the 38 Squadrons auspices. In June 1949 the Squadron with the other extant components of 86 Wing 38 and 486 Squadrons relocated to RAAF Richmond.

36 and 38 Squadrons began to operate separately again in June 1950 following the return of crews from Berlin and 38 Squadron’s departure for service in the Malayan Emergency. 36 Squadron assumed control of the Governor Generals Flight in October 1950. The return of 38 Squadron from Malaya in December 1950 stripped 36 Squadron of crews to even up personnel among the two Squadrons and led to the Squadrons merging as 38 Squadron. 36 Squadron disbanded on 9 March 1953 immediately reactivating on the renaming of 30 Transport Unit at Iwakuni Japan under 91 Composite Wing with eight Dakotas and one CAC Wirraway. In July and August 1953 the squadron evacuated over 900 Commonwealth prisoners of war from Korea. The Squadron left Japan on 13 March 1955and was reestablished on 1 May 1955 at RAAF Base Canberra under 86 Wing.

36 Squadron handed over its six Dakotas to 38 Squadron in July 1958 to prepare for conversion to C 130 Hercules and relocated to RAAF Richmond in August 1958 with the rest of 86 Wing joining them in September 1958. Following training in the US 36 Squadron began operating C 130A Hercules in December 1958. In September 1960 the Squadron began parachute trials on the Hercules and made Australias first Hercules troop carrying flights into a combat zone in December 1962 joining a Commonwealth airlift from Singapore to Borneo at the onset of the Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia.

In August 1964 86 Wing and 486 Squadron were disbanded and 36 Squadron became an independently operating unit under Headquarters RAAF Richmond and became responsible for its own day to day maintenance. 486 Squadron reformed in 1966 to service both 36 and 37 Squadron following 37 Squadrons conversion to C 130E Hercules. During the Vietnam War both squadrons undertook long range transport and medical evacuation flights between Australia and South East Asia servicing Phan Rang, Vung Tau, and Nui Dat. Eight of the Squadrons Hercules were involved in relief efforts after Cyclone Tracy struck Darwin on December 24 1974. The Squadron upgraded to C 130H Hercules in 1978 and landed one in Antarctica at McMurdo Sound in November 1978. 36 Squadron became part of 86 Wing on its reactivation at RAAF Richmond on 2 February 1987 under the newly established Air Lift Group.

In December 1990 and January 1991 the Squadron flew missions to Dubai in support of the Australian naval contribution to the first Gulf War and in 1993 transported Australian troops to Somalia as part of Operation Solace. Four of its C 130H Hercules were fitted with Electronic Warfare Self Protection packs in 1994 and one was fitted with signals intelligence equipment and crewed by RAAF and Defence Signals Directorate personnel.

36 Squadron took part in the evacuation of civilians from Cambodia following the coup in July 1997. The Squadron became responsible for its own routine maintenance in 1998, when 486 Squadron was again disbanded. A detachment from 36 Squadron supported INTERFET operations in East Timor between September 1999 and February 2000. The Squadron assisted the relief efforts following the Bali Bombings in October 2002 and in February 2003 deployed a detachment of two Hercules to the Middle East as part of the Australian contribution to the invasion of Iraq with one of its Hercules becoming the first Coalition aircraft to land at Al Asad Airbase Baghdad after it was secured by Australian special forces personnel. The detachment remained in Iraq until September 2004 when it was relieved by two C 130J Hercules from 37 Squadron. 36 Squadron participated in Operation Sumatra Assist in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.

In May 2006 36 Squadron personnel began training in the US in preparation for reequipping with C 17 Globemaster III heavy transport aircraft. The Squadrons C 130H Hercules were transferred to 37 Squadron on 17 November 2006 and the Squadron relocated to RAAF Amberley with Wing Commander Linda Corbould taking command becoming the first woman to lead an RAAF flying squadron. The first C 17 Globemaster arrived on 4 December 2006 and 36 Squadron became operational on 11 September 2007. 36 Squadron continued to support Coalition forces in Afghanistan as well as humanitarian operations worldwide. In 2011 it took part in relief efforts following the floods in Queensland the Christchurch earthquake New Zealand and the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

This patch dates from the 1970s.