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No.457 Sqn RAAF Founded : 16th June 1941
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No.457 Sqn RAAF
| Aces for : No.457 Sqn RAAF | ||
| A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name. | ||
| Name | Victories | Info |
| Peter Malam Brothers | 15.00 | The signature of Peter Malam Brothers features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available. |
| Bobby Gibbes | 10.50 | The signature of Bobby Gibbes features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available. |
| Aircraft for : No.457 Sqn RAAF | |||
| A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by No.457 Sqn RAAF. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
| Squadron | Info | ||
Manufacturer : Supermarine Production Began : 1936 Retired : 1948 Number Built : 20351 | Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954. | ||
| Signatures for : No.457 Sqn RAAF | |||||||||
| A list of all signatures from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | |||||||||
| Name | Info | ||||||||
  Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC* Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by or with the mounted signature of Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC*
| Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC* Learnt to fly at the age of 16 and joined the RAF two years later in 1936. He first saw action in 1940 when as a Flight Commander in 32 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill, he flew his Hurricane against the fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe. He recalls this as an intensely busy period, during which he shot down an Me109 - his first enemy aircraft; by the end of August that same year his tally of enemy aircraft shot down increased to eight. Awarded the DFC, he was transferred to 257 Squadron where he joined Bob-Stanford Tuck as a Flight Commander. Promoted in 1941 to Squadron Leader, Pete Brothers then took command of 457 Squadron RAAF, equipped with Spitfires. A year later when 457 Squadron returned to Australia, Pete took command of 602 Squadron. In the early autumn of 1942 he went on to become Wing Leader of the Tangmere Wing, succeeding his old friend, Douglas Bader. By the end of the war Pete Brothers had amassed 875 operational hours over a 44-month period. He was credited with having personally shot down 16 enemy aircraft and damaged many more. He later went on to command 57 Squadron during the Malaya campaign. Upon return to the UK Pete Brothers joined the V-Force, flying Valiant-4 jet bombers. He retired in 1973. Sadly, Pete Brothers died 18th December 2008.
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 Bobby Gibbes Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Bobby Gibbes
| Bobby Gibbes Born 6th May 1916. Bobby Gibbes began pilot training in 1940, and by June 1941 was flying Tomahawks with No3 RAAF Sqn. By February 1942, he was commanding the squadron. Upgrading to the Kittyhawk, he had more aerial victories, before being forced to bale out on May 26th 1942. On December 21st 1942, during an action in the Western Desert, an aircraft from the squadron was forced to crash land a few miles from the target. Gibbes landed his aircraft in the rocky desert, aiming to pick up the downed pilot. He ditched his own parachute, sitting on the pilots lap in the cockpit. On take-off, one wheel fell off the aircraft after colliding with an object on the groud, but he managed to land the aircraft on the one remaining wheel, avoiding a damaging belly landing. He was then shot down behind enemy lines, evading capture for three days before being rescued. He returned to Australia, and was injured during a training flight crash. He died 11th April 2007. | ||||||||
Flight Lieutenant A J Nat Gould Click the name above to see prints signed by Flight Lieutenant A J Nat Gould | Flight Lieutenant A J Nat Gould Joined the RAAF in April 1940 and trained in Australia. Nat sailed to the UK in December 1940 and attended 56 OTU at Sutton Bridge. In April 1941 he joined 17 Sqn RAF and in September joined 134 Sqn equipped with Hurricanes and sailed aboard HMS Argus for Murmansk, USSR. After some ops, Nat returned to the UK in December and converted to Spitfires. He then sailed for Australia in March 1942 and joined 75 Sqn RAAF equipped with Kittyhawks. He flew to New Guinea in July and participated in the Battle of Milne Bay and on 28th August twice flew S A29-133 on ops and remained with 75 Sqn until December. After instructing at 2 OTU, Nat was posted in October 1943 to 457 Sqn equipped with Spitfires at Darwin. After 12 months of operations he returned to 2 OTU. In June 1945, Gould transferred to RANVR for service with the RN. Nat Gould commanded 816 Firefly and 806 Sea Fury Sqns during Korea. | ||||||||
Air Commodore Ken James Click the name above to see prints signed by Air Commodore Ken James | Air Commodore Ken James A native of Victoria, Squadron Leader Ken James first served in the UK before going back to Australia in August 1944. He became CO of No.85 Squadron RAAF from September 1944 to March 1945, then No.790 Squadron RAAF in May 1945. Squadron Leader Ken James made the first Spitfire flight in Australia just before midday on the 25th August. He demonstrated the aircraft to an audience of assembled VIPs and film-camera men. After assembly the six aircraft were ferried up to RAAF Richmond, near Sydney, NSW. Leader Ken ‘Skeeter’ James later took charge of 457 squadron and ended the war with 2.5 victories. | ||||||||
Flight Lieutenant Don MacLean DFC MID Click the name above to see prints signed by Flight Lieutenant Don MacLean DFC MID | Flight Lieutenant Don MacLean DFC MID Flight Commander, 457 Squadron. In mid 1940 Don Maclean joined the RAAF, arriving in the UK in April 1941. Commissioned two months later he joined 457 Squadron, which, based at Redhill, became part of the Kenley Wing. By the time the squadron departed for Australia in July 1942, when he was made a Flight Commander, he had claimed 3 Fw190s destroyed. His tour of operations in Darwin began on 16th January 1943 and during the next 12 months his total score had risen to 4 destroyed, 3 probables and 5 damaged. After a short tour as an instructor, Don finished the war back with 457 Squadron in Borneo, and was acting C.O. until disbandment. Don was awarded the DFC. | ||||||||
Squadron Leader Bruce D Watson DFC Click the name above to see prints signed by Squadron Leader Bruce D Watson DFC | Squadron Leader Bruce D Watson DFC Joined the RAAF in December 1940. After initial training in Australia, gained his wings and graduated as a Pilot Officer in Canada. He sailed to the UK in 1941, then posted to 32 Sqn equipped with Hurricanes at Manston, gaining 2.5 victories. He then returned to Australia and joined 75 Sqn in June 1942. Flying Kittyhawks, Bruce took part in the Battle of Milne Bay as A Flight Commander and on 27th August 1942 he and Flg Off Peter Jones attacked 3 Val Dive Bombers over the Bay. They were credited with sharing 1 destroyed, 1 probable and 1 damaged. After serving at Milne Bay, he was posted to 2 OTU as an instructor. When Clive Caldwell formed 80 Fighter Wing RAAF in April 1944, he selected Watson to lead 457 Sqn. Bruce led the squadron from Darwin to, and operated from Morotai. Watsons Spitfire marked ZP-W was the first to wear the famed Grey Nurse scheme which the entire squadron adopted. | ||||||||
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