ANZAC Strike Wing: Operations in the North Sea with RAF Coastal Command

The untold story of courage, comradeship, and daring that captures the true spirit of the ANZACs in the air.

From the freezing airfields of Scotland to the storm-lashed fjords of Norway, two squadrons of aviators from the other side of the world forged one of the most daring and effective maritime strike forces of the Second World War.

In 1944, the Royal Australian Air Force’s No. 455 Squadron and the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s No. 489 Squadron joined forces under RAF Coastal Command to hunt German shipping across the North Sea. Flying Bristol Beaufighters at wave-top height through sleet, flak and fighter interception, these young airmen fought with courage, ingenuity and grim determination — destroying convoys, crippling the enemy’s lifelines, and writing a new chapter in the ANZAC story.

Drawing on newly digitised archives, operational records, and eyewitness accounts, Air Vice-Marshal John Quaife (Ret’d) brings to life the exhilaration and chaos of low-level strike warfare and the enduring comradeship of those who flew and fell together. It is a fitting companion volume to Battle of the Atlantic, Quaife’s earlier book in the series on the RAAF in Coastal Command during the Battle of the Atlantic.

ANZAC Strike Wing is the untold story of Australians and New Zealanders who fought side by side in the air war over Europe — ordinary men achieving extraordinary feats in one of history’s most dangerous arenas.

ANZAC Strike Wing is the 12th title in The Australian Air Campaign Series.