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No. 2 Airfield Defence Squadron (2AFDS) was an Australian military unit whose role was to protect and defend airfields, buildings, equipment, and personnel. 

2AFDS History

No 2 Airfield Defence Squadron (2AFDS) was initially formed on the 7th of April 1945 in Morotai. Officially known as 2 Aerodrome Defence Squadron (2ADS) it saw action in Morotai, Labuan, Brunei, Borneo, and Balikpapan and in the Philippines. Elements also saw action with Commando 'Z' Force groups on various Japanese Islands.  The squadron was disbanded On October 29th, 1945. 

History and Beginning

During the Second World War the Australian government realized after the bombing of Darwin and attacks on Australian Air Force bases in the Pacific that they needed a unit in the RAAF to handle airfield Defence.

In 1942, the Aerodrome Defence Unit comprised of mostly grounded Pilot Officers who had undergone airfield Defence training provided by the Australian Army. The recruits were trained in Anti-Aircraft gun operation, ground patrolling, scouting and hand to hand combat. The unit soon grew to 300 and was designated a home Defence unit based in Tindal, Northern Territory.

By 1943, parts of the Aerodrome Defence Unit were posted to New Guinea where they saw light combat duties such as patrolling and scouting for enemy positions. In 1945 the unit was sent to Borneo where they served out the war. The unit suffered one recorded casualty during the war and was disbanded on 29 October 1945. 

Second World War

While the RAAF did not face a significant ground threat in the first years of World War II, an Air Force Guard mustering was proposed in 1940 to receive training in infantry tactics to defend RAAF bases against attack. The idea never progressed and those recruited were assigned to other mustering's.

Following the bombing of Darwin in 1942 and ground attacks on Allied air bases, Army Lieutenant Colonel H.H. Carr was seconded to the RAAF from 2/22 Battalion AIF in May 1942. Further secondments of infantry officers and NCOs followed and the RAAF Defence School was established at Hamilton, Victoria in September 1942 to train Army and RAAF officers as Aerodrome Defence Officers who were then posted to RAAF units to deliver ground defence training.

In October 1942 the Security Guards Unit was formed at Livingstone Field, Northern Territory. All RAAF guards were posted to this unit, irrespective of where they were serving. The Security Guards Unit was charged with providing guards for operational bases both within Australia and overseas. Trainees were instructed in the employment of anti-aircraft, ground patrolling, scouting and hand-to-hand combat. The unit had a strength of 567 increasing to 943 by July 1943 when the unit moved to Darwin and was renamed No.1 Airfield Defence Squadron in April 1945. 

A second unit, the Defence Pool, was established at Noemfoor in December 1944. A detachment of the Defence Pool was deployed to Morotai island in early 1945 in order to prepare for the arrival of the main party of the unit. The Defence Pool was subsequently disbanded on 28 March 1945 which led to the establishment of No. 2 Airfield Defence Squadron.

By May of that year ADGs had participated in a number of operations, including the recapture of Tarakan, Brunei and Balikpapan. They had also suffered casualties, among them Leading Aircraftman Thomas Irvine and Corporal Clarence Tully who were killed during Japanese raids on Tarakan airfield. LAC Irvine died on 5 May 1945 and is believed to be the first ADG killed by enemy action; he is buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery on Labuan Island.

1945–1965

Following the end of hostilities, both Airfield Defence Squadrons were disbanded on 19 November 1945. Aerodrome Defence Officers (ADOs) and Aerodrome Defence Instructors (ADIs) were retained to deliver basic ground defence instruction to RAAF members during training. A significant proportion of RAAF National Service recruits received training in ground defence techniques. No. 1 Airfield Defence Squadron was re-established at Mallala, South Australia as a National Service unit in 1951 and again disbanded in 1952. 

Kevin George Otway was born on a soldier settler farm in Western Australia and was the middle child of eleven children.  The farm was in a remote area near Mount Helena and although Kevin loved cattle he had a healthy respect for horses after one stood on his foot.  

Kevin always admired his mother who looked after and brought up the Otway children by herself.  Kevins father was a World War 1 returned serviceman and strict disciplinarian who became an itinerant worker during the depression and was subsequently absent from the family home for many lengthy periods at a time.

Kevin had a limited school education in the country and there was not much prospect for work.  Kevin joined the RAAF in September 1943 and after his initial training at Busselton in Western Australia and qualifying as an Airfield Defence Guard he was posted to Laverton in Victoria.

From Laverton leading aircraftsman Otway was sent to Quorn in South Australia and then went by train to Alice Springs before travelling by road transport to Darwin arriving there in October 1944.  Kevin often talked about the road trip from Alice Springs to Birdum about 240 miles south of Darwin that he made in the back of an Army truck and much to the horror of the troops onboard who found the bore water they used for drinking and the non-stop driving meant there was many trips to the edge of the truck for quick relief.

Kevin was one of 12 volunteers selected for a hit and run raid on the Japanese Island of Timor in late 1944 and trained in disembarking from dinghies to submarines and Catalina flying boats.  Kevin remembered those training drills very well because he could not swim fortunately the exercise ended up being cancelled and he was subsequently transferred to Borneo.  Kevin arrived in Morotai in the Dutch East Indies on a converted tourist ship the ‘SS Mexico’ as part of the Australian Army’s ‘B’ Company, 11th Platoon’ sent to reinforce the region.

Kevin returned home to Australia after the war but found civilian life was not for him and rejoined the RAAF five months after being demobilised in 1946.  Kevin served in Darwin and Woomera during the atomic bomb testing and went to Lithgow in NSW to keep the coalmines operating during the Coalminers Strike.

Kevin had started writing to Pat as a penfriend at the end of the war and when he was posted to Lithgow during the miners’ strike he caught a taxi from Lithgow to Sydney to meet her.  Pat always thought he was a rich man because he was able to afford a taxi to travel from the Blue Mountains to Drummoyne in Sydney to see her.

Pat and Kevin married in 1950 and Pat moved to Darwin where Kevin was stationed with the RAAF.  Kevin and Pat had many fond memories and stories of their life in Darwin when they were living in a RAAF Nissan hut and about the many trips they made by car from Darwin to Sydney.  Kevin was a keen sportsman who played cricket and Aussie Rules with the RAAF.

In 1954 Kevin finally left the Air Force and they moved to Dundas in Sydney where Kevin joined the ‘Argentine Ant eradication program’ considered at the time to be the world’s worst ant pest.  Kevin travelled to many parts of Sydney from his headquarters at the Strathfield Council depot in Homebush to locate and eradicate the ants.  He later became a ‘Plant Quarantine Inspector’ with the NSW Government based at Sydney Airport where he enjoyed being with his daughter Judy when he drove her to work on many occasions after she joined TAA.

Kevin and Pat retired at Drummoyne in Sydney before moving to Blue Bay on the Central Coast where Kevin enjoyed many hours in his garden doing his favourite hobby of growing Herbs, vegetables and fuchsias.  In 2002 Kevin and Pat moved to Banora Point where he finally lived in a house with an automatic garage door and Pat had her ensuite.  Pat and Kevin remained married for over 60 years and moved into the Darlington R.S.L Care home together in January 2011.