A long History

The Royal Australian Air Force RAAF Base Richmond is 50km north-west of Sydney. Best known as home for their Hercules medium transport aircraft and also a number of other units call Richmond home. The Effuzi club cinema chair was chosen for the recent refurbishment of their Metro Theatre.

RAAF Base Richmond was the first Air Force base to be established in New South Wales and the second within Australia. In 1925 the first Air Force element in New South Wales, No. 3 Squadron, was formed at Richmond.

From 1923 to 1936, RAAF Base Richmond was also used as a supplementary airport for Sydney, with Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith landing the Southern Cross there after his trans-Pacifica flight in 1928, and Miss Jean Batten landing after her solo flight from England in 1935.

At the outbreak of World War 2, No.3, 6, 9 and 22 Squadrons were based at Richmond, together with No.2 Aircraft Depot. No.8 Squadron formed on 11 September 1939 and No. 11 Squadron two weeks later.

During World War 2, Richmond developed into a base of major importance to Australia’s defence, and has since evolved from a combat centre to become the home of most of the Air Forces air transport fleet. As such, the base is now the hub of logistics support for the Australian Defence Forces.