Events
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 458 Squadron veterans Association Remembrance Service
On the visit to Malta of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 458 Squadron Veterans Association, The High Commission of Australia will hold a commemorative wreath-laying service co-hosted with 458 Squadron Association on Wednesday 15 October 2025, at 09.30am, to remember the ninety-five members of the squadron who are commemorated on the Malta Memorial/Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial and the nine airmen who are buried in Capuccini Naval Cemetery. The service is open to interested members of the public.
Location: Malta Memorial/Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial, Floriana
Time: We kindly request that guests arrive by 09.15am. (Expected finish time 10.00am)
Wreaths: Should guests wish to lay a wreath, this can be done after the official ceremony.
A limited number of seats will be arranged on a ‘first come first served’ basis.
Squadron History
Based in Malta on three separate occasions during the Second World War, RAAF 458 Squadron was formed at Williamtown, New South Wales, in 1941 and flew Wellington aircraft over Europe from Holme-on-Spalding Moor, United Kingdom. The Squadron later operated from North Africa, Sardinia, Italy, Gibraltar, and Malta, in bombing, anti-shipping and anti-submarine strikes in support of the North African and Italian Campaigns. The 458 Squadron’s crest details a flying torpedo, indicating its primary role of anti-shipping operations in the Mediterranean theatre of war, along with the corresponding motto: Invenimus Et Delemus: We Find and Destroy.
Close to 1,750 personnel from Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Canada, and South Africa served with RAAF 458 Squadron through its almost 4 years of war service.
The visit to Malta in October 2025 by 46 association members, descendants from sixteen Squadron Airmen, is to pay respects to the service and sacrifices made by the squadron during its war time operations and to mark the 80th Anniversary of the cessation of the Second World War in Europe.
Crew members of a Vickers Wellington bomber from No. 458 Squadron RAAF being rescued at sea by the ship ‘SS Destro’, after they were forced to ditch their aircraft. The airman climbing the ladder to board the ship is Frank Baggs. The men in the dinghy are, left to right (though one is unidentified): Flying Officer H. N. L. ("Nick") Bertram; "Tich" Woolman; Bob Softly; "Scotty" Scott. Another member of the Wellington crew, Howard Witaker, has already boarded the vessel. No. 458 Squadron was based on Malta at this time and was carrying out operations against enemy shipping in the waters around Sicily.
Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial collection C273560
A Wellington bomber of 458 Squadron, RAAF, with the call sign 'J' for Johnny displaying a large section of nose art depicting a map of Australia and New Zealand which has been over painted with a large Kookaburra holding a tiki in its beak.
Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial collection C337201
