Inside the Archive #3 | The CAC Boomerang

Forget the quintessentially Australian name; the Boomerang story more sums up the Australian can-do attitude that guided the nation through WWII. Dreamt up in response to an urgent need for a fighter aircraft, the type moved from approval to first flight in 16 weeks, debuting in 1942. It’s a feat RAAF today rightly calls a “remarkable achievement”.

The breakneck turnaround – sans even a prototype – was achieved because the guts of the aircraft shared the same design DNA as the Wirraway trainer, already in production by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. Some 249 Boomerangs were built between 1942 and 1945 and flown by Nos. 4, 5, 83, 84 and 85 Squadrons in a home defence role. That meant escorting shipping convoys and dangerous operations against the Japanese. It was also known for its low-level army co-operation work over the New Guinea jungles, which included marking targets for P-40 Kittyhawks and Corsairs and helping to protect soldiers on the ground.