Richard Cresswell, DFC (27 July 1920 – 12 December 2006) was an officer and pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He commanded No. 77 (Fighter) Squadron twice during World War II and again during the Korean War. Cresswell was credited with being the first RAAF pilot to shoot down an enemy aircraft at night over Australian soil, the only man to serve as commanding officer of an RAAF squadron on three occasions during wartime, and the first officer to lead a jet-equipped Australian squadron in combat. His performance in Korea earned him the Commonwealth and the US Distinguished Flying Crosses.

Born in Tasmania, Cresswell worked as an apprentice electrician before joining the RAAF in July 1938. He initially commanded No. 77 Squadron from April 1942 to August 1943, flying P-40 Kittyhawks in defence of Australia's North-Western Area against Japanese raiders. Cresswell claimed the squadron's first aerial victory—the first by an Australian over the mainland—in November 1942. He was wing leader of No. 81 (Fighter) Wing in New Guinea from May 1944 to March 1945, simultaneously commanding No. 77 Squadron for a second time between September and December 1944. In September 1950, during the Korean War, Cresswell took command of No. 77 Squadron in combat for the third time. He oversaw its conversion from P-51 Mustangs to Gloster Meteors, becoming the first RAAF commander of a jet squadron in war. Cresswell also flew F-80 Shooting Star and F-86 Sabre jets in combat while attached to the United States Air Force in Korea. He handed over command of No. 77 Squadron for the last time in August 1951, but flew six more missions as a Meteor pilot in 1953.

Cresswell was responsible for converting pilots to jet fighters as commanding officer of No. 2 Operational Training Unit in Australia from 1953 until 1956. He resigned from the RAAF the next year, and flew with Bobby Gibbes' Sepik Airways in New Guinea before joining de Havilland Australia in 1959. Initially employed as a pilot, he later became a salesman. Cresswell resigned from de Havilland in 1974 but maintained connections with military aviation, including No. 77 Squadron. He died in December 2006, aged eighty-six.

Richard Cresswell was born in Franklin, near Launceston, Tasmania, on 27 July 1920. He was the only child of English immigrants George Cresswell, an engineer, and his wife Constance de Havilland, of the de Havilland Aircraft family. His father died when Dick was three-and-a-half, and he later moved to Sydney with his mother. For three years he lived with another family in Balgowlah, and commenced his schooling at Manly West. He again lived with his mother in Potts Point between 1931 and 1938, continuing his education at Double Bay and Randwick. After leaving Randwick High School in 1935, he began technical studies at Ultimo as part of an electrical apprenticeship with Westinghouse.

Fired partly by his mother's stories of joy flights in pre-war Britain, and a desire to become a flying boat captain for Imperial Airways, Cresswell applied to join the Royal Air Force (RAF) in September 1937. Receiving no answer from the RAF, he applied for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and was accepted. He entered No. 1 Flying Training School at Point Cook, Victoria, as an air cadet in July 1938. Over the next twelve months he learnt to fly in Avro Cadet, de Havilland Gipsy Moth and Westland Wapiti trainers, and graduated as a pilot officer. His first posting was to No. 3 (Army Cooperation) Squadron at Richmond, New South Wales, where he began flying Hawker Demon fighters in July 1939. Cresswell recalled a mix of excitement and panic within the squadron when World War II broke out two months later: "The second night we all slept on the hangar floor next to our aircraft. Imagine it: there was war over in Europe and here we were at action stations!"

After a brief posting to Point Cook in early 1940, Cresswell undertook the instructors' course at Central Flying School in Camden, New South Wales. He then became an instructor at No. 2 Service Flying Training School, which was formed at Wagga Wagga in July and operated Avro Ansons and CAC Wirraways. The school's commander, Frederick Scherger, advised Cresswell to grow a moustache to overcome his youthful appearance. He was promoted to flight lieutenant in January 1941. Following the bombing of Darwin by Japanese forces on 19 February 1942, Cresswell was posted to Williamtown as a liaison officer with the 9th Squadron of the US 49th Pursuit Group (later the 49th Fighter Group), which operated P-40 Kittyhawks and would shortly transfer to Darwin to provide air defence for the North-Western Area.

The RAAF had meanwhile raised three fighter units—Nos. 75, 76 and 77 Squadrons—equipped with Kittyhawks recently delivered from the United States. Cresswell, newly promoted to squadron leader, assumed command of No. 77 Squadron at Pearce, Western Australia, on 20 April. At twenty-one, he was younger than most of his personnel. Drawing on his technical experience at Westinghouse, he encouraged his pilots to respect their aircraft and the ground crews that maintained them. Initially responsible for the air defence of Perth, No. 77 Squadron transferred to Batchelor Airfield near Darwin in August, becoming the first RAAF fighter unit to be stationed in the North-Western Area. It moved to another of Darwin's satellite airfields, Livingstone, in September. Cresswell led the squadron in the defence of Darwin against Japanese raiders and claimed its first aerial victory just after 5 a.m. on 23 November 1942, when he destroyed a Mitsubishi "Betty" bomber. It was the first "kill" for an Australian squadron over the mainland, and the first night victory over Australia. When he returned to base and was asked what he felt like, Cresswell replied, "Breakfast". He souvenired the radio operator's seat from the bomber's wreckage.

In February 1943, after No. 1 (Fighter) Wing and its three Supermarine Spitfire squadrons became operational in the Darwin area, No. 77 Squadron was transferred to Milne Bay in New Guinea. It came under the control of the newly formed No. 71 Wing, which was part of No. 9 Operational Group, the RAAF's main mobile formation in the South West Pacific Area. The Japanese attacked Milne Bay on 14 April, and Cresswell claimed one of four bombers (and a fighter) credited to No. 77 Squadron. The next month, No. 77 Squadron began moving to Goodenough Island, where it was controlled by No. 73 Wing. As Japanese fighter opposition was limited, Cresswell led the squadron in several ground-attack missions over New Britain. He was due to hand over command to his designated successor, Flight Lieutenant Daryl Sproule, on 2 August, but Sproule crash-landed during a raid the same day and was captured and executed by the Japanese. As a result, Cresswell remained in command another three weeks.