raaf geographically based commands raised royal_australian_air_force raaf world war formed covered northern australia headquartered queensland northern area command primarily responsible air defence aerial reconnaissance protection sea lanes boundaries january following outbreak pacific war divided counter japanese threats northern australia respectively history prior world war royal_australian_air_force small elements directly controlled melbourne war broke raaf began command structure expected increases manpower units march divided australia geographically based command control zones roles area commands air defence protection adjacent sea lanes aerial reconnaissance led air officer commanding responsible administration operations air bases units boundary headquartered queensland formed leadership command controlled units northern new_south_wales queensland responsible air defence entire north coast australia main air base raaf augmented satellite bases region june november took lead tracking japanese pearl increased presence north western australia regarded significant intelligence services disbanded august responsibilities divided newly formed training group december strength consisted squadron flying lockheed squadron squadron based pacific war broke nos squadrons deployed forces advanced operational bases dutch_east_indies nos squadrons flying based port squadron instructed strike japanese bases shipping possible obtain warning possible attempted southward movements japanese open shipping routes coral deny enemy access territories new_guinea nos squadrons engaged reconnaissance maritime patrol sporadic bombing missions japanese targets dutch_east_indies short modern fighters sufficient numbers bombers raaf units words official history australia war virtually powerless attack defend japanese forces building region january split counter distinct japanese threats darwin case port remained new headquartered darwin inaugural aftermath following end war chief air staff air vice marshal proposed reducing extant mainland area commands north western eastern southern western areas covering queensland rejected plan wartime area command boundaries essentially remained place supplanted functional command control system home operational training
Northern Area Command (RAAF)