 = North @-@ Eastern Area Command ( RAAF ) = 
 
 North @-@ Eastern Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force ( RAAF ) during World War II . For most of its existence it covered central and northern Queensland , and Papua New Guinea . It was formed in January 1942 from the eastern part of the former Northern Area Command , which had covered the whole of northern Australia and Papua . Headquartered at Townsville , Queensland , North @-@ Eastern Area Command was primarily responsible for air defence , aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries . Aircraft under its control took part in the battles of Rabaul , Port Moresby and Milne Bay in 1942 , and the landings at Hollandia and Aitape in 1944 . The command continued to operate following the end of the war , before its responsibilities were subsumed in 1954 by the RAAF 's new functional command @-@ and @-@ control system ; the headquarters was disbanded two years later . 
 
 = = History = = 
 
 
 = = = World War II = = = 
 
 North @-@ Eastern Area Command was formed at Townsville , Queensland , on 15 January 1942 , taking over the eastern portion of what was previously Northern Area Command . Northern Area had been established on 8 May 1941 as one of the RAAF 's geographically based command @-@ and @-@ control zones , and covered northern New South Wales , Queensland , the Northern Territory , and Papua . The roles of the area commands were air defence , protection of adjacent sea lanes , and aerial reconnaissance . Each area was led by an Air Officer Commanding ( AOC ) responsible for the administration and operations of air bases and units within his boundary . 
 The outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 was the catalyst for Northern Area being split into North @-@ Western Area ( NWA ) and North @-@ Eastern Area ( NEA ) , to counter distinct threats to Northern Australia and New Guinea , respectively . Air Commodore Frank Lukis , formerly in charge of Northern Area , was NEA 's inaugural AOC , taking responsibility for RAAF operations against the Japanese in New Guinea , New Britain and surrounding islands . His headquarters staff numbered 284 . On 20 January 1942 , a force of over 100 Japanese aircraft attacked Rabaul , destroying or badly damaging six CAC Wirraways and killing or wounding eleven crewmen of No. 24 Squadron under Wing Commander John Lerew . The following day , NEA headquarters sent a signal to Lerew ordering him to keep his airfield open , to which Lerew , with only two Wirraways left , replied using the legendary ancient gladiatorial phrase to honour an Emperor : " Morituri vos salutamus " ( " We who are about to die salute you " ) . Ignoring a further message from headquarters to abandon his squadron and escape in a Lockheed Hudson bomber , on 22 January Lerew began evacuating staff to Port Moresby , New Guinea . 
 No. 33 Squadron , operating ex @-@ Qantas Short Empire flying boats and several smaller transports , was raised in NEA on 19 February 1942 . Earlier that month , Lukis warned higher command of the poor state of preparedness and low morale of Australian Army troops at Port Moresby , due to lack of air cover and apparent lack of interest from government echelons . On 25 February , Nos. 3 and 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters were established to coordinate fighter operations ; they were based at Townsville and Port Moresby respectively . Seventeen P @-@ 40 Kittyhawks of No. 75 Squadron , recently formed at Townsville , were deployed to Port Moresby in mid @-@ March . Commanded by Squadron Leader John Jackson , the squadron suffered heavy losses in the ensuing battle . At one point NEA headquarters gave Jackson permission to withdraw but he refused , and the squadron was eventually credited with destroying thirty @-@ five Japanese aircraft in the air and on the ground , securing Port Moresby until relieved by the 35th and 36th Squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) , operating P @-@ 39 Airacobras . 
 Several USAAF bomber formations operated under NEA 's control in early 1942 , including A @-@ 24 Banshees of the 8th Squadron from Port Moresby , and B @-@ 17 Flying Fortresses of the 435th Squadron ( initially known as the " Kangaroo Squadron " ) from Townsville . As of 20 April , operational authority over all RAAF combat infrastructure , including area commands , was invested in the newly established Allied Air Forces ( AAF ) Headquarters under South West Pacific Area Command ( SWPA ) . One result of this was the integration of USAAF and RAAF staff at area headquarters . According to the official history of the RAAF , though " more a diplomatic gesture than a practical method of war organisation " , it gave personnel from the two services the opportunity to quickly become acclimatised to each other and " in North @-@ Eastern Area , as an example , the atmosphere was happy and the staff extremely cooperative " . Following the Battle of the Coral Sea in May , USAAF units no longer operated under RAAF control in the NEA but were commanded directly by senior American officers of the AAF . 
 NEA 's operational headquarters , a reinforced concrete bunker known as Building 81 , was completed in May 1942 . Located on Green Street , Townsville , at the base of Castle Hill , it was topped with a suburban house to mislead enemy aircraft . The same month , Eastern Area Command was formed , taking control of units in New South Wales and southern Queensland from Southern Area and NEA . This left NEA in command of Nos. 24 , 33 and 76 Squadrons , as well as No. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters , at Townsville ; No. 100 Squadron at Cairns ; No. 32 Squadron at Horn Island ; and Nos. 11 , 20 and 75 Squadrons , as well as No. 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters , at Port Moresby . NEA 's boundaries were finetuned on 19 August : a portion of Queensland within the Barkly Tableland and the Haslingden and Heywood districts was assigned to the control of North @-@ Western Area . Lukis handed over command of NEA to Group Captain ( later Air Commodore ) Harry Cobby on 25 August . By the end of the month , the headquarters staff numbered 684 . No. 75 Squadron , replenished after its defence of Port Moresby , and No. 76 Squadron , deployed north from Townsville and also flying Kittyhawks , played what senior Australian Army commanders described as the " decisive " role in the Battle of Milne Bay in New Guinea during August and September 1942 . During the battle , Cobby exercised overall command of the RAAF units from NEA headquarters , while their efforts were coordinated on the ground by Group Captain Bill Garing , NEA 's senior air staff officer . 
 On 1 September 1942 , No. 9 ( Operational ) Group was formed at Port Moresby as a mobile strike force to move forward with Allied advances in the Pacific , in contrast to the static , defensive nature of the area commands . It took over all units in New Guinea previously operating under NEA Command . NEA initially retained administrative control of No. 9 Group but , on 1 January 1943 , the group was made independent of the area command and its administration became the responsibility of RAAF Headquarters , Melbourne . September 1942 also saw the formation of RAAF Command , led by Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock , to oversee the majority of Australian flying units in the SWPA . Bostock exercised control of air operations through the area commands , although RAAF Headquarters continued to hold overarching administrative authority over all Australian units . He personally coordinated operations when they involved more than one area command , for instance when the fighter squadrons of both NWA and NEA were required to repulse a major attack . No. 42 ( Radar ) Wing was formed at Townsville in February 1943 , and the following month took control of all radar stations in NEA . As of April 1943 , the area command directly controlled four squadrons tasked primarily with anti @-@ submarine warfare : No. 7 Squadron , flying Bristol Beaufort reconnaissance @-@ bombers out of Ross River ; No. 9 Squadron , a fleet co @-@ operation unit flying Supermarine Seagulls from Bowen ; and Nos. 11 and 20 Squadrons , flying reconnaissance and bombing missions with PBY Catalinas from Cairns . 
 In early 1943 , Japan was still believed to be capable of invading , or at least bombing , the Torres Strait islands , and NEA had only No. 7 Squadron , now operating from Horn Island , to counter the threat . It was reinforced in April by No. 84 Squadron , flying CAC Boomerang fighters . The same month , No. 72 Wing was formed at Townsville , before deploying to Merauke , New Guinea . Controlling No. 84 Squadron , No. 86 Squadron ( flying Kittyhawks ) , and No. 12 Squadron ( Vultee Vengeance dive bombers ) , the wing was responsible for Torres Strait 's air defence , as well as offensive operations against infrastructure and shipping in Dutch New Guinea . In October , No. 84 Squadron converted to Kittyhawks and transferred to the newly formed No. 75 Wing , which was given responsibility for units at Horn Island , Thursday Island , and Higgins Field on Cape York Peninsula . In February 1944 , No. 75 Wing headquarters moved from Horn Island to Higgins Field , where it was soon joined by other units under its control , Nos. 7 and 23 Squadrons ; the latter operated Vengeances until being declared non @-@ operational in June , prior to re @-@ equipping with B @-@ 24 Liberators for duty in North @-@ Western Area . By May , NEA 's order of battle on the Australian mainland consisted of Nos. 7 , 9 , 13 ( operating Lockheed Venturas from Cooktown ) , 20 and 23 Squadrons . 
 Cobby served as AOC NEA until November 1943 , handing over to Air Commodore John Summers , who held command for the remainder of the war . By the end of November , NEA headquarters staff numbered 499 , including ninety @-@ seven officers . NEA 's Catalinas joined aircraft of No. 9 Group in support of the US invasion of New Britain in December 1943 and January 1944 . The Catalinas also conducted mine @-@ laying operations around the Timor Sea in the lead @-@ up to the landings at Hollandia and Aitape in April 1944 . In August , No. 76 Wing headquarters , formed at Townsville in January and subsequently based at Cairns , was transferred to Darwin , Northern Territory . There it came under the control of NWA headquarters and oversaw operations by three Catalina squadrons , including No. 20 . The same month , No. 75 Wing was disbanded and its units became the direct responsibility of NEA headquarters . No. 42 Wing disbanded in October 1944 , following a decision to assign control of RAAF radar stations to mobile fighter control units or similar formations . By the end of February 1945 , NEA headquarters staff numbered 743 , including 127 officers . No. 72 Wing headquarters transferred to Townsville in May that year , and disbanded the following month . 
 
 = = = Post @-@ war activity and disbandment = = = 
 
 Following the end of the Pacific War in August 1945 , SWPA was dissolved and RAAF Headquarters again assumed full control of all its operational formations , including the area commands . By the end of the month , NEA headquarters staff numbered 526 , including ninety @-@ eight officers . The Air Force shrank dramatically as personnel were demobilised and units disbanded ; most of the RAAF 's bases and aircraft employed in operations after the war were situated within Eastern Area 's sphere of control in New South Wales and southern Queensland . In September 1946 , the Chief of the Air Staff , Air Vice Marshal George Jones , proposed reducing the five extant mainland area commands ( North @-@ Western , North @-@ Eastern , Eastern , Southern , and Western Areas ) to three : Northern Area , covering Queensland and the Northern Territory ; Eastern Area , covering New South Wales ; and Southern Area , covering Western Australia , South Australia , Victoria and Tasmania . The Australian Government rejected the plan and the wartime area command boundaries essentially remained in place . By 1949 , NEA headquarters was located in Sturt Street , Townsville . No. 10 Squadron was based at Townsville from March that year , operating Avro Lincolns over the Pacific and Australia 's northern approaches in the maritime reconnaissance and search @-@ and @-@ rescue roles . Air Commodore Ian McLachlan was appointed AOC NEA in September 1951 and served two years in the post before handing over to acting Air Commodore Patrick Heffernan . 
 Commencing in October 1953 , the RAAF was reorganised from a geographically based command @-@ and @-@ control system into one based on function . In February 1954 , the newly constituted functional organisations — Home , Training , and Maintenance Commands — assumed control of all operations , training and maintenance from North @-@ Eastern Area Command . NEA headquarters remained in existence , but only as one of Home Command 's " remote control points " . It was finally disbanded on 3 December 1956 , and was succeeded by Headquarters RAAF Townsville . 
 As of 2009 , the former NEA headquarters in Building 81 , Green Street , housed Townsville 's State Emergency Service group . 
 
 = = Order of battle = = 
 
 As at 30 April 1942 , NEA 's order of battle comprised : 
 RAAF Station Townsville 
 No. 24 ( General Purpose ) Squadron 
 No. 33 ( Transport ) Squadron 
 No. 76 ( Fighter ) Squadron 
 RAAF Station Amberley 
 No. 23 ( General Purpose ) Squadron 
 RAAF Station Port Moresby 
 No. 11 ( General Reconnaissance ) Squadron 
 No. 20 ( General Reconnaissance ) Squadron 
 No. 32 ( General Reconnaissance ) Squadron 
 No. 75 ( Fighter ) Squadron 
 No. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters , Townsville 
 No. 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters , Port Moresby 
 
 