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 controlled units based in central and northern Queensland as well as Papua New Guinea. It was formed in January 1942 from the eastern part of the former Northern Area Command, which had covered all of northern Australia and Papua. Headquartered at Townsville, Queensland, North-Eastern Area Command's responsibilities included air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its territory. Its flying units, equipped with fighters, reconnaissance bombers, dive bombers and transports, took part in the battles of Rabaul, Port Moresby and Milne Bay in 1942, and the landings at Hollandia and Aitape in 1944.
The area command continued to operate after the war, but its assets and staffing were much reduced. Its responsibilities were subsumed in February 1954 by the RAAF's new functional commands: Home (operational), Training, and Maintenance Commands. The area headquarters was disbanded in December 1956 and re-formed as Headquarters RAAF Townsville.
History
World War II
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) formed North-Eastern Area Command at Townsville, Queensland, on 15 January 1942, to take over the eastern portion of what was previously Northern Area Command.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 311 Northern Area had been established on 8 May 1941 as one of the RAAF's geographically based command-and-control zones, covering units in northern New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Papua.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 91–92 The roles of the area commands were air defence, protection of adjacent sea lanes, and aerial reconnaissance. Each was led by an Air Officer Commanding (AOC) responsible for the administration and operations of air bases and units within his boundary.
Northern Area was split into North-Western Area (NWA) and North-Eastern Area (NEA) following the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, to counter distinct threats to Northern Australia and New Guinea, respectively.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 111–112 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.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp. 302–304Stephens, The RAAF in the Southwest Pacific Area, p. 35 His headquarters staff numbered 248.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 154
On 20 January 1942, 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.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 135–136Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 354–358 The next day, NEA headquarters sent a signal to Lerew ordering him to keep his airfield open; Lerew, with only two Wirraways left, replied using a variant of 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, Lerew began evacuating staff to Port Moresby, New Guinea, on 22 January.
No. 33 Squadron, operating ex-Qantas Short Empire flying boats and several smaller transports, was raised in NEA on 19 February 1942.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 481RAAF Historical Section, Maritime and Transport Units, pp. 35–38 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.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 447–448 On 25 February, Nos. 3 and 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters were established at Townsville and Port Moresby, respectively, to coordinate fighter operations.Cooper, Kokoda Air Strikes, p. 53 Horn Island, in the Torres Strait, was raided by the Japanese on 14 March.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 453, 457 Three days later, seventeen P-40 Kittyhawks of No. 75 Squadron, recently formed at Townsville, deployed to Port Moresby.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 458–462 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.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 139–141Johnston, Whispering Death, pp. 164, 177
Several USAAF bomber formations operated under NEA's control in early 1942, including A-24 Banshees of the 8th Bombardment Squadron out of Port Moresby, and B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 435th Bombardment Squadron (initially known as the "Kangaroo Squadron") out of Townsville.Cooper, Kokoda Air Strikes, pp. 147, 180 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).Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 473Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 15–16 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".Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 473–478 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; overall responsibility for operational tasking in NEA transferred to the AAF at the end of July.Cooper, Kokoda Air Strikes, pp. 268–270
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.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 478Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, p. 134 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.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 151 The Japanese raided Townsville four times between 25 and 31 July; most bombs fell in the sea or the hills causing only one casualty, an injured child.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 562–563 NEA's boundaries were fine-tuned 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.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 588 Lukis handed over command of NEA to Group Captain (later Air Commodore) Harry Cobby on 25 August.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 588–589 By the end of the month, the headquarters staff numbered 684.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 244 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.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 603–604, 615–617 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.Stephens, The RAAF in the Southwest Pacific Area, pp. 33, 85
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.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 6Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 122–123 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.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 585–588Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 4–6 Bostock exercised control of air operations through the area commands, although RAAF Headquarters continued to hold administrative authority over all Australian units.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 144–145 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.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 42 No. 42 (Radar) Wing was formed at Townsville in February 1943, and the following month took control of all radar stations in NEA.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, pp. 326, 350 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.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 141