During February and March 1942, the RAAF formed four transport units: Nos. 33, 34, 35 and 36 Squadrons. No. 33 Squadron was established on 16 February at Townsville, Queensland, under the control of North-Eastern Area Command. It was equipped with four ex-Qantas Short Empire flying boats transferred from No. 11 Squadron, along with several smaller types including de Havilland Dragons and Tiger Moths, Avro Ansons, and Vultee Vigilants. The squadron suffered its first loss on 27 February, when one of the Empires crashed on landing at Townsville; the six crew members were killed. A second Empire was destroyed at its mooring during a Japanese air attack on Broome, Western Australia, on 3 March; another Empire was impressed from Qantas to replace the lost aircraft. Two months later the commanding officer, Squadron Leader Charles Gurney, was killed while co-piloting a Martin B-26 Marauder of the 19th Bomb Squadron USAAF that crashed after attacking Rabaul. One of No. 33 Squadron's tasks was search-and-rescue; it lost another Empire on 8 August 1942, when it sank in heavy seas off the coast of New Guinea while trying to rescue survivors of a torpedoed ship.