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 . It 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 New Guinea . 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 ) who was responsible for the administration and operations of all air bases and units within his boundary . The outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941 led to Northern Area being split into North - Western and North - Eastern Areas , to counter Japanese threats to Northern Australia and Papua New Guinea , respectively . Air Commodore Frank Lukis , previously in charge of Northern Area , was North - Eastern Area ' s inaugural commander . On 20 January 1942 , a force of over 100 Japanese aircraft attacked Rabaul , destroying or badly damaging six CAC Wirraway s and killing or wounding eleven crewmen of No . 24 Squadron under Wing Commander John Lerew . The following day , North - Eastern Area headquarters signalled Lerew to keep his airfield open , to which Lerew , with only two Wirraways left , replied using the legendary ancient gladiator ial 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 . In February 1942 , 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 ; in March , seventeen P - 40 Kittyhawks of No . 75 Squadron , newly formed under North - Eastern Area , were deployed to the region . Commanded by Squadron Leader John Jackson , the squadron suffered heavy losses in the ensuing Battle of Port Moresby but was credited with destroying thirty - five Japanese aircraft in the air and on the ground , securing the town until the arrival of reinforcements from the United States Army Air Forces . As of 20 April 1942 , 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 ) . North - Eastern Area ' s operational headquarters , a reinforced concrete bunker known as Building 81 , was completed in May . 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 southern Queensland , as well as all of New South Wales . Lukis handed over command of North - Eastern Area to Group Captain ( later Air Commodore ) Harry Cobby on 25 August . No . 75 Squadron , replenished after its defence of Port Moresby , and No . 76 Squadron , deployed north from Townsville , 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 . Cobby exercised overall command of the RAAF units from North - Eastern Area headquarters , while their efforts were coordinated on the ground by Group Captain Bill Garing , North - Eastern Area ' 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 North - Eastern Area Command . North - Eastern Area initially retained administrative control of No . 9 Group but , on 1 January 1943 , this 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 . At this stage Japan was still believed to be capable of invading , or at least bombing , the Torres Strait islands , and North - Eastern Area controlled only No . 7 Squadron , flying Bristol Beaufort reconnaissance - bombers from Horn Island , to counter the threat . It was reinforced in April 1943 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 Kittyhawk fighters ) , 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 . Following the formation of No . 72 Wing , North - Eastern Area directly controlled four squadrons tasked primarily with anti - submarine warfare : No . 7 Squadron , now operating 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 . Cobby served as AOC North - Eastern Area until November 1943 , handing over to Air Commodore J . H . Summers , who held command for the remainder of the war . North - Eastern Area ' 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 . The success of the Catalinas ' mining operations over the previous year led RAAF Command in September 1944 to commit additional resources to the campaign , despatching No . 76 Wing headquarters , based at Cairns since January , to Darwin , Northern Territory , where it oversaw operations by three Catalina squadrons , including No . 20 . Post - war disbandment . Following the end of the Pacific War in August 1945 , SWPA was dissolved and RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne again assumed full control of all its operational formations , including the area commands . 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 , North - Eastern Area Command headquarters was located in Sturt Street , Townsville . Air Commodore Ian McLachlan was appointed AOC in September 1951 and served two years in the post before handing over to acting Air Commodore P . G . 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 . North - Eastern Area remained in existence , but only as one of Home Command ' s " remote control points " . The headquarters was finally disbanded on 3 December 1956 . As of 2009 , the former North - Eastern Area headquarters in Building 81 , Green Street , housed Townsville ' s State Emergency Service group . Order of battle . As of 30 April 1942 , North - Eastern Area ' s order of battle comprised :