This comprised two types of units, a Mobile Operational Naval Air Base (MONAB) and a Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard (TAMY).
When the naval threat in the Atlantic was clearly vanishing, with the decline of Nazi Germany, proposals were made to involve the Royal Navy in the Pacific War.
A well-known anglophobe, King preferred to exclude the British and, in addition, he laid down operating requirements that could not be met at the time.
King was effectively overruled, and the Royal Navy began establishing an adequate logistical infrastructure which included MONABs During the Second World War, to meet the Royal Navy Eastern Fleet's requirements, to provide serviceable aircraft for aircraft carriers, along with trained aircrew, airbases were constructed in Africa.
It was agreed to take up the offer of the fighter station to use as an HQ and forming centre, and the Royal Navy started moving into Ludham on 23 August.
The second type of unit devised was a Transportable Air Base (TAB) which was more akin to an aircraft repair yard.
The initial idea of the MONAB was "the rapid provision of facilities at airfields and airstrips for the training and maintenance of naval air squadrons disembarked from carriers operating in advance of existing bases".
These were not intended for the forward areas and were expected to be situated close to the main fleet, and their personnel needed to be highly skilled.
It was used to assemble the MONABs at around one per month, however, at the end of 1944 Ludham was returned to the RAF, and swapped for the Royal Air Force station at Middle Wallop, Hampshire.
The MNAO HQ, HMS Flycatcher, moved in and the airbase was known as Royal Naval Air Station Middle Wallop.
RAAF Jervis Bay, which was about 20 miles (32 km) east of Nowra, and was also planned as a MONAB to hold up to ninety aircraft and to have a MATMU.
Bankstown Airport, which was 12 miles (19 km) south west of Sydney, was needed as a Receipt and Despatch Unit and possess the ability for assembling seventy aircraft at first, then rising to two-hundred per month.
[13] The Mobile Naval Airfield Organisation's name was changed to reflect its new role, becoming the MONAB Development Unit (MDU).
[15] In order to support the mobile bases the MNAO needed to find large numbers of specialist vehicles and trailers to cater for the mobilisation.
[15] The basic MONAB structure comprised a fixed set of six common elements: command, administration, repair & air maintenance, operations & training, airfield defence, and construction.
Additional officers and ratings were added post formation and despatch as each unit needed to be modified to meet a specific role.
Five further MONABs and a planned second TAMY were all cancelled after V-J Day:[15] MONAB I formed at RNAS Ludlam (HMS Flycatcher) in September 1944, commissioned as HMS Nabbington on 28 October and departed from UK in November, arriving in Sydney in December, to commission at RAAF Nowra on 2 January 1945.
During March and April 1945, issues with the runways at RNAS Nowra meant the temporary use of the satellite base at RAAF Jervis Bay.
[5] The unit could support every aircraft type in Fleet Air Arm service, including Supermarine Sea Otter and Beech Expeditor.
[22] Insufficient aircraft manufacturing targets meant that the Mobile Storage unit was unnecessary, therefore, in February it was broken up, sections were allocated to a number of escort carriers and sent to Ponam Island to support MONAB IV and the Forward Aircraft Pool, and to TAMY I at RNAMY Archerfield in March.
[23] MONAB II and HMS Nabberley paid off at Bankstown Airport on 31 March 1946, the station returning to RAAF control.
[22] Assembled at RNAS Ludlam from mid-October 1944, commissioned as HMS Nabthorpe on 4 December, sailed for Australia and reached Sydney on 27 January 1945.
After V-J Day aircraft and equipment were removed from RNAS Ponam, this taking place in October, and the MONAB decommissioned on 10 November 1945.
Travelling onwards, it arrived at the former USN Seabee camp at Meeandah, near Brisbane, on 9 August and shared the airfield at Archerfield with TAMY I.
Japan surrendered only one week afterwards and HMS Nabreekie eventually decommissioned on 5 November, and the majority of its ratings transferred to TAMY I.
[11] Designated as a Fighter Support unit (Supermarine Seafire, Vought Corsair and Fairey Firefly), it arrived in Sydney on 31 August, destined for RAAF Amberley, Queensland, but was redirected to Hong Kong.
[21] MONAB X assembled at RNAS Middle Wallop (HMS Flycatcher) from 23 July 1945 and was intended to support Vought Corsair and Supermarine Seafire.
A map of Papua New Guinea illustrates the locations of United States Navy installations from World War II, highlighting the sites of a Mobile Naval Air Base (MONAB) and a Forward Aircraft Pool.
NAS Ponam Island served as the base for HMS Nabaron, while the Royal Naval Forward Aircraft Pool No.
A map of Hong Kong indicating the location of Kai Tak, the site where the MONAB HMS Nabaron was stationed.