It was initially equipped with six Avro Anson aircraft, and conducted training exercises until the outbreak of World War II.
During late 1939 it also patrolled the remote coastline between Derby and Wyndham in the north of Western Australia as it was thought that German vessels might shelter there.
[3] In mid-January 1940 a detachment was deployed to Albany in the south of the state to protect a convoy carrying elements of the Second Australian Imperial Force in cooperation with No.
The squadron flew in support of many subsequent troop convoys throughout the war, and deployed aircraft to Albany on other occasions.
[3][4] The squadron continued its regular program of patrols throughout the year, though a detachment was deployed to Darwin in the Northern Territory for a period in December.
[8] The squadron's operations were intensified in March 1943 in response to concerns that Japanese ships would conduct a raid into the Indian Ocean.
14 Squadron conducted patrols of the waters around Exmouth Gulf while the British Eastern Fleet refueled there ahead of the Operation Transom raid against Surabaya in Java; United States Navy Consolidated PBY Catalinas and Supermarine Spitfires from No.
[7][11] In the event, the Japanese raiders sank a single ship in the central Indian Ocean before returning to base.
[12] By this stage of the war, the Allies were rapidly advancing into Japanese-held territory, and the threat of attacks on shipping in Australian waters had greatly decreased.
The squadron was placed on alert between September and October in response to reports that German submarines might operate off Fremantle, and expanded its program of patrols.
[14] On 6 February 1945 this submarine sank the liberty ship Peter Silvester in the Indian Ocean while returning to its base in the Japanese-occupied Netherlands East Indies.
[5] The squadron ceased making regular anti-submarine patrols on 23 May 1945, though it retained responsibility for shipping protection off Western Australia in the event of any renewed enemy attacks.