10 Operational Group (later the Australian First Tactical Air Force) at its establishment in November 1943, when it comprised three squadrons equipped with Vultee Vengeance dive bombers.

The wing saw action in the assaults on Noemfoor, Tarakan, and North Borneo, by which time it was an all-Beaufighter formation made up of Nos.

It was to have taken part in the Battle of Balikpapan in June 1945, but unsuitable landing grounds meant that the Beaufighter units were withdrawn to Morotai, sitting out the remainder of the war before returning to Australia, where they disbanded, along with the wing headquarters, in 1946.

The group was to act as a mobile strike force capable of supporting Allied ground and naval units while they advanced against the Japanese in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), as distinct from the RAAF's area commands in Northern Australia, which had a geographically based static defence function.

24 Squadron, which was already based in the theatre of operations, was able to carry out its first sortie on 17 January, bombing targets along Shaggy Ridge in support of the Australian 7th Division.

78 Wing Kittyhawks, concentrated on harassing the retreating Japanese 20th Division, and attacking enemy airfields in the Madang Province.

10 OG's name was changed to the Australian First Tactical Air Force, ostensibly to emphasise "the formation's impressive size and ambitious purpose".

[2][8] That month, the wing's aircraft were credited with sinking 24 enemy transport ships and barges in support of the Allied landings during the Battle of Leyte.

[9] In November, the wing advanced to the island of Morotai, where it attacked Japanese airfields, shipping, and infrastructure on Celebes.

31 Squadron, a Beaufighter unit previously based in Darwin, Northern Territory, as part of North-Western Area Command.

77 Wing surgically attacked enemy targets at Labuan, sometimes within only 100 metres of Allied demolition teams laying charges to breach obstacles on the beach prior to the landings.

77 Wing was to have taken part in the final Allied offensive of the Borneo Campaign, Operation Oboe Two, the Battle of Balikpapan.

However Tarakan proved to be unsuitable for the Beaufighters to operate from, and they were withdrawn to Morotai, where they largely sat out the rest of the Pacific War.