After seeing action during the Pacific War flying Lockheed Hudson and, later, DAF Beaufort bombers, the squadron was disbanded a second time in January 1946.

[3] It first saw action within hours of the outbreak of war in the Pacific in December 1941 when its 12 aircraft attacked Japanese shipping off Malaya.

[2] The squadron suffered heavy losses from anti-aircraft fire and Japanese fighters in the first days of the Malayan Campaign, during which time it undertook bombing and reconnaissance missions.

With the new force, they undertook further reconnaissance and bombing missions, during which the squadron continued to suffer heavy losses until No.

The squadron practiced cross-country navigation, bombing and air-to-air gunnery around Canberra, as well as torpedo training at Jervis Bay, before moving to Bohle River in northern Queensland in July 1943.

The squadron then moved to Goodenough Island, Papua New Guinea, in September and began flying combat missions against Japanese airfields and supply dumps and shipping in the New Britain area.

[4] Following the isolation of Rabaul, the squadron moved to the New Guinea mainland in April 1944 and flew strikes against Japanese positions near Wewak and anti-shipping patrols until the end of the war from bases around Nadzab and Tadji.

[5] After the RAAF ordered eleven Bell AH-1G Cobra attack helicopters in December 1970, plans were developed to re-form No.