The loss of these bases made Australia, especially the north of the country, a valuable staging area for the war against the Japanese.

In the following months, military aircraft of several countries competed for space with the civil airliners still operating.

On 1 July 1942, the RAAF transferred control of the airfield to the United States Army Air Forces.

Visitors to the station included General Douglas MacArthur and a young Gough Whitlam, then a navigator on a Lockheed Ventura.

In February 1945, the Royal Navy moved its Transportable Aircraft Maintenance Yard No.1, known as TAMY 1, to Archerfield.