North-Eastern Area Command

File:RAAFAreaCommands1941.png

The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) formed North-Eastern Area Command at Townsville, Queensland, on 15 January 1942, to take over the eastern portion of what was previously Northern Area Command.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070486/document/5519769.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, p. 311] Northern Area had been established on 8 May 1941 as one of the RAAF's geographically based command-and-control zones, covering units in northern New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Papua.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070724/document/5520006.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 91–92] The roles of the area commands were air defence, protection of adjacent sea lanes, and aerial reconnaissance. Each was led by an Air Officer Commanding (AOC) responsible for the administration and operations of air bases and units within his boundary.{{cite magazine |title = Organising for war: The RAAF air campaigns in the Pacific | magazine = Pathfinder |issue= 121| date = October 2009| url = http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Pathfinder/PF121-Organising-for-War-The-RAAF-Air-Campaigns-in-the-Pacific.pdf|publisher=Air Power Development Centre|access-date=2 July 2016}}

Northern Area was split into North-Western Area (NWA) and North-Eastern Area (NEA) following the outbreak of the Pacific War in December 1941, to counter distinct threats to Northern Australia and New Guinea, respectively.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 111–112 Air Commodore Frank Lukis, formerly in charge of Northern Area, was NEA's inaugural AOC, taking responsibility for RAAF operations against the Japanese in New Guinea, New Britain and surrounding islands.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, pp. 302–304Stephens, The RAAF in the Southwest Pacific Area, p. 35 His headquarters staff numbered 248.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 154

On 20 January 1942, over 100 Japanese aircraft attacked Rabaul, destroying or badly damaging six CAC Wirraways and killing or wounding eleven crewmen of No. 24 Squadron under Wing Commander John Lerew.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 135–136Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070489/document/5519772.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 354–358] The next day, NEA headquarters sent a signal to Lerew ordering him to keep his airfield open; Lerew, with only two Wirraways left, replied using a variant of the legendary ancient gladiatorial phrase to honour an emperor, "Morituri vos salutamus" ("We who are about to die salute you"). Ignoring a further message from headquarters to abandon his squadron and escape in a Lockheed Hudson bomber, Lerew began evacuating staff to Port Moresby, New Guinea, on 22 January.{{cite web|url=http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/HistoryRecord/HistoryRecordDetail.aspx?rid=408|title=Gladiator's salute from Rabaul's air commander|publisher=Air Power Development Centre|access-date=6 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316041710/http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/HistoryRecord/HistoryRecordDetail.aspx?rid=408|archive-date=16 March 2016}}

File:013177LukisCobby1940.jpg

No. 33 Squadron, operating ex-Qantas Short Empire flying boats and several smaller transports, was raised in NEA on 19 February 1942.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070516/document/5519799.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, p. 481]RAAF Historical Section, Maritime and Transport Units, pp. 35–38 Earlier that month, Lukis warned higher command of the poor state of preparedness and low morale of Australian Army troops at Port Moresby, due to lack of air cover and apparent lack of interest from government echelons.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070515/document/5519798.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 447–448] On 25 February, Nos. 3 and 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters were established at Townsville and Port Moresby, respectively, to coordinate fighter operations.Cooper, Kokoda Air Strikes, p. 53 Horn Island, in the Torres Strait, was raided by the Japanese on 14 March.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070515/document/5519798.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 453, 457] Three days later, seventeen P-40 Kittyhawks of No. 75 Squadron, recently formed at Townsville, deployed to Port Moresby.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070515/document/5519798.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 458–462] Commanded by Squadron Leader John Jackson, the squadron suffered heavy losses in the ensuing battle. At one point NEA headquarters gave Jackson permission to withdraw but he refused, and the squadron was eventually credited with destroying thirty-five Japanese aircraft in the air and on the ground, securing Port Moresby until relieved by the 35th and 36th Squadrons of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), operating P-39 Airacobras.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 139–141Johnston, Whispering Death, pp. 164, 177

Several USAAF bomber formations operated under NEA's control in early 1942, including A-24 Banshees of the 8th Bombardment Squadron out of Port Moresby, and B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 435th Bombardment Squadron (initially known as the "Kangaroo Squadron") out of Townsville.Cooper, Kokoda Air Strikes, pp. 147, 180 As of 20 April, operational authority over all RAAF combat infrastructure, including area commands, was invested in the newly established Allied Air Forces (AAF) Headquarters under South West Pacific Area Command (SWPA).Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070516/document/5519799.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, p. 473]Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070530/document/5519813.PDF Air War Against Japan, pp. 15–16] One result of this was the integration of USAAF and RAAF staff at area headquarters. According to the official history of the RAAF, though "more a diplomatic gesture than a practical method of war organisation", it gave personnel from the two services the opportunity to quickly become acclimatised to each other and "in North-Eastern Area, as an example, the atmosphere was happy and the staff extremely cooperative".Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070516/document/5519799.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 473–478] Following the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, USAAF units no longer operated under RAAF control in the NEA but were commanded directly by senior American officers of the AAF; overall responsibility for operational tasking in NEA transferred to the AAF at the end of July.Cooper, Kokoda Air Strikes, pp. 268–270

File:No. 11 Sqn RAAF Catalina (AWM 009102).jpg

NEA's operational headquarters, a reinforced concrete bunker known as Building 81, was completed in May 1942. Located on Green Street, Townsville, at the base of Castle Hill, it was topped with a suburban house to mislead enemy aircraft.{{cite report |author=Pearce, Howard |date=January 2009 |title= WWII – NQ |url=http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/heritage/documents/ww2_nth_qld_cultural_heritage.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428050622/http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/heritage/documents/ww2_nth_qld_cultural_heritage.pdf |publisher= Queensland Environmental Protection Agency |location=Brisbane|pages=59, 100, 107 |access-date=6 June 2016|archive-date=28 April 2013}} The same month, Eastern Area Command was formed, taking control of units in New South Wales and southern Queensland from Southern Area and NEA.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070516/document/5519799.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, p. 478]Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, p. 134 This left NEA in command of Nos. 24, 33 and 76 Squadrons, as well as No. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters, at Townsville; No. 100 Squadron at Cairns; No. 32 Squadron at Horn Island; and Nos. 11, 20 and 75 Squadrons, as well as No. 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters, at Port Moresby.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 151 The Japanese raided Townsville four times between 25 and 31 July; most bombs fell in the sea or the hills causing only one casualty, an injured child.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070727/document/5520009.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 562–563] NEA's boundaries were fine-tuned on 19 August: a portion of Queensland within the Barkly Tableland and the Haslingden and Heywood districts was assigned to the control of North-Western Area.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070519/document/5519802.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, p. 588] Lukis handed over command of NEA to Group Captain (later Air Commodore) Harry Cobby on 25 August.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070519/document/5519802.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 588–589] By the end of the month, the headquarters staff numbered 684.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 244 No. 75 Squadron, replenished after its defence of Port Moresby, and No. 76 Squadron, deployed north from Townsville and also flying Kittyhawks, played what senior Australian Army commanders described as the "decisive" role in the Battle of Milne Bay in New Guinea during August and September 1942.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070520/document/5519803.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 603–604, 615–617] During the battle, Cobby exercised overall command of the RAAF units from NEA headquarters, while their efforts were coordinated on the ground by Group Captain Bill Garing, NEA's senior air staff officer.Stephens, The RAAF in the Southwest Pacific Area, pp. 33, 85

On 1 September 1942, No. 9 (Operational) Group was formed at Port Moresby as a mobile strike force to move forward with Allied advances in the Pacific, in contrast to the static, defensive nature of the area commands.Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070530/document/5519813.PDF Air War Against Japan, p. 6]Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 122–123 It took over all units in New Guinea previously operating under NEA Command. NEA initially retained administrative control of No. 9 Group but, on 1 January 1943, the group was made independent of the area command and its administration became the responsibility of RAAF Headquarters, Melbourne. September 1942 also saw the formation of RAAF Command, led by Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock, to oversee the majority of Australian flying units in the SWPA.Gillison, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070519/document/5519802.PDF Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 585–588]Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070530/document/5519813.PDF Air War Against Japan, pp. 4–6] Bostock exercised control of air operations through the area commands, although RAAF Headquarters continued to hold administrative authority over all Australian units.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 144–145 He personally coordinated operations when they involved more than one area command, for instance when the fighter squadrons of both NWA and NEA were required to repulse a major attack.Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070532/document/5519815.PDF Air War Against Japan, p. 42] No. 42 (Radar) Wing was formed at Townsville in February 1943, and the following month took control of all radar stations in NEA.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, pp. 326, 350 As of April 1943, the area command directly controlled four squadrons tasked primarily with anti-submarine warfare: No. 7 Squadron, flying Bristol Beaufort reconnaissance-bombers out of Ross River; No. 9 Squadron, a fleet co-operation unit flying Supermarine Seagulls from Bowen; and Nos. 11 and 20 Squadrons, flying reconnaissance and bombing missions with PBY Catalinas from Cairns.Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070558/document/5519841.PDF Air War Against Japan, p. 141]

File:RAAF North-Eastern Area staff 1944 (AWM NEA0494).jpg

In early 1943, Japan was still believed to be capable of invading, or at least bombing, the Torres Strait islands, and NEA had only No. 7 Squadron, now operating from Horn Island, to counter the threat. It was reinforced in April by No. 84 Squadron, flying CAC Boomerang fighters.Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070556/document/5519839.PDF Air War Against Japan, p. 113] The same month, No. 72 Wing was formed at Townsville, before deploying to Merauke, New Guinea. Controlling No. 84 Squadron, No. 86 Squadron (flying Kittyhawks), and No. 12 Squadron (Vultee Vengeance dive bombers), the wing was responsible for Torres Strait's air defence, as well as offensive operations against infrastructure and shipping in Dutch New Guinea. In October, No. 84 Squadron converted to Kittyhawks and transferred to the newly formed No. 75 Wing, which was given responsibility for units at Horn Island, Thursday Island, and Higgins Field on Cape York Peninsula.Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070556/document/5519839.PDF Air War Against Japan, pp. 113–116]Gogler, We Never Disappoint, p. 105 In February 1944, No. 75 Wing headquarters moved from Horn Island to Higgins Field, where it was soon joined by other units under its control, Nos. 7 and 23 Squadrons; the latter operated Vengeances until being declared non-operational in June, before re-equipping with B-24 Liberators for duty in North-Western Area.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, pp. 679, 706, 709Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070730/document/5520012.PDF Air War Against Japan, p. 245] By May, NEA's order of battle on the Australian mainland consisted of Nos. 7, 9, 13 (operating Lockheed Venturas from Cooktown), 20 and 23 Squadrons.

Cobby served as AOC NEA until November 1943, handing over to Air Commodore John Summers, who held command for the remainder of the war. By the end of November, NEA headquarters staff numbered 499, including ninety-seven officers.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 579 NEA's Catalinas joined aircraft of No. 9 Group in support of the US invasion of New Britain in December 1943 and January 1944.Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070557/document/5519840.PDF Air War Against Japan, pp. 128–129] The Catalinas also conducted mine-laying operations around the Timor Sea in the lead-up to the landings at Hollandia and Aitape in April 1944.Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070562/document/5519845.PDF Air War Against Japan, pp. 213, 218] That month, No. 9 Group, which had become a static garrison force similar to the area commands on mainland Australia, was renamed Northern Command and given responsibility for RAAF units in New Guinea.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 144, 168Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070561/document/5519844.PDF Air War Against Japan, pp. 198–200] In August, No. 75 Wing was disbanded and its units became the direct responsibility of NEA headquarters.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 830 The same month, No. 76 Wing headquarters, formed at Townsville in January and subsequently based at Cairns, was transferred to Darwin, Northern Territory.{{cite web|url=http://clik.dva.gov.au/history-library/part-3-order-battle/ch-2-order-battle-air-force/s-2-headquarters|series=Order of Battle – Air Force|title=Headquarters|publisher=Department of Veterans' Affairs|access-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805221733/http://clik.dva.gov.au/history-library/part-3-order-battle/ch-2-order-battle-air-force/s-2-headquarters|archive-date=5 August 2017|url-status=dead}}AWM, Squadrons, Formations & Units, p. 119 There it came under the control of NWA headquarters and oversaw operations by three Catalina squadrons, including No. 20.Odgers, [https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1070396/document/5519684.PDF Air War Against Japan, p. 365]Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 829 No. 42 Wing disbanded in October 1944, following a decision to assign control of RAAF radar stations to mobile fighter control units or similar formations.RAAF Historical Section, Radar Units, p. 21 By the end of February 1945, NEA headquarters staff numbered 743, including 127 officers.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 873 No. 72 Wing headquarters transferred to Townsville in May that year, and disbanded a month later.

File:RAAFAreaCommands1947.png

On 2 September 1945, following the end of the Pacific War, South West Pacific Area was dissolved and the RAAF again assumed full control of all its operational elements.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force!, p. 262 By the end of the month, NEA headquarters staff numbered 526, including ninety-eight officers.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 903 The Air Force shrank dramatically as personnel were demobilised and units disbanded; most of the RAAF's bases and aircraft employed in operations after the war were situated within Eastern Area's sphere of control in New South Wales and southern Queensland.Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 11–12, 72–73 NEA headquarters staff at the end of 1945 totalled 227, including sixty-three officers.Royal Australian Air Force, Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters, p. 916

In September 1946, the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, proposed reducing the five extant mainland area commands (North-Western, North-Eastern, Eastern, Southern, and Western Areas) to three: Northern Area, covering Queensland and the Northern Territory; Eastern Area, covering New South Wales; and Southern Area, covering Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania. The Australian Government rejected the plan and the wartime area command boundaries essentially remained in place.Helson, The Private Air Marshal, pp. 321–325Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 68, 462 Northern Command (redesignated Northern Area in 1945) was dissolved in February 1947. By 1949, NEA headquarters was located in Sturt Street, Townsville. No. 10 Squadron was based at Townsville from March that year, operating Avro Lincolns over the Pacific and Australia's northern approaches in the maritime reconnaissance and search-and-rescue roles.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129976134 |title=RAAF's big task in Qld |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=16 May 1953 |access-date=10 June 2016 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite web|url=https://www.airforce.gov.au/sites/default/files/minisite/static/1469/RAAFmuseum/research/units/10sqn.htm|title=No. 10 Squadron|publisher=RAAF Museum|access-date=10 June 2016}} Group Captain (later Air Commodore) Ian McLachlan was appointed AOC NEA in September 1951;{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2837203 |title=New postings in RAAF |newspaper=The Canberra Times |location=Canberra |date=8 September 1951 |access-date=2 July 2016 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article216557718 |title=Air officers promoted |newspaper=Brisbane Telegraph |location=Brisbane |date=4 September 1952 |access-date=21 July 2018 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}} he served two years in the post before handing over to acting Air Commodore Patrick Heffernan.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article62503697 |title=New RAAF chief for North-Eastern Area|newspaper=Townsville Daily Bulletin |location=Townsville, Queensland |date=9 September 1953 |access-date=2 July 2016 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Commencing in October 1953, the RAAF was reorganised from a geographically based command-and-control system into one based on function. In February 1954, the newly constituted functional organisations—Home, Training, and Maintenance Commands—assumed control of all operations, training and maintenance from North-Eastern Area Command.Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 73–76, 462–463 NEA headquarters remained in existence but only, according to the Melbourne Argus, as one of Home Command's "remote control points".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23429331 |title=Battle 'nerve-centre' goes north: RAAF fighting control shifted from here |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=21 May 1954 |access-date=2 July 2016 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}} It was disbanded on 3 December 1956, and was succeeded by Headquarters RAAF Townsville (Headquarters Tactical Transport Group from June 1988, and Headquarters Operational Support Group from February 1991).RAAF Historical Section, Introduction, Bases, Supporting Organisations, p. 160{{cite web|url=https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/AgencyDetail.aspx?reg_no=CA%208590&singleRecord=T|id=CA 8590|title=RAAF Headquarters North Eastern Area|series=Agencies|publisher=National Archives of Australia|access-date=24 December 2018}}

As of 2009, the former NEA operational headquarters in Building 81, Green Street, housed Townsville's State Emergency Service group.

File:150494LDJackson1942.jpg (second left), brother of Squadron Leader John Jackson, with fellow pilots of No. 75 Squadron in Port Moresby, August 1942|alt=Four men in military flying gear walking among single-engined aircraft on an airfield]]

As at 30 April 1942, NEA's order of battle comprised:Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force, p. 299

• RAAF Station Townsville
• No. 24 (General Purpose) Squadron
• No. 33 (Transport) Squadron
• No. 76 (Fighter) Squadron
• RAAF Station Amberley
• No. 23 (General Purpose) Squadron
• RAAF Station Port Moresby
• No. 11 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron
• No. 20 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron
• No. 32 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron
• No. 75 (Fighter) Squadron
• No. 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters, Townsville
• No. 4 Fighter Sector Headquarters, Port Moresby

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book | year = 2000| title = How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume 1 – Narrative| url = http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Heritage%20Series/HTG12-How-Not-To-Run-An-Air-Force!-Volume-1.pdf| last = Ashworth | first=Norman| publisher = RAAF Air Power Studies Centre | location = Canberra | isbn =978-0-642-26550-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Australian War Memorial (AWM)|title=Squadrons, Formations & Units of the Royal Australian Air Force and Their Deployment|year=1995|publisher=Unpublished monograph held by AWM Research Centre|location=Canberra}}
• {{cite book | year = 2014| title = Kokoda Air Strikes: Allied Air Forces in New Guinea, 1942| last = Cooper | first=Anthony| publisher = NewSouth Publishing | location = Canberra | isbn =978-1-74223-383-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Gillison | first=Douglas |year=1962| title=Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume I – Royal Australian Air Force 1939–1942 | location=Canberra| publisher=Australian War Memorial|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070209/|oclc=2000369}}
• {{cite book|last=Gogler|first=Kevin|title=We Never Disappoint: A History of 7 Squadron RAAF 1940–1945|year=2012|publisher=Air Power Development Centre|location=Canberra|isbn=978-1-920800-68-0|url=http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Heritage%20Series/HTG21-We-Never-Disappoint-A-History-of-7-Squadron-RAAF-1940-1945.pdf}}
• {{cite book | last = Helson | first = Peter | title = The Private Air Marshal | publisher = Air Power Development Centre | location=Canberra|year = 2010 | url = http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Historical%20Publications/HIST21-The-Private-Air-Marshal-A-Biography-of-Air-Marshal-Sir-Geoge-Jones.pdf|isbn=978-1-920800-50-5}}
• {{cite book|last=Johnston|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Johnston (historian)|title=Whispering Death: Australian Airmen in the Pacific War|year=2011|publisher=Allen & Unwin|location=Crows Nest, New South Wales|isbn=978-1-74175-901-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Odgers | first=George |author-link=George Odgers|orig-year=1957| year=1968| title=Australia in the War of 1939–1945: Series Three (Air) Volume II – Air War Against Japan 1943–1945 | location=Canberra| publisher=Australian War Memorial| url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1070210/|oclc=246580191}}
• {{cite book|author=RAAF Historical Section|year=1995|title=Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 1: Introduction, Bases, Supporting Organisations|location=Canberra| publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service| isbn=978-0-644-42792-0}}
• {{cite book|author=RAAF Historical Section|year=1995|title=Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 4: Maritime and Transport Units|location=Canberra| publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service|isbn=978-0-644-42796-8}}
• {{cite book|author=RAAF Historical Section|year=1995|title=Units of the Royal Australian Air Force: A Concise History. Volume 5: Radar Units|location=Canberra| publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service| isbn=978-0-644-42797-5}}

• {{cite book|author=Royal Australian Air Force|title=Operations Record Book: Northern Area and North-Eastern Area Headquarters|series=RAAF Unit History Sheets|date=1941–1945|publisher=National Archives of Australia |location=Canberra|url=http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1359521}}
• {{cite book|editor-last=Stephens| editor-first=Alan | year=1993| title=The RAAF in the Southwest Pacific Area 1942–1945|location=Canberra|publisher=RAAF Air Power Studies Centre|url=http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Conference%20Proceedings/CONF04-RAAF-History-Conference-1993-The-RAAF-in-the-SouthWest-Pacific-Area.pdf|isbn=978-0-642-19827-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Stephens| first=Alan| year=1995| title=Going Solo: The Royal Australian Air Force 1946–1971|location=Canberra|publisher=Australian Government Publishing Service|url=http://airpower.airforce.gov.au/APDC/media/PDF-Files/Historical%20Publications/HIST03-Going-Solo-The-Royal-Australian-Air-Force-1946-1971.pdf|isbn=978-0-644-42803-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Stephens| first=Alan|orig-year=2001|year=2006| title=The Royal Australian Air Force: A History| location=London| publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19555-541-7}}

{{RAAF area commands}}

North-Eastern

Category:Military units and formations established in 1942

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1956

Category:RAAF commands