the attack on Broome; its crew were not among the many casualties from this raid, however. The squadron continued to make routine patrols throughout the remainder of 1942. In December that year it was re-equipped with Bristol Beaufort aircraft. No. 14 Squadron's duties did not change for the remainder of the war. Throughout 1943 it flew two daily patrols of the waters between Perth and Albany, as well as patrols along the coastline up to Exmouth Gulf. Two Beauforts crashed during these patrols, resulting in the death of six men. The squadron's operations were intensified in March 1943 in response to concerns that Japanese ships would conduct a raid into the Indian Ocean. In May, No. 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. 1 Wing RAAF also protected the fleet at this time. On 6 January 1944 a Beaufort piloted by No. 14 Squadron's commanding officer, Wing Commander Charles Learmonth, crashed during an exercise with United States Navy warships off Rottnest Island; Learmonth and the other three airmen on board the aircraft were killed. The RAAF base at Exmouth Gulf was later named RAAF Learmonth in the wing commander's honour. The squadron's patrols were again greatly intensified in March 1944, when it was feared that a Japanese force might raid Western Australia. In the event, the Japanese raiders sank a single ship in the central Indian Ocean before returning to base. 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. In July 1944 the United States Navy unit Patrol Wing 10, which had been based at Perth since 1942, was transferred elsewhere. This greatly increased the burden on No. 14 Squadron. 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. Activity was intensified from December when the German submarine attacked merchant ships off South Australia and New South Wales. 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. Consolidated B-24 Liberators from No. 25 Squadron