station and all of the Ansons were transferred to No. 13 Squadron; only No. 12 Squadron's 'C' Flight remained with the unit. The squadron continued to conduct anti-submarine and maritime patrols and began a program of exercises with Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army units based at Darwin from July 1940. No. 12 Squadron relocated to the new military airfield in Darwin in April 1941 and reached a strength of 18 Wirraways in May. The squadron increased its flying in the later months of 1941 as war with Japan became increasingly likely. Following the outbreak of the Pacific War on 8 December 1941 (local time), No. 12 Squadron was dispersed between two air bases; the squadron's 'B' and 'C' flights were transferred to Batchelor Airfield while 'A' flight returned to the civil aerodrome. On 12 December, the unit had a strength of 18 Wirraways but was down to 14 aircraft by mid-February 1942. Two of the aircraft based at Darwin were destroyed on the ground in the devastating first Japanese air raid on Darwin which took place on 19 February 1942. The squadron also lost a considerable portion of its stores when a new hangar was destroyed at the civil aerodrome in this raid. Following the attack, No. 12 Squadron's surviving aircraft dropped supplies to the survivors of sunken ships and conducted patrols of the area around Darwin. It was stationed at Pell Airfield from 15 July – 16 September 1942 while Batchelor was being used by United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) units. No. 12 Squadron began to be re-equipped with Vultee Vengeance dive bombers from October 1942. The squadron was the first unit in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) to receive these aircraft and their arrival was popular with the squadron's personnel as it was believed that the Vengeances would allow them to play an active part in the war. This did not eventuate, however, and No. 12 Squadron continued its routine program of patrols after all the Vengeances had arrived. The only exception to this was a bombing raid conducted on 18 June 1943 by twelve of the squadron's Vengeances against villages on Selaru in the Tanimbar Islands which were believed to house workers employed by the Japanese to build a new airstrip. This was the first attack to be conducted by Vengeances in the SWPA. In May 1943, No. 12 Squadron was ordered to move