 During January 1942 , No. 2 Squadron 's aircraft were dispersed at <unk> , <unk> Island , and Darwin . The <unk> detachment attacked Japanese shipping taking part in the invasion of <unk> . Two <unk> shot down or damaged three Japanese <unk> that attacked them as they were bombing a transport ship on 11 January ; the next day both <unk> were themselves shot down by <unk> <unk> . <unk> was bombed by the Japanese for the first time on 26 January 1942 , and attacked regularly thereafter , damaging some aircraft . The intact <unk> were withdrawn to Darwin but <unk> and his staff remained at <unk> to enable the base to be used by aircraft during reconnaissance missions from Australia . On 18 February , <unk> was ordered to evacuate all his personnel except a small party to <unk> the airfield with assistance from <unk> Force . He returned to Darwin the following day , just as the city experienced its first raid by the Japanese . Four of No. 2 Squadron 's <unk> were destroyed in the attack ; the remainder were relocated to Daly Waters , where they continued to carry out reconnaissance and bombing missions against Japanese targets in Timor . 
