 Additional AFC squadrons began forming in Australia for service on the Western Front , with No. 2 , 3 and 4 Squadrons arriving in France between August and December 1917 . No. 2 Squadron , equipped with DH5s , was subsequently involved in the Battle of Cambrai on 20 November 1917 , conducting patrol duties , ground strafing and bombing enemy troops and positions . Casualties were high with 7 of the squadrons 18 aircraft shot down , and 2 pilots lost . No. 3 Squadron , equipped with RE8s , was supporting the final phase of the Battle of Passchendaele in Flanders , conducting mainly artillery spotting duties . No. 4 Squadron , equipped with Sopwith Camels , was the last to arrive in France , and was assigned to the First Army around Lens . Notably during March 1918 the squadron was engaged in aerial combat with aircraft commanded by Manfred von Richthofen — known as the ' Red Baron ' — shooting down two German aircraft for the loss of one of their own . The Lens sector had been relatively quiet until 21 March 1918 when the Germans launched a major offensive , with No. 4 Squadron heavily engaged in low @-@ level bombing to support the 4th Australian Division . 
