 The process of bringing No. 1 Strip back into service went well . Nos 4 and 5 Airfield Construction Squadrons were assigned the task . A 4 @,@ 000 @-@ by @-@ 100 @-@ foot ( 1 @,@ 220 by 30 m ) unsurfaced temporary runway was constructed at a 5 ° angle to the existing strip . The first RAAF aircraft , two P @-@ 40 Kittyhawks from No. 76 Squadron , landed on the strip on 17 June , and commenced operations from this base the next day . No. 457 Squadron , which was equipped with Spitfires , arrived on 18 June though two of its aircraft crashed on the still @-@ unfinished runway and had to be written off . The units based at the airfield took over responsibility for providing air support for the Army units on Labuan that day , and flew their first close air support sorties over the island on 19 June . No. 86 Wing 's two flying squadrons — No. 1 and No. 93 — also arrived on Labuan in late July , but conducted few operations from this base before the end of the war . The wing had originally been scheduled to move to Labuan in late June , but it took longer than expected to extend No. 1 Strip 's runway to the length needed by No. 1 Squadron 's Mosquito light bombers . 
