 No. 86 Squadron departed Merauke on 25 April 1944 ; the squadron was subsequently reduced to a cadre and its Kittyhawks transferred to Nos. 78 and 81 Wings of No. 10 Operational Group on Noemfoor Island . It was replaced by the Dutch @-@ Australian No. 120 Squadron , which arrived from Canberra in early May and became operational on the 9th of the month . The same month , Walters handed over command of the wing to Group Captain Bill Hely . In July , No. 12 Squadron was withdrawn to Strathpine , Queensland , where it was reduced to cadre status ahead of converting to B @-@ 24 Liberator heavy bombers and eventually serving with another new formation , No. 85 Wing . Hely departed in September 1944 to establish an army cooperation formation , No. 84 Wing , at Cairns . Most of the RAAF units at Merauke were redeployed in late 1944 but No. 120 Squadron remained there until February 1945 , when it was declared non @-@ operational . The squadron returned to operational status and departed for eventual service at Biak in April that year . No. 72 Wing headquarters returned to Townsville in May 1945 , disbanding on 20 June . 
