 No. 79 Squadron arrived at Sattler Airfield south of Darwin on 12 January 1945 and received its new aircraft shortly afterwards . It began to move to Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies ( NEI ) on 6 February and became operational there as part of No. 80 Wing at the end of March . The squadron conducted ground attack sorties against Japanese positions on nearby islands until the end of the war and also became responsible for Morotai 's air defence from 28 May . Although no Japanese aircraft were encountered in this area , several Spitfires were shot down by anti @-@ aircraft fire during ground attack sorties . Operations were hindered at times by personnel shortages , and many of the airmen who were posted to the unit were judged by the squadron 's commander to have been inadequately trained . On 30 July No. 80 Wing was disbanded and the squadron became the first flying unit assigned to the newly formed No. 11 Group . This group was responsible for garrison duties in much of Borneo and the eastern NEI . No. 79 Squadron dropped leaflets on Japanese positions after Japan agreed to surrender on 15 August and returned to Australia in October 1945 . It was disbanded at Oakey Airfield on 12 November that year . The unit suffered 13 fatal casualties during the war . In late 2010 the squadron was awarded battle honours for its World War II service in the Pacific , New Britain and Morotai . 
