 After a period of training , No. 79 Squadron flew its first sweep over Japanese @-@ held territory on 27 November when eight Spitfires were dispatched to Gasmata on New Britain . The next day one of its Spitfires shot down a Mitsubishi Ki @-@ 46 " Dinah " reconnaissance aircraft south of <unk> . As few Japanese attacks were made against <unk> , No. 79 Squadron 's pilots became restive . The offensive patrols over New Britain improved their morale , however . Another Ki @-@ 61 was intercepted and shot down by a Spitfire on 21 December , and an A6M Mitsubishi A6M " Zero " fighter was destroyed on the ground at Gasmata seven days later . A Spitfire was lost during a patrol over New Britain on 31 December , however . During January and February 1944 the squadron conducted offensive sweeps over New Britain , strafed Japanese positions and escorted Allied bombers . On 17 January , eight No. 79 Squadron Spitfires took part in an attack against a Japanese camp near Lindenhafen which involved 73 Australian aircraft ; this was the largest RAAF operation of the war up to that time . Two Spitfires were lost during the operations in January and February . 
