 The Boomerangs , operating out of Horn Island , undertook air defence and patrol tasks in and around western New Guinea , first making contact with enemy forces on 16 May 1943 ; they exchanged fire with three Japanese bombers , but the latter escaped into cloud . Merauke airfield was only completed in late June , and Nos. 86 and 12 Squadrons began arriving early the next month ; by then the wing had also acquired No. 44 Operational Base Unit and its own medical receiving station and mobile fighter sector headquarters . Eaton 's relations with North @-@ Eastern Area Command in Townsville had meanwhile became strained . In his opinion , " the problems of Merauke were not understood from there ... mountains were made out of molehills " , and he was posted that July to lead a bombing and gunnery establishment in South Australia . Later in the year he would form No. 79 Wing at Batchelor , Northern Territory . 
