 As well as training , over the course of No. 1 OCU 's existence its aircrews flew operational sorties involving naval cooperation , aerial photography , target towing and radar targeting , and participated in exercises in Malaysia , Papua New Guinea , and New Zealand . During runway upgrades at Amberley in mid @-@ 1962 , the unit was based for a month at RAAF Base Richmond , New South Wales . Later that year , it briefly maintained a detachment at RAAF Base Townsville , Queensland . On 11 September 1964 , one of its Canberras was intercepted by a Sabre fighter of No. 76 Squadron based at RAAF Base Darwin , Northern Territory , as part of Operation Handover , a little @-@ known contingency plan put into effect during Konfrontasi to guard against possible attack by Indonesian forces following the recent establishment of the Federation of Malaysia . No. 1 OCU suffered a fatal accident on 16 February 1965 , when a Canberra Mk.21 ran off the runway and crashed at Amberley , killing both crew members . The unit was made independent of No. 82 Wing in April 1968 . Its role from then on was to provide trained crews solely for No. 2 Squadron , which was on active duty in the Vietnam War . At the same time , maintenance responsibilities for the Canberras transferred from No. 482 Squadron to No. 1 OCU , along with relevant staff and equipment . Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons effectively ceased operations while their crews underwent conversion to the General Dynamics F @-@ 111C , expected to enter service soon afterwards . Delivery of the F @-@ 111s was delayed , so Nos. 1 and 6 Squadrons began operating leased F @-@ 4E Phantoms as an interim strike force in 1970 . 
