Eastern Area Command was one of several geographically based commands raised by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during . It was formed in May 1942, and controlled units located in New South Wales and southern Queensland. Headquartered in Sydney, Eastern Area Command's responsibilities included air defence, aerial reconnaissance and protection of the sea lanes within its boundaries. Its flying units operated fighters, reconnaissance bombers, and dive bombers, and concentrated on convoy escort, maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare. The size of the area was such that the RAAF twice considered splitting it, but nothing came of this.
The area command continued to function after the war, its headquarters transferring from Sydney to Glenbrook, in the Blue Mountains, in 1949. By this time, most of the RAAF's operational units—including fighter, bomber, and transport wings—were based within Eastern Area's boundaries, and the officer in command was responsible for air defence across all of Australia. In October 1953, the RAAF began reorganising its command-and-control system from one based on geography to one based on function; Eastern Area was re-formed as Home Command, which was renamed Operational Command in 1959, and Air Command in 1987.
History World War II
Prior to World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force was small enough for all its elements to be directly controlled by RAAF Headquarters in Melbourne. When war broke out, the RAAF began to decentralise its command structure, commensurate with expected increases in manpower and units.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 111–112 Between March 1940 and May 1941, Australia and Papua were divided into four geographically based command-and-control zones: Central Area, Southern Area, Western Area, and Northern Area.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 91–92 The roles of the area commands were air defence, protection of adjacent sea lanes, and aerial reconnaissance. Each was led by an Air Officer Commanding (AOC) who controlled the administration and operations of all air bases and units within his boundary.
Central Area was disbanded in August 1941, and its responsibilities were divided between Southern Area, Northern Area, and the newly formed No. 2 (Training) Group.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 112 The outbreak of the Pacific War resulted in Northern Area being split in January 1942 into North-Western and North-Eastern Areas, to counter separate Japanese threats to Northern Australia and New Guinea.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, p. 311 Southern Area was also considered appropriate for division owing to its size, so the Australian Air Board proposed assigning responsibility for operational and maintenance units within New South Wales to a new area command, Eastern Area, which would also assume control of units in southern Queensland from North-Eastern Area.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume One, pp. xxi, 134–135
Headquartered in the Sydney suburb of Edgecliff, Eastern Area Command was formed on 15 May 1942 under the leadership of Air Vice Marshal Bill Anderson. Staff numbered 114, including forty-five officers.Eastern Area Headquarters, Operations Record Book, p. 1 Training units in New South Wales remained part of No. 2 (Training) Group. No. 5 (Maintenance) Group was formed in Sydney on 1 June, and took responsibility for all maintenance units initially controlled by Eastern Area Command.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume Two, p. 212 In September, the Allied Air Forces commander in the South West Pacific Area, Major General George Kenney, formed the majority of his US flying units into the Fifth Air Force, and most of their Australian counterparts into RAAF Command, led by Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock.Gillison, Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 585–588Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 4–6 Bostock exercised control of Australian air operations through the area commands, although RAAF Headquarters continued to hold overarching administrative authority, meaning Bostock and his area commanders were ultimately dependent on the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal George Jones, for supplies and equipment.Stephens, The Royal Australian Air Force, pp. 144–145
Of geographical necessity, the RAAF's two northerly area commands were mainly responsible for bombing and air defence, while the other commands focussed on maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare. In response to an increase in the number of Japanese submarines operating in Australian waters, the RAAF conducted intensive patrols along the east coast during January and February 1943. This included more than 400 patrol, anti-submarine, and convoy escort missions by Eastern Area aircraft in January.Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 221–222 The submarine threat against Allied shipping was considered serious enough to warrant basing more RAAF squadrons in southern commands than in the north, diverting resources from forward areas like New Guinea. By April, Eastern Area was operating seven combat units: No. 5 Squadron, flying army cooperation missions with CAC Wirraways out of Kingaroy, Queensland; No. 23 Squadron, flying dive-bombing missions with Wirraways from Lowood, Queensland; No. 24 Squadron, flying dive-bombing missions with Wirraways from Bankstown, New South Wales; No. 32 Squadron, flying reconnaissance and bombing missions with Lockheed Hudsons from Camden, New South Wales; No. 71 Squadron, flying maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine missions with Avro Ansons from Lowood; No. 73 Squadron, flying maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine missions with Ansons from Nowra, New South Wales; and No. 83 Squadron, flying fighter missions with Wirraways from Strathpine, Queensland.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 141 Nos. 71 and 73 Squadrons were reserve formations hastily raised to augment the anti-submarine effort, crewed by staff and students from operational training units.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 140Wilson, The Eagle and the Albatross, pp. 73–74
Japanese submarine activity off the east coast peaked during April and May 1943, leading to a further expansion of the RAAF's convoy escort and patrol efforts.Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 237 As part of the measures undertaken to increase air coverage during this period, transit flights were ordered to overfly shipping lanes whenever possible.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 148 At the end of April, Eastern Area headquarters staff numbered 630, including 105 officers.Eastern Area Headquarters, Operations Record Book, p. 319 Bristol Beauforts of No. 32 Squadron were credited with damaging a Japanese submarine on 19 June, but neither the RAAF nor the Royal Australian Navy was able to destroy any enemy submarines in coastal waters during 1943.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 152–153 The efforts of the two services within the region Eastern Area covered were hampered by poor liaison and command arrangements, as well as the RAAF placing a relatively low priority on protecting merchant shipping.Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 241
Anderson handed over command of Eastern Area to Air Commodore John Summers in July 1943.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume One, p. 303 Group Captain Alister Murdoch became senior air staff officer (SASO).Dennis et al, The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History, p. 412 On 22 October, Avro Lancaster Q-for-Queenie, piloted by Flight Lieutenant Peter Isaacson, "buzzed" the Eastern Area headquarters building in Edgecliff before flying under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, flouting regulations and becoming the largest aircraft to pull such a stunt. The same month, the Air Board proposed carving a new area command out of Eastern Area, which by then was considered too large to be controlled by one headquarters and therefore ripe for division. The new command, to be known as Central Area, would have been responsible for training and operational units in southern Queensland; the War Cabinet deferred its decision on the proposal. The concept was raised again in August 1944, and this time Central Area Command was to control maintenance units, as well as training and operations, in southern Queensland; again, nothing came of the proposal.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume One, pp. 214–217, 227–228
Air Commodore Alan Charlesworth was appointed AOC Eastern Area in December 1943. Japanese submarine activity had decreased in the months prior to Charlesworth taking command, and he was concerned that Allied ships were becoming complacent. He observed "a general slackening off in procedure; ships are seldom where they should be, and a minority of merchant ships identify themselves to aircraft". The RAAF's patrols had also settled into a predictable pattern that an observant submarine captain could easily avoid.Odgers, Air War Against Japan, p. 349Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, p. 258 Charlesworth relinquished command in September 1944 to take over North-Western Area.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume One, p. 304 In December, aircraft from Eastern Area took part in the search for the German submarine U-862, but could not prevent it sinking the Liberty ship Robert J. Walker on Christmas; a Beaufort of No. 15 Squadron, based at Camden, located the wreck. No. 32 Squadron lost a Beaufort with its crew shortly after takeoff from Lowood during the search for U-862, which was called off in January 1945.Stevens, A Critical Vulnerability, pp. 269–272Odgers, Air War Against Japan, pp. 350–351 That month, Air Commodore Leon Lachal became AOC Eastern Area, and held command for the duration of the Pacific War.
Post-war activity and reorganisation On 2 September 1945, following the end of the Pacific War, South West Pacific Area was dissolved and the Air Board again assumed full control of all its operational elements.Ashworth, How Not to Run an Air Force! Volume One, p. 262 According to the official history of the post-war Air Force, the AOC Eastern Area was considered "Australia's senior operational airman" and delegated by the Chief of the Air Staff with day-to-day responsibility for the nation's air defence.Stephens, Going Solo, p. 344 Most of the RAAF's bases and aircraft employed in operations were situated within Eastern Area's sphere of control in New South Wales and southern Queensland.Stephens, Going Solo, pp. 72–73 Air Commodore Frank Lukis succeeded Lachal as AOC in December 1945. By the end of the month, headquarters staff numbered 1,122, including 104 officers.Eastern Area Headquarters, Operations Record Book, pp. 1101, 1105 No. 82 (Bomber) Wing came under the control of Eastern Area Command in April 1946, when it moved to RAAF Station Amberley, Queensland; initially operating B-24 Liberators, the wing re-equipped with Avro Lincolns soon after.Bennett, Highest Traditions, pp. 250–251 By this time Eastern Area headquarters occupied seven mansions in Point Piper, Sydney; it subsequently relocated to Bradfield Park. Lukis retired from the Air Force in May, and Charlesworth took over command.