North-Western Area Campaign

North Western Area Campaign
Part of the Pacific War
B-25 Mitchell bombers from No. 18 (NEI) Squadron near Darwin in 1943. This was one of three joint Australian-Dutch squadrons formed during the war.
Date 1942–45 Location Northern Australia and the Netherlands East Indies Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Australia  United States  United Kingdom  Netherlands	Japan

North Australian Air War 1942–1943
Part of the Pacific Theater of World War II
U.S. Navy aircraft carrier Lexington explodes on 8 May 1942, several hours after being damaged by a Japanese carrier air attack.
Date 1942–43 Location Northern Australia Result Japanese tactical victory Allied strategic victory
Belligerents
Allied:  United States  Australia  United Kingdom	Japan
Commanders and leaders
Frank J. Fletcher John Crace Thomas C. Kinkaid Aubrey Fitch George Brett	Shigeyoshi Inoue Takeo Takagi Kiyohide Shima Aritomo Gotō Chūichi Hara

The North-Western Area Campaign was an air campaign fought between the Allied and Japanese air forces over northern Australia and the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) between 1942 and 1945. The campaign began with the Japanese bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 and continued until the end of the war.

While the Japanese attack on Darwin inflicted heavy damage on the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base there, the Allies quickly recovered. Darwin was reinforced to meet the perceived threat of invasion and additional airfields were built to the south of the town. By October 1942 the RAAF's North-Western Area Command had been built up to six squadrons, and was conducting daily attacks on Japanese positions in the NEI.

The Allied force continued to expand in 1943 with the arrival of United States Army Air Forces B-24 Liberator heavy bomber units, Australian and British Spitfire squadrons and Australian and Dutch medium bomber squadrons. The Spitfires inflicted substantial losses on Japanese raiders as North-Western Area stepped up its attacks on Japanese positions. RAAF Catalina flying boats also successfully laid mines in Japanese shipping routes.

The North Australia Air War was long considered by historians to be little more than a series of isolated and unconnected air raids and, as such, a very minor part of the Pacific campaign.

At 4.00 a.m. on 15 February 1942 a Japanese Kawanishi H6K flying boat of the 21st Air Flotilla set out from Ambon to shadow the ill-fated Houston convoy. The convoy had left Darwin without air cover and was forced to return the following day, having failed to reinforce the Allied garrison on Timor. The Japanese flying boat located the convoy at 10.30 a.m. and maintained visual contact for a further three hours. When it was about 190 kilometres west of Darwin the H6K made an unsuccessful bombing attack on the vessels before turning for home. Soon afterwards, however, the flying boat was spotted by an American Kittyhawk fighter, piloted by Lieutenant Robert Buel, who then made a diving attack on the Japanese aircraft. After a brief exchange of gunfire both aircraft caught fire and crashed into the sea, thus ending the first aerial combat of the northern Australian air war.

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