 Completing his tour with No. 79 Wing , Eaton was appointed Air Officer Commanding Southern Area , Melbourne , in January 1945 . The German submarine U @-@ 862 operated off southern Australia during the first months of 1945 , and the few combat units in Eaton 's command were heavily engaged in anti @-@ submarine patrols which sought to locate this and any other U @-@ boats in the area . The Air Officer Commanding RAAF Command , Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock , considered the sporadic attacks to be partly " nuisance value " , designed to draw Allied resources away from the front line of the South West Pacific war . In April , Eaton complained to Bostock that intelligence from British Pacific Fleet concerning its ships ' movements eastwards out of Western Area was hours out of date by the time it was received at Southern Area Command , leading to RAAF aircraft missing their rendezvous and wasting valuable flying hours searching empty ocean . There had been no U @-@ boat strikes since February , and by June the naval authorities indicated that there was no pressing need for air cover except for the most important vessels . 
 Completing his tour with No. 79 Wing , Eaton was appointed Air Officer Commanding Southern Area , Melbourne , in January 1945 . The German submarine U @-@ 862 operated off southern Australia during the first months of 1945 , and the few combat units in Eaton <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>command <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>were</mark></a> heavily engaged in anti @-@ submarine patrols which sought to locate this and any other U @-@ boats in the area . The Air Officer Commanding RAAF Command , Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock , considered the sporadic attacks to be partly " nuisance value " , designed to draw Allied resources away from the front line of the South West Pacific war . In April , Eaton complained to Bostock that intelligence from British Pacific Fleet concerning its ships <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'</mark></a>movements eastwards out of Western Area was hours out of date by the time it was received at Southern Area Command , leading to RAAF aircraft missing their rendezvous and wasting valuable flying hours searching empty ocean . <a href='dey_it' title='4'><mark>There</mark></a> had been no U @-@ boat <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>strikes</mark></a> since February , and by June the naval authorities indicated that <a href='dey_it' title='6'><mark>there</mark></a> was no pressing need for air cover except for the most important vessels . 
Completing his tour with No. 79 Wing , Eaton was appointed Air Officer Commanding Southern Area , Melbourne , in January 1945 . The German submarine U @-@ 862 operated off southern Australia during da first months of 1945 , and tdafew combat units in Eaton  command was heavily engaged in anti @-@ submarine patrols which sought to locate this and any other U @-@ boats in the area . The Air Officer Commanding RAAF Command , Air Vice Marshal Bill Bostock , considered the sporadic attacks to be partly " nuisance value " , designed to draw Allied resources away from the front line of the South West Pacific war . In April , Eaton complained to Bostock that intelligence from British Pacific Fleet concerning its ships  movements eastwards out of Western Area was hrs outt of date by the time it was received at Southern Area Command , leading to RAAF aircraft missing their rendezvous and wasting valuable flying hours searching empty ocean . It had been no U @-@ boat strike since February , and by June the naval authorities indicated that it was no pressing need for air cover except fa thdaost important vessels .