During January 1942 , No. 2 Squadron 's aircraft were dispersed at Penfui , Boeroe Island , and Darwin . The Penfui detachment attacked Japanese shipping taking part in the invasion of Celebes . Two Hudsons shot down or damaged three Japanese floatplanes that attacked them as they were bombing a transport ship on 11 January ; the next day both Hudsons were themselves shot down by Mitsubishi Zeros . Penfui was bombed by the Japanese for the first time on 26 January 1942 , and attacked regularly thereafter , damaging some aircraft . The intact Hudsons were withdrawn to Darwin but Headlam and his staff remained at Penfui to enable the base to be used by aircraft during reconnaissance missions from Australia . On 18 February , Headlam was ordered to evacuate all his personnel except a small party to demolish the airfield with assistance from Sparrow Force . He returned to Darwin the following day , just as the city experienced its first raid by the Japanese . Four of No. 2 Squadron 's Hudsons were destroyed in the attack ; the remainder were relocated to Daly Waters , where they continued to carry out reconnaissance and bombing missions against Japanese targets in Timor .