On April 12, 1943, the 13th Squadron was on the receiving end when over one-hundred Japanese planes attacked Allied airfields in the area of Port Moresby, New Guinea. The squadron had eight B-25s at this time, and all of them were damaged or destroyed, which temporarily put the squadron out of action until they were re-equipped with the modified low level strafer B-25's. Of note is that all RAAF personnel were withdrawn from American squadrons after this attack.
