Meanwhile, the first group of the 17th Infantry Brigade—the 2/6th Infantry Battalion—had embarked for Port Moresby on 9 January 1943. The rest of the battalion followed over the next two nights. The 2/7th Infantry Battalion departed Milne Bay on the Army transport on 13 January and the 2/5th on the next day. The prospects of beating the Japanese to Wau did not look good. At this time, there were only 28 Dakotas in New Guinea, in three understrength squadrons, the 6th, 21st and 33rd Troop Carrier Squadrons of the US 374th Troop Carrier Group. These had to be shared with the Buna-Gona front, so each combat area had 14 planes allocated to it, which worked out to 10 aircraft available per day for each. A Dakota could carry 27 passengers or of freight. Moving an infantry battalion required 60 plane loads; moving a brigade group required 361 plane loads. Between 10 and 19 January, the 2/6th Infantry Battalion was flown in from Port Moresby to reinforce Kanga Force. In the process, there were three crashes. Poor flying weather forced many aircraft to return without landing. Brigadier Moten was twice forced to return to Port Moresby before reaching Wau on the third attempt. Bad weather continued over the following week, limiting air operations and sometimes precluding them entirely. Part of the 2/5th Infantry Battalion arrived on 27 January.