RAAF Overseas Headquarters attempted to have more Australians posted to the squadron during late 1942, without much success. Furthermore, most of the Australian ground staff assigned to the squadron in 1942 had no experience with Halifaxes, which caused aircraft availability to decrease for a period. British personnel were also reportedly unhappy about serving in an "Australian" unit and this contributed to tensions amongst squadron personnel. In January 1943, the Australian Air Board agreed to a proposal by Air Marshal Richard Williams, the Commanding Officer of the RAAF Overseas Headquarters, to concentrate eight RAAF bomber squadrons into a single group in RAF Bomber Command in the UK; this would have included re-numbering the squadron, in order to formally designate it a RAF unit, and forming a new No. 462 Squadron RAAF (with different personnel) at a base in the UK. However, British authorities were slow to accept this request, and the unit retained its original designation throughout 1943.