The process of bringing No. 1 Strip back into service went well. Nos 4 and 5 Airfield Construction Squadrons were assigned the task. A unsurfaced temporary runway was constructed at a 5° angle to the existing strip. The first RAAF aircraft, two P-40 Kittyhawks from No. 76 Squadron, landed on the strip on 17 June, and commenced operations from this base the next day. No. 457 Squadron, which was equipped with Spitfires, arrived on 18 June though two of its aircraft crashed on the still-unfinished runway and had to be written off. The units based at the airfield took over responsibility for providing air support for the Army units on Labuan that day, and flew their first close air support sorties over the island on 19 June. No. 86 Wing's two flying squadrons—No. 1 and No. 93—also arrived on Labuan in late July, but conducted few operations from this base before the end of the war. The wing had originally been scheduled to move to Labuan in late June, but it took longer than expected to extend No. 1 Strip's runway to the length needed by No. 1 Squadron's Mosquito light bombers.