No. 79 Squadron began moving to Goodenough Island in the war zone off the north coast of Papua in mid-May 1943. Its advance party departed Wooloomanata on 17 May, followed by the pilots on 4 June. The main body of ground crew sailed from Sydney on 7 June. The squadron suffered its first fatality on 13 June, when Flight Lieutenant Virgil Brennan—an experienced fighter pilot who had shot down 10 Axis aircraft over Malta—died from wounds incurred when his Spitfire collided with another while they were landing at Cairns. During the unit's transit to Goodenough Island, No. 79 Squadron Spitfires were scrambled from Gurney Airfield at Milne Bay on several occasions between 19 and 25 June to intercept Japanese reconnaissance aircraft, but did not damage these intruders.