Australian Beaufighters

[Alex Smart]

hi,

The Beaufighter in Australian use.
From the Air Britain files and other books I find that the first Beaufighters were sent to Australia and entered service with 30 Sqdn in June 1942 and 31 Sqdn in August 1942.
Yet some of those early aircraft did not enter service until mid 1943.
Can anyone offer an explanation as to why there seems to be a delay in their entering squadron service ?
Early Batch's were -
February 1942.....T4920 to T4931 which became A19-1 to A19-12
February 1942.....T4943 to T4947 which became A19-13 to A19-17
March 1942........T4970 to T4978 which became A19-18 to A19-26
March 1942.........T4991 to T5004 which became A19-27 to A19-40
March 1942........T5047 to T5055 which became A19-41 to A19-49
April 1942...........T5070 to T5074 which became A19-50 to A19-54
How were they delivered, all by sea I expect and if so which route and when did they arrive in Australia ?
Thanks

Alex