With the Army (continued)

A problem of great interest to the army and navy when planning landing operations was that of forecasting the height of sea waves for periods ranging from a few hours to a few days ahead. A method for doing this had been developed in Great Britain, but it had not been put to test in the South-West Pacific area. Using observations made in the Tasman Sea, Wing-Commander H. S. Treloar (D.Met.S.) verified the feasibility of the method, and it was then extensively used throughout the Pacific war theatre.

There were lighter moments during the serious business of fulfilling the functions laid down. Flight-Lieutenant Bob Manson related the experience of being detached to a battery of the 2/1st Field Regiment for a shoot-in of a broken trail 25 pounder gun. On the final day of testing:

'All sorts of field officers turned up, including a Brigadier in a tank. So the troops banged through Charge DI's and super charges, and the spectators edged closer and closer until the OC Gun Position—Captain (Mungaree) Brown, who had helped Haile Selassie beat the Italians—called, 'Cease Firing!' As quiet settled, he addressed the 30 or so observers clustered around. 'Would all field officers senior to me kindly leave the gun position'—and, with rising volume—'All officers junior to me, get the b . . . y out of here!' I noticed the Brigadier trotting to his tank.'[85]

Bureau of Meteorology