A Blow to Morale

There is no doubt that the Australian War Cabinet had agreed that resources were not available at that time for the defence of Australian territory north of a line from Brisbane to Adelaide/Perth. When the RAAF NE Area HQ at Townsville reported that morale at Port Moresby was a matter of concern they were stating the obvious. I cannot recall any lack of spirit among those in Port Moresby although it was obvious that our position was precarious. We all went about our allotted tasks. The meteorological staff continued their observations, plotted their charts and prepared forecasts.

With the bombing of our station headquarters on the reclamation area, the destruction of aircraft moored in the harbour and on the Seven-mile airstrip, Hudson and Catalina squadrons were withdrawn to Australian bases. Our meteorological office, along with other station facilities such as the signals section (formerly aeradio), was moved to a new location at Konedobu, where we in the Meteorological section continued to make surface and upper air observations, plot and analyse charts and issue forecasts. A good friend at this time was another station officer, Gordon Elliot. Together with Gordon and a few other officers, I moved from the Konedobu barracks to the former civil Administrator's residence located on a nearby hill in spacious grounds containing many coconut palms. When off duty I spent much time yarning and playing chess with Gordon. He told me of his exploits as a young man when he flew a Tiger Moth in Northern Australia. He recounted his experience of flying backwards above the Cloncurry aerodrome in a strong headwind. Before Pearl Harbour Gordon had persuaded one of the former Qantas pilots to let him take over the controls of the Short Empire 'C' Class flying boat over Port Moresby harbour. He relished retelling his experience again and again.

Bureau of Meteorology