Glimpse of the RAAF Meteorological Service
Preface
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: Growing Up
Chapter 2: Port Moresby Before Pearl Harbour
Chapter 3: Port Moresby After Pearl Harbour
Chapter 4: Allied Air Force HQ and RAAF Command, Brisbane
Chapter 5: Japan Surrenders and We Are Demobilised
Visit to Japan
The RAAF Meteorological Service Returns to 'Civvy' Street
Some Thoughts on Tropical Meteorology
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Appendix 1: References
Appendix 2: Milestones
Appendix 3: Papers Published in Tropical Weather Research Bulletins
Appendix 4: Radiosonde Observations 1941–46
Index
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Help
Contact us
Visit to Japan (continued)
We walked through what remained of the city of Hiroshima. There were a few Japanese civilians in the city. The dangers of radioactivity at the site of an atomic explosion were not well understood at that time. It is unlikely that the Japanese were aware of the hazard.Allan decided to proceed with John Cat to Nagasaki but I elected to return to Tokyo. I flew as one of only a handful of passengers in a Qantas airliner from Tokyo on 3 January 1946. I had been given the task of assessing the Japanese system of synoptic analysis and forecasting while Allan was concerned with instrumental and technological aspects of their operations. Our assessments were hampered by language differences but we did prepare reports which may still reside in Bureau archives. For me, the meteorological scene in Japan contained few surprises although the plight of Japanese civilians produced an indelible memory.
The RAAF Meteorological Service Returns to 'Civvy' Street
In July 1946 the remaining staff and equipment of the RAAF Meteorological Service were transferred to the Bureau of Meteorology and the Bureau moved from the Department of Air back to the Department of the Interior. I was demobilised at Bradfield Park, Sydney, on 24 May 1946.RAAF Command was renamed Advanced Headquarters RAAF, on 2 September 1945. as the process of demobilisation continued. I am not sure when our meteorological section moved to Melbourne, but I believe it was early in 1946. Audrey and our children moved to Sydney to live with relatives when our section became the AMFA Section of the RAAF Meteorological Services at No 2 Drummond Street, Melbourne. I recall that Norman Warren, Roy Hodgins and his WAAAF assistant remained in uniform until July 1946.
People in Bright Sparcs - Warren, Herbert Norman
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© Online Edition Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre and Bureau of Meteorology 2001
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