The following is an extract taken from Chapter 2 of 1939-1945 Six Years of Memories On the Lighter Side


Williamtown RAAF Station is about ten miles North of Newcastle in New South Wales. When we arrived there the station consisted of corrugated galvanized iron huts for barracks. Headquarters buildings (similar to the barracks) and a landing strip for aircraft. There was no aircraft there. The Squadron personnel were equipped with their uniforms for overseas and all the details taken of pay allotments and all the miscellaneous matters concerning our departure attended to.

The station was pretty rough, as it had only just been constructed. To keep the airmen occupied the CO Squadron Leader Paget had them working on the general appearance of the place such as collecting rocks from the Nelsons Bay area to be laid as boundaries of the roads. Weekend leave was granted to all except those who were confined to camp for misdemeanors. The CO was liberal in his punishment and there were always airmen in camp. A favourite punishment of his was to have those on CB (confined to barracks) holly stoning the floor of the Officers' mess. This consisted in rubbing the floors with a large holly stone and sand to smooth them for polishing. Holly stones were used by sailors to scrub the decks .It was most unusual to have airmen using them as a form of punishment.

The CO no doubt tried to run an efficient station but his rulings led the men to detest his methods. We were glad to see the last of him. As the weeks went by we were anxious to be on our way overseas to where ever that might be. We all guessed it would be the Middle East as at that stage the Japanese and America were not at war. Eventually we were lined up and told that all leave was cancelled and we would be moving out. We all had a number chalked on our Tin Hats according to the roll of those who were embarking for overseas. It was secret where and when we were leaving but when we arrived at Civic Railway Station (Newcastle) we must have been the only ones who didn't know for there was quite a crowd there waiting to wave goodbye.

It was the same all the way to Darling Harbour goods yards where the train terminated. People were waving goodbye and shouting out good wishes. It was not hard to work out how everyone seemed to know that there were troops going overseas. In Sydney Harbour a convoy was being formed. The Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Ille De France, Mauritania and New Amsterdam were all in port. The Mauritania and the New Amsterdam were packed with New Zealanders. We went aboard the Queen Elizabeth on the 9th April 1941. A magnificent ship and we were the first troops to be carried on her. There were Army and Naval personnel aboard as well as our squadron. About 7 thousand all told.

There was great activity in the harbour on the 10th with small boats shouting out messages. I threw a message to a boat, which was addressed to my parents. The letter reached them alright together with a covering letter from the people who picked it up. a copy of this letter is included in the book.

The morning of 11th April 1941 saw the convoy leaving .I will never forget the Kiwis singing the "Maories Farewell" as we sailed down the harbour. It was an emotional moment for our thoughts turned to our loved ones and whether we would ever see home again.

We watched the coastline fade away and we were wondering what our fate would be.