In January 1943 we packed up and shiped out of C.T. and went to Port Moresby,
New Guinea. There were, if my memory serves me right, 6 air strips and
they were designated by their distance from the town of Port Moresby.
Hq. and 89th Sq. were stationed at 3 Mile Drome. 8th Sq., I think was
at 12 Mile Drome. 13th Sq. was at 14 Mile Drome and the 90th at 17 Mile
Drome. Port Moresby was, not too affectionately, referred to as the
A__ hole of creation.
It was just as hot at midnite as at noon, and just
as many mosquitos at noon as at midnite. It was at this base in early
March, 1943 that we participated in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. There was
a 22 ship convoy coming down from Rabaul to reenforce the garrison at
Lae. The high altitude bombers had been hitting it for a couple days
with not much success. Even with the Norden> Site it was a little difficult
to put a bomb down the smoke stack of a ship from 10 to 20 thousand
feet. It finally got within range of our low level B-25's and A-20's
and we got a break in the weather. This was the battle that was the
coming out party for Pappy Gunn's modified straffers and the practice
of skip-bombing. Over a two day period all 22 ships were sunk and approx.
6,000 Jap troops dumped in the drink. That for all practical purposes
stoped the advance of the Japs in the S.W.P.A. and started out 2 year
trek back to the Phillipines.
It was also at this base on April 12, 1943 that
we suffered our first day lite and most devesting air raid. About
10:30 in the morning we got the Red Alert. Approx. 100 Jap planes
came over. One formation hit 14 mile field and the 13th Sq. They
hit 7 out of the 8 B-25's they had at the moment. Two of them
burned up [B-25D "Fair Dinkum" 41-29714 and B-25D "Baby Blitz" 41-29705] and the rest were heavily damaged.
The 13th was out of action for about a month
until they could get some replacements and repair some. The other
part of the formation hit 3 Mile Field. They missed the 89ths
A-20s, but hit a nearby gas dump and laid a string of bombs thru
the Hq. Sq. camp area. My good buddy, Tack (Geo. Tackaberry) from
Gp. Operations had been on duty that nite and was trying to get
some sleep. He ignored the red alert, but when the bombs started
dropping he just rolled out of bed and laid on the ground. When
the smoke cleared his tent was full of shrapnel holes -- just
wasn't Tack's day to die.
It was also at this base when we first got there that
we started to refer to our selfs as the 13th Sq. Cement Mixers. Somebody
got the bright idea that we should have concrete floors for all of the
offices and the Mess Hall. Even had one for our Photo Shack. A lot of
guys that were a little out of shape when we strted were in a little
better shape when we finished. It proved to be an exercise in futility,
because in early May, once again we packed up. This time we headed over
the Owen Stanley Range and settled down at Doba Dura. This was in the
Buna-Gona area which had been the scene of some pretty nasty, bloody
action by the 32nd, 41st Am. Div. and I believe the 7th & 9th Aussie
Div. That would prove to be a 9 months stay.
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