Coasts of Cape York (11 page)

The army cadet's passing-out parade began a few minutes later. The VIPs: Capt Conkey, the Principal, Mr Crossland, an army Lieutenant Colonel, Squadron Leader English and Flt Lt Comstock, two officers from the Navy Cadets, and a few other dignitaries moved to the front row of seats and the displays began. Captain Conkey then took over, speaking over the PA system to the parents. As he did Willy was reminded that in his youth Captain Conkey had been a regular soldier and had fought in the jungles of South East Asia. The row of bright medals hanging from their coloured ribbons pinned to the left side of his shirt showed that. Seeing his teacher wearing the army ceremonial uniform gave Willy a peculiar feeling of pride and satisfaction.

When the army cadets moved into position in front of the audience Willy was able to pick out his friends and rivals. Graham was the platoon sergeant of Number 3 Platoon. Roger, a lance corporal in Number 4 Section. Stephen commanded 6 Section and Peter was in charge of the HQ Signals Section. Willy was also able to pick out Barbara. She stood in a section behind a very attractive blonde female corporal. ‘Gwen someone or other in Year 10,' Willy remembered. He shifted his attention back to Barbara. Then he shook his head and muttered, “She is just so lovely!” But what to do about her? He could not decide.

The previous year the displays had included one showing piece by piece the organization and rank structure of the company; a second one showing the types of training activities done, with each section doing a different short act; and a third showing some drill by the corporals. This year the three displays began with the organization of the unit. This was followed by two that were races between the sections. The first race was to carry out First Aid on a ‘snakebite' victim and get him on an improvised stretcher quickly (1minute and 15 seconds for the winners!). The second race was much more entertaining and involved the sections erecting a shelter using only two broom handles, some thin rope, 6 pegs and one Shelter Individual.

To Graham's obvious discomfiture both races were won by 2 Section. The company then moved off for a drink (It was very hot and humid, even at 5:00pm) and to prepare for the formal ceremonial parade.

Willy really enjoyed watching the parade. He saw his friends trying their very best to do their drill. Graham in particular did an outstanding job. As a temporary sergeant he was the centre escort in the five strong cadet Flag Party. As such he marched between the two CUOs who were carrying the Australian flag and the school flag.

The three sergeants guarding the flags were of particular interest to Willy. All wore scarlet sashes over their right shoulders and carried old World War 2 Lee Enfield .303 rifles. They did the old drill with these, the rifles at the ‘slope' over their left shoulders. Added to the shimmer of the CUO's swords and the glitter of polished brass and badges it all looked very military to Willy. He even admitted to himself that it did look impressive and that he was just a little jealous!

After a march past and an ‘advance in review order' there were speeches and the presentation of prizes. Graham got the award for Best Junior NCO, it being explained that he won the award while still a corporal. Once again Willy experienced a twinge of envy.

 

CHAPTER 7

 

AIR MUSEUM

 

Through all of the army cadet parade Marjorie sat close beside Willy, pressing her hip and leg against his. As Graham marched past she leaned over and whispered, “Gee, Graham is really handsome isn't he?”

Willy felt another spurt of jealousy but snapped back, “Well, you can have him if you like.”

Marjorie shook her head. “No. I love you,” she replied. “Besides, he is going out with Carol Battersby.”

“Is he?” Willy asked doubtfully. “I heard rumours he wasn't doing very well.”

“Well, she's here watching and giving him big smiles,” Marjorie answered.

Willy's gaze followed her pointing hand and he saw Carol sitting along to his right. He was surprised to see her, both because she lived near the Castor Sugar Mill which was quite some distance away, and because he had never thought she would be interested in anything military.

After the parade Willy went with Marjorie and Stick to talk to the army cadets after they had been dismissed. Willy made a point of congratulating Graham. While he did this he had Marjorie's story confirmed. Carol was standing with Graham and had her hand on his arm. Graham looked extremely pleased. ‘And so he should,' Willy mused.

They were joined by several Navy Cadets, resplendent in their dress whites. These included Andrew Collins, his big sister Carmen and Tina Babcock, Andrew's girlfriend. For a few minutes they discussed the differences between the drill done by each service.

Stephen joined them. “What are we doing tonight?” he asked.

To Willy's embarrassment Marjorie giggled. That made the others all look from him to her, then grin. Willy blushed and knew it. Even Marjorie went red when she realized what she had done. He said, “We are playing board games at Marjorie's.”

“Board games eh?” Stephen said in a suggestive voice.

“Yes,” Marjorie said, trying to look indignant.

Stephen turned to Graham. “What about you Graham?”

Graham gestured to Carol and said, “We are going to the movies.”

At that Marjorie nudged Willy. ‘So Graham is starting to win,' he thought.

Stephen had no luck with Peter or Roger either so went away muttering.  Graham made excuses and led Carol away. Stick stopped chatting to Andrew Collins and said, “Come on Marjorie. Tea time. Let's go home.”

“OK,” Marjorie replied without enthusiasm. She squeezed Willy's arm and then whispered, “See you later.”

After they had gone Willy talked to Andrew and Carmen for a few minutes before going to find his mother. They went home and Willy got out of his uniform and had a shower while she prepared tea. Willy then dressed in shorts and casual shirt in preparation for the games night. It was a very sultry evening, the grumble of a distant thunderstorm hinting at the possibility of rain.

The games night at Marjorie's was attended by Stick, Noddy, Vicki, Tod, Soper and Katrina Ferguson from 2 Section. The games included ‘Uno', ‘Scrabble' and a couple of dice games they had made up themselves. Throughout the evening Willy sat with Marjorie beside him. She kept up the pressure, touching him and pressing her legs against his. That got him all aroused and he was careful not to stand up when anyone was liable to see his condition.

What he really wanted to do was get Marjorie outside but no opportunity seemed to present itself, at least not without making it very obvious and attracting sniggers and lewd and embarrassing comments. It also seemed that Marjorie's mother was making sure they had no chance to get away. She kept coming in with drinks and cakes and stayed just in the next room watching TV.

During a change of games Willy leaned over and whispered in Marjorie's ear. “I don't think we are going to make it,” he said.

“No,” Marjorie replied. She sounded grumpy and made him even more frustrated by saying, “Ooh! Oooh! Oh bugger Mum!”

They did not make it. To put the lid on their chances Willy's parents arrived and sat talking to Marjorie's. At 10pm they took him home, saying he looked tired and that he had a big day next day. It was a very frustrated but also relieved boy who lay tossing restlessly in his bed far into the sultry night.

On Sunday morning Willy slept in and then had a slow start. He also clicked onto the internet to look up plane wrecks and restorations. One of these dealt with wrecks in the Darwin area and Willy did some reading about the Japanese air raids on that town back in 1942. He had been hoping to find more about the wreck of the flying boat, the
Corinthian
.

In this Willy was disappointed. In the past he had read accounts of the Japanese attacks on Darwin on 19
^th
February 1942 but he now read the details with more interest. As he read he tried to imagine what it must have been like, particularly for the aircrew. ‘Four American ‘Kittyhawks' shot down in a few minutes and the fifth one managed to shoot down one fighter and two dive bombers. That was a great effort!' he thought. For a few minutes he daydreamed, placing himself in the cockpit of that hard pressed fighter plane. It made him particularly pleased when he learned that the lone ‘Kittyhawk' had managed to land safely afterwards.

A few pages further on Willy read a short account of another raid he was vaguely aware of knowing about. This was the Japanese raid on Broome in Western Australia on 3
^rd
March 1942. When he read that flying boats were involved Willy concentrated more closely. What he now learned quite amazed him. ‘Sixteen flying boats destroyed on the water in one raid! Sixteen! How on earth did that happen?' he wondered. It particularly saddened him to read about Dutch civilian refugees, including women and children, who had been evacuated that day from Java, being killed while still in the seaplanes which were sitting on the harbour.

That scene he could imagine and vivid images of the dead body with its pink and purple entrails hanging out like obscene streamers made him feel upset and nauseous. ‘Oh, what a shame!' he thought, wishing the people in charge had either refuelled the planes and sent them on before the raid, or had moved the unfortunate people ashore. But 16 flying boats! He had no idea so many were in service at the time.

He also read that an American B24 ‘Liberator' with 33 people on board was shot out of the air during the raid, only one person surviving the crash into the sea. Again he had vivid images of seeing Jacob in the waves and he shuddered. “And two B17s, a second ‘Liberator', a Dutch transport plane and an RAAF ‘Hudson' also destroyed, all on the ground,” he read aloud. Then he shook his head. “What a wipe out! We obviously weren't very well prepared.”

His interest was also sparked when he read that the Dutch plane had been carrying diamonds and that they had vanished from the wreck when the rescue teams arrived at the beach where the plane lay in the shallow water. ‘Diamonds eh? Could that be what Jacob was looking for?' he thought. Then he shrugged and read on.

‘I wonder what type of flying boats they were?' he thought. At the back of his mind was something he had read the previous year about the Imperial Airways flying boat routes from Britain to Australia that were set up in the 1920s and 1930s. He thought the route went via Broome but wasn't sure. ‘I must find out more about that, and about the Japanese raid,' he decided.

That sent him to his reference library of aircraft types and he quickly dug up the flying boat he was interested in. ‘An ‘Empire S30C', all metal, high-wing monoplane, four engines,' he noted. It was obviously a predecessor of the famous ‘Sunderland'. He read that they: ‘carried passengers in style, with standards taken from the leisured and spacious days of the previous century'.

‘All those planes had names starting with ‘C'. I wonder if that one they found in Darwin Harbour, the
Corinthian,
was one of that class?'

Still pondering flying boats Willy joined his parents in the car after morning tea. His brother Lloyd declined to come, preferring to go to a friend's house. First they drove to Marjorie's and collected her and Stick. They then drove up the Kuranda Range and south west along the Kennedy Highway.

Lunch was taken at Aunty Isabel's farm near Davies Creek. That caused Willy some depressing flashbacks as both Stick and Marjorie had been at the farm the night Uncle Ted was murdered. In fact Willy had been in Marjorie's bedroom when Uncle Ted had got up to investigate engine noises down along the creek. Remembering those horrible events made Willy feel very sad and depressed.

At 1:30pm Willy's father drove him, plus Marjorie and Stick, to Beck's Air Museum. This is beside the Kennedy Highway 5km south of the town of Mareeba. It is set back from the highway, separated from it by a 100m wide belt of open savannah woodland. Parked outside the front gate is a yellow painted World War 2 ‘Matilda' tank. That didn't particularly interest Willy but seated on it, waiting for them, were Stephen and Graham.

Dr Williams drove in and parked in the bitumen car park. Graham and Stephen walked over to join them. As he got out of the car Willy noted that Graham was smiling and looking very happy. “G'day Graham. How'd your date go?” he asked.

Graham blushed but beamed. “Good,” he replied.

“Well, what happened?” Stick queried.

Graham went even redder but was saved by Marjorie who snapped, “Don't you tell them anything Graham.”

Stick laughed. “Come on Graham, give us the juicy details.”

Now Marjorie got angry. “It's awful the way you boys boast about your… er.. your… er.. what you claim you did,” she said.

Stephen snorted and cried out, “Oh, and you girls
never
discuss the boys you went out with of course!”

“I.. We.. You..” Marjorie spluttered.

She was saved by Dr Williams who said mildly, “Enough of that. A gentleman never tells. Now let's go.”

To the left of the small car park was the museum. This was housed in a huge shed with a rectangular base and semi-circular ‘igloo' type roof. Attached to it is a smaller and newer concrete block shed which contains the office and a huge collection of models and other exhibits.  The group made their way to the ticket office inside the front gate and were met by the owner, Mr Syd Beck, and his son Norman. Mr Beck, a red-faced elderly man, was expecting them and was very pleased to show them around. “Is there anything in particular you want to see?” he asked, after being reminded they had all been there before.

“The ‘Airacobra',” Willy answered.

Mr Beck led them out into the large semi-circular hangar and past other aircraft including a ‘Neptune', a ‘Sea Venom', and a ‘Canberra' and also several armoured vehicles and lots of aircraft engines and propellers to the ‘Airacobra'.