.................... Sgt. Clarrie Meers - Navigator - 31 Squadron RAAF - B Flight - Coomalie Creek - Darwin 1942 to 1943
......... Little has been published about the RAAF contribution to the Pacific War in the USA. Her ground and airforces made significant contributions in tying down the Japanese and blunting their invasion forces early in the war. Through grinding attrition they helped destroy the Japanese airforces in the South West Pacific and East Indies. At extreme long range they attacked airfields, oil installations and contained the bypassed garrisons so that the leapfrog campaigns towards the empire itself could continue. Clarrie was an original member of 31 squadron, which was formed at Wagga New South Wales in July 1942. The unit first saw action in early November 1942. The Beaufighter carried the most powerful foreward firing armament of its time and a crew of two, the pilot & navigator. The aircraft was armed with 4/20 mm cannon in the nose, 6 machine guns in the wings and a rear firing 30 caliber machine gun for the observer/navigator. The missions were mainly ground straffing the Japanese who were building airstrips in the islands to the north-west of Australia in preparation for an invasion. These airstrips were in a semi-circle from Timor to the west coast of New Guinea. Clarrie spent just on 10 months at Coomalie Creek, about 40 kilometers south east of Darwin, trying to stop them. Says Clarrie: "We succeeded"

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Clarrie Meers was born in Mudgee, a town of 10,000 people, some 180 miles WNW of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, on the 13th July 1921. Clarrie: "My parents owned a small farm (200 acres) about 7 miles from Mudgee. We had a small dairy and sent cream to the local butter factory in Mudgee. Also, grew crops of vegetables etc on some 30 acres of very fertile river flats. The produce was sent by train to the markets in the capital city - Sydney. I grew up on the farm during the great depression of the 1930's, the farm income was never enough to meet the expenses and I experienced the depths of poverty in my early teens. I had 5 brothers and 2 sisters - all older than me. They all migrated back to the farm during the depression because there was no work and no money.

Some scenes from Mudgee in New South Wales, the town clock tower, the Cudgegong river and the Blackman house in Mudgee, circa 1842. Mudgee is still an agricultrual region today with many wineries, Bed and Breakfasts and other scenic attractions where I found these photos.

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Clarrie:
"My parents were born in Australia, but both parents descended from convict stock deported from England in the early 1800's. [NOTE: England initially started the Australian colony with prisoners, people in debt and convicted of the smallest infractions to serious crimes were all transported together. Many died on these voyages that took months to complete. When parolled they became farmers, ranchers and merchants. This practice, was similar to the one England used to send labor to the Americas. A book called the Deadly Shore is a good read for information on the period of colonization of Australia. ]

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My father did not have go into service in WWI and none of my brothers went to into WWII. There was no conscription in either war, except that some army conscripts were sent to New Guinea against the Japanese in early 1942, when Australia was in grave danger of being invaded.

[Note: At this time early in 1942 the R.A.A.F with Hudson recon/bomber aircraft were conducting some of the most dangerous and long range sorties of the war. The Australian territorials and Volunter Army stopped and held the Japanese in the jungles around the Kokoda Trail in the Owen Stanley mountains of New Guinea. They held the line long before U.S. ground forces were available to help. They were the reason that the Japanese timetable for the reduction of Port Morseby was delayed long enough for for American troops and material to begin to help turn the tide.]

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Clarrie like most young men of his day and economic situation was very active in sports. Much like Ben Heffer's rural town in New Zealand the farm communities in Australia had a great deal of pride in local teams. Clarrie: "A great deal of sport was played in country towns before WWII. There was no television. video or computers and not even a radio on our farm. So sport was our number one entertainment. I played a lot of cricket(no doubt foreign to you) tennis, hockey and rugby league. I really enjoyed these games. I was a normal troublesome child, forced to go to Sunday School and church on Sundays, but only until I was old enough to refuse to go. My father owned a pick-up truck and I got a drivers licence at age 17, but I wouldn't say that I had much access to the vehicle.

Australia had her own barnstorming pilots and air pioneers including Charles - Kingsford Smith - Who's aircraft the Southern Cross competed in races sought to be the first to make the trans Pacific Australia to USA crossing.

Clarrie: My first "close-up" of an aircraft was in about 1929 when Charles Kingsford Smith landed in a field near our local one teacher school. C.K.Smith was a famous aviator in our early history. He pioneered various long distance routes --Australia-England, Australia-U.S.A., Australia-New Zealand etc. Sydney Airport is named Kingsford Smith Airport. He was barnstorming , giving 5 minute rides for 5 shillings, I didn't have the money, so didn't have the ride.The plane was 3 engined, I think of American origin.

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I finished high school in Mudgee in 1939. Just after WWII began, I went to Sydney to find work and worked as a furniture storeman. Naturally I wanted to train as a pilot, but at that time the airforce was inundated with applications for pilot training and they could not take me on for at least 12 months. I enlisted on 18th March 1941 and spent the remainder of 1941 on physical training, rifle drill, discipline, learning morse code, & the workings of radios until I was posted to Point Cook airfield near Melbourne for training in the D.C.2 aircraft.

I wasn't prepared to wait long, so I became as a wireless operator in early 1942. This course lasted about 3 months, and the top 5 or 6 exam scores were offered navigation courses. I was just very lucky to get picked. I first flew in an aircraft as part of my training as a wireless operator on 31st January, 1942. The aircraft was a D.C.2 fitted out to train about 10 trainees on each flight. I remember I was very nearly airsick on this first flight, & it was only with the determination to "keep it down" that I was able to operate the radio. I never felt airsickness again until I was doing pilot training in 1958 while based in England in Qantas. Practising spin, stalls etc can be fairly hectic. However I qualified for my licence. I trained as a navigator until August 1942, (this included bombing and gunnery). On joining the R.A.A.F. a trainee was referred to as an A.C.1 -- equivalent to a private in the army. On graduation as a wireless operator on 17th March 1942 I was still an A.C.1 On graduation as a navigator on 24th June 1942 I became a sergeant.


I had known Jess since we were kids & corresponded during the war years.

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I was then posted to 31 Squadron which was forming up at Wagga in central New South Wales. Flying Beaufighters which the English had very generously sent to us. I did my first mission against the Japanese on 19th November. 1942. We were all volunteers in the airforce. Australia did had conscription for the Army, but with the exception I have mentioned, no conscripts were sent overseas." The match-up of Navs & pilots was up to the individual, but some, self included, waited for the C.O. to say "you & you are a crew"


[Note: The forces defending NW Australia in late 1942 were solely Australian. No 18 Squadron, a Dutch B-25 group and American B-24 Group were on the way in early 1943. 31 Squadron consisted of a full complement of 24 Beaufighters sharing Coomalie Creek Station with No 1 PRU (Photo Recon Unit) made up of 1 Whirraway, 4 Brewster Buffaloes and 2 Lightnings and 6 Lancers. Fighter defense at Darwin 150 kilometers to the northwest consisted of 48 Kittyhawks of 76 & 77 Squadrons based out of Livingstone and Strauss Airfields.]

My pilot was Jack Dennet, a flight lieutenant, who was quite a bit older than me, (I was 21 at the time) & I thought he looked fairly responsible & capable - which he turned out to be. He had joined the R.A.A.F. pre-war & was a senior pilot & so we became flight leaders. (The squadron consisted of two flights of 12 aircraft & crews each). So when we went on a mission with other aircraft we were the leader & yours truly was responsible for the navigation, while the other aircraft simply followed. I liked it this way because it meant that I was kept busy making sure we hit the enemy coast where we planned & hence able to identify the target. And had less time to think about the possible opposition.

There was not a lot of preflight briefing, except to warn us of gun placements & expected opposition. The Americans had a Lightning photo recce aircraft based on Coomalie & they continually photographed the Japanese activities to the North. We had access to these photos. Sometimes the R.A.A.F Hudson crews from nearby would brief us on their experience over certain targets which we were about to attack.

We carried flame floats. We always travelled about one & a half hours over water with no land marks, so my system was: I would swing the compass on our aircraft some two or three days after the cannon had been fired & make sure that the compass deviation card was correct. Then, after reaching cruise altitude , if there were no white caps on the water, (& usually there were none due to there being very little wind in the tropics) I would drop a flame float through a shute in the floor beside the navigator position & warn the pilot to concentrate on his flying while I took a drift on the flame now on the water. I would repeat this procedure every half hour. In this way, I knew the compass was accurate, & I knew the drift. I would therefore be fairly confident of arriving at the expected position on the enemy coast. There was no way, usually, to check the ground speed & hence the E.T.A. , but the E.T.A. was not really important. I learned in the airforce that when everything was going haywire, an intelligent guess was acceptable. I still believe it !! [note: Unlike Europe there were no radio becons to help fix a position and the distance to the target was often at the extreme range of the aircraft, drop tanks at that time being unknown and thus unavailable. The navigator basically had dead recokoning, with whith an astro compass and drift recorder. The compass could be thrown off by the firing of the cannons, especially the one in the front of the aircraft. from Parnells Whispering Death]

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Click here for a brief 31 Sqdrn History

Our squadron, having formed up in Wagga in New South Wales moved to the Darwin area in October 1942 and commenced operations almost immediately.
Pilots on the ground left to right. Cormie, Madden, Savage, Barnett, Cooke, Greenwood, Delaporte, Biven, Entwhistle & Van Nooten. Navigators Sitting on wing left to right, Agnew, Hatfield, Newton, Studt & unknown. Navigators on back and engine, left to right, Thorncraft, unknown, Thompson, Meers, Lennon.

The squadron photo was taken at Coomalie strip in 1942. the group on the ground are pilots & the navs on the aircraft. Jess made her mark X above yours truly.! The man on the ground on the far left was my tent mate. He was a rough diamond who had been in Malaysia when the Japanese attacked, they lost what aircraft they had, so he then fought with the Australian army until they were ordered to surrender, but he escaped & somehow got back to Australia and, so, was back in the airforce.
The first action against the enemy was to serve as top cover for several Australian Navy ships sailing to Timor to evacuate Australian servicemen trapped there. It was also our first meeting with Japanese Zeros and the result wasn't very heartening. We lost two aircraft, including our second-most senior pilot. After that we settled down to what we did best, namely straffing the Japanese who were in the process of building a ring of airfields on islands to the north & west of Australia from Timor to New Guinea. We would descend to sea level for the last 50 km or so -- to avoid possible radar--then pop-up over the coast & straff any Japanese, buildings or machinery where they were building the airfield. We were sometimes attacked by Zeros. On one occasion as we approached Timor, a Zero was on the tail of our No.2 aircraft, so we turned towards him, he turned towards us and both aircraft fired madly at each other-- with no visible effect--. Fortunately, the man wasn't a suicide pilot--he went over the top of us, went straight up, rolled over and came down on our tail. All we could do was open the throttles and hope that we could out-pace him, which we did. The Beaufighter was about 5 knots faster than the zero at sea level.

[ Notes; from an article sent by Clarrie on 2/12/2003 by W.C CF READ D.F.C. The Observers "Scare gun". The observers scare gun was loaded with tracer and was effectively used by many observers against attacking fighters who showed a reluctance to close in the face of a stream of tracer. Unfortunately the observers cupola is small and the gun could not be aimed effectively. The observer had to take care and not shoot off his own tail plane and rudder. ]

UPDATE TO THE FIRST MISSION 4/13/2001
I have had a very enjoyable trip to the other side of Australia, to Perth. On 23rd February, a new Australian submarine was commissioned & named at the naval base at Stirling south of Perth. On the 30th Nov. & 1st Dec. 1942 an Australian destroyer, the Armidale, was crossing the Timor sea from Darwin to Timor to pick up Australian troops who had been fighting a losing battle with the Japanese invasion force on Timor which was by then fully occupied by the Japanese. The Japanese were bombing & straffing the ship from their base at Penfuii & 31 sqdn was ordered to drive the Japanese off, which we did to the best of our ability, but the ship was close to Timor & because of our limited range, we could only stay about half an hour over the ship. So 3 Beaufighters were sent every half hour or so to fight off the Japanese and there were obviously periods when there was no top cover & the destroyer was sunk on 1st. Dec.& survivors were being straffed in the water as they swam away from the sinking ship by Zeros. As the ship was sinking a young 19 year old sailor strapped himself to the 20 mm anti- aircraft gun & continued firing until the ship disappeared under the water. The seaman, Teddy Sheehan was wounded & went down with the ship. He had shot down one of the attacking zeros & damaged another. Some of the survivors were later picked up & returned to Darwin. On the afternoon that the ship was sunk, six beaufighters were sent to Drysdale in north-west Australia & on the morning of 2nd Dec. the six aircraft led by Dennett/Meerswent to Penfuii, which was the base from which the Japanese aircraft had sunk the destroyer & we destroyed 18 bombers & a couple of zeros. You have details of this raid on the web site. The submarine commissioning at Stirling was to name the sub. the Sheean to honour this ordinary seaman. No ship in either the british or Australian navies has ever been named after an ordinary seaman. As a member of the aircrew who had endeavored to protect the Armidale I received an invitation to the ceremony. Two other survivors of the 1942 action, Ken McDonald & Eric Barnett were also able to make the trip. There are 11 men of the original 50 in 31 sqdn still alive, but for various reasons , we were the only members to make it. I had not met Ken or Eric since 1943, so it was a very, very happy & nostalgic meeting. Our wives also had a great time. The navy put on a magnificent show, with drinks & goodies afterwards. Eric is 4th from the left on the ground leaning on the prop. in the photo at Coomallie.


Clarrie: "On another occasion we were attacked by some 5 or 6 Zeros on floats (Rufes)in the Aru Islands off New Guinea. This action lasted about ten minutes and lots of ammunition was fired off from both sides, but again with no definite results. The navigator had a machine gun in a ball-joint in the cupola-- for dealing with fighters attacking from the rear. I have to admit that I used up a lot of ammo on this occasion ---with no visible results.We used mostly tracer bullets in this gun in the forlorn hope that the enemy would think there was a lot of lead coming his way and would therefore keep his distance, but I doubt it had any effect on the Japanese pilots.

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Our most successful raid was on the Japanese airfield at Kupang in Timor. They used to keep their bombers in Singapore and fly them to Kupang---the airfield was named Penfoui--- to bomb Darwin and the towns in north west Australia and would then fly them back to the safety of Singapore. At this time Australia had small groups of personnel living in the mountains throughout Timor (and New Guinea). They were known as Coast Watchers. They did a magnificent job of reporting enemy movements etc in very dangerous circumstances. Diahatsu barge a frequent target. [ Note: During this time the Japanese units were primarily of the 7th Air Division and the 23rd Air Flotilla based on the islands from Timor through the Aru Islands with the 934th Kokutai float plane units. To get at these targets the Beaufighters would stage through the strip at Drysdale to the South of Darwin on the coast to hit Timor. The airstrip at Millingimbi on the coast to the North East of Darwin was used to hit Taberfane and other Aru island targets. In turn Japanese hit this base at every opportunity. ] We did use an aldis lamp, sometimes to talk to shipping which we escorted along the north coast coming to Darwin. The Japanese used to send floatplanes down from Taberfane to harrass our shipping supplies. We also used the aldis to signal our control tower as we had no radio in the tower.

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On 1st of December 1942, the coast watchers reported some 30 Japanese bombers had arrived in Penfoui. The Beaufighter did not have sufficient range to attack Penfoui from Darwin. So, 6 of us were despatched to a little sandy strip at Drysdale on the N.W. coast of Western Australia on 12/1/1942 where we refueled and slept the night. We became airborne just as dawn was breaking at 5.35 am and headed out over the Timor sea. Dennett/Meers were the leaders of the formation of six aircraft. About ninety minutes later, the Timor coast came into view. Jack Dennett thought that we were slightly south of track and said I will turn to the north for a while,which he did. About 4 minutes later, I said to him "we had better get back on course, I recognise the coast & know where we are" We turned onto our original course (we were now slightly north of track) and I said to Jack "we will go over that mountain in front of us and we will then see Penfoui down on our left' As we crossed the mountain, there was Penfoui on our left ,packed with bombers lined up nicely along the taxi ways.

These Betty bombers were on Penfui. Jack was shooting at a row of bombers directly in front of us & I took this photo through the navigators window.


All 6 Beaufighters picked their own targets and straffed them. The bofors guns started firing at us but by this time we were getting out of their range. The coast watchers reported that we had destroyed 18 bombers & 2 Zeros in the 10 second straffing.This proved to be the most successful raid ever carried out by 31 squadron. [note: the smoke columns coudl be seen 80 kilometes away. During the run Dennets 20mm cannon failed and he hosed the bombers with his machine guns setting them afire. The fine dust and sand on the makeshift airdromes in NW Australia played havoc with the fine tolerances of the cannon, these were later machined to increase the tolerances for reliability and also the rate of fire.]


The external and Internal pictures of the navigator's position. Australia's Mk VI, X and XXI Beaus had the clear, not framed, bubble. The bubble and a section or fuselage around it hinged to the stbd side. This would be the bailout position. The regular entry point was a hatch behind the pilot in the lower fuselage. It'd be a tight and difficult task to get there in an emergency. Brent: (I have entered and exited a Beau via this hatch and it was hard enough with the aircraft stationary on the ground!) Thanks to Brent Green for the use of his photos and comments. More Photos by Brett Green

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31 Squadron letters were EH. Clarrie: Our aircraft did not have the large lettering on the side of the fusilage, but each crew had their own aircraft in the squadron. Jack Dennett & I had aircraft No. A19-59. This aircraft was shot down while attacking targets in the Aru Islands. The pilot swam ashore & became a P.O.W. but the navigator, my very good friend, Col Thompson did not survive the ditching. All crews had their own emblems painted on the nose of the aircraft, ours was the dog Snifter, looking very pleased with himself, having just urinated on the rising sun. Our A19-59 sustained very little damage from anti-aircraft fire.we had a few bullet holes around the tail. but no serious damage. On one ocasion over the Aru Islands abullet almost severed the U-bolt holding the tail fin on but it & we survived.More of Rodger Kellys Photos of Beau 21


[ Note: That's a pretty small hatch for 2 men to hope to be able to get out of in a pitching, possibly out of control aircraft at low level, where the breech blocks of the 20mm cannon were placed they certainly could do a lot of damage inside and out. Even with a hinged blister canopy avoiding the tail assembly on bailout would have been difficult.] Clarrie: Another time we lost the whole bottom of the fusilage when one of our own explosive cannon shells exploded in the breach block, which was rather freightening but we still got home. With regard to loading the 20 mm cannon, the first few aircraft from England had drums of ammo on each gun. The drums held, I think, about 30 shells & if a drum became empty, the nav had to replace it with a spare, very arduous in the confined space. Our aircraft had belt feed as did most of the a/c in our sqdn. More interior Photos Airgage Media

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We were attacked at Coomalie Creek on several occasions, usually at night at the full moon when the Japanese could see the airstrip. They never did find our camp which was about a mile away in the bush. One day when I was duty-pilot ( the aircrew were on a roster to control aircraft movements from the control tower) operations phoned to say that there was a yellow alert on. This meant that radar were uncertain whether they had seen images of unidentified aircraft, but you should continue working. There was a Beaufighter parked just behind the control tower & I suggested to operations that it might be wise to move it to its revetment. There were wild horses wandering across the strip & a Beau on final, so I fired a red very cartridge to tell him not to land(we had no radio in the tower), sent the fire tender to hunt the horses off the strip. Another navigator had just come up to the tower to relieve me for lunch when I looked through the tops of the trees to see four single engined fighters coming straight towards us. We could see the smoke from the guns as they opened up and appeared to be firing right at us. Eric got to the ladder first & I reckoned this was no place to be ,so jumped the railing and hit the ground some twenty feet below--Running!! They were Zeros & were firing at the Beau behind the tower. The aircraft was destroyed. This was the only occasion on which we were straffed. If you are being attacked by aircraft coming at tree-top level doing 230 knots, you won't see them or hear them until the shooting starts. This happened to me at Coomalie when attacked by the 4 Zeros. I don't believe the Beaufighter is any quieter than any other aircraft.

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It was normal for Australian aircrew to do a tour of duty of 9 to 12 months in a combat zone. I left Coomalie in August 1943 after approximately 10 months & 28 missions. There was no set number of missions in a tour of duty. The squadrons were not stood down, new crews were being sent as replacements for crews who had served their allotted time in the tropics or for crews who had been lost.

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Losses at Coomlie Creek during Clarries posting there. Remember they started with 24 crews. Lost were the following:

Sqdrn. Ldr. D C Riding & W.O. R A Clarke - 1st support mission to Timor 11/17/42 Crashed in the sea. KIA

P.O. J M Morrison & Sgt. A F Forrest Lost 11/30/42 Rescue of Portugese civilians from Timor. Cause unknown MIA

W.O. Merv Smith & Sgt Ron Hand - Lost on Timor/Fuiloro Mission cause Unknown 12/24/42 MIA

By the end of 1942 two other crews had been shot down by AA fire on Timor missions but very luckily were rescued. The crew of one was picked up by Australian forces still on Timor and they contracted malaria. They never flew operations with 31 squadon again. Another crashlanded due to mechanical problems in a swamp and were picked up. 6 aircraft & 4 Crews out of 24 equal a 17% loss rate on crews and a 25% loss rate on aircraft in 6 weeks of operations. Low level attack was the riskiest of missions in WWII

F.O. Norm Thomas - Lost 1/19/43 Timor/Ossu Cause unknown MIA

F.O Bert Longoni - Navigator Dale 3/15/43 Near Dobo Shipping Strike from AA fire KIA

Colin Thompson Navigator KIA - Pilot C Greenwood captured Aru islands.

F.O. J C Budd, Navigator McQueen - Lost Taberfane Aru Islands 5/4/43 - Cause Unknown MIA
This was the aircraft A19-60 that Clarrie and Jack Dennet normally flew.

F.O J D Branley & Sgt B. McGrath - Lost 5/8/43 on Base Defense Night Mission MIA [Branley was later rescued].


F.O Fred Firth & Sgt McLennon - Lost Timor/Penfoi AA fire & fighter opposition KIA 5/18/43

F.O Blue Armstrong and Sgt Robertson - Lost Timor/Penfoi AA fire & fighter opposition KIA 5/18/43.

F.O. Bob Taylor & Sgt Geoff Coburn - Lost Timor/Penfoi 5/18/43 Ditched in sea 100 miles from target MIA

F.O Bluey Truscott - Lost Timor Sea training mission 'Shadow Shooting' around 6/15/43

F.O. Gillispie and Navigator Cameron in A19-118 MIA Taberfane/Selaru

F-Lt F J Gardiner & Nav Lynne - Lost 8/21/43 Taberfane, Collision during combat. KIA

F.O. V C Leithhead & Nav Graves - Lost 8/21/43 Taberfane, Collision during combat. KIA

F-Lt W E Willard - Lost 8/30/43



These are not all the losses and the names of the navigators are not always provided in my resouces listed below. There were several other non combat operational losses, crashes on airstrips where crews were seriously injured and aircraft written off during this period of 1/1-43-August 43. The reader can see that in less than 8 months a further 11+ aircraft were lost and their crews. 60% Casualities on crews and 80% on aircraft since arriving in November of 1942. Crews were indeed lucky to survive their rotations.


Artwork on one of Clarries Aircraft - Snifter the Squadron mascot

A snapshot of 90 days in the life of 31 Squadron
Sorties flown March (37) - April - (49)- May - (99) Enemy Aircraft Destroyed in the air and on the ground 20. 31 Squadron Losses to enemy action 6 aircraft and 2 due to other reasons.

Recently a 31 Squadron Beaufighter lost in the December 1942 raids was discovered by Dave Edwards on Bathurst Island near Darwin while surveying for a road to a new radar station. He noticed bits of aluminum and then a large crater in the path of the bulldozers carving the road and then a machinegun partially buried. Edwards said. "I hope nobody was ever killed here, you get a bit nervous around these things in case some poor bugger did die." The aircraft belonged to Flight Sgt Ian Wilkins and his navigator Bill Byrnes, Badly damaged they had flown it unescorted across the Timor sea in a series of rollercoaster maneuvers for 800km. Both airmen bailed out and for a time it was assumed they had been shot down and lost but in fact they were rescued by the islanders and the members of a radar station base there. It had been always assumed that the aircraft spun into the sea. Flight Sgt. Wilkins passed away in 1998 and Navigator Byrnes in 1983.



******************************** On return from my tour of operations at Coomallie Creek, I was made a flight sergeant, & then about 6 months later became a warrant officer which was the highest non-commissioned rank available. Some 6 months later I applied for and, after an interview, received my commission as an officer. Wireless training was done at Melbourne Technical College, flying at Point Cook just south of Melbourne & navigator training at Mt Gambia in southern South Australia. The aircraft used for navigation training was an Anson--a twin-engined ancient English aircraft with a top speed of about 100 knots. For bomb aiming & gunnery the aircraft was again a rather elderly English aircraft a Fairy Battle--a prewar fighter-2 seater. I dropped 80 practise bombs & fired about 2000 rounds of amunition.

The Empire Training Scheme recruited thousands of men from, mainly, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada for training as aircrew. Australia had more recruits than aircraft & equipment to train them & so large numbers were sent to Canada & U.K. for their training. I don't think any were sent to U.S.A. certainly not before 7th Dec.1941. Practically all the course I was on were posted to England on graduation--some 50 navigators where they were intergrated into the R.A.F..The 8 or 10 navigators with radio training remained in Australia, specifically to crew the Beaufighters which required wireless training as well as navigators. The wireless set-up in the 1940's was an entirely different operation to the automatic push button of today.. I am not sure why the navigator was referred to as the observer. Maybe it dates back to W.W.1. when a second crewman would keep a check on whether they were over enemy or friendly trenches,watch for enemy aircraft etc.We were issued with N badges about 1944 & in Qantas we had N badges

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Aircraft utilized by the Japanese to defend the Indonesian Islands and attack North Western Australia
Top photos - Rufe - Jake - Pete - Bottom photos - Mavis - Nick - Zero - Topsy




******************************** I don't think there was any class distinction in the R.A.A.F. --certainly not among the aircrews & definitely not while on operations at Coomallie Creek. We all lived in 2 man tents in the bush, had our meals in a tin hut which served as a mess --but no bar. We were issued with one bottle of beer/week. I had a good friend--an armourer who didn't drink, so I sometimes had 2 bottles. There was certainly a huge difference betwween the aircrews & the administrative officers. The aircrews were less inclined to follow strict dicipline while the admin. people were determined to insist on it. I think the aircrews were inclined to drink more, made more noise , & tried to enjoy life while they could.. But, in an operational squadron in the Pacific there was practically no liquor. It was completely diffirent in the training stations in the south where there was a bar as part of the mess.

There were different awards for officers & other ranks. The surviving officers in 31 squadron received quite a few D.F.C.'s but,from memory only one D.F.M. was issued to a sergeant pilot. However, I don't think anyone was particularly concerned about it. The Australian Services, in general, did not issue medals etc in anything like the quantity that the Americans did in the wars which we have shared with them.



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We had very little contact with the Americans while in 31 squadron. The Americans had two Liberator squadrons in the Darwin area in 1942. We sometimes straffed a target after the Liberators had bombed it hoping to catch the enemy unawares as they began to repair the damage..The squadron bases were 100 miles or so apart, so there was little or no contact. Nor do I think there was a lot of fraternising between Americans & Aussies on leave. I can remember having a few beers with Americans on leave in the cities. Of course there was much rivalry between us with regard to the female company, but I think we held our own in that department. There was no leave as such while in the squadron at Coomallie Creek. We were isolated in the bush. There was no transport, although we sometimes took a truck & drove to a swimming hole in the area , but crocodiles also liked to go for a swim, so we had to be careful.. In the southern training stations we would work for 5 weeks straight, 7 days/week, and then get one weeks leave. In most large towns & cities there was an Airforce House where we could get a bed & sometimes a meal. They always had information about dances, parties etc. Also they had addresses & phone numbers of families who were prepared to entertain a serviceman & this offered opportunities to make friends & maybe meet eligible ladies. And, of course I frequently went to see my parents & renewed acquaintences in Mudgee.

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There was indeed a very real fear of invasion by the Japanese, particularly in 1942 when the enemy held a semicircle of islands from Timor to New Guinea to the Solomons. They had completely destroyed Darwin on 19th Feb. 1942, were bombing towns on the NW coast of Australia. Their aircraft which destroyed Darwin came from the same carrier fleet which attacked Pearl Harbour in Dec. 1941. In early 1942, Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney harbour where they sank several ships before being destroyed. These subs had a mother ship just outside the harbour. A Japanese submarine also sank a hospital ship off the coast near Brisbane.

The only city in New Guinea which the Japanese had not occupied was Port Morseby on the south coast & they sent a huge invasion force to take Port Moresby in about May 1942, but were turned back by an American fleet in the battle of the Coral Sea. The Americans lost several ships in this battle including, I think, the carrier Lexington.

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NOTE: [ Australia generated several divisions for the Army and many squadrons for the RAF in Europe and the Desert of North Africa. So many men were involved in the Empire training program that many went to the United States and Canada to receive primary and advanced training. Australians took a high share of losses, especially in Bomber Command.]

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After my tour of operations in Darwin, I was posted to a large airforce station in Victoria and joined a test flight there. The main work at the station was repairing Beaufighters & Beauforts which had been damaged up north by the Japanese or needed new engines etc & we would ensure that everything worked before the aircraft was sent back to the war. However, my duties were not all that intense or stressful and so I studied for a first class navigators licence, did the exams and, over a period of about 6 months was successful in getting my licence--No. 46.

Clarrie was about to be sent on a second tour of operations with 92 Squadron being formed at Kingaroy Queensland in May 1945. Most of the crews were comming from 5 OTU's number 26 Beaufighter course. The Beaufighters available now were of Australian manufacture. While the squadron was working up during the summer of 1945 the Japanese surrendered and the unit was disbanded on September 17th 1945 before becoming operational.
Clarrie: In the photo, of 92 squadron I am in the 2nd row from the front, & 5 from the right in the green shirt. (center) We had no idea where we would be sent in that squadron but most likely to the Phillipines. Macarthur didn't want the Australian army or airforce in the invasion of Japan. He wanted all the glory for himself.

[ note: Late in the war there was a protest made by Australian airmen over their role and lack of opportunity to carry the fight to the Japanese, some even threatened to resign their comissions. This was not unique as the US Navy certainly did not welcome the assistance of the Royal Navy. However when the Kamikaze campaign reached its peak, the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers steadfastly performed their role in shutting down the airfields from the south where the Japanese shuttled their aircraft. (see the NZ page of Ben Heffer for more on this role)

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I was discharged from the R.A.A.F. in March 1946 when I joined the Australian overseas airline--Qantas straight out of the airforce, in fact I was still on my long service leave from the airforce when I began flying with Qantas. Did 5 years of mostly happy times in the force. Link Qantas History

I approached Qantas in early 1946 for a job as navigator and had no trouble getting signed up. Qantas only had 2 1st class Navs's at that time. A few years later , Civil Aviation Authorities ordered Qantas to train all their Nav's to get their licences. My first flight in Qantas was on a converted Lancaster bomber. The Lancasters were owned and flown by British airways from London to Karachi & then by Qantas crews from Karachi to Colombo to Cocos Island to Perth to Sydney, and return. we carried 9 passengers plus mail. The British had no suitable long range aircraft at that time , nor did Australia, & the Lanc. filled the gap. We were also flying converted Liberators & my second trip was on a Liberator to Darwin then Singapore as Singapore had become useable after the war. In July 1946 British Airways began a flying boat service from England to Australia.These aircraft were 4 engined Sunderland boats that carried about 25 passengers.The flight from England to Sydney took eleven days, passengers were accommodated each night in hotels & practically all flying was in daylight. The cabin was separated into compartments of 4 to 6 seats in total luxury & everyone had a really enjoyable flight . I would go as far as to say that these flights were the last time that passengers could truthfully say that they enjoyed a flight from England to Australia!. Qantas began flying Constellations in April 1948, then super connies a few years later At this time we were also flying skymasters to Japan via Darwin & Clark Field to Iwakuni where Australia had an occupation force. We also flew Catalinas to various islands in the Pacific--Fiji, New Calidonia, Vila & the Solomons. When we got the Constellations we began flying right through to London, quite separate from the British. In Nov. 1958, I took a posting to England when Qantas decided to fly across the Atlantic, & I , with my family, spent a very happy 3 years living in southern England flying to New York once a fortnight. QANTAS began flying 707's towards the end of 1959. In fact Qantas was the first foreign (to U.S.A.) airline to take delivery of the 707. I was based in England at this time & we changed from 1049's to 707's across the Atlantic in September 1959. I got my private pilots licence on Tiger Moth aircraft while based in England in 1960.

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I worked for just on 30 years with Qantas, took a redundancy package plus superannuation and built a house for my son ( the eldest of the 4 children) & worked at a small engineering shop for a couple of years (to learn the trade) and then took a job as a maintenance man at a retarded children's hospital all of which were very interesting & a learning experience. Also, I played a lot of golf in my spare time, plus tennis on saturdays when I coached kids (including my own) . Not that I was any great tennis player, but I knew how it should be played.! We have a son Geoff who is a surveyor and lives in Brisbane working in the transport industry, mainly office work, Government run & seems happy with his lot. We have 3 daughters, Linda is the speech therapist for the education department & also has private patients. She lives at Noosa on the Sunshine Coast some 40 minutes from Mapleton. Wendy the librarian lives here on the Blackall Range about 10 minutes away, & the youngest Joanne has a PHD in veterany science & has been lecturing on animal viruses in New Zealand. She married an American about 10 years ago. The American was in the Peace Corp & Joanne was an Australian volunteer abroad doing Veterinary work in the Cook Islands. She will move to Brisbane in July to take up a similar job at the Queensland university in Brisbane. Jess & I have 3 grandchildren. My son's daughter -- Kristen, lives in Melbourne, so we don't see much of her and my daughter Linda has 2 children, Paul aged 16 & Ruth is 11. Both go to high school at Noosa on the sunshine coast.

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In 1991 I had a heart attack, then a 5 artery by-pass, which was very successful. Jess & I then moved to our present home at Mapleton, which is about 60 miles North of Brisbane, on a mountain plateau some 20 minutes from the Sunshine Coast beaches. I doubt if you will find Mapleton on any map. It is a very small village about 1500 feet above sea level has maybe 500 houses, a pub, grocery shop, bakery, newsagent, doctor,dentist & fish & chip shop. We have 2 acres of excellent soil, lots of trees flower gardens, shrubs & a vegetable garden. We have electricity but water is not laid on. I have a bore with pump for garden watering & we have rain water tanks for the household water & septic tank for sewerage. All very primative but beautiful & I wouldn't want it any other way.

The scenery in and around the Blackall & Glass House mountains, lakes and waterfalls of the National Forrests near Mapleton.

I married Jess in 1947 just 12 months after I had joined Qantas. I had known Jess since we were kids & corresponded during the war years & we seem to have finally found that we liked each others company and we have now enjoyed 53 years of married life & still enjoy each other.---We are very lucky!

The group photo from right to left is my son Geoff. then Jess, then Necia--a very good friend of the family--then self, about 6 months ago in 1999

In June of 2000 Clarrie was able to make the trip back to Darwin and Coomalie with family for a bit of a nostalgia trip. Photos of Comalie Creek Courtesy of Clinton Block Coomalie Creek

The Australians did not have their own campaign decorations or unique recognition. As a rule their forms of recognition followed the lead of the UK in both medals and frequency of award. One Campaign medal similar to the American ones was the Pacific Star and the ribbon on Clarries uniform was for the Defense of Darwin.


E-Mail Me @ worldwar2mem@yahoo.com


Copyright © Ken Arnold 1999. All rights reserved.

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Below are many references that were helpful in putting together this profile in addition to the co-operation of Clarrie and his friends. A brief 31 Squadron History Link With the Australian RAAF Museum 31 Squadron
Rick Kents Beaufighter Camouflage patterns A Beaufighter History 1940-60
Alan Brassil 31 squadron site. His father flew in 31 during WWII.Alan Brassils 31 Squadron site
Photos on the 31 Squadron web site - A19-161 under the camouflage netting was one of Dad's aircraft & the photo is his. Dad also took the photo of A19-176 with engine feathered, EHM over Coomalie Creek & the "Take Off" shot. He has a lot of other photos we are yet to upload to the web site (bear in mind the site is very new) including one of his aircraft after a crash landing on Cartier Island and a couple of other gun camera shots showing barges on flame, jetties in ruin etc. I also hope to upload some of the Squadron personnel photos (one showing aircrew & one showing all the Squadron). His full name is John Leslie Brassil & he was a navigator in 31 Squadron from around 1942 to 1944 (approx dates only). As an avid photographer he has quite a good collection of shots I will one day upload. He was also one of the few to keep his flight log books (totally against orders) and they are obviously a very accurate record of flight details.

Another Beau Restoration Site Peter Dunns Australia At War
Pete Myrings Beaufighter page Australian War Memorial Web Site
NW Australias Wartime Airfields Including Coomalie 30 Squadron Beaufighters..
Joint Australian - Japanese research project
Books on the Subject Odgers Australias Air War against Japan 1943-45 & Gillisons 1939-42 Volume Australian War Memorial Volumes
.Anyone Knowing where I can find a copy of Parnells Whispering Death, an e-mail would be greatly appreciated.


76 Squadron New Guinea P-40's 21 Squadron - South East Asia - New Guinea RAAF IN WWII
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