Papua New Guinea and New Britain (continued)

During the period from the bombing of Pearl Harbour in December 1941 to the fall of Rabaul in January 1942, forecasts were issued for strikes on Truk by Catalinas of 11 and 20 Squadrons. Met. officers were present at briefings of crews before and after these operations. 'The forecasts were satisfactory', stated Gibbs, 'except between Latitude 5 degrees north and Truk where conditions were more severe than predicted; and this was responsible for most of the aircraft failing to reach the target area'.[46] Forecasts were also given for Hudson attacks on Kapingamarangi (Greenwich) Island.

During February, 1942, the Met. moved into a new hut at headquarters in a group of buildings on a newly reclaimed area of land on the shore of the harbour of Port Moresby. The section was now adjacent to operations and signals sections, facilitating close co-operation by Met. officers in operational planning. This resulted in improvement of the Met. section's effectiveness.

Soon after the Japanese occupation of Rabaul, Catalinas of 11 and 20 Squadrons made frequent night attacks on that town. Forecasts were provided and crews briefed before and after the operations with, according to Gibbs, 'excellent results'. Gibbs recalled that a small flight of Australian RAAF Wirraways attacked the Japanese in Rabaul. From memory, none of these aircraft returned, although some of the crew managed to escape by parachute or other means and to find their way back.

Bureau of Meteorology