The Bismarck Sea Battle—1 March 1943 (continued)

Arch Shields, who was at North West Area when Keith Hannay was the Area Meteorological Officer, recalled the daily conferences with the commanders—the 'top brass'. He remembers Air Vice-Marshal R. Cole CBE (Ole King Cole inevitably), and his keen interest in weather. Darwin, like most of Australia north of the Tropic of Capricorn, has two seasons—the wet and the dry—each with clear-cut weather characteristics. One day, Air Vice-Marshal Cole asked Met. officer Gerry O'Mahoney if he could have copies of the daily weather charts to study privately 'No Sir', ventured Gerry, risking his neck, 'there are only two charts—one for winter and one for summer'.[76]

In May 1943, the British Air Ministry decided that it was essential to maintain an Empire air connection between England, Australia and New Zealand. Part of this route was from Perth to Colombo, the longest single hop in the world until the use of the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean made a midway staging possible. Forecasting the weather for this route was fraught with difficulty, involving, as it did, the weather pattern in two hemispheres over a distance of 3,000 miles. A meteorological observing station was set up in the Cocos Islands by D.Met.S., and weather reports were available from Ceylon. Even so, the few reports received were, almost literally, a drop in the ocean. The first forecast was made for the first flight on this route by Flight-Lieutenant John (Doc) Hogan who had spent two years at Port Moresby.[77]

Bureau of Meteorology