I recall the equipment, intelligence, communications and administrative officers living in the barracks developed into a close-knit group, very conscious of their role of providing support for aircrew. As a recently married bloke who had been living-out with his young wife, I had not developed many close friendships with other officers of RAAF station Port Moresby but I soon became better acquainted with that jovial group. Despite the fact that the Japanese were not far away and likely to get closer, they had a devil-may-care attitude.

The food in the mess was a challenge to the cooks because it came from tins, mostly M & V (meat and vegetables). M & V tasted great for the first week or so (I was accustomed to Army food from my prewar experience in Sydney University Regiment camps). After a couple of weeks of an unvaried diet of M & V one's appetite became jaded in spite of our cooks' best efforts to disguise it. They were more successful in introducing variety in their desserts, having a supply of canned peaches and pears and flour with which to make tarts and pies. As the Japanese aerial and submarine activity applied increasing pressure on our lines of supply there was a noticeable deterioration in our meals.

Bureau of Meteorology