Operational Expansion

The interior of an advanced forecasting station in North-west Australia.

Nor was the expansion of aviation met services confined to the Pacific and continental Australia. In August 1943 two RAAF weather men left Learmonth (WA) in a United States Navy Catalina flying boat to establish a reporting station at lonely Cocos Island, in the Indian Ocean, where the German raider Emden had been sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney during World War I. The island had already been shelled by an enemy submarine, although no landing was ever attempted, but establishment of a weather station there was felt to be necessary to provide detailed reports for the RAAF and RAF aviation met officers forecasting in Perth and Colombo for the trans-Indian Ocean air transport route—then the longest single hop in the world. On this occasion the flying boat was briefed at American headquarters in Learmonth and set off to find Cocos Island in daylight, but by late in the afternoon the flying boat was lost and advised Learmonth by radio of its intention to return, with very little reserve of petrol. When the evening was well advanced Sqn Ldr J. (Doc) Hogan, the RAAF weather officer who had successfully forecast for the initial trans-Indian Ocean service crossing, was instructed to attend at air operations room to assist in finding the aircraft. This was eventually done and the pilot was advised to climb to 10 000 feet to gain advantage of tail winds on the return trip. Meanwhile, on the plane, the meteorological men and others were instructed to don their lifebelts. All bunks, bedding, loose equipment, instruments and supplies were dumped overboard to lighten the aircraft and it arrived back at Leamonth with the needle on both fuel gauges showing empty.

A second attempt was made some time later by a Catalina operated by Qantas, leaving Western Australia on a night selected for astro-navigation conditions and for the likelihood of a fine morning at the terminal, which was successfully reached at 6 am. The RAAF weather men became established from then onwards, making the island an extremely important one from the meteorological point of view, since not only did it supply weather and upper wind data for the trans-Indian Ocean crossing, but also valuable information enabling cyclones to be discovered in their early stages of development and their direction and movement forecast for the fleet units, cargo ships and transports operating in the Indian Ocean. Subsequently, in 1945, the Australian aviation men at Cocos Island were relieved by RAF weather personnel from South-East Asian Command.

Bureau of Meteorology