1:01:57
Nardo Crisafulli
Joan Bock
29/03/1995
E0094 - E0095
Disc 11:02:43 - Disc 2 30:28
Robyn Sutherlin
11/09/2015
City of Joondalup
JB: Nardo Crisafulli, known as Ned, was interviewed on the 29 March 1995 as part of the
Australia Remembers Project.
NC: My name is Nardo Crisafulli. I enlisted as Edwin Crisafulli, me rank was a Craftsman
when I retired from the army. My army number was WX33109 the reason for my name being
was accidentally changed was I was asked what Nardo meant in English at the recruiting
office and I said well as far as I know it was Edward or Edwin some name like that either one
which I don’t know whether its authentic now but anyhow the application come in and I did
not look when I signed the register at the recruiting office and that they had Edwin there so
therefore for ever more while I was in the army I am known as Edwin Crisafulli not Nardo but
my actual name on me birth certificate is Nardo Crisafulli. I enlisted in the, first of all I must
tell you I was aware that there was a war on naturally in 1939 the war had started I was
second year apprenticed I was briefed by the army authorities of the possibility of enlisting I
could either volunteer or they could conscript me into the army and they call you up.
JB: Did, did they?
NC: So I filled out the necessary form, posted it back and they exempt me from service for
the time being and I carried on in the engineering game when I was the following year in
1940, 1941 sorry 1941, I was called up in the Citizens Military Force so I joined on the 22
October 1941. During the first period that I was in the army I was working at the workshops,
army workshops and they called for volunteers, things beginning to hot up in Australia they
were short of men short of trained personal in engineering and so forth they called for
volunteers for the AIF. So on the 25 September 1942 that’s nearly one year after I had
originally joined, I joined the AIF which is the Australian Imperial Forces and that was from
the 26 September 1942 to the and I was discharged on the 25 January 1946. After being
called up we were called down to Karrakatta office and QM office on our first day of
enlistment, we had to hand in our civil civi clothes they put them in a kit bag and they would
seal them up and they you wouldn’t get those back until you were actually discharged. So
we went to the QM store and they gave us clothes about three times too big for you there
was no sizes they were all one size so take them or leave them or stand up in your own
birthday suit, so we had to take them and the idea was you took the clothing they gave you
so that they you could change them later on you know as supplies come through because
everything was short and my first day at Karrakatta was something. I must say something
about my first meal at Karrakatta was roast lamb and vegetables, so you line up and you
dixies we used to call them dixies they were a square containers with a handle on them and
they fitted into one another you just line up and you go through and they put vegetables and
meat and so forth you go through to the end of the line and you go and sit down when I sat
down and we just going to eat cause were all joking and laughing how we looked. It’s a pity I
didn’t have a camera or somebody had a camera to take it seemed like nothing, nothing in
your life how we really looked with these oversized clothing and just.
JB: What clothing did they issue Ned?
NC: Well they issued you khaki trousers, khaki shorts and shirt, slouch hat and all the rest
of the trimmings that go on to it like you had to have badges and so forth. We never had the
badges on the first day or so because it, it take a long well it was no good putting them on
because the clothes were too big for us and getting back to our meal were just about and we
were hungry too and this was about half past two in the afternoon they were late recruiting
there was a big consignment that had come in from the country as well as metropolitan area
and the meat was fly-blown, you know little wrigglers in the meat so here we promptly two or
three of us got up and went back to the cook and we can’t eat this and the cook looked at us
and he said ‘Look son,’ he said ‘There is a war on.’ he said ‘This has been nothing to what
you’re going to get.’ He picked up a piece of meat or one pan flicked it like that flicked the
worms off and put it back.
JB: Oh Gawd.
NC: ‘Now,’ he said ‘That’s it.’ he said. Naturally we couldn’t eat it we just ate the vegetables
that was my first meal. Anyhow the we worked at the workshop in Perth in Murray Street
there was a Skipper Baileys had a big premises there, it was a workshop a car distribution
place the army had taken that over for mechanical repairs and so forth and we worked there
for many years and then I was transferred still living at Karrakatta we were transferred to
Midland workshops. They took over part of the railway workshops up there and that was a
big workshop really and eventually we transferred from Karrakatta and we lived in tents next
to the workshop at Midland. After I suppose a year or so at Midland we things the pattern of
the war began to change, there was raids on Darwin which we weren’t aware of then. I know
now things began to change they wanted a mobile workshops so they called for volunteers
in the engineering section they wanted engineers, mechanics and trimmers and all the rest
of it to do repairs to army vehicles so I volunteered. They formed a section for this mobile
workshop, we had our own power, we had our own workshop, we had our own trucks with
lathes and everything in it most of the repairs were done out in the open with tent flies and
our first stop was Wongan Hills. There was a research station at Wongan Hills and the
mobile workshop was set up there well there’s work coming from everywhere, come from
Geraldton, come from Northampton, come from everywhere. Different type of work that had
to be done and we were assigned the Bren Gun Carriers, they’re a track vehicle you know,
got tracks on them instead of rubber tyres, they’re got tracks and they used to have Bren
Guns on them and heavy duty trucks, staff cars, scout cars all those and earth moving
equipment we did all those repairs and then. Keep going?
JB: Mm.
NC: Then they decided that we were too far away from the action. We were transferred we
went packed up all our gear overnight and away we went we went to Mullewa there was
Mullewa is about 60 miles east of Geraldton and we set up a workshop in the Mullewa
showgrounds. We were only there a short while and actually things changed there was a lot
of activity that took place there. I won’t go into it as it’s going to take a lot of time, we were
warned that we were going to shift again and we really thought we were going to head north
to further north like closer to Darwin but we didn’t, we come back to Moora just outside
Moora. They had sheds and farm sheds and that and we set up camp and the workshop
there, there was a lot of work around Moora and whilst we were at Moora you wouldn’t
believe it a big fire started and it went through this wheat farm that we were at not only that
farm it went through several farms before we could control it. Well we had the army
personal, the air force anybody was capable of putting out the fire to try and stem this fire
because it got away, anyhow they were talking we were told we were briefed by liaison
officers. Officers who come around regular while I was in the army to our different quarters
that we were and they told us that there had been a shift in the war activities. They wanted to
form a watercraft workshop and they were looking to us to join this initial workshop, 8th
Watercraft Workshop, we’re talking about. The reason was that things didn’t go too well up
at the Coral Sea Battle around Rabaul, Lae, Madang and all those places and they could not
because of the shortage of engineers and mechanics and so forth. We formed they wanted
the workshop as soon as possible so I was one of the volunteers and many others of my
friends we joined the 8th Watercraft Workshop section, AIF. The idea was to repair and they
were all army barges, boats, pearling luggers. I did not know that we was such supply short
supply of watercraft and what I am referring to those luggers and boats and barges there
was a shortage of them and with so many not being not there up during the war then the
active period up at Darwin and so forth we were very short and they brought down a lot of
pearling luggers do you know what pearling lugger is?
JB: Mm.
NC: It’s a, it’s a wooden boat with a two-stroke engine in it. Well they were brought down to
Fremantle so tentatively and temporary we were stationed at Fremantle waiting to for orders
to leave to go to the Coral or the Pacific Ocean they were talking about in those early days
and we stayed at a place called Caledonian Hall, it still exists in Fremantle now. We had put
all our equipment we used to walk down to the water wharf where they had slipways we
used to service the barges and boats that used to go between Fremantle and Rottnest,
Rottnest was supposed to have been one of our strongholds, they had guns and infantry
there you know, so with people going backwards and forwards naturally we had to maintain
the barges and boats and we also had to do up these pearling luggers. They didn’t tell us
that there was a shortage of craft but we could tell of what, what was required of some of
these old boats that had been around as a matter of fact one of the larger and bigger jobs
that I worked on down at while we were at Fremantle waiting to go away was the pleasure
boat Zephyr. It was called the Zephyr; the Zephyr was a pleasure boat and used to go
between Rottnest, Garden Island and Swan River Cruises to the Point Walter etc and early
40 or 39 somewhere around there 38 to 40 this boat burnt to the water’s edge. The army
acquired what was left of it and they built they rebuilt it and our workshop fitted two new
engines into it and that was the last job we done at Fremantle before we left for overseas,
well to go to Brisbane really and then overseas. The boat was ready to go, we tested it just
before we left and as far as I know it was used to transport troops from Rottnest to Garden
Island, yeah from Fremantle to Rottnest and Garden Island. The 8th Watercraft personnel
were taken to Brisbane at a staging camp just out of Brisbane called Ipswich. Ipswich was a
big staging camp mainly used by overseas troops. All service personnel if you come to
Australia from overseas they would take you to Ipswich it had a big camp it had all the
facilities available and they were good facilities and.
JB: How did you get over to Ipswich?
NC: To Brisbane?
JB: How did you get there?
NC: We went by train. I’m sorry.
JB: No that’s okay I was just.
NC: Yeah we left Fremantle well Perth by train and we trained all the way through to
Brisbane.
JB: Mm.
NC: We thought it was only a matter of days or a week or so, we waited three months you
wouldn’t believe it and the reason for the waiting was there was no transport available. Now
we weren’t the only ones that were to go to the Coral Sea and the Pacific Ocean area there
was a large consignment of troops, troops that had joined, troops that were relieving people
up there, new unit like ourselves. We were a unit our unit consisted of it was a specialized
unit about 30 – 35 it fluctuated that was our unit and it was a workshop and we were bored
doing nothing in Brisbane. So I went to town one day and we come across a craft shop
walked in and made enquiries and they said ‘Oh yeah’ and we went in because we saw
some soldiers walking out of there with packets and so, so we walked in and made enquiries
and they said ‘Yeah are you interested in doing some craft work.’ I said ‘Well if we can help
or do something I’d love to be doing.’ you know we would love to be doing something
because it was boring, because being a mechanical and workshop there was no marching
and no rifle exercise and nothing like that. I didn’t do any of that although we had a rifle but
we didn’t do any exercises we weren’t brought up to do that job. So the lady she was most
helpful she said ‘Well look this is what you can do.’ and she showed us. She had all this
leather laid out different types of leather she had leather handbags, leather purses, a
hundred and one different things and the thing that caught me eye was a leather bag, a
leather handbag. I said I would like to make some of those, so they were cut out to pattern
they had all the holes in them ready, all we had to do is buy the lacing material which that
was made out of leather and they were long stings of leather and what you do is lace put the
ends on it and lace it all together then you could buy whatever buckle you wanted and when
they were completed you could either keep them yourself or otherwise you donate it for the
ladies at the craft shop to raise funds. We donated a hell of a lot but I also sent a lot home to
Veen, you know most of the boys sent theirs back to their wives and unfortunately I haven’t
got one to show you they have disappeared. Anyhow that filled in a lot of time and they were
most grateful they were so grateful really they sent a letter the organisation sent a letter to
the commanding officer where we were staying at Ipswich of the good work that the soldiers
had done. You know how many bags that they had made and all the rest of it helped the war
cause, anyhow after many more weeks of waiting news comes through that the troop ship
had berthed at Brisbane and we thought well this is it, so we waited two days nothing
happened by the third day we got notice to pack up and we were to leave. We were told that
we were moving out to an unknown destination somewhere in the Coral Sea. Well you know
we were all young people in our 20’s, late 20’s we were having a competition where we were
going. None of us picked where we were going we were miles out so anyhow we were so
happy to get out of Brisbane, well not happy but you know it was a change, things begin to
move because we were told when we left Western Australia this was most important it was
urgent you know it was a requirement.
JB: Mm.
NC: And then when you get over there and you stop we thought well we’re not wanted. Well
we got on the boat, it was called the Australia it wasn’t our boat at all it was a confiscated
Italian boat. Big ship, a semi-bottom instead of an ordinary semi-bottom it had been
converted for troop carrier transport, carrier it had a lot of bunks in it three and four high,
different levels different decks. Anyhow we thought there was only a few of us there was
about 4,000 odd troops got on at Brisbane well the usual pomp and bands and music was
going, it was good for the locals because they were kissing their wives and all the girlfriends
goodbye and we were looking on the side and we though what a horror for us, you know
most of us were married. But two days out of Brisbane I think it was somewhere around that
to our horrors, we hit a typhoon. You know what a typhoon is, a storm, a cyclone, the boat
would toss from pillar to post we were all sick as dogs and to make it worse every time the
boat would lurch to one side the motor would rev up because the propeller had come out of
the water that’s how rough it was. So much so that it burnt the bearings out on the boat, help
me god so the boat drifted for I think it was two days, they had to shut the engine down and
cause you would have well imagined there was no meals because nobody could get out of
their bunks to get to the meals we were that sick, you know what dry retching is? We were
all dry retching; there wasn’t a person that was fit to go down to the meal neither. I one get
out of their bunks and I must tell you I was on the lower bunk and when you get people that
are sick on the top bunks going all over you, you can well imagine how you felt. Well the
stench, you know there’s the stench, waves were breaking over the decks there was water
about two inches of water floating on the deck you know under our bunks. Anyhow they must
have they fixed the bearing or whatever it was and what a relief when we heard the boat
start. I don’t know, nobody would tell us because of secrecy in the war during the war time
how far that boat had drifted but we were on I think it was two nights, yeah two days and two
nights. We then naturally you can’t get over sea sickness straight away you’re that weak you
don’t know what’s going on and I didn’t care. Furthermore I didn’t care. A matter of fact that if
somebody had come and hit me on the head I would have thanked them for well at least of
putting me out of my misery and this is how you feel you feel that you’ve had it you know you
can’t do very much about it. The worst of it was that we were well aware that those waters
had been mined, you know all during the war and we don’t know what section. We didn’t
know where we were, nobody we couldn’t find out, we couldn’t talk to anybody because
nobody was around. There was no sailors from the ship come around or anything like that
they couldn’t, couldn’t give us anything for it and when a few of us did get out of our bunks
you know some of us just got up and started talking they said ‘Look you know Orford’s’ he
said ‘Half the crew that’s the crew of the boat,’ he said ‘More than half to three quarters of
the crew were all crook,’ and this is why they were so long repairing the boat. Anyhow next
morning some of us managed to get up on deck to get fresh air because you couldn’t stay in
on these decks, the stink was something unbearable so we got up top the next morning, we
got up and you could see land. We thought you know this is great and but what we thought
was we were all wrong. It wasn’t until the ship pulled up on a temporary berth you know what
I mean it wasn’t a proper harbour that we knew where we were. We were in New Guinea, in
a place called Milne Bay. We had to stay on board until they told us to get off. I could hardly
carry me knapsack which had very little in it. We were that weak and were like that. I was to
give you exaggeration well not exaggerate to give some true indication of how we had lost at
least a couple of stone each, that’s how skinny we were. Those few days with no tucker in
you and cause when were allowed to get off the boat only the 8th Watercraft got off and
outside on the sand and that there was all these natives there. We used to call them Mary’s,
the grownups, it was piccaninnies the piccaninnies were the babies and the men the men
that’d have white things through their nostrils, things on their ears and there was a bit of
humour although we were as sick as dogs. I can recall we had a laugh and I unfortunately I
haven’t got the photos my wife destroyed them but I must tell you about them because
people that had been in that area would naturally the minute they hear of these things it
brings back memories when you see these piccaninnies. The ladies would have the
piccaninnies strapped on the back with some raffia type on them and they would feed them
on their back and we used called them razor strops they would throw their boobs over the
back and the babies would be feeding and this is what we had photos of, somebody took
some photos we had them duplicated and really with their grass skirts and that it really
looked comical to see the babies feeding on their back. Actually they had free hands
because the ladies in New Guinea, well the natives in New Guinea as I saw them did all the
work, the men would just walk along with a stick or a bit of a spear, the ladies not only had
the piccaninny on their back but they would carry everything on their head the whole
belongings and it was nothing to see they’d walk in file you know 10, 12 in file, follow one
another never walk side by side I think in file the men out the front and the ladies back
lugging everything, children, all their belongings on their head. Anyhow after I got off we got
off we were put on a barge do you know what a barge is? A barge is a boat which is, it’s a
square type boat some of them have two engines in them, some of them have four engines
some of them have six, the bigger barges. Anyhow we got on a medium size barge and the
barge is made up of steel and it’s got inflating material inside and it’s got a big door on the
front that you can lower it, lower this door and you, you could put trucks, tanks and
everything. You’d drive up on the barges and we got on this barge ‘cause we thought we
were staying at Milne Bay but no, no way, we got on this barge and they took us across the
bay to a place called Kiriwina. Now I’ve looked in here world maps and so forth and I can’t
find Kiriwina, I’ve found Milne Bay but I can’t find Kiriwina. Now whether it was a temporary
name or not but any how much to our surprise it was so beautiful the area you know, the
natural palms you can visualize white sand, palms right down to the beach. Just across from
where we were setting up a workshop was islands and they called them Samarai Islands
and that was beautiful setting you know it looked so natural and inviting. There again the
natives were there to give us a welcome reception, the natives and they had armful of fruit
like bananas, paw paws, pineapples cause they used to grow wild in those areas and the
bananas were red bananas. Anyhow the natives were very good with supplying fruit and
naturally they’d ask you for bacca, tobacco. I was a non-smoker and quite a few of us it was
unbelievable we never used to smoke but those that did smoke well they were most popular.
They would ask for bacca we didn’t have any tobacco we’d have cigarettes they, they’d get
these cigarettes and they’d puff away and like a chimney they didn’t know how to smoke but
they liked it you know. Kiriwina was on the eastern tip of New Guinea right at the tip of New
Guinea right opposite that island. Samarai Islands so if anybody looks for it. About one
kilometre across from the workshop was this Samarai Island it was about a kilometre it was
only a hop, step and jump really. Well we set up camp. The natives naturally would go about
their own jobs and they’d go off we set up a camp and there was some equipment there, it
was quite obvious that somebody had been there prior to us and one thing I noticed there
wasn’t many boats around, you know for repairs or anything like that. The first thing we were
told for breakfast before breakfast we were lined up by our OC you know officer and he
explained to us that this was a bad area for malaria so we had to watch mosquitoes. We
were issued with mosquito nets and we were to at all times during the evening from five
o’clock onwards to wear long sleeve shirts and long trousers, no short shorts after dark,
otherwise you would be up you know before the beak. When I mean up before the beak, I
mean up before the officer explain why you didn’t conform with the regulations. We were all
given these Atebrin every morning little yellow tablet it was and that was not to stop you
getting the malaria but to stop its outbreak because many soldiers during the war in these
islands fell, well they were so sick you know a lot of them died with malaria and it put them
out of action you know what I mean.
JB: Mm.
NC: You just couldn’t stand it so these pills were to combat malaria. So every morning you’d
line up and the officer well we would all have it in turns so look I would go around one
morning one bloke would dish out the Atebrin and you would come along behind and you’d
watch that he swallowed it. A lot of the well not a lot of them, some of them I believe not our
unit because you know they were had more sense but a lot of the ordinary infantry people
that wanted to get home and were sick of the war zone they’d hold their Atebrin to one side
and not take it you see. Next thing they’d be in head quarters hospital or something like that
with malaria and would probably find their way home or something like that. Well we carried
out a lot of repairs on barges and watercraft there. They automatically come after we set up
shop, took us a few days the members all settled down well you know often a few days we
would look around and see what was going we had a bit of time on our hands and also the
natives would come along and they’d come around with the little cat’s eyes and they want
bacca, bacca and they say you know cat’s eyes and they’d give you bacca cause I had no
tobacco and I couldn’t get any cat’s. I said we tried through an interpreter and we wanted to
know where they got them from and they what they used to do was to get them at low tide
around the beach on the rocks. It was a shell and it had that on there was something formed
like that, its green its emerald in colour this cat’s eye and they mount them on a ring and
they are there forever more like that, they stay that colour all the time.
JB: Mm.
NC: They’re terrific.
JB: They just sit on the rocks did they?
NC: I’ve got one there as a sample. Lyn’s looking at it at the moment and it was a beautiful
thing so anyhow once we learnt where these cat’s eyes were found we used to retrieve our
own, we’d go around at low tide we had nothing to do so hence I got a few cat’s eyes. One
thing that was wrong there at Kiriwina was that we soon run out of supplies, food supplies
that was noticeable and we finished up there was no meat. We had tinned fish, tinned meat
called bully beef, powdered egg, tinned vegetables, and dog biscuits; you know what dog
biscuits are? I should rephrase that, we call them dog biscuits because they were so hard. In
actual fact they are a very nutritional biscuit made purpose for the armed forces. But they
were so hard that you had to dip them into something or otherwise break a tooth or
something that’s how hard they were they were really hard but the nutrition’s were in it so we
couldn’t complain. Jam, we were sick of apple and plum jam that’s all there was apple and
plum jam. If you didn’t like fish for dinner you could have bully beef. So you can imagine
bully beef, salmon, bully beef and salmon you get sick of it so we used to make dampers.
The cook started to make dampers they are alright while they are fresh after they are a few
hours old they get very hard so we decided to catch some fresh fish. Now we had no hooks
and no lines so what we used to do, get a damper and break it all up, hop in a boat take two
or three natives with you and only go out about half a kilometre out from the shore from the
workshop, throw all this damper out and the fish would come around and we would get a
hand grenade and throw it in and naturally and over the side would go the natives and we
used to give them supplies for that. So we would do that about 11 o’clock because once you
blow fish up some would get blown out of the water sometimes they’re stubborn some of
them but you’ve got to eat them quick because they’d go soft. So they’d be ready back at
camp they’d clean them up and fry them and we used we discovered we could have fresh
fish and we’d have that two or three times a week all depends. One stage the natives that
used to dive over there, over the side to get the fish a shark come in. You can imagine the
natives are all dark brown their skin is dark brown and they had an odour on them but the
bottom of their feet were white and that’s the place that the shark got one of the natives you
know grabbed them by the heel by grabbing and taking a piece of the heel and naturally he
still survived. It wasn’t at our camp that happened that happened at another one but we were
warned about it to make sure there was no sharks around so we were there I don’t know
exactly Lyn how long we were at this Kiriwina workshop because I’ve can’t find my pay book
and hopefully I will come across it somewhere. We used to have it and it had dates there
when you left, when you know so the orders come through to our major that we are on the
shift again we have to move out and we didn’t know why but we found out after that it was
too far to bring the boats down to Kiriwina. The action was further up and cause we were
always behind the front lines and we wouldn’t have workshops placed say in an area where
the fighting was going on we were always behind, you know close by, so we had to shift
again. So just before we left a couple of days before we left we were pulled out of bed we
were all pulled out of bed about half-past 11, 12 o’clock. I never forget this and we were told
by Major McCrae that the Liberty ship, Liberty Transport American ship had come to Kiriwina
just around the corner from where we were, loaded with fuel and lubricants etc and because
of the weather coming up what they usually do in those islands they throw the drums off and
then they ferry them you know by man-handling them back on to the shore, roll them up on
the shore and they needed our services. They brought some down from Milne Bay because
of the number of drums and there was a big fuel drum depot just around the corner from
where we were in Kiriwina about I’d say about a kilometre away and this is what we did all
that night and half of the next day. They were rolling drums off and we were pushing them to
the shore; there must have been about two or three hundred troops there doing the same
thing. There was thousands of drums of fuel, oil, diesel and this was the only way to get
them to the shore. The only other way they could used to do it was only a small number
they’d put them on the barges then they would drive up on the beach with these barges
that’s another thing with the barges I forgot to tell you that you can drive up on the sand
because the propellers would be at the back, they’d let the front flap down you know the
door.
JB: Mm.
NC: And you’d just walk off or drive things off so that was the beauty, but there was none
available to do that job so we did the job by hand and they were most grateful for that it gave
them a supply of fuel and that in that area. So we were told we were leaving to a destination
somewhere in the Pacific Ocean so our guess might have been right in the first place but we
were wrong. Anyhow after a week’s delay you wouldn’t believe it, we were supposed to
leave within a day we didn’t know how we were going to leave, there were no ships, there
were no boats and a 600 ton wooden ship called the Greenough now these ships were
made in Australia and they called them after the names of rivers the Murray, the Swan, the
Greenough and so forth and ours was the Greenough it called in to Kiriwina and we naturally
were going to be taken to the Pacific Ocean somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. They wouldn’t
tell us, there was nobody around other than the natives this is what got me you know,
nobody around so if they told us where we were going we couldn’t tell anybody but for fear of
somebody might write home or something like that. They wouldn’t tell ya and I can
understand now but we couldn’t at the time because we were young and didn’t have enough
behind us to think. So well look intelligence know what they are talking about, so we got on
this boat and I forgot to tell you that while I was stationed at Kiriwina we made a restored a
boat and we tossed the engine out and put a new engine in cause engines and spare parts
in the mechanical section they were no problem. The only problem we had with the Sergeant
McCrae said, ‘Well look,’ he said ‘I don’t mind, I know you’ve got to let off steam. I know
you’ve got to do something so,’ he said ‘All I want you to do is get a G2.’ A G2 is a piece of
yellow paper in triplicate and what you do is put the number of the boat on and how much
fuel you draw at least we’ve got a record of it in case there was some repercussion. He was
a very good gentleman an understanding one so we did that, we had a supply of fuel and oil
and spare parts and everything like that and anyhow we boarded the boat and I we went and
saw the captain and said, incidentally we called this boat Lilyveen, Ken Preddys wife was
named Lily and my wife’s Veen so we called the boat Lilyveen and we spoke to the captain
and said ‘Well look we’ve got this boat could we put it aboard you know where going
somewhere.’ and he said ‘No way.’ I said ‘What do you mean,’ he said ‘Well for starters it’s
not on the sheet.’ He had a sheet of what he was to pick up, there was a terminology they
used for that sheet and I’ve momentarily forgotten about it and I forgot to write it down so the
results was it was a sad day when we left Kiriwina.
JB: Awe.
NC: There was our boat sitting on the wharf, we couldn’t take it with us. Naturally there was
other soldiers were going to call there you know and we had to leave Lilyveen behind. A few
days out of Kiriwina the Captain, Reball decided to tell us where we were going he said look
we’re going to New Britain, an island off north of New Guinea and the place was called
Rabaul, I thought, oh help me god we are really getting in to it now because you know we
heard rumours of what was going on up there, well what had gone on and what was still
going on. We were told why we were relocating plus of the action and of the services
required then so and then it hit us why we were on this wooden ship. The wooden ship when
they apparently they have magnetic mines naturally if you have a wooden ship and you go
through a mine field well then it doesn’t attract the magnetic mines and we were doing about
two or three knots, slow as anything we were winding our way up the coast. He also told us
not only where we were going but the ship’s captain told us to keep an eye out for mines.
You can just imagine how everybody felt you know weaving in and out mines he give a
description you could see these pinnacles sticking out he said don’t be frightened providing
we don’t hit them at speed he said there’s no danger but it would be nice to know if there is
one close just in case they miss them. Naturally they had sailors aboard you know watching
all the time and this is one of the reasons why we picked our way, weaved our way up the
coast of New Guinea. We called into a place called Lae, Lae’s still yeah still in New Guinea
up the coast of New Guinea for stores we were there four days because there was a storm
approaching they did not want to sail during storms because it was very hard to see the
mines. Then we called into Madang for another few days loaded stores, fuel and meat,
frozen meat.
JB: Awe.
NC: It was good for a change. Then we crossed the ocean to New Britain and we weaved
our way along the coast of New Britain up to the place called Rabaul. Before entering the
Rabaul harbour there was hair raising moment, we saw two mine sweepers you know two
boats where there got a big cable between them, they drag this cable they were dragging the
cable and the idea is that the some of the mines are held down by cables and naturally by
dragging the cable behind they’d severe the cable that they were held down by and they
would come to the surface and then they’d shoot at them with a canon and they would go off
and that’s how they were operating it. Really why I mean it was hair raising to think we were
in that same waters and we couldn’t see the mines. You’d see an odd one, I have seen them
in the water but the boat would just steer clear of them we had no means of letting the mines
off so you just steer clear of them and I think the, the captain of the boat would record where
that mine was you know just to give some indication. So well my first sight of Rabaul Bay
was that it was a hilly area surrounding in the bay on the south of the bay was big volcanoes,
they weren’t belting out smoke but there was vapour coming from one, just vapour. We
slowly moved into the bay and you could really get a true picture of Rabaul. I could hardly
believe me eyes because although we heard about that it was a big battle in the Rabaul area
Coral Sea and the Pacific we did not realize where we were heading for was the bay was
actually a graveyard of ships and when I mean a graveyard I really mean a big graveyard
the, the bay was a enormous big place, it’s hard to say it would be about two kilometres
across you know roughly.
JB: Mm.
NC: In some areas it would be more than two kilometres sometimes it would be less. While
we picked our way into the bay, you could see the masts of boats sticking out of the water
and you know closer to the shore and as you got closer cause not having any binoculars you
could see all these boats, barges, cruisers anything everything imaginable but it wasn’t just
hundreds there was virtually thousands of them right around the bay and to describe it, it
was really a graveyard, and you felt that low you know in yourself that how could anybody
ever survive such an attack. It was it must have been devastating, you’d look further than the
boats on the foreshore and the nice palm trees that were right in the background of hills
didn’t exist on the foreshore there was just stumps. They had been shot off you know by
canon or whatever you know, there was not a palm left down there but you could see them
that they had been all damaged which didn’t give us a good impression. What really upset us
and it was just impossible to say, well look there was a thousand ships or a hundred or
whatever there was just too many. We were transferred into barges that’s those barges I
was telling you about transferred from the this 600 ton Greenough wooden ship to a barge
and we headed straight for the beach because the boat couldn’t pull up close to the beach
we headed straight for the beach and walked off and the first thing I done was get off and
kiss mother earth.
JB: Oh.
NC: I wasn’t alone, there was a lot of us we thought well this would you know it was
something really it was, so relieved to say look I’ve got me feet on terra firma and we kissed
the earth at the same time. We, quite a few of us were sick because of the consequences
around us, not for sickness of fear but things that we visualised must have happened and
the food, that we weren’t getting proper food just tinned stuff all the time. I was sick and I
was taken to the headquarters hospital which was just a tent area and put on a bed and they
diagnosed that I could’ve had food poisoning or something like that after I told them what I
had eat. Anyhow they give me an injection, Penicillin injection and instead of getting you
know better I got worse. I got worse and worse and everything blacked out and when I come
to the next day, the orderly told me he said ‘How you going?’ I said, ‘Not too bloody good.’ I
said, ‘Where am I?’ he said ‘You’re in Rabaul.’ I said ‘Where?’ and he said ‘Well you’re in
hospital,’ and he said ‘Look you’ve had a very severe attack, we don’t know what it was, but
you were given an injection and there’s something wrong you’re under constant supervision,
you now have somebody there all the time.’ Orderlys men no ladies around, no nurses and
they kept saying to me ‘How you feeling?’ you know on the hour, every time they come
around, ‘How you feeling now?’ I said ‘Not the best.’ and they gave me some tablets and that
and then the doctor came around, he was whatever he was a Colonel or whatever he was
some a Colonel or whatever he was some high ranking officer he said ‘Craftsman Crisafulli,’
he said ‘You nearly left us.’ meaning to say you know they nearly killed me. I said ‘What,
what happened?’ he said ‘Well we give you an injection, Penicillin injection and,’ he said,
‘We nearly lost you.’ I said ‘Why give me the injection?’ and he said, ‘Well you didn’t tell us
that you were allergic to Penicillin nor did we know and it’s not in your book, pay book,’ you
know cause everything goes in you pay book and he said, ‘This was the consequences.’
What could I say, I couldn’t say anything, he said, ‘From now on,’ he said ‘You are not to
have Penicillin injections.’ so this is why I since then.
JB: Mm.
NC: Since I the Rabaul I’ve had a well I had a different brand before cause when I come
back on here to Australia they have medic alert but that was funny that and yet the first thing
they do in the especially in the war zone or anywhere I suppose what they do give you
Penicillin injection and that was nearly fatal to me so I, I was really frightened then you know
because I thought well gee how close you can get.
JB: Mm.
NC: And your own mates kill you not knowing you know, and he said I was rather fortunate.
So I got over that after a few days, I got out of it all right I took about a week to recoup
properly. I was doing nothing around the camp much, they’d given the boys a some two days
off when I come good in the hospital I noticed that the bed was shaking you know the bed
was shaking and I thought because I was shaking I didn’t take much notice but what
happens there in Rabaul, it probably still taking place today that every day and every night
the volcano action in the area would shake the ground. Sometimes it would go this way and
sometimes that way and cause the boys told me they said, ‘Well how did you get on?’ and I
said, ‘Well not a matter of sleeping’ I said ‘I was as sick as a dog and.’ I said ‘I don’t know. I
didn’t know what was going on in any case.’ I said, I knew I could tell the bed was moving
but I didn’t put it down to the earthquake but not earthquake it was a tremor.
JB: Mm.
NC: Tremor all the time and but after a couple of weeks we got used to it but it was nothing
to wake up on the camp stretcher cause we were on camp stretchers we weren’t allowed to
sleep lay on the ground, they’d give you a camp stretcher and it would shake so what you do
is get up and turn it the other way you see so it was alright for them but next time the tremor
would start it might be an hour or two it would be the other way again so it was rather
comical the, anyhow as I said the regular tremors night and day you wouldn’t notice them
through the day and once you got accustomed to it you didn’t even take any notice of them.
We, I looked around with some of me friends and they’d already been they said ‘You must
come and have a look at the runaway at the airport.’ I said ‘Why?’ he said, ‘You’ve seen
nothing yet you haven’t seen a thing,’ so they took us out to the airport in jeeps you know we
had jeeps there was plenty of vehicles at Rabaul. That’s one thing, although we had a speed
boat down at the other place and the jeeps were no good to us cause you couldn’t drive
around New Guinea not in those days anyhow it was close to the border of the sea and very
hilly but the Rabaul’s vehicles all over the place they were on the side of the road anywhere.
If we had a bit of mechanical knowledge all you do is put a bit of petrol in one and start it up
and away you go and so hence we had our own jeeps in the finish. But the boys took me
around and well you should have the air runway Linda, you’d thought that somebody had
blown up big holes in the strip, air strip and there’s planes left and right. There was Zero’s,
Kitty Hawks, sea planes, you name them they were all over the place and what they were
doing they bulldozed them to one side of the runaway and filling in these big pot-holes trying
allow planes to land cause they couldn’t land there at that stage.
JB: Mm.
NC: And but they fixed up the runway and but it was a sight for sore eyes you should see it
and I noticed whilst we were driving up there you would see a lot of the natives with scars all
over their bodies. Limping, the men would be limping and on the way back we stopped and
there was a group of natives, they flagged us down and they wanted bacca, tobacco. We
didn’t have any you know and they’d make you understand what they wanted, sorry you
know couldn’t and why you limping and you’d have a look at their heels and there had been
a cut off the heel on their foot had been cut off all scars, broken hands set awkward, leg.
End of Disc 1
Start of Disc 2
JB: This is tape two of an interview conducted with Nardo Crisafulli on the 29 March 1995
as part of the Australia Remembers project.
NC: Yeah as I was saying Linda on the way back from the airport we come across the
group of local natives they, some were limping and walking awkwardly and they had scars
across their body and back, you could see their arms had been broken and they had set
wrong you know, instead of being straight arm like that it would have a kink in it. Their legs
looked down and we looked down and could see their heels had been chopped off, their
heels and we found out after making further enquiries that the Japanese, because they were
aggressive to the Japanese the soldiers, would cut their heels so that they couldn’t run and
in actual fact they found it very awkward to walk let alone run so you can’t run if your heels
cut off and it was pitiful just to see the people. There weren’t many male natives around,
they’d either been killed or up in the hills and wouldn’t come back for fear of Japanese.
There were some others cut their heels and one foot so that they could not run terrible scars.
Well it had to happen, back to work. I went back to work and things were different to what we
were used to in other workshops where we had been and the work we carried out there was
no time in Rabaul to carry out normal repairs to engines and so forth, we had to work
differently. We were briefed, the commanding officer briefed all the workshop personal and
stated and said that you will be given four Japanese prisoners, selected prisoners to assist
you to do your work. We don’t want you to do any manual work you’re got to use the
prisoners. Now don’t worry about them, to each four people there is one of us like and there
would be an infantry soldier with armed watching the Japanese. ‘Right oh,’ he said ‘Don’t
have any fear they will do the heavy work and you only do selected work, supervision and
testing of the boats and so forth. So don’t have any fear.’ ‘Well,’ I thought, ‘Well this is not
going to work you know how can, I couldn’t work with that Japanese. I thought well gees
they might pull a dagger or something at me you know, you’re not to know do ya.’ And what
would happen each morning they’d infantry soldiers would come along with all these
selected prisoners, they were tradesmen and I thought well how in the hell is it going to
work, they will sabotage our equipment and engines and so forth, but much to my delight it
didn’t. It was a something that really, it rather worked well and instead of saying fixing two
barges a day or one barge we were doubling our work. And what would happen, it look don’t
have any worries, supplies are there, new engines are there and when I am referring to
engines I am referring that they were in boxes like in barges especially because there was
hundreds of barges around immobilized and like they either had something wrong with the
engines or the back blown out of them or something like that and you could, the idea is to
get these boats into the water as soon as possible so you’d have a work order on that barge
and on that order it would tell you what, what was wrong with the barge you know what had
happened. It was a record of the engine performance and how long they had been in and
how many kilometres they’d done and so forth and so forth and we had to then say the
engine was crook one engine. So you wouldn’t take it out and repair it. You’d take it out and
the Japanese would do that, you know they’d take it out and undo it and take it out and they
were very clever too, very good with their hands they’d take it out and you wouldn’t even
worry about taking it up on the deck you’d just throw it in the water. See there was no time
and you’d get a new engine, they’d put that in it completely new completely new and among
them there were V8 Thornycroft engines that they use in barges, some of the barges had
most had four engines, some had six tandem. I’m sorry not tandem at all, three on one side
of the barge and three on the opposite side and you had the controls in the middle. Now the
heavy-duty barges had six engines, six Thornycroft engines. They’d carry heavier equipment
like guns, trucks; real heavy things and they were a bit much bigger, there wasn’t too many
of them around most of them were blown up to smithereens but those that we could repair
and that’s what we done. We’d remove the engines and although there might only be one or
two engines that were no good and you thought the other ones well wouldn’t see a trip to say
Wewak or some other place around the area what you do is toss them all and put new ones
in and we’d have welders and tradesmen, welders and that, that could repair the structures if
there was any damage to the structures. So really once the aircraft all the works were
carried out we tested it, you’d sign the docket to say it had been tested by so and so and it
was fuelled up. Any technical work wasn’t touched by the Japanese, all they did the manual
work, you follow what I mean. Nothing was left to chance that they could sabotage that
engine or the barge or anything like that and all the time the infantry personal were there all
the time. They’d get a break for lunch time and what they get a bowl of rice and then they’d
start again and at four o’clock they’d knock off go back to the prison camp. They were under
control all the time and I must say they really behaved themselves because they had to, if
one thing was out of line, well they were not permitted to come back to work, they were
given other duties in the camp. When we got to Rabaul we were warned of the dangers in
Rabaul, it was different to other islands it was a major area where the Japanese had stayed
for some time and they were well dug in you know. They had permanent buildings and
structures and things like that, that they had taken over. They had disposed of most of the
natives by raping their women and disfiguring the men and the natives just ran to the foothills
and you wouldn’t see many of them around, but they gradually come back. We were warned
by the officer on the island in charge to keep away from the foothills around Milne Bay
because there was big signs up there. Keep Out by order of the commanding officer, booby
traps, explosives, right big signs and they had no fences around them and naturally those,
behind those signs were naturally these tunnels, tunnels and when I, when I talk about the
tunnels to give you some indication to how big these tunnels were, they had complete
workshops underground. They had administration offices; they had a hospital area, spare
parts area, kitchen and mess area, armoury where they kept rifles and ammunition all
underground. You go in a tunnel about eight by six but when you got in there it expanded, so
big they had other tunnels with big openings and the whole Zero plane would go in you know
the plane.
JB: Yeah.
NC: Yeah they would push up a plane to overhaul them, stuff like that. Everything was
underground it’s no wonder that they couldn’t be flushed out you know, they were
underground most of the time. What took our eye was when we got there and I’m telling you
about this now which I’m not supposed to know. I hadn’t been to the tunnel yet I haven’t told
you about it, it was prohibited and naturally because of shortage of soldiers and facilities and
fencing and so forth they couldn’t fence the area off. So it was left to the individual person to
respect his life or otherwise put himself in jeopardy. So we had the infantry brigade right next
to us, a camp next to us and they come over to our camp one weekend and a few of the
boys you know we got friendly with them while in the workshops and so forth and weekends
we used to have off we’d chuff off with jeeps and that and drive around and you’d get to
meet different blokes and we’d adventure around the bay different places, up to the volcano
and so forth back to have another look at the airstrip to see if it was in good order in case we
wanted to fly out or something like that and we got to know them and they thought well look
we went to the underground tunnels on the weekend we got, we got money we got swords,
revolver’s got grenades and so word spread around we weren’t going to be out done so what
happened we fell for the one two trick too. So we decided that we were going to visit the
tunnels we were I wasn’t going to miss out on a sword or anything like that see we were
young and silly in some respects we didn’t value our life properly but so we went to these
tunnels there was nobody there to stop you there was only these notices big notices yeah
and yeah you couldn’t miss them. Well it was really an eyesight as I told you it was so big
and so expansive inside the administration section got me or most of us because in one
section of the underground tunnel and it was there was no doors or anything like that in
there, there was a bit of a humid smell you know a humid smell in the tunnels. Naturally we’d
knowing other people soldiers had been in there before us we got a little bit careless I
suppose but we weren’t looking out for booby traps or anything like that we went to the
administration office because that’s where we were told the best part was and there was
swords there alright and also there was money. Now when I talk about money, millions of
dollars and pounds virtually millions you couldn’t put your arms around that’s how much
money. It was all stacked neatly in different areas, there was dollars, there was pounds
Australian pounds, there was shillings, half shillings all on paper notes as I’ve shown you
know all on paper notes. Much to our surprise we come across a batch of Japanese money
Yen which I’ve got some there and we couldn’t believe our eyes because we’d thought well
that was current currency and they must have used that currency to pay the their soldiers or
whatever, but there was actually thousands of it. So we didn’t want to be too greedy we just
took you know a little bit each as souvenirs because I think if you take some for a souvenir it
would be looked at one way but if you start grabbing a lot of well naturally then you could be
in trouble and that people or the officers up there must have known that all that equipment,
went to the armoury there was rifles, ammunition, revolvers, hand grenades. Another section
had big shells for the guns they had on the shells; what we didn’t see was bombs there was
no bombs there in the hangar, aeroplane hangar there was no bombs in there. We saw one
in bits a big bomb in bits dismantled but we daren’t touch anything in there you know
because fear of explosion and everything like that. But some of the boys helped themselves
to rifles, revolvers, daggers, swords which I helped myself to a sword. One of the boys when
he got out now the next thing he the devil in him he put a bullet in the rifle one of the
Japanese rifle and pulled the trigger and it went off and naturally there was a scatter. We
rushed out of that tunnel and ‘What the hell happened?’ and the bloke, Sweeny his name is,
he’s come out laughing his head off. I said ‘Listen,’ I said ‘You’re going to be in trouble doing
anything like that.’ I said ‘You could have started that you know could be a cave in.’ He said
‘No way.’ and that was the funny part about it Lyn that the there was nothing holding the dirt
up you know what I mean. The soil was such so heavy and that, that these tunnels had been
cut out and they didn’t require any support and there was no section that it was down that
was that episode. We also I told you that there was a hospital area and the kitchen and the
armoury, this money was there was so much of it that we just took the necessary souvenir
pieces and a few Japanese silver money which I don’t know whether I showed yeah there’s
a couple of pieces there, but there wasn’t much silver money it was all Japanese invasion
money, they had the dollars to invade different areas in the Pacific and the Australian pound
and shillings and half shilling was for Australia. Naturally we were so pleased but we weren’t
too pleased when the OC next morning wanted the unit on parade. ‘Well,’ he said ‘You don’t
take any notice of what I say.’ he said ‘Number one you’re lucky that you’re here, do you
realise that, that could be booby trapped.’ he said ‘There’s been soldiers killed in this area
that doing exactly what you’re done.’ and of course we were with our heads down. “Why did
you do it?’ and there was silence, he said ‘Look because you are in a war zone and because
it’d be hard to punish you and because we need yah, we need those boats,’ he said ‘We’ll
just have to forget about it for the time being.’ he said ‘But let me warn yah,’ he said ‘If this if
I hear of anybody else from this unit go anywhere near those tunnels,’ he said ‘Something
drastic will happen.’ he said. ‘I don’t want dead soldiers.’ he said ‘I want you alive.’ and he
was quite right. I think we got the message then but we’d already got what we wanted I
suppose you could say that we had our souvenirs we learnt a lesson. There were people
killed in tunnels further down from where we were, we were located in a certain area but
further down where the infantry was there had been fatal accidents booby traps so that kept
us away. Well things went very smoothly in Rabaul we got used to the natives I could tell you
a lot more Lyn but it’s not up interesting but one thing that was interesting my Christmas
dinner at Rabaul thanks. You wouldn’t believe it but we got a card each and it reads
Christmas Dinner 1945 in Rabaul, Australian Infantry troops 8th Australian Watercraft
Workshops AEME AIF. The menu was roast seasoned turkey and ham and in actual fact we
got it because transport was coming through, ships and planes were landing at Rabaul at
that stage in Christmas prior to Christmas well in December 1946 was it no 45 yeah 45. We
had roast potatoes, green peas, steamed plum pudding, jelly and cream, figs they weren’t
fresh figs preserved figs, muscatels, raisins and almonds, beer, tea or both and on the
bottom of it reads Patrons please note do not whistle for our for or wink at waitresses please.
If there’s any more, you’ll get it. Any complaints gratefully acknowledged but no guaranteed
action. Make the most of it - it won’t happen again. Well of what that Christmas card I kept it
because it’s got most of my mates and friends names that was in the unit on the back of the
card and I’m going to loan that to Lyn so she can reproduce it. Well the best news we ever
had was when the war was over in I haven’t got the dates or anything like that. Members of
the armed services would be progressively discharged we were told that in January and
they’d had a point system up you know there was a point system allocated. Now I was
married with children which gave me a higher number of points you know a high number so
any married personal that was on these islands would be given a higher priority you’d be first
allowed to go home irrespective of how long you had been there. So I had a 184 points
which was high must have, just to give you an example most of the single men had 80, 90
points some as low as 60 and depending where they’d been and when they’d joined. I was
lucky the first trip troop ship carrier out of Rabaul I was on it, I was so pleased to get home. I
couldn’t care less you know what had happened. I was sorry to see me friends left behind
but I wished them well, so on the 2 January 1946 I left on the troop ship. Sad things
happened where we were playing two up and dice on the ship, you’d win some you’d lose
some but on the morning before disembarking at Brisbane the captain come over the two
way radio he made an announcement he made a plea to all personal aboard the ship
‘Please,’ he said ‘I’m pleading with you because if you don’t do as I ask it’s going to impede
your journey home. You may miss one train you might miss other transport home you may
not get home for further three or four months so please,’ he said ‘I don’t care,’ he said
‘Whether you take your souvenirs home but there are certain items you are not allowed or
you are permitted to take off on the into Australia, you’re not permitted to take them in.’ he
said ‘There will be military police at the harbour at port Brisbane and I am appealing to you
have a bit of common sense.’ he said ‘Think about it if your got any rifles, ammunition,
revolvers, hand grenades etc, etc daggers anything that’s not permitted,’ he said ‘You’re well
aware of them, throw them overboard throw them now.’ And well there was rifles, revolvers
and daggers and ammunition thrown over the side of the ship, you could hear them going in
the drink you know. But after all this time carting them around people had been I never had
anything to throw out I had a sword naturally I had the souvenir money with a sword I
thought well I could get away with a sword I thought they won’t take that off me surely and
then I didn’t care I thought well if they are going to take it they will take it but sure enough
there was a big welcome audience there you know there was crowds from everywhere,
nobody we knew but some of the personal that was with me their wife was there. He was
most pleased to see me he wasn’t going to be held up he come from NSW and his wife had
come up and he wasn’t going to be held in the, held up by different souvenirs but you should
see the stuff they threw overboard. It was most pleasing when we got off that naturally you
had to file through and the army the customs were there on top of it ‘Anything to declare?’
you know, they wanted to know if you had anything to declare I said ‘Yeah I’ve got a sword,
I’ve got invasion money, Japanese invasion money.’ I told them what I had different other
knick knacks you know I forget about and ‘You got no ammunition, no rifles?’ ‘No.’ ‘Right oh
sign there.’ and then next thing they search yah after you’d signed that they search yah.
Some they would search some they wouldn’t, they’d search yah they had a look at the sword
they held it up, they let it through they let most of the swords through so that’s how I come to
get the sword but really and truly we weren’t allowed to bring them in. Well and subsequently
we got on a train from Brisbane and trained all the way from Brisbane to Western Australia
and I was discharged on the 25 January 1946. So I didn’t get home for Christmas because I
had it in Rabaul but I was home for Christmas 1946. So that was my briefly that’s my
involvement with the war years Lyn. I could tell you a lot more but to keep it interesting and
to keep it within the proper context I just briefly touched on a lot of things. There is a lot of
things that, that’s happened in between time, some we can’t mention others that I would like
to but I’m not going to for fear of well they couldn’t do much to you really at this stage 50
years on but perhaps later on I might open up and allow you some of the bad things that
happened in the islands. I enjoyed every minute of it and looking back now I enjoyed every
minute of minute of it when I say that I it’s with tongue and cheek cause I didn’t enjoy that
last trip from Rabaul, from Kiriwina to Rabaul where we had to go through the sea and
waters that were mined. Those sights of Rabaul would be hard to describe in the few words
that I did but believe you me I hope that I can catch up with some of the members I haven’t
been lucky enough to catch up with. Some of the local boys that were in the same unit but if I
do I will certainly have a long talk to them you know, somebody that stayed behind after I’d
left but all in all it was a good experience. I would love to go back to Rabaul for the simple
reason it was so devastated I would like to see it rebuilt in a state that’s been rebuilt I’d love
to see those tunnels again. I doubt whether they would be there if they would be there they
would be controlled or sealed off or whatever, we never got to walk around all of the tunnels
we wouldn’t go back for fear of setting off a booby trap but they lived like rabbits.
JB: Ned do you remember when you first heard that the war was over?
NC: Lyn it was some time no I can’t put a I thought of that the other day and I thought now
when where was I when it was over and I just can’t tell yah it’s something that happened and
we didn’t take much notice of it no and I’m afraid I can’t not at this stage anyhow I might be
able to recall later on, its 50 years ago it’s a long time.
JB: And you just had a job to do.
NC: Yeah well it is see this is why I haven’t mentioned dates when we were here when we
were there and when I left because I’ve misplaced my pay book and the record book that I
had was a discharge book but it didn’t have all the different places I’d been too and the
dates well it was in me pay book. But I’ve just since we’ve shifted into this new house a lot of
things got shifted and I just can’t put me hands on me pay book but I will certainly contact
you again if I find me pay book but a just have to give it a miss for the time being. I would be
lying to you if I said I was in Rabaul or Kiriwina, it wasn’t Rabaul that was for sure it could
have been in a place called Kiriwina, Milne Bay somewhere around that area when the war
was over.
JB: Mm.
JB: Ned thank you.
NC: Mm.
JB: Thank you for sharing this.
NC: Thanks Lyn for being so patient with me
JB: And I’ll give you a break.
NC: Yeah.
End of recording
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