Story 7 - RASigs and Cyclone Tracy
125 Signal Squadron, Darwin
By Chris Brown OAM
Part 1 – Overview 125 Signal Squadron
I want to talk about a Signal Squadron
that many would not know about. That Sqn is 125 Signal Squadron
Northern Territory Command. It was a small Squadron, a Cadre Signal
Squadron whose role was to support and train the CMF of the time.
Also, man and operate the Northern Territory Command Comcen. Of
course, we had a very limited staff structure covering just the
Operating Trade. Supported by a limited Tech(Elec) and Tech TG staff
and workshop, Q and Admin.
During the WW2, in particular Darwin
and the huge area across the Eastern Coast and Western Coast down as
far as Broome.....The Japanese attacks revealed many inadequacies in
our homeland defences. Our Military at the time had little or no
knowledge of the lay of the land, or how they were to ever overcome
defending a ground attack by the Japanese. The only people who had
knowledge of the land ....were the Land Owners. Those out there, in
the middle of nowhere who knew the land, and when you could move and
how you could move with your equipment. It was a mad scramble to
collate in formation about the potential to move troops and
equipment around the Territory.
At the end of the War...in the wash-up
of our Defence inadequacy, it was decided that the Northern
Territory Command will have the responsibility to continue and
collate and record geographical and indicative on-conditions on the
ground.
NT Command (which went through a number
of Defence Force structure titles)....essentially, remained with
that overall responsibility of maintaining a 'Register' of the
strategic areas capable to support a Division and its Second and
Third Echelons.
So...This is where 125 Signal Squadron
comes in. Designed for purpose...including those NT CMF Recruits..
Part 2 – Posted to 125 Signal Squadron
When I arrived in the Sqn January 1973,
this is the equipment we had. The Squadron had 4 Radio Detachments
....each having (Series2 L/rovers), inlcluding 3/4 ton trailer,
4XJerry, 3Xwater, Wicker baskets, An/GRC-160 with spare 77 set,
6Batteries, AN/GRC-47 (with PRC CES), RC-292, 3 Operators, and heaps
of jack-rations. And all the other stuff that goes with a radio
detachment. I replaced Wayne Hagen. Bob Moss was the Radio section
Sgt....He replace Jazz Jantzen. Grahame Healey, Byran McConkey,
Chris Brown and Keith Woods were the Det Comds. The Det members
included Bob Hatley (who took over Grahame Healey's Det and Eddie
Edwards, some fellas from 2 Sig Regt and 103 Sig Sqn would be
attached for the dry-season. The Squadron also manned the Command
Comcen. An AUSTCAN link TTP, Telex, Off-line cyrpto, Tech Workshop,
SDS etc.
Role: A Signals Cadre Squadron.
Recruiting base, Northern Territory mainly the Darwin area and
beyond for those who could make it in. Role during the dry season.
was, Up-date the Military maps spanning NT and western reaches of
Qld and eastern reaches of WA. Mission. Undertake reconnaissance of
specified areas. We were very often away for weeks then to return
rest up and go out again somewhere else. Plotting new roads, tracks,
fords, bridges etc on the maps. We had many enthusiastic CMF
soldiers. This was their plot and they took great pride in being
part of the system. River reconnaissance normally was a mixed group
of polices, Navy, Army, civvy doctor, Major Ops from the Barracks
etc.... Land party following the boats to set up on the shore/banks
with rations and food....and XXXX/CUB.
The work was important. After WW2,
Northern Command mission became clear. To record local knowledge and
create a Registry of up to date road and river information so that
troops and equipment can be deployed as necessary around the
Territory. Army during WW2 in the Territory had no reliable
information regarding accessibility to deployment areas etc.....
only the local Station Holders and Beef producers and the Indigenous
settlements had the knowledge. The aim was to get that knowledge
down on maps and keep it current. This included many river and creek
reconnaissance to determine the state of the passages so that barges
and water craft could move reliably during the dry months. Needless
to say....this was a marvelous posting. Roos, Pgs, Pythons, Water
Buffaloes, giant beef bulls, crocs, johnston crocs, sharks,
dingos....all in a days work. Each Det had a SLR with ammo for
dangerous occassions....
For all of our blokes with their
families, it was a truly lifetime living experience. Getting paid to
go on the best tourist travel in the World. It was hard, frustrating
work at times.....but very rewarding.
The Barracks was completed around 1935
. And Northern Territory Command established. The buildings was
almost a facsimile of Sembawang or Nee Soon Barracks in Singapore.
The same. Many of the married quarters were old and the
prefabricated type, taken from Timor (that is another story). Darwin
was 'overseas' to many of us. It had that detachment from the rest
of the crowd feel about it. You knew you were in a special
place....and everywhere you went, was just simply amazing. The year
before I arrived, as Grahame Healey will confirm, a couple of the
Dets were down there at Alice Springs and then along to Ayers Rock.
Where they climbed the Rock to the top.....carrying a 47 set with
counterpoise, a coupla car batteries and a ten foot
whip.....established comms with Perth (SASR Radio Rm), 2 Sig Regt,
139 Sig Sqn, 103 Sig Sqn. Loud and Clear. Amazing radio. MInd you
the frequency was just right and the IPSO said so.....
At the end of 73'....The Unit received
its long-awaited issue of VRC-F2 plus CES....also manpack F2 plus
CES..... How modern were we??....but we hated having to hand back
the 47 sets. Then in early 74'.... Three complete AN/GRC-106 vehicle
fits arrived. We were so overwhelmed with this gear. We had radios
everywhere....with a VW buckets seat firmly anchored right in the
middle of all of it in the back. RAEME went apeshit. Peter Kerntke
somehow handled it.
So ....the Squadron motored on doing
what it was supposed to be doing ....right up to the Xmas break-up
piss up for the Barracks in the OR's Booza 'The Rattey Club'....
which just has $100,000 spent on it's renovations. It was beautiful.
Then Cyclone Tracy came along that night and fucked everything right
up.....
Part 3 – The night Cyclone Tracy
arrived
So....Almost the whole Barracks, and
some, turned up at the Rattey Club, as directed by Units.....except
for those on essential duties. Even the civvy ground maintenance
crew turned up. A few Navy dudes etc. The plan was the Command
assemble at 1200hrs for the Xmas break period, and for the Commander
LtCol RB (Buck) Rodgers to introduce the new incoming Commander,
effective 10 January 1975...and that was the former CO SASR LtCol
Hamilton-Smith....who waved his hand and smiled. I think this was
going to be his 'swan song' and retire. RASigs Buck Rodgers was
formally the CO of 1Sig Regt....he assumed Command of the Regiment
in 1963 from LtCol Cox....who just happened to be RSM Dixie Lee's
brother-inlaw. It was Buck who saw us off to SVN from the Unit Apr
1966. Our OC was to be Major Ken Taylor but , he was earmarked for
promotion and CO of the Regiment. Pissed off is mild the way he felt
about it. Both Korean War Vets....Major Mudd assumed Command in
February 66'.
So....Here were were listening to the
speeches and itching for a drink and a sausage roll etc....and the
radio on the bar blaring out that freakish warning siren, of an
impending Cyclonic disaster (which still haunts me today). Buck
wanted the radio left on. The Warnings came every half an hour, and
it was seriously detracting us from the thought of getting
pissed....that idea somehow just floated out thru the louvers... And
before he let loose...He reminded all of us that the Cyclone Season
Plan had been implemented last month....(we all trained for it)...we
had our 'duty stations and grouping etc' and not to 'over do
it'......
The situation was now such, that is was
plainly obvious the party had to stop. "RSM!!....Close the Party
down now please....All personnel are to return to your homes and
duties.....as it is now apparent that a Cyclone is heading our way".
The Command RSM (a very scary serious antique from the Armed Corps)
Percival (Percy) White......just glared...and we all left. Percy was
in fact a WW2 Veteran...Artillery Corps then....and was a gunner out
there at East Arm Artillery Station manning the big guns supposed to
stop Japanese shipping etc........... He lied to get into the
Army...He turned 17 years old in Darwin. I had a good relationship
with the RSM.....he spoke to me and I would say "Absolutely Sir"! He
scared the living daylights out of our famous RASigs WO2 Tanker
Hawkins...and nothing much scared Tanker. So...I must add here that
I was the CO's Radio Detachment. When I first arrived in Darwin two
years previous...it wasn't long before I did my first Choko weekend
out there at the Winnellie Weeds rifle range, on a comms ex. And the
CO just loved Sigs....so comes out snooping around saying
"Hullo...are you enjoying your exercise'?... "Oh yes Sir...we just
love laying here in 120deg heat and humidity that would kill a
buffaloe, gettin bitten by bloody midgies and mozzies"...... "Don't
I know you Corporal'??...."Your face is very familiar".... "It aught
to Sir....I was a temporary steward in your Officers Mess 1 Sig
Regt"...... Well the old boy was over the moon discovering somebody
actually knew him from Ingleburn! That is how I became his favourite
....and made all the boys jealous,,,,
I lived right down the end of Clowes
St..married quarter 39. Opposite was Cpl Bluey Stone (Det
7Sigs).....I knew Blue from Singapore. Talk about parties. Det 7Sigs
arrived about 6 months earlier to do some work out near the swimming
hole. I got home and spoke to my wife Peta....and went over what she
had to do with our three little kids to move to the OR's mess when
the wind started to get real blowy. The 'Plan' required that all
dependents go to their respective Mess....where bedding and
equipment had been prepared for them. That was the dining area for
us. The strange part of all this was.....you can remain in your
quarter if you wish....but you will be in extreme danger. 90% of
families went to the Messes. About 1700hrs.....a radio vehicle pull
up outside and it was Sgt Denis Kirkman (who replaced Bob Moss). He
told me to drop him off at the Comcen (which also had our crisis
room combined and a big one too).... and go and pick up the CO.
Inside the Ops Room, all Corps Officers and Wo's etc all had 77 sets
and had a job of keeping contact with our 'Street Wardens' out there
(our troops) to report the progress of damage etc..... The CO kept
me there till about 1900hrs when he wanted to go for a drive around
the Barrack to check things out. By that time the wind was damaging.
It redesigned our 'outdoor theater screen before our very eyes as
were traveling sideways. The ground maint sheds and workshops were
already blown apart... But we continued. He checked every street and
married quarter and tried to quickly encourage folk to get to the
mess.....but I cautioned him as it was now too dangerous. We got
back to the Ops Centre in the Comcen. I parked my Rover in between
the Comcen and the Command main building. The RSM's Mercedes was
already there and he had the best spot. The Blowfly ute was next to
me and so on...... So that was the positioning until it was all
over.....but it was just fucking starting.
There were many hero's that night.
Trying to do their duty and the right thing......all of whom had
never been in a cyclone in their lives. Ordinary soldiers taking
shelter under the MQ's reporting damage....Officers in the Ops
yelling and listening to screaming and cursing over the
handsets.....then the Deko masts went over....and that was it. No
comms for anybody. It really started to get nasty around 2100hrs.
Those poor bastards tied themselves to the mq concrete piles and
took it all. Til morning. Meanwhile....our hero was Tanker
Hawkins.... what a man. At around 2300hrs the comcen lost part of
its roof and water just pissed in everywhere filling up the floors
coming into the tops of our GP's. The back doors of the Comcen were
blown away...and our beautiful big Comcen Emergency power
supply.....a CAT Diesel.....just hummed and roared away
.....something was working.....and it kept working. There was a
1500ltr tank our the back on solid ground and she did not stop.
Around midnight....The CO wanted to
visit the OR's mess AGAIN!!... We already visited the Mess around
2100hrs and we just made it. Behind the Comcen is the Barrack oval.
There is a steel tube railing that goes right around the oval. It is
in fact the water pipe for the oval. We got across the oval to the
Mess and got inside. Those poor frightened women and kids and babies
and cats and dogs and birdcages etc etc were all forced back into
the food prep areas and into the huge freezers for protection.
All the louvers were smashed. Glass
everywhere....stretchers, blankets, pillows, tables and chairs
smashed everywhere as the wind just howled thru the place. Two Sgts
were in charge. One a grunt from the main Q and the other the Sgt
Blowfly Medic. They did a marvelous job of protecting the families.
So here it was around
midnight.....right smack when it was the worst....."Corporal
Brown...take me to the OR's Mess....I have to check on those
families"..... Major Wilchefski (SO2 Ops) tried to change his
mind.....but no. For me....it was just plainly stupid and dangerous.
But ....I was strong and fit with a determined old man with such a
strong sense of duty standing next to me. So ....out through the
back where the doors were and the Generator is howling .....in the
wind.....stuff of movies.... Fuck!.... we inches around the brick
walls outside the building and got around to the back ....where
there was a total mess of wires, antennas and dekco masts right
across our path.....and we had to get through them to get to the
edge of the oval and hang onto that bloody pipe. We were on our
hands and knees (well....I know I was....and he made it to the edge
with one hand keeping his Cap on???... We were literally clinging
onto the ground....while the sky was pissing down rain, continuous
lightening, continuous great length of corrugated iron and fridges
and doors and roofs and great lengths of roofing truss wood spearing
into the ground in front of us. The wind was howling and
screaming.......continuous.....like a flight of F4 phantom jets
sitting there running their engines.
We couldn't hear ourselves yell...never
mind talk..... And I'm pointing to the sky and shaking my head
saying 'NO NO NO'...... He looks....and his Cap flew off his
head....and he yells.."My Caaaappp"!!.... I yelled at him... "Fuck
the Cap....we have to go back".... He got the message. We finally
got back inside. This was WW3 from me. I dunno about him.... But
there was more for him to worry about later.
Tanker didn't stop either. He took
control of those who were not in the Ops Room. around 0200hrs....the
'eye' past over us. We had about 1/2 an hour to sort some shit out.
And then it started again coming from a different angle. Then there
was a mad rush against the facing OPs room wall......a brick wall
bending inwards and everybody pushing it back.... Now that simply
amazed me. The pressure outside was just immense. I will leave it
here now..... and continue tomorrow....when at around 0600hrs we
knew it had passed and gone.....and Tanker opened the front Comcen
double doors for us to witness absolute carnage.......and to meet a
new dawn that many off us will not get over....
Part 4 – Larrakeyah Barracks, Christmas
Morning
This is the story about a little Signal
Squadron with a big job. And that job in the end, was to expand and
become overwhelming. Many notables from our Corps served in this
Sqn, since its establishment in the late fifties. Always with just
enough gear to get by....given it was Cadre Unit and we all know how
little equipment they have. So remote, it came under the 'Tropical
Posting' arrangements.....even had TAX Dept remote benefits. We wore
light/weight pollies....shorts, short sleeve shirts and socks and
puttees with AB boots for formal parades. No winter dress. Greens
for the rest.
Before I begin, I want to restore some
background to the story, so the reader understands who was running
the show.
When I arrived in the Unit, the OC was
Captain Brian Broderick....... and he was replaced that xmas 73' by
Captain Peter C Kerntke. These two gentlemen had nothing in common
except for their rank. Completely two different styles of Command.
Captain Broderick soldiered on in the Corps for some years after,
then made the transition to the Provost Corps. He was a 'no nonsense
fella', efficient and likeable, and he was a goffa drinker.....so
impromptu piss-ups were a bit awkward at times. He was visibly sad
when he had to leave. Captain Kerntke took to the new job in his
stride, and quickly became familiar with the role of the Sqn... and
having a beer or two, was no problem. Peter Kerntke and family were
right there with us, til stumps 28 February 1975, when we were
allowed to leave the Territory and get on with our lives. He lost
everything too.
About August 73' elements of Det 7 Sig
Regt were arriving to establish their new comms work environment.
About December, Captain John Schmitchen, Det 7 Sigs Troop Commander
arrived and families were moving into the MQs.
One correction on my last post is that
of the new incoming Northern Commander. I had the wrong fella LtCol
Hamilton-Smith....it was in fact LtCol Dale Burnett (how did eye do
that?)
Xmas morning 25 December 1974 at
Larrakeyah Barracks, Tanker opened the comcen front doors..... many
of us walked out to take in the horror of it all. We just could not
believe our eyes. Could not take it all in.......we were shocked.
The only words that you could hear were swear words, and most of us
were numb and angry. You quickly realised that your life has now
changed.
There were six or so very huge Morton
Bay type fig trees outside across from the Comcen and the Command HQ
at least 100 years old. They were all bowled over like huge dead
centurions with their roots pointing skywards with clods and clods
of dirt through the lot. Then you saw the married quarters across
the common area across Allen St and the devastation was so apparent.
The road and parking areas right in front of us...were strewn with
destroyed homes and trees and rubbish and personal items and on and
on.... One has to view the photos and pictures of the damage of
Darwin which is available, to understand the enormity of it all.
We stood stunned for about 3/4 minutes
.....and the soldier in us kicked in. We knew the 'Rescue Team' and
'Recovery Team' were already out there among the MQs looking for
survivors. These teams were part of the 'Cyclone Season'
Instructions.
I went for my Rover, it was still there
but soaked. The RSM's Mercedes was smashed on its side next to mine.
The ground maint Ute was next to mine...windscreen smashed and half
a house rammed inside etc... Then Tanker yells for me. The CO wants
me. He comes out of the building and takes one look....and you could
see him taking it all in and not saying a word. There was simply
destruction everywhere, and I mean everywhere....you just couldn't
walk 3 feet in a straight line. He says...."Corporal Brown....take
me home. I want to check on my family". I looked around and
thought....'In what'?.... "I'll get the ute going Sir.....". I
cleared the ute out and the CO is giving me a hand. We finally got
the glass off the seat....and of course the mongrel wouldn't start
and I knew why. Up the bonnet, off with the dizzy...dry it out but
still water forced into the fittings. Took it off ....got the gas
gun and flamed the dizzy and the gear dry.... 'Bingo'! she
starts.... The CO jumps in and I move forward....about five
feet....he looks at me...with the realisation that we aint goin
anywhere.... unless we clear a path.....all the friggen way to the
front gate!.... He jumps out...and starts clearing stuff away from
the front of the vehicle....all by himself. I get onto the common
area that runs all the way down to the front perimeter and he is out
there clearing everything imaginable away from me to I can move
forward. You might be wondering where are the others?...to
help?...Everybody was doing something.....most Officers and pers
went to check their families who remained in their quarters....
After about 40 minutes...we finally
reached the front enterence to the Barracks...where a little
Telephone type guard hut stood in the middle of the road.... at the
gate. He didn't even ever get back into the ute. We saw the road
beyond the gate. Absolute wreckage of homes and trees and everything
else covered the road. Carnage everywhere. I got out of the ute and
looked at him...what is the next move?. We ain't goin anywhere!.. I
could see the sadness in his face and anxiety which he tried to
control..... "Corporal Brown, I am going on by myself now to my
home. I will be okay, please tell Major Wilchefski to take Command
until I return....and that will not be for a few days...." So I
watched him getting through the damage and rounding the corner 100
metres away and that was it. I immediately turned the ute around and
drove straight back to the Comcen along the path cleared by the
Boss. I add here, about the Guard hut at the gate. It was alway
manned 24/7 by the Garrison soldiers (us). Cpl Keith Woods ...RASigs
Det Commander was on duty all bloody night. At the gate. Mounted
duty at 1800hrs and was imprisoned in that box all night!.... Nobody
ever dreamed that this situation was going to be that bad. I spoke
to Woody later about it. "How did you survive Woody"....."Well, I
had plenty of smokes and run out of bloody matches...then things got
pretty hairy around 2100hrs and nobody came or went".
"Things were absolutely desperate
around 2300hrs....and I pissed off and got under the house just
outside the gate....and hung on til dawn...and made my way back to
my quarter which was missing a few parts".
Dear Woody. Now sadly in a medical
supported home, and is blind, and he has lost his legs due to
persistent diabetes. Keith went back to Darwin 30 years ago and had
to come to Qld for medical care about 5 years ago.
I got back to the Comcen, and in the
meantime, Denis Kirkman got my rover going and drove it around to
the front hard-standing in front of the doors... As soon as I
arrived he told me to crank it up (106) and raise Townsville (103
Sig Sqn). This was around 0700hrs and the Sun still had not appeared
from the East. Tanker has guys clear all the rubbish and damage away
from the front of the Comcen so we could move and work. Our Captain,
like the others, went back to check his family quarters for a while
then returned to the Comcen. Warrant Officer Tanker Hawkins was
inside with all our boys carting water outside....mopping up the
mess etc....that went on all day. NO COMMS.....any kind of comms. No
AUSCAN cct or VHF or TELEX or anything else. Sgt Geoff Molineaux was
still making his way in from his place outta Town. His place was
wrecked too. I think he had a 250cc honda at that time (which was
stolen later).
So....By now...you're thinking...where
does this bloke get all of this?. How can you remember all this??...
For me it is harder to forget, than to remember. These events are
burned into my brain.. ...like most other significant events in my
life. The RSM shortly after the doors opened went over to the SGT's
Mess where nearly all their dependents were holed up for the event.
The Mess lost a great part of its roof and windows and louvers and
external add-ons were all smashed. I got there much later in the
morning. I was working on a 15ft whip off the 106. Morsing 103 Sig
Sqn on our training freqs......time was dragging on and the Sun was
not playing at all..... The 3MHZ were dying and not quite ready for
5MHZ at that time....but I plugged on with the key to Townsville...
It was around 0900hrs that Captain Kerin Niquet joined me in the
rover.....I was sending, and he was listening.... this went on for a
while after re-tuning....then bingo! We made contact..... signal
strength was slowly getting better. We passed rudimentary messages
and we had a firm link. Tanker took me off the vehicle and put Cpl
Doug Purcell (RIP) to run it..... He told me to have a break (an
hour) and report back. He sent me over to the SGT's Mess to get the
RSM as Major Wilchefski need him. I gets to the front door and there
are a dozen or so wives all asking me questions. Most of their
husbands were on Teams or at their posts etc.... Fran Madigan came
to me and asked me if her house is still there. I had already gone
down Clowes street the hour before....picking up my wifes and kids
clothes that I recognised on the street as I went. I wanted to check
my house. Two walls were still standing, and that was it. A flat
floor and two exterior walls. Fran's house had completely gone over
the cliff. Just a flat floor. I said "I'm sorry Fran...I haven't
been down our street yet....I can't tell you".... There was nothing
more I could say. Fran's husband was the RAEME ASM WO2 Ron Madigan.
The Warrant Officers had the best possies on the cliff edge ...but
they suffered the worst as most of the others. The RSM's place
gone....all down at the bottom of the cliff.
Our Unit's focus of course was comms.
We understood that the PMG were already out there along with the
Darwin Power Authority working their arses off despite their own
family horrors. They amongst many other organisations that had a
direct effect on the populations' welfare were working working
etc....including the hospital staff. There was no let up....not for
anybody. We had to clean up our own Unit
accommodation....consolidate the workings of our own gear. While the
Officers got together to workout a plan now of looking after our
families, and getting our resources working the best we could. The
clean up of homes and mq's would come a week or so later. But the
recovery of food by families from upturned destroyed fridges full of
xmas food, was a priority. One has to understand that, the Darwin
Police and Administration were all, like us, in a state of shock.
The population just took care of itself suburb by suburb....
But it is a long story. Later that
night after a RAAF Airbase cleared its runways during the day,
sufficient enough for C-130s to land...Major General Alan Stretton
arrived from Canberra, around 2300hrs that night. He was to take
control of the whole situation... ..and earlier that night the MV
Nyandra arrived in the harbour and tied up at the only available
wharf still standing. This ship was to be Darwins' main HF and RATT
comms out of the area, and the command link for Gen Stretton. The
ship was part of the West Australian Cargo Line. She sat out the
cyclone on the other side of Bathurst Island and slowly moved
forward toward Darwin, as the cyclone attenuated inland.
Tomorrow I will talk about Larrakeyah
Barracks, and how we looked after the families. And the actions the
'Rescue Team' were faced with... And how our Unit started to
implement the comms plan and integrate with the Police.
Part 5 – The Rescue beings and looking
after families
The Squadron was, by the end of the
first day in consolidation mode....and family mode. There wasn't
much we could do electronically. I cannot even remember where I
slept that night.
Before noon on the first day (xmas
day)...I finally got to visit my family in the OR's Mess.
Incredibly, the women and older kids helped the soldiers clean up
inside the mess and get rid of the broken glass, destroyed furniture
etc and patch up the open window spaces with upturned tables etc. My
wife, a former soldier herself a WRAAC Sgt, got in there and did
some family orgainising herself. No injuries. Many women and kids
are scared witless. My 2 year old son stuttered for years after this
event.
Animals became a problem. They were
harboured into a separate area. The bedding was hung out to dry and
stretchers restored. The cooks returned to duty. Cpl cook Cpl
Carter, looked after the families with what they had in the freezers
in the OR's Mess until they were all evacuated, He emptied out the
frozen storage (outside units which survived) and got his team
cooking. There were no new rations coming in for at least a couple
of weeks.....and that was coming in from the Navy and by air. This
clean up was happening in the Officers and Sergeants Messes as well.
The Messes were to be the dependants' home until they were
evacuated.
Mid afternoon the first day my wife and
kids like most other families came back to what was their home.
Picking up clothes and items that were ours along the way...even
jewelry. Soldiers spent the day looking after their families and
doing the best they could gathering and salvaging what they could.
This was going on all over Darwin. Neighbours helping each other in
every way possible. I really believe that the whole Darwin community
was in a state of shock....and many just didn't realise it. Just
pushing on and going through the motions of some sort or reality
that held you together. Many thousands would have suffered with
these horrors for years.....classic cases of PTSD. My wife suffered
as did my two sons.
I gathered our Tupperware and our Reena
Ware and clothes. All our precious documents were gone. Retrieved
two Wedding Albums.
My fridge was thankfully in the front
yard on its back....it was full of xmas fare. We shared that with
others around us sitting on the steps of our quarter. Fran was there
with her three little ones and we just got stuck into it. Ron
couldn't make it because he was the ASM of the workshops. I salvaged
two suitcases outside and gave one to the Madigans. There were a few
bottles of wine but that didn't last long amongst the neighbours. A
funny story.
Across from us was Bluey Stone quarter
(Det 7Sig)...Blue was having a raging xmas party at his place that
night....of course they were not listening to the radio. You
couldn't hear it anyway. I imagine what happened next, when things
started to fly around the place. Anyway....things got very very
serious and Blue and his family (kids and other kids) and
friends....got into a 1937 Chev that was parked under his
quarter....Blue was restoring this beautiful beast ....but...the
rescue team found them in the morning....(all with bursting
bladders), and got them all, out of the car after half of the house
collapsed on top of the car during the storm. They couldn't open the
doors. There were many injuries of folks who stayed in their homes.
Their houses were torn apart...just like many thousands and
thousands of other Darwin residents out there.
The Barracks had some bad injuries
amongst wives and children who remained in their quarter. The worst
being the Sgt Medic's family who stayed in their quarter. The rescue
team at dawn, after hearing the moaning and crying of kids down
Clowes St....came across the house and there was very little left of
it. She was in the bath with her three little ones and a wall had
almost severed her leg which was out of the bath....she was in big
trouble. Our boys stablised her, and bashed their way for an hour to
get her to hospital not far away normally from the Barracks. I
believe she lost her leg. The Rescue Team went from quarter to
quarter to make sure they were all clear. Stevens Tce where the SNCO
quarters are suffered tremendously. They came across the Service
Corps WO2 Blue Lattiner. He, his wife and three kids were all jammed
in the toilet with the door closed. That was the only room left
standing on the house floor. The cubicle was twisted and they
couldn't open the door. WO2 Lattiner was in a really bad way.....the
team got them out. Blue went on with his career and PSO for some
years and retired. 31 May 1973, RAASC was disbanded and became the
RACT. They then wore a twisted lanyard of Black and Red.
Down the track (16 mile) HMAS
Coonawarra Transmitting Station was also devastated. And suffered
tragic injuries and deaths. The story is that a sailor was on duty
and he lost his wife and children when their quarter was completely
destroyed. Some 70 plus were killed that night and hundreds injured
and scores of people missing. Even the Naval Hq, a historical old
stone building was severely caved in.... It is high overlooking the
Wharf. Naval Officer Commanding NT was Captain Eric Johnston. I knew
him. As a Naval LtComd in Singapore. He is a big fellow who played
rugby in Singapore.
Three days later the Commanding Officer
RB Rodgers returned to the Barracks. His story came out. On arrival
at the Commander's Residence at Myilly Point, a hundred year old
Queensland style home (ground level),was almost totally wrecked.
Wrecked enough and demolished and never to be rebuilt on that
ground. (Check Google Maps Satellite). It was apparently the First
Northern Territory Administrators residence. Fifty metres away was
the big ground maintenance garden shed and inside was a big flat-bed
Amy style trailer. The CO found his family hiding under the trailer
with the shed completely collapsed upon the trailer. He called out
to them and found them. The neighbours helped him free his family of
wife and five daughters. Two of whom came home for xmas from places
afar.
The families stayed in the Messes. They
stayed there until the evacuations took place....which was about six
days later. But meanwhile, there was still no common electricity, or
running water... Women and mothers were washing their kids in pools
and puddles of blocked road drains, until the Engineer Troop put up
screened hessian areas around the water spring gushing out of the
cliff face on the slipway to the ocean just past the Artillery Park.
Hessian and star pickets did the trick. The families could now
shower in private in this cold water run off.....which lasted for a
couple of weeks. Mothers were tearing up Army bed sheets for nappies
etc....
Then there was an animal problem. I had
a German Shepherd dog. There were other dogs just abandoned. They
started to roam around the place hungry... A few of us would go
through the wet kitchen bins to salvage what we could to feed them.
We manage for a couple of weeks. But once families left (evacuated)
they left their animals behind. Those that owned them didn't own up.
The SO2 (Ops) Major Cousins has more or
less handed over his position to the new SO2 Major Pound (also
Artillery I think) somewhere mid December and he (Major Pound), took
off thereafter to England for a holiday apparently... He left his
Red Setter dog behind and Peter Kerntke had us look after it until
he got back. We had to contain it in the 'Spider Room' at the back
of the Comcen..... so there were dogs all over the place. I ended up
somehow part-time looking after them. In fact I made the front Page
of the ArmyNews NewsPaper January edition ...with dogs all around
me. We ended up having to destroy them. One of the first pallets of
stores to arrive in the Barracks off the HMAS Melbourne....was a
pallet of 'Lassie Dog Food' .....of all varieties. And it was
delivered to our Unit??...I wonder why.
Clowes St started at Allen Avenue which
ran through the Barracks. Clowes ended at Nimmo Place where all the
Warrant Officer quarters were....right on the edge of the cliff.
Tanker Hawkins place was just over the road from me and he was
posted earlier in the month to 4 Sig Regt if I remember. He had his
furniture uplift two week before the cyclone....so his quarter was
empty. His wife and children had already left Darwin. His quarter
was allocated to the newly arrived Engr Army Workboat Sgt, Hans
Kumple. Hans replaced old Sgt Bob Carpenter, who had left earlier in
the month. The boat, AWB Wyeena, a MV Krait Z Force look alike, was
tied up at the Stokes Wharf. Hans was originally a German immigrant
like many of us. He was a helluva nice guy, and was really excited
about his new posting and his beautiful quarter with million dollar
view across to Mandora Bay. He used to come and look at his house
almost every day.
I saw Hans over the road whilst I was
picking up stuff....he was visibly very upset. His dream had
vanished. His posting like others would come to and end. As our
beloved work boat had sunk at the Wharf. I believe it was
resurrected...not sure, but that was long after I left in March.
Boxing Day. Our OC had gathered all our
workable man portable radio assets and batteries etc..... so were
busy getting ready as this was just day two. Dets up and running and
waiting for deployment. Denis Kirman sent me down in a GS to the
Wharf around 1000hrs to warn the Captain of the MV Nyanda that
MajGen Stretton was on his way. Earlier Cpl Bryan McConkey had got
to the Police HQ and placed a 77 set on their Ops desk to tell them
if they wanted to call the Army...use this. And don't change the
frequency....normal Mac style.....God I miss that bloke. So that is
how I ended up in Nyanda. Did the job, and on the way down the
bridge staircase,,,,General Stretton was walking up. He was
surprised to see a soldier on board..."Is the Captain up there
Corporal"?..... He used that ship for about two weeks for his
Canberra link. We left a 77 set there later as part of the Command
Net. The next day, Denis Kirman and eye, went to the Police HQ to
install a RC-292 on the roof.....We had to carry the gear up to the
4th floor to access the roof....Inside sadly, were recently
recovered deceased people. On the roof, and we got on with it. The
Police VHF/UHF was ratshit for weeks. It was all Army. We did not
get any new march-ins from other Units for about 5/6 days. I have to
say...that over the weeks, we had scores of Sigs blokes of all
trades arriving... It was a full on effort. The riggers and linnies
worked from dawn til dusk....as normal.
It really was bedlam organising comms
priorities... meeting the demands of the Situation Command Control.
Captain Kerntke had a lot on his plate. We had to deploy Sigs to the
newly identified evac centres...Mainly major High Schools around the
suburbs. Rations and shift arrangements became a problem....but our
comms to these and other critical areas was a necessity. Within days
Stretton made a few important decisions. No man between the ages of
18 yrs and 65 yrs is allowed to leave Darwin and its precincts. Of
course people were leaving Darwin in their bashed up cars with what
they salvaged and got the hell out of there before the Cops set up
roadblocks.... Also, he ordered the clean-up of the City. Don't know
how that was done...but it worked like clockwork.
The first Navy ships arrived on 31
December. By this time the Darwin ABC radio was up and running.
Stretton ordered that no New Year Celebrations are to occur
...,anywhere....until the main body of the City clean-up was done.
New Year will be celebrated on the 33rd of December 1974. True
story.
Evacuations started around 31 December.
My next Post is my last on 125 Signal
Squadron. It will be about the evacuations and the troubles caused.
The re-establishment of our Comcen comms to AUSCAN and Telex.
In a matter of days, we were able to
move around the City and the burbs. Our first assignment by the Ops
Control in Police HQ where a conglomerate of Army, Navy and Airforce
Officers, Police Command, Gen Stretton Staff etc.....was to deploy
men with 77 set manpacks to the Airbase runway area. The Airbase was
in a total mess. The SAR Chopper Huey was destroyed inside the
hangar. A hundred light aircraft all turned turtle....or on their
nose. Many strewen across the airstrip along with houses cars and
trees....shocking mess. The Base Commander Air Commodore David
Hitchens personal DC3 Dakota blown off its moorings to the tarmac
and landed completely upside down on the Commander's residence front
garden?... He was away at the time and he and family flew in from
somewhere north the next day. What a sight!...
The operators were tasked from the
Tower where an Airforce Officer would direct the radio ops down the
strip to actually meet the planes arriving and walk them to a
parking spot. Two days later of this...Jumbos were arriving,
C-130's, Galaxy aircraft, and many others. One sight I will never
forget is Sig Eddie Edwards walking a jumbo jet to a parking spot.
This was Darwin style 'Aircraft Ground Control'.
Coming …
103 Signal Squadron, Townsville
Supplied by Gary Hodges
