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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