NZ416235 W/O Ernie Alexander (Navigator)Part IX : Halavo Bay
These experiences are from extracts of letters that I wrote to my grandfather Mr. A. K. Alexander of Hamilton, N.Z. when I did my aircrew training in Canada.
After my discarge from hospital our squadron moved to Halavo Bay on Florida Island in the Solomons. Our crew was the first to arrive.
Halavo Bay was a previous Japanese base.
The control tower was built pagoda style, witht he walls made out of palm leaves. On every trip we did it was my job as navigator to collect the weather report, code books and information on the sector we were to fly on.
We rose at 4.00am, had breakfast, were briefed on our trip, and took off. Almost all of them were about 12 hours.
Halavo Bay was not particularly exciting, the rainfall was terrific, something in the vicinity of 250 inches in a year. Other islands recorded 400 inches.
We lived in tents for a start and were virtually surrounded by mud. When the trucks came to collect us or someone else for flying, they inevitably got stuck. So we were woken at 4.00 am whatever happened. With the high rainfall and humidity our clothes were always damp and musty. A lot of our equipment rusted and films stuck in our cameras. The tents often leaked. For a floor we had metal landing strips placed on logs. It never paid to drop anything through the holes because land crabs would take them away. Johnny Cowan, our engineer, dropped his fountain pen, and the last he saw was a crab marching away with it. They were huge animals about 8 inches across the back. A favourite trick of theirs was to climb our tents and slide down. A lot were run over by the trucks.
It was rather startling for the new-comer to listen to the bats. They flew low with a peculiar noise, and of course were hard to see. They were also quite big. The only other odd creatures about were sea snakes in some parts and giant lizards. One chap was leading one around on a rope and it was four feet long. Generally speaking wildlife took off when men arrived.
A native village was about three miles up a nearby stream. Apparently all the women folk took to the mountain tops when the Japs came, leaving the men and boys behind.
Food, the important item was poor, mainly because of the extremely high rate of chlorination and lack of knowledge on the cook's part. I would not be exaggerating to say more was thrown out than eaten. Spam, saukraut, dehydrated potatoes were always on the menu. As aircrew we received special rations. We claimed all we could get and hung on to them. Instead of going for meals we lived on toast and tinned fish, mostly salmon. Our favourite habit was to detail one to go for a meal and if it was satisfactory he would inform us and all would go.
Showers were erected outdoor, cold of course, which were very welcome in the heat. We took Atabrine tablets to protect us against Malaria, but even then some contracted. Our skin went a yellow colour, but that didn't matter, only ourselves to look at.
As at our previous base, we washed our own clothes, but of course we never saw an iron.
Generally speaking that summed up life at Halavo Bay. Writing letters, reading, sacking (sleeping) when we were off duty was all we could do.
Flying was more difficult here. We still did patrol work up as far as Nauru Island and the equator, but hunter-killer operations, search and rescue, and escort duties were also involved.
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