Desert Air - 23. DA Ch 23 - Open Day

I discovered that the light switch to the fuel store also turned on the lights now located in the underground bunker, as I descended down the steps. Nothing had changes in the first room, so I entered the passageway, and began looking into each room on the left and right hand side, with the last right hand door being into another passageway, which was dark.

Using my torch, I found a single door at the end, and I entered and found a light switch, which revealed that I was now in a lounge room, with some 40’s style lounge suites and chairs, some tables and to the left there is two more rooms, a large kitchen and a dining room with basic wooded tables and chairs.

I was totally surprised by this well hidden part of the bunker, which is a lot larger than I had originally thought. In the lounge room there was another door directly opposite from the dining room, which leads into yet another passageway, with lights already on.

Checking the three doors on each side, I discovered that there are six bedrooms, each with their own built in wardrobe space and private compact bathroom. At the end of the passage is another door, that enters into another passage going the other directions, and this time there was one door directly opposite from where I came from and one door at the end of the passage to the right.

Opening the door closest, I was now in a very small hall, with two doors, and I opened the one to the left, which appears to be a much bigger bedroom, also with its own wardrobe storage space and compact bathroom, which is slightly larger than the others.

Going back the way I came, I went to the end of the hall, and opened the last door, where there was no lights, but there was natural light coming from the ceiling above, and looking up carefully and seeing the shape of where the light was coming from, I now knew what the concrete hole on the ground are, that I stumbled across the other day.

I was in a large rectangular room, with bench seats located at each end, and nothing else, just one large open room, with fresh air and sunlight coming from above. Returning to the large lounge room, I looked around it carefully, and found a door that I had missed earlier.

On opening it, I found myself in yet another open room with natural light and air coming from the ceiling, but this room was only about a quarter of the size of the other big room. Feeling certain that I had now seen everything of the bunker, I headed back to the surface, shutting off the lights, as I went, and back in the operations room, I shut the trapdoor, and exited the fuel store.

Making sure that it was locked up tight, and I stepped outside, where the sun was now fully up and it was starting to warm up quickly, and that is when I saw Dad’s vehicle parked next to the Hawkei. “So what do you think of the secret now?” Dad asked me, as he appeared from behind his vehicle.

“Totally amazing, a lot more than I had expected, and I understand now what those rectangular things are that I stumbled across the other day,” I replied.

“Yes, very clever way of getting natural sunlight and fresh air down there and yet it can be easily closed off in case of an attack by the enemy. You know that the roof of the bunker is a good three metres or 12 feet underground, so it is safe from light bombing,” Dad said to me.

“Are we going to fix it up and use it for something later on?” I asked, “Maybe, but that is something to discuss at a later date, lets get back home to make final preparations,” Dad replied, “Oh by the way there are already 17 vehicles at the front gate, looks like they camped there overnight,” I stated.

“Really, well we will have to put a stop to that,” Dad commented as we climbed into our vehicle and made our way back to the complex, where the family were all having breakfast.

After breakfast, Dad and I headed to the study, where Dad opened the safe, and he pulled out two small money safes, the kind that have a plastic pit on the top to hold coins. “This black one is for the front gate, we will be charging $5 per vehicle and I have $300 in notes and coins for a float, the blue one is for the Operations shed for selling the bottled water at $2 each, and there is $75 in small notes and coins for a float, which I will get you to keep an eye on, and take out any large notes every now and then,” Dad said to me.

“How many people do you think we will get through here over the three day weekend?” I asked, “No Idea son, so we had better be prepared for a small or a very large crowd,” Dad replied, just as the radio came to life.

MB Police to Corunna Airbase, over,” came a familiar voice and I groaned in annoyance, and Dad chuckled as he picked up the mic. “Go ahead Sergeant Brooks, over,” Dad responded, “Hello Flint, just wanted to let you know that I am on the main turnoff just out of town heading out your way, and there is a huge convoy of vehicles coming your way, over,” the sergeant announced.

“Thankyou sergeant, are you coming out this way yourself? Over” Dad asked, “That is affirmative, do you need anything, over?” the Sergeant replied, “Yes, if you don’t mind, can you call in at the pub, roadhouse and service station, and collect as many 600 ml bottles of water that they are prepared to sell, and tell them I will pay them at the end of the weekend, over,” Dad asked, “Sure, not a problem, see you soon, over and out,” the sergeant replied.

“Doesn’t hurt to be prepared, plus what we don’t sell over the weekend we can eventually sell later,” Dad said to me, “How many bottles of water do we have with us now?” I asked, 40 packs of 24 bottles, so over 900, but it is hot out here, and although we are used to the hot weather, a lot of the visitors will not, so it will be a good idea to keep our visitors hydrated.

“Would it be an idea to give the RFDS a heads up, about this weekend’s event, so they are prepared just in case we do have any accidents and such?” I suggested, “All ready done, Hedley suggested that idea yesterday, so he gave them a call. With your new plane parked near the shed, we may use the station’s runway, as it will be away from the crowds,” Dad responded.

A few minutes later, we exited the complex, with Hedley and Joyce heading for the gate hut, and Dad and Rhodes heading to the operations shed, where they would set up a drinks stand, and every team has a hand- held radio to keep in touch.

All sheds that have memorabilia in them have two ropes across the doorways, to stop people from entering, while the others that are empty apart from a few posters, that are copies of original photos or articles of the war, are handing on the walls.

A rope barrier has also been placed across the entry to the aircraft pit where my biplane is sitting under the cover of the netting. I had been in regular contact with the Army Museum in Fremantle, and I was able to get some audio recordings of air raids, including the sound of the air raid siren, gun fire and approaching aircraft making a bomb raid.

The sound system on the Hawkei was good enough to broadcast these audio recordings, and I was looking forward to seeing the reactions of the guests when I play them periodically over the weekend, having listened to them and selected what I need for the airbase museum.

I would be doing regular patrols around the base, with stops at each key location of the museum and back at the Complex to check on the younger siblings. When Joyce called to say that Sergeant Brooks had arrived with the water supplies, I asked her to instruct the Sergeant to meet me at the car park barrier.

At the barrier near the creek, I backed towards it, and we unloaded the a total of 64 packs of 600 ml bottles, which I felt would be a plentiful supply to last us the whole weekend and longer. Once the Hawkei was loaded up, the sergeant asked me if he could travel with me around the base for a while,

Already we have a very full car park and they were now parking along the side of the access road between the gate and the car park. “I counted at least 48 vehicles in the car park and another 30 or more parked on the side of the road,” the sergeant commented as we climbed into the Hawkei, and I made a quick mental calculation of how much we had made already just from entry fees.

After doing a round of the airfield, where visitors were looking at the B24 Liberator on the taxiway, as well as all of the buildings, the gun pits and the aircraft pits, I parked in the centre between the two runways. “Ok, what is the big grin for?’ the sergeant asked me.

“You will see,” I replied, as I picked up the UHF radio mic, “Attention all family and staff, beware that I am about to play something on the loud speaker, do not be alarmed, it is only a recording, over” I said before turning the volume up high on the sound system and then pressing play.

The sound of aircraft approaching then the air siren rang in the air, followed by gunfire, and the sound of planes flowing over the top and more gunfire, before it all went quiet. When I looked around there was no sign of the sergeant, and as I climbed out of the vehicle I found him and the majority of the visitors flat on the ground, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Not funny son, not funny at all,” Dad said over the radio, as I climbed back into the Hawkei, and switched the system to PA, and turned the volume down a little.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, no need for alarm, that is just some sound effects of what it was like living on a airbase during the time of war, the sound effects you heard just now, are real recordings taken during the air raids in Darwin and Broome during the second world war,” I announced.

“Gate to patrol, from our location that sounded so real, it frightened the hell out of me, over,” Hedley said over the radio, “That’s what I was trying to do, make it sound like the real thing, over” I replied, as Sergeant Brooks dusted down his uniform before climbing back into the vehicle.

“Back to my vehicle please, Mr Kendrik,” Sergeant Brooks said sternly and I just nodded my head, as I began the drive back to the car park. Once the police vehicle headed away from the base, I made my way to the operations shed.

“Blimey Jexon, that scared the sh… shellfish out of me,” my brother said to me as I approached the shed, “nice recovery there bro,” I said smiling, while Dad just shook his head. “I did give you a warning, so next time you will know what to expect,” I commented.

“Would have been nice if you had warned us earlier today, like during breakfast,” Dad responded, “True, but then it wouldn’t feel as real would it,” I said. As the day went along, the visitors kept coming, and I was hoping that Joyce and Hedley were keeping a track of number of vehicles that had passed the gates, and I played the recording twice more during the day, once near midday, and again at around 3 pm, with simular reactions from the visitors.

Half an hour before closing time, I drove up to the gate, to see how many more people there are approaching, and there was still a line of cars, approaching the gate. “Patrol to Operations shed, you there Dad, over?” I called on the radio.

“Receiving you son, go ahead, over,” Dad replied, “Still quite a line of vehicles waiting to come in, I could like to suggest that we extend till 5 pm, over” I suggested, “Yes that is fine with us, any idea how many vehicles have passed through the gate so far, over?’ Dad responded, and I looked to Joyce and Hedley for an answer, and Joyce picked up her radio mic.

“I have counted 347 so far, over,” Joyce announced, “Wow, that many, ok go up the line and make a break in how many can enter, and ask the others to come back in the morning, over,” Dad replied, “Copy that, over,’ I said.