Desert Air - 16. DA Ch 16 - Boom

On the parking tarmac sat my beautiful biplane, which looked like it has also been given a good wash, and I loaded my bag into the storage locker, and began my checks of the plane, before climbing in and starting her up, purring perfectly as usual.

“Port Hedland Air Traffic, this is Tango Juliet 1959, requesting clearance to taxi to runway, destination Corunna Air base, over,” I said over the radio, “Good morning Jex, welcome home mate, you are second in line after the RAAF VIP jet heading for Broome, over,” came a response, and I looked over to the main terminal, where the jet was taxing to the main runway.

“Roger that, I have visual on the jet, nice bird to fly in as a passenger, enjoyed the trip from the east coast yesterday, preparing to follow executive Jet once it has taken off, over,” I replied as I smiled and watched the jet race down the runway and take off, heading north for Broome.

Once I was in the air, I headed directly for Corunna Airbase, as I had very little time to spare, before the restrictions on airspace kick in, at just over two hours time. As I approached Corunna, I saw my vehicle parked near the operations shed, and about 200 metres short of the north end of runway two sat one enormous, Liberator plane, and it looked incredible.

Port Hedland tower this is Tango Juliet 1959 preparing to land at Corunna Airbase runway one east, over,” I said over the radio, “Roger Tango Juliet, be advised air restrictions come into effect in fifteen minutes, over,” came the response, “Roger, message received, over,” I replied, as I turned the plane and approached the east end of runway one, when I saw two men run onto the runway, and I pulled up, and turned left, to see what is going on.

Continuing a sharp left hand bend, I remained low, and made the decision to land on runway two behind the Liberator, with 300 metres less of runway room to land, and as soon as the wheels were down, I hit the brakes, to make sure I don’t run into the back of the newly restored Liberator, which was not a problem.

When I was almost stopped, I taxied a little closer to the Liberator, before carefully spinning the plane around so it was facing the way I came, before stopping and shutting off the engines. When I opened the canopy, my vehicle was approaching with Hedley Parkinson driving, and he stopped close to the plane and jumped out.

“Hi mate, we were not expecting you this early, and we are still checking the number one runway, as we have received an anonymous call that a mine has been planted on either side of the runway with a trip wire between them,” Hedley said as he shook my hand.

“A bomb threat? How credible is the information?” I responded in shock, “Not sure, the 12 Airforce guys who have been here for a week no, are doing a sweep now,” Hedley replied, as I looked towards runway one, and I jumped into the cockpit and switched on the power.

“Port Hedland Tower, this is Tango Juliet 1959, I am on the ground forced to land on runway two, as there has been a bomb threat on runway one, I repeat there is a bomb threat on runway one, please notify the RAAF executive jet, and suggest they land on the nearby Corunna Downs airfield next to the homestead, over,” I said into the radio mic.

“Copy that Tango Juliet, I will relay the information, over,” came a response and I shut of the power and jumped back down. “Have the RAAF boys been using the Campsite near the boundary or … oh they have set up their own campsite, behind the operations shed, interesting,” I commented.

“They seem to be enjoying their time here, there managed to get the Liberator together in just four days, so the past three days they have been just guarding the base,” Hedley said. “I see that all the sheds have been completed, have they been kitted out with memorabilia?” I asked.

“They have, and the only new thing is a poly water tank situated at your new place, with a solar powered pressure pump providing water to the base kitchen, showers and hidden behind the showers are three modern portable toilets.

Over at the main car park, there is an ablutions building, with 6 compost toilets, with water for flushing from the same pump, and washing hands in the sinks. There is a small hut next to the front north gate, which includes a bathroom and kitchenette, for whoever is on duty at the gate, with a shade lean-too, for two vehicles,” Hedley explained.

“Well, things have changed a lot in just one month, and you mentioned my new place, is it like how Dad and I were planning?” I asked, and Hedley smiled as he nodded his head. “Yes, sort of, but the decking between the buildings is like nine metres wide, with a three metre wide and 12 ½ metres long lap pool in the centre.

Plus you have solar and wind turbine power, satellite communications and television, and the gap between the house and the recreation building is five metres, to provide plenty of air ventilation on really hot days, and at the front there is three-two bedroom cottages, with a 2 metres wide verandah at the front,” Hedley explained.

“Wow, I can hardly wait to check it out,” said just as we heard the sound of a whistle, and we turned towards the sound, where the men gathered near the centre of runway one. “They have found something, we better go and check,” I said and I started at a jog to make the 700 metre distance, which was quite easy for me, but Hedley was soon just walking.

“Group Captain, what have you found, oh and I am not just an Army private, I own this base too?” I stated, “He is speaking the truth Captain, I have known this lad since he was born,” Hedley added, “Oh, ok, well the tip off is correct with the trip wire, it is hardly noticeable and it is so tight, that it just needs to be run over by a standard vehicle to trigger it off,” the group Captain said.

“Can it be disarmed?” I asked, “Yes, but I advise that you all get well away from here, at least four hundred metres,” the Group Captain said, and we did as he suggested and backed away. “If the plane and these guys came here a week ago, then it must have been set in the past seven days, and who ever did it may be watching us right now,” I said to Hedley as we walked away, but I stopped.

“Keep going, I will be ok… Group Captain, I need two of your men to be my eyes, while I fly around the area, we may have someone watching us, and if so then the VIP’s could be in danger,” I said, before I began to sprint towards my plane, with two men following, we were soon in the air.

At first I did a wide sweep, covering the boundary of the base, which is about 28 kilometres in total, before I went down a little lower, and did a tighter circle about 500 metres in from the boundary, when the radio came to life, “Port Hedland Air Traffic Control to aircraft near Corunna Airbase, you are flying in a restricted airspace, land immediately, over,” and I looked at my watch, and it has clicked past the restriction time.

“Tango Juliet 1959 to Port Hedland Air Traffic Control, the bomb threat is real, I repeat the bomb threat is real, and attempts are being made to disarm them, we also think that there maybe a person or persons, possibly armed with rifles, hidden in the surrounding hills, and I am doing a check over the area with two airmen as spotters, over” I replied.

“Understood, do you want the Executive jet to divert to a safer location, over?” I was asked, “What is the planned eta of the jet at his location, over?” I asked, “Just under one hour, over,” came the reply, and I quickly thought about the options.

“Inform them that I recommend that they divert to the nearest bare airbase until further notice, over,” I replied, “Received that, I will pass it on, over,” came a reply, as we continued our sweep.

“There, spotters, I saw a reflection, at 10 o’clock confirm please,” I said over the internal intercom on the plane, “Confirmed, vehicle located 240 degrees, high in the hills,” one of the spotters said, as I turned to get a closer look.

“Tango Juliet 1959, this is Captain James Eccleston, A Troop, 2^nd Sabre Squadron, SAS Regiment, Campbell Barracks, Swanbourne, located directly below you present fly area, we are on a security mission to protect the VIP arrivals in one hour, over,” came an unfamiliar voice.

“If you are here to protect the VIP’s, why did you not notice the two mines currently being disarmed on runway one, over,” I responded, not sure if they were genuine or not. “We have only been here for two days, and to verify us as friendly, you recently received a ASC-1, over,” the caller said to me.

“What is a ASC-1?” one of the spotters asked me, “Never you mind, that is need to know business,” I replied, before flicking the switch to cut off the spotters from listening in, “Very well Captain, can you let me know how many are in your patrol, over,” I asked.

“We have two troops on the ground, over,” came the reply, “Understand, the VIP’s have been diverted to the nearest bare airbase till it is safe to land,” I advised the Captain, which for my guess will be the one near where they were overnight,” I said, “Understood, we will do a full sweep and keep in touch with you, over,” the Captain said, and I prepared to land on runway two again.

Once on the ground and facing the way I came again, I shut down the engines, and we all climbed out. “Great ride, thanks for the chance to experience flying in one of these,” one of the spotters said, “Your welcome,” I replied, as we walked back to the middle of Runway one.

“We have disarmed the first two, and found another two about 200 metres further down,” the Group Captain said to me, Have you done another check of the first section, in case you missed it?” I asked, “No, do you think we should?” the Group Captain asked, just as there was an almighty double bang, and we all hit the ground.

Once the dust and rocks had stopped showering us, I stood up and looked back, where I saw Hedley laying flat on the ground, and I dashed towards him. “Hedley, are you ok,” I shouted a few times, before I finally saw him moving.

“I just threw a small rock off the runway, and boom,” Hedley shouted as he rubbed his ears, and when I finally reached him, I helped him to sit up. “Can you hear me?” I shouted, and he nodded, “Only just,” he shouted back, and I looked towards the sound of a vehicle approaching from the north-east, and recognised the vehicle to be one Australian Army Bushmaster and two Hawkei’s travelling at high speed towards us, which made me smile, “I got to get me one of those,” I commented to myself.

One of the Hawkei vehicles pulled up beside me and 4 soldiers jumped out, “I am a field medic,” one of the men said, “Good, he has concussion and hearing loss,” I replied, before stepping back to let the medic get to work, while I went to look at the two big holes created by the explosions.

“Hello Mr Kendrick, I am Captain Tim Eccleston,” an officer said as he approached me, “nice to meet you, Private Jexon Kendrik, one day fresh out of basics,” I replied as I shook his hand, “And travelling with VIP Dignitaries too, I hear?” the Captain said.

“Yes, that was all thrown at me with no notice, I was preparing to head for a start of 1^st semester at ADFA, when I was hijacked for this flight west,” I replied, “Interesting, I would like to hear all about it at a later time, where is your dress uniform?” the Captain asked.

“On the VIP jet, I will have to get changed as soon as they arrive. I was dropped off at Port Hedland last night so I could fly my biplane here this morning,” I replied.