Desert Air - 20. DA Ch 20 - Globemaster Departs

“They are, and I have some new signs being made in Port Hedland, for when we are open for business. The first one will be at the junction of Corunna Downs Road and Limestone-Marble Bar Road, just south of town, the second one will be at the turnoff from Corunna Downs Road, and the third 750 metres from there at the next turnoff, with each one giving distances to the Airbase gate.

At the front gate we will have a sign stating that the museum is only open from 9 am to 4 pm, 7 days a week, and no camping is permitted at the museum or the surrounding Cattle station land.

We will also have a sign at the on the opposite side of the road from the 2^nd sign that will state no entry from this point onto Pastoral Station land, and no access to the airbase museum from the Pastoral Station. All we have to do really is to decide how much we charge for people to come and see the airbase, and set a date for when to open, and get the shire to do some work on the station access road,” Dad replied.

“What about the rest of the way?” Hedley asked, “That is almost seven kilometres and we will have to do that work ourselves,” Dad replied. “What’s the distance from the gate to the car park?” Hedley asked, “It is 5.4 kilometres,” I replied, having measured the distance some time back. “That is good, far enough to make the walk a bit too hard for most, especially in the heat,” Dad replied.

With all of us going away for school or university, Mum and Dad and decided to drive us to Port Hedland and see us off at the airport, in two days time, so once the last of the defence people have left we would be busy packing for a new education year.

The next morning after breakfast, we drove down to the taxiway to watch the arrival of the Globemaster aircraft, which is huge as it did a circle before landing on Runway One East, with the Army vehicles and the defence personnel all waiting at the west end of the runway, with the exception of one Hawkei, which is parked near the Operations shed and near where we were parked.

“Globemaster to Corunna Hawkei, over” came an unexpected call, and I walked over to the vehicle to answer the call. “Corunna Airbase, Private Kendrik speaking,” I replied. “Mr Kendrik, thankyou for your hospitality, we will see you again in the near future, and in the meantime, when you are home, feel free to keep in contact, I left something in the Hawkei for that purpose, over,” came the SAS Captain’s voice, and after a quick check, I found what he was talking about.

“Will do, thanks Tim, have a safe trip home to Campbell Barracks, over and out,” I responded over the radio, before stepping away from the vehicle as I heard the engines of the Globemaster get loader, and we watched it rush down the runway and take off.

“Wow,” Wynn shouted in astonishment, “Wow indeed little bro, it is incredible to see such a huge plane like that, be able to fly in the air,” I responded, and Wynn nodded his head in agreement, as we watched the plane turn south and head towards Perth.

“I am just going to check the north gate, I will be back shortly,” I said to Dad, and Rhodes asked to come with me, and I agreed to let him. After we passed through the barrier gate after the creek crossing, we continued up the main road and before we came near to it, I could see that there is a large number of vehicles lined up on the side of the road with a large crowd of people lined up along the boundary, just as a police vehicle arrived, and Sergeant Brooks and another officer stepped out.

“We saw the parade of vehicle turning off fort his direction from town, so we thought we better come down and check if everything is ok,” Sergeant Brooks said to me as he approached.

“That was considerate of you, thankyou Sergeant Brooks, it appears that everyone is staying on the outside of the boundary, but we have just arrived ourselves,” I replied.

“Was that an Airforce cargo plane leaving just now?’ the other officer asked me, “That is correct, a Globemaster to be exact, transporting the Defence personnel and their equipment back to Perth,” I replied. “Hey mister, there were some people that did cross the fence about half an hour ago,” a teenager stated,

“Can you give us a description of them please?” I asked, “Sure, I recon they are reporters as they were carrying cameras and small tripods,” the teen boy replied. “Sergeant, would you mind coming with me,” I asked, and he jumped the fence and followed Rhodes and me back to the Hawkei, and we raced back down the road towards the base.

“Stop, over there, they are waving us down,” Rhodes called out, when we were about 500 metres from the creek, and I turned and went off the road, not worrying about the low shrubs but avoiding large rocks, until we pulled up beside the two trespassers, a man and a women in their mid to late twenties.

“Snake bite, please help him,” the lady called out, and I grabbed the first air kit, which I knew are always stored in the vehicles. “Paul there is an HF radio in the vehicle, Channel 11 is the emergency channel, request an RFDS plane to the Corunna Airbase ASAP, the patient is a mid twenties male with snakebite,” I called out to the police sergeant, with me calling him by his first name for the first time.

The bite was in his calf muscle, so I cut away half of the trouser leg and began to apply a tight bandage around his entire leg, and when the Sergeant arrived, he informed me that the RFDS had just collected a patient from nearby Nullagine, and that it would be here soon.

Picking up the patient we carried him to the vehicle and loaded him in before we headed for the airfield, to await the arrival of the RFDS plane, which was making its approach as we arrived. “RFDS to Corunna Airbase, over,” came a call over the radio.

“RFDS to have permission to land on Runway One East, winds are from the north-west, over,” I responded, “Copy that, over” came a reply and we watched as it came into land, and we stopped at the west end of the runway, as it taxied towards us.

As the patient was being loaded into the plane, Sergeant Brooks spoke to the other trespasser, “You will have to stay here, as you have some questions that I need answered,” he said to her, and reluctantly she nodded her head yes in understanding.

Once the RFDS plane had taken off, we climbed into the vehicle and headed back towards the main gate, where the crowd was now a lot bigger, as I turned the UHF radio on and changed the channel. Corunna Airbase, this is Corunna Mobile, are you there Dad, over,” I called.

“Corunna Airbase receiving you son, over,” came Dad’s reply. “That was the RFDS that just landed and took off again, with a snake bite victim, and we have about thirty vehicles and a large crowd at the front gate, along with Sergeant Brooks who is with me now, over,” I informed Dad.

“I have Hedley with me, we will be right there, over,” Dad responded, as we pulled up at the main gate, and after exiting, the women was escorted to the police vehicle, to be interviewed back at Marble Bar and the Constable would drive their vehicle back to town.

“Hey Mister, when can we come in and see the base?” the same teenager asked me, “I am the defence force representative for the Airbase, Mr Flint Kendrik and Mr Hedley Parkinson are the Airbase Museum managers, and they will answer your questions when they arrive shortly,” I replied.

When my Dad and Hedley arrived, I quietly spoke to them, before they approached the crowd, and Rhodes and I stood back away, to watch as they made an announcement. “Ladies and Gentlemen, as you have seen we have had a visit from the RFDS just now, with one of the trespassers being bitten by a snake,” Hedley began, “Yeah serves him right for trespassing,” someone called out.

“It is true that we had an official opening yesterday, with his Excellency, the Governor General of Australia, plus the Federal Minister of Defence, the Chief of Army, and some defence force personnel present, but we are not yet ready for opening to the public just yet.

We estimate that we will be ready to be open by Monday next week, so until then I suggest that you go an explore some more of our wonderful countryside, but in a safe manner, and we hope to see you in the near future when we are open, which we will announce via the media, thankyou for coming,” Dad said to finish the announcement.

We returned to our vehicles, where we sat and watched, as the crowds gradually made their way back to there vehicles and headed back into town. Once everyone had gone, we made our way back to the complex where Mum and Joyce were busy cooking.

When we sat down for lunch, the house phone rang, and I stood up to answer it, but in the study instead of in the kitchen. When I returned to the table, I informed the family and the Parkinson’s that it was Sergeant Brooks who called, informing us that he had been in contact with the shire, and he politely told them to put road closed signs at the turnoff leading off Corunna road immediately, and they have agreed to the Police official request.

Most of the afternoon was spent finalising packing in preparation for our trip to Geraldton, and for me on to Perth, as we would be driving to Port Hedland after lunch the next day, and staying in a motel before out flights the next morning.

Arriving in Port Hedland mid-afternoon the next day, Mum suggested that we get the younger ones settled into the motel, while Dad and I go see what options there are for a type of uniform for the museum, but said not to finalise anything, until she has see the shirts, and a design of the logo.

We had decided on ‘WW2 Airbase Museum – Corunna, WA as the full name for the airbase’, and after looking at a few shirt styles we a cotton long sleeve work wear shirt, but we had not decided on what colour, which we would let Mum decide what is the best colour.

When we delivered the brochure to Mum, she had a quick look before deciding that a pale colour would be the best, so it was a toss up between the light blue, light green or light tan colours. During breakfast the next morning, Mum announced that the Light Tan was the colour that she preferred, with the slightly darker tan trousers to match.

Just an hour before we were due to board our flights, I received a text message from Marcus. “Hey bud, long time no chat, just wondered if you have a few minutes to talk, I can call you, Marcus,” and I frowned when I read the message, as it sounded like he was not enjoying life in Carnarvon. “Sure, call now, as I am about twenty minutes away from boarding my flight to Perth,” and moments later my phone rang.

“Hey Marcus, how is life in Carnarvon?” I said right away, “Not good, I am home on the farm after quitting from that job just before Christmas, they work you like a dog and pay even less,” he replied. “Oh that is not good, sorry to hear that,” I responded.

I saw the newspaper article about the official opening of the Airbase, and that you had some top level VIP’s there,” Marcus said, “Yes, I travelled with them from Canberra to Broome, as I have completed my basic training in the Army reserves, so I am a lowly Private now,” I announced.

“Oh wow, I leave you for just a few months and this all happens, sounds like an interesting story. So are you on your way back to University?” Marcus asked.

“Yes, the Army wanted me to continue on with the Officer training programme at ADFA, but in the end it was decided that I would be of better use as Army representative for the Airbase, since we now have a B24 Liberator plane and some other items on display there at the base,” I replied.