Port Moresby was seasonal, very dry in dry season, and produced rollicking thunderstorms in the wet. Trees in the valley were scant, mostly of the gum variety, and offered little shade. The area was abandoned by the end of 1944 and today Wards Drome is built over with rather drab industrial real estate.

Although 'civilization' has reclaimed the area, many of the original cement slabs upon which various 5th Af structures were built around Wards, remain. The most historical is the one on which Fifth Air Force ADVON Headquarters operations center was built, on a hill overlooking both Wards and Seven-mile strips, and now behind the present Chinese Embassy, accredited to Papua New Guinea. A giant Fifth Air Force circular insignia was laid into the slab, still clearly visible today.

Little wonder the European air-war received so much more attention and coverage by journalists than its Pacific counterparts. Sparse dusty tent valleys like this offered no comparison to England's trappings of comfortable accommodation, female society, not to mention cold beer and entertainment.

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