7th Fighter Squadron

49th Fighter Group

Based at Batchelor Field, Australia's Northern Territory from March to September 1942

The corner of the officer's club contained a gramophone which played all the standard favorites of the day. The relaxing pilot whose nickname was "Coach" is unidentified.

At least in the evenings there was not a complete lack of luxury, as it contained an upright piano at the far end of the mess. When the Squadron moved to Schwimmer Drome outside Port Moresby they pulled off the same stunt - a piano. To this day no-one is quite sure where they acquired such extravagance in war-time Port Moresby.

The Americans created their own "tent town" at Batchelor, and tried to make life as comfortable as possible. To keep up with the war, the unit's pastor, Chaplain Carroll, began mimeographing a newspaper. There was a hanging bedsheet and projector movie theatre, an agreeable swimming hole in the nearby Adelaide River, and a squadron store which sold any number of interesting items, acquired through questionable means or otherwise. The young American men often ventured into the bush which surrounded their field bivouacs to wonder at the three-metre high, solid mud termite mounds that towered above the scrub floor. Some caught the odd marsupial or exotic bird for pets, but learned early that the small gray bandicoots and kangaroos were impossible to domesticate. The newcomers were warned to be cautious of the poisonous snakes in the area. The aboriginals were considered mysterious, although friendly. Many Americans traded food items for native souvenirs and learned the curious pidgin English that flavored the aboriginal dialect. They also swapped cigarettes for fresh fruit and wild yams to improve their lackluster diet, but few Americans could tolerate the flesh of the lizards, snakes, fish and flying foxbats that their native hosts considered delicacies. Some learned of the shotguns supplied to their armament section and requisitioned these for bird hunting to enhance their meals. VIPs were sometimes surprised by a full course roast duck banquet, made possible by various marksmen. Life was not always completely mysterious to the newcomer Americans. The contesting Aussies shared a genuine camaraderie with their common love of sport. American baseball diamonds were scraped in the sand at every unit location and the Aussie sportsmen even went so far as to contest them at their own game

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