9Th-Battery-Milne-Bay-The-Battle.Pdf
264 9th Battery Milne Bay — The Battle On Monday, 25th May, 1942 a gunners diaiy records: "When the lunch truck came around they told us that we are under 24 hours notice to move. All interstate leave had been cancelled No indication as to where we are going, but measurements and weights of trucks are required Port Moresby is mentioned in discussions amongst the troops. Predictor theory class today." On 1st June there was a rumor that the Battery was destined for India, but that story was soon discounted, as the next evening the troops were told that the move was to be the following morning, but to Port Moresby. So on the 3rd June the men of the Battery moved to Cluden Racecourse, while the guns, trucks and equipment were loaded on the Dutch vessel "Karsik" belonging to the K.P.M. Line. The ship was of about 5000 tons, with a top speed of not more than 12 knots. The "Karsik" did not move out for a few days, but then had an uneventful voyage to Port Moresby. The men on board assisted the officers to deplete their liquor stocks, despite the fact that they had to cope with raw bacon sandwiches and red hot cuny (Malay style) in the process. The Dutch skipper weighed about twenty stone and drank Bols gin in a huge glass. There was a Dutch engineer, an Australian radio officer, and a deck crew who from the bosun down were Malay. It was not until Friday night on 12th June that the majority of the troops boarded, in alphabetical order, the Burns Philp ship M.V.
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