War was declared with Germany on the 3rd of September 1939. On the 8th of September my father put his age up to enlist in the RAAF which could not cope with the volume of volunteers so in the interim he joined the 55/53 Militia Battalion, Marickville. On the 6th of June 1940 he was struck off strength so he could enlist with the RAAF as an armourer/fitter, he was 17yrs 5mths old. That was a fortunate move because the 55/53 suffered badly at Missima on the Kokoda Track. May 1941 he did the No3 Catalina Conversion Course at Rathmines and in August 1941 qualified as an Air Gunner. He went to Port Morseby, New Guinea, October 41 with 20 Sqdn.in A24-10. War with Japan declared 7th Dec 41. The Catalina's were subjected to a heavy work load and only armed with WW1 Lewis Guns. Fortunately for my father he came back to Australia in Feb/March 42 as a gunnery instructor Catalina by The Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Inc. (HARS)
