Metamorphosis

Finschafen Becomes Base "F"

By Toby Millar

PRE-WAR Finschafen was the Morobe headquarters of the German Lutheran Missionary Society and, apart from periodical visits of BP ships to unload supplies and pick up copra produced from the mission’s surrounding plantations, it was of no commercial value. The usual placid surface of the harbour would be broken by the “Montoro” or the ill-fated “Macdhui” and later the “Bulolo,” riding at anchor in mid-stream —there being no wharf. Who was to foresee that this un important and uninteresting mission out post was eventually to figure so prominently in this Pacific war?

IWAS stationed at Lae from August, 1943, to May, 1944, on salvage work for the US Army, and in June I was assigned to Base “F” as salvage master.

During my term at Lae I had paid two brief visits to Finsch., and I was so pre-occupied with the job on hand that the fleeting glimpses I obtained of the surrounding activity certainly did ; not prepare me for the colossal trans figuration of this once quiet mission station.

Base “P” not only consists of Fins chafen proper, but embraces Dregar Harbour and Langemak Bay to the south.

Imagine my astonishment when the Douglas transport which we had boarded at Moresby set us down on a ‘perfect, metal-meshed air strip, 1,600 yards long, with approaches linking the sea coast with Langemak Bay. The whole side of a hill had been excavated and a swamp filled in. I remarked to a Yank pilot, who grinned at my goggle-eyed amazement, that I had been wondering where they had built the air-strip in such un promising terrain as that in the neigh bourhood of Finsch.

As I had left Port Moresby at daylight, the subsequent lengthy wait for transport to Base Headquarters was minimised by the arrival of an American Red Cross paravan that served steaming hot coffee, and fresh sandwiches, made even more acceptable by the fact that they were served by two Red Cross lasses.

At last I managed to wapgle a jeep ride to HQ —12 miles on a perfect coral topped road. Dense clouds of flour-fine coral dust kicked up by constant streams of Army traffic prevented my noticing too much on this initial ride in the area, but during the next two or three months, whenever my duties permitted a slack hour or two, I hitch-hiked or wandered in a commandeered jeep along the net work of excellent roads running north, south and west. The main thoroughfare consisted of two distinct one-way roads, divided by a deep ditch. By this means, the unending lines of traffic were catered for. All branch roads were numbered, in sequence, thus facilitating the location of units, dumps, warehouses, etc,, and also tending to prevent traffic jams by bam boozled and lost drivers pulling up and inquiring the whereabouts of Blarney Road or Churchill Drive, as evidenced in other bases.

Torrential rains and the tremendously heavy traffic played havoc with these roads, but constant maintenance by graders, bulldozers, rollers, etc., prevented any marked hold-up. In steamy and dust-laden heat, in the slush and mud of tropical downpours, thousands of vehicles rapidly roared along with some definite job in view. Trucks of all tonnages, jeeps, weapon carriers, command cars, staff cars,

trailers of surprising length, ambulances, mobile canteens, light and heavy mobile ordnance, mobile cranes, and a host of road-building and maintenance gear were all on wheels.

These roads ran out into a maze of camps, transport parks, ammo and fuel dumps, warehouses, QM stores, work and repair shops, administration buildings, refrigeration plants, stores, wharves, hospitals, Red Cross centres, movies, baseball arenas, dispensaries, dental clinics, beer dump—one only, alas! but covering a huge area—ack-ack and searchlight emplacements, churches, etc., etc., ad infinitum.

ACTIVITY on land was equalled by that in the three ports—Finsch, Langemak and Dregar. In approximately four months 3 wharves had been constructed at Finsch; 7 at Langemak,

and 2 at Dregar—l2 in all, apart from two or three small-ship’s wharves; and such a pressure of shipping was main tained that it was a red letter day when a wharf was vacant longer than the time necessary from the departure of one vessel to the docking of another. Ships even then were often double-banked—the outside vessel being unloaded by 30-ton floating cranes on to waiting barges—this gives some idea of the colossal tonnage of cargo handled at Base “F” during that period. As many as twenty freighters would be at anchor in the outer bay at Finsch, and anything up to the same number cruising off Dregar and Lange mak awaiting a berth to be vacated. In addition to these liberties and victory ships, tankers and larger transport, the whole harbour at Finsch was a mass of small ships—tugs, schooners and ketches.

Three floating docks were over-taxed,

working day and night on dry-dock re pairs of the smaller craft. Tugs were continually on the move berthing ships, manoeuvring the big floating cranes and towing barges.

What appeared to the onlooker as chaos was port movement, cargo control and transportation working in perfect co operation and unison.

The most extraordinary feature to one used to the black-brown-outs of the mainland was the total disregard of these precautions in New Guinea bases. Thor oughfares, traffic, buildings, were a blaze of lights, whilst wharves and docked ships were bathed in a white glow of numerous arc lamps. Naturally, the response to an “alert” was instantaneous, and weird in deed was the stygian suddenness of the resultant black-out as the lights went out and the clatter, screech and roar of activity died away.

SO Finschafen now has her air strip, her wharves, her roads, her bridges; she will still have them when this struggle is over; a wondrous array of improve ments for a quiet mission station. And to what avail?

Will Finschafen be the site of one of the mooted post-war international bases in the Pacific? If so, these added fur nishings will be of universal value. If not, it will be pitiable to witness the havoc of disuse and neglect within a year or so.

Mr. J. Goepel, who was stationed in Fiji for some time, recently broadcast from the BBC, London, on the “Calling the Islands” programme.