"A NIGHTMARE"

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 35, 11 February 1943, Page 6

"A NIGHTMARE"

DARWIN AIR RAID EXPERIENCES OF DIVER

"I reckon I broke the record getting out of my diving suit." This brief comment was laughingly made by Mr. John Edward Johnstone, world-famed diver, who reclaimed the Niagara's gold in 1941, when telling of his experiences in Darwin when the Japanese made their first air attack on the city and harbour on February 19 of last year.

"I was 'down below' on a salvage job," he added. "When the alert was sounded I received the signal to come up quickly, and it was on reaching the deck of the diving punt that I notched the record, the Japs, then being in full blast."

Mr. Johnstone said that after he had completed his work on the Niagara at Whangarei Heads, he returned to Australia, and was sent with a naval party to Darwin to carry out salvage operations there. "Fifty-four planes took part in the first raid," he said. "They concentrated on shipping, harbour installations and aerodromes, and did tremendous damage. After an hour's respite, a second batch came over, but this time there were only 27 bombers, their idea evidently being to finish the job. A big steamer anchored 100 yards from our punt was blown up, and it was then that I realised that, had I remained below, I would have lost my life, as the concussion from the explosions under water were such as to have killed one instantly.

Rescue of Ship's Crew "When the second raid was on the Japs, used machine guns. There were nine of us on the diving punt, and we had six full hours of nightmare. Fortunately none was hit, but the water was churned up all around us, some of the bullets getting close. An American ship not far away was badly damaged, and we received orders to take off the crew. This we did. There were 34 men aboard, and all were rescued. It was late in the afternoon when we returned to the wharf, and we found Darwin a shambles."

After the raids the salvage party turned its attention to the ships that had been sunk, and two large freighters, one British and • one American, were lifted. They were patched up and sent to Sydney, and both were in commission again, Mr. Johnstone said. He spoke in high praise of the work done by the Americans. One of the American ships loaded with transport vehicles and guns was promptly salvaged by United States forces, and within 10 davs of their lifting a number of the trucks had been reconditioned and placed on the road. He was amazed at the work performed by the American salvage parties, and he considered that the behaviour of the troops throughout had a stiffening effect on the remainder of the community, and did much to strengthen the morale of the whole population.

Prepared For Invasion "Arms and ammunition were handed out to everybody on the day of the air raid," said Mr. Johnstone. "The general view was that the Japs, would attempt a landing at night, and everything was made ready to repel an invasion. Hundreds of men spent the night on the beach, but dawn broke with nothing happening. Sporadic air raids took place in the following days, but they were nothing like the first one. On one occasion seven bombers came over, and our boys got the lot. After that a score board was put up, and as each Jap. was shot down or damaged the score was recorded for all to see."

After completing his work at Darwin Mr. Johnstone went with a naval party to Bathurst Island, 120 miles north-west of Darwin to salvage a big ship which Japanese raiders had hit on February 19. It had been beached. "We wer§, in a most uncivilised place," he said. "The natives were not friendly as they had been fired on by the Japanese, and it was only by distributing tobacco and food that we won them over. They then gave us all the help we needed. The ship was in an extremely bad condition. She had been burnt out and all the cargo destroyed, but we were able to salvage certain parts of the fittings and superstructure. The natives indicated to us that there was something along the beach they would like us to see, and, on investigating, we found the skeletons .of seven men. evidently members of the crew of the ship, who no doubt had perished through thirst and lack of food." Lifting Midget Submarine

On returning to Sydney Mr. Johnstone was engaged with a party that lifted a Japanese midget submarine that had been sent to its doom when attempting a night raid. He also assisted in the salvaging of an American destroyer which had caught fire in the harbour and had turned over on its side and sunk. The guns and ammunition were recovered from the derelict.

It was after he had completed this work that Mr. Johnstone went to America to study the latest salvage methods for the Commonwealth Salvage Board.