“VERGE OF MUTINY”

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26078, 15 February 1946, Page 5

“VERGE OF MUTINY”

R.A.A.F. MEN AT MADANG SENSATIONAL REPORTS (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) SYDNEY, Feb. 14. Reports that 2000 R.A.A.F. men at Madang, New Guinea, are on the verge of mutiny as a result of boredofh and anger at not being brought back to the mainland are current in Sydney. The Sun states that, according to an authoritative source, a hand grenade was thrown into the R.A.A.F. commander’s quarters at Madang. An army store and hospital records building were burned down and an attempt made to fire the command house at headquarters. The men flatly refuse to handle explosives, though they were warned that their refusal renders them liable to treatment as mutineers. The position has arisen because of death and injuries to transit personnel pressed into service in bomb-disposal squads. A mass meeting was called for last Saturday, but provosts intervened. The men have told their officers that they wish to be placed on charges so as to be returned to the mainland. The grenade which was thrown into the commanding officer’s quarters did not go off. Sabotage is so serious that civilians refuse to travel in R.A.A.F. planes, alleges another report.