{"id":1858,"date":"2013-07-19T15:11:22","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T05:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/?p=1858"},"modified":"2013-07-20T20:27:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-20T10:27:34","slug":"war-letters-borneo-19-july-1945-labuan-morotai-to-labuan-via-transport-plane","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/?p=1858","title":{"rendered":"War Letters &#8211; Borneo: 19 July 1945, Labuan; Morotai to Labuan via transport plane"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6>Write to<\/h6>\n<h6>W.E. Pidgeon<\/h6>\n<h6>War Correspondent<\/h6>\n<h6>Public Relations<\/h6>\n<h6>1<sup>st<\/sup> Aust Corps<\/h6>\n<h6>Thursday 10.15 am<\/h6>\n<h6>[19 Jul 1945]<\/h6>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Am bored to tears\u00a0 &#8211; am uncomfortably curled up (one cannot stay reclined) on a pile of mail bags &#8211; and am hanging about 8000 ft above an awful lot of ocean about half way between Morotai and Borneo.\u00a0 We left the island at 7 am this morning and will not land at Brunei until somewhere near (censored) &#8211; It&#8217;s a helluva long way to fly.\u00a0 All around is a vast hazy world of blue &#8211; the horizon is indistinguishable but you guess it is out where the blues change tone.\u00a0 Above us long fingers of cloud point their stationery directions while below white balls like anti aircraft shell explosions spot the sea.\u00a0 It is cold too and I sit dismally wrapped round in a blanket.\u00a0 There are nine of us sprawled about half of them are either asleep or near it.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve been pushed off to Brunei first because accommodation at Balik Papan is limited &#8211; There will be no need for you to worry about me copping anything as I understand that we have gained all objectives and are now content just to hold them.\u00a0 Could go a cuppa or a feed right now with certain relish. I don&#8217;t know why they always like to get you up at 4.30 am to catch planes that never leave (censored) or 7.\u00a0 It means a lousy nights sleep and a stupid wakening &#8211; no tea and no grub till we land.\u00a0 Is that good or bad?<\/p>\n<p>The cigarette position is grim.\u00a0 They are rationed and the issue is 2 ozs tobacco and 30 or 40 cigs per week.\u00a0 I did manage to come by one carton of yank fags but these boys have woken up to their exploitation by the Australians &#8211; so they now charge 5 guilders a carton i.e. 16\/8 Australian.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1861\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1861\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/9319706416\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1861 \" alt=\"Morotai: mobile printing press for publishing the Army newspaper Table Tops\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-Study-BW-neg-6-Copy.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-Study-BW-neg-6-Copy.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-Study-BW-neg-6-Copy-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-Study-BW-neg-6-Copy-403x300.jpg 403w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1861\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Morotai: mobile printing press for publishing the Army newspaper Table Tops<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/8895264585\/in\/set-72157633819143343\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-1862\" alt=\"Mobile printing press at Morotai used for printing &quot;Table Tops&quot;,\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-3-Morotai-2.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"460\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-3-Morotai-2.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-3-Morotai-2-300x230.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-3-Morotai-2-391x300.jpg 391w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/8895884840\/in\/set-72157633819143343\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-1863\" alt=\"Mobile printing press at Morotai used for printing &quot;Table Tops&quot;,\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-3-Morotai-1.jpg\" width=\"584\" height=\"446\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-3-Morotai-1.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-3-Morotai-1-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-3-Morotai-1-392x300.jpg 392w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Night before last I had been trying to do a bit of work about the mobile printing press the Army newspaper is produced on.\u00a0 Unfortunately I decided on my return to the camp at 11 pm to call into the Public Relations tent &amp; was inveighed into a game of poker &#8211; at 3.10 am I was only just awake &amp; down 8 or 9\u00a0 guilders when to my great good fortune an air raid alert was sounded &amp; the lights had to go out.\u00a0 The game was abandoned &amp; I trotted off to a much needed bed.\u00a0 The alert was a phony but it helped save poor Will from greater disasters.\u00a0 Enough of this for the moment &#8211; I need to rest.<\/p>\n<p>Arrived safely at Labuan.\u00a0 Am with Cliff Eager, Alan Dawes, Jimmy Smyth &amp; Noel Adams.\u00a0 Mail is leaving now will write tonight.<\/p>\n<p>Lots of love to you and bub.<\/p>\n<p>Bill<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1860\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1860\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/9319657546\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1860 \" alt=\"Morotai, The Australian Women's Weekly, 3 Nov 1945, p11\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-IMG_3768-Copy.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"391\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-IMG_3768-Copy.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-IMG_3768-Copy-300x195.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-IMG_3768-Copy-460x300.jpg 460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1860\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Morotai, The Australian Women&#8217;s Weekly, 3 Nov 1945, p11<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>[Letter included caricatures of fellow correspondents\u00a0Cliff Eager, Alan Dawes, Jimmy Smyth &amp; Noel Adams.]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/8895105681\/in\/set-72157633820166440\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-1868\" alt=\"4 Borneo and Morotai Letters-21\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-21.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-21.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-21-300x219.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-21-410x300.jpg 410w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/8895107465\/in\/set-72157633820166440\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-1869\" alt=\"4 Borneo and Morotai Letters-22\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-22.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"432\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-22.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-22-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-22-416x300.jpg 416w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/8895731294\/in\/set-72157633820166440\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-1870\" alt=\"4 Borneo and Morotai Letters-23\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-23.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"434\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-23.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-23-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-23-414x300.jpg 414w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/8895740152\/in\/set-72157633820166440\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-1871\" alt=\"4 Borneo and Morotai Letters-24\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-24.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"433\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-24.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-24-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-Letters-24-415x300.jpg 415w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1908\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1908\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/8895279071\/in\/set-72157633819143343\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1908 \" alt=\"Early morning transport plane\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-11.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"372\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-11.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-11-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-11-483x300.jpg 483w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1908\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Early morning transport plane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1907\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1907\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/wepidgeon\/8895276319\/in\/set-72157633819143343\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-1907 \" alt=\"Interior of a Douglas C47 transport plane\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-9.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"458\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-9.jpg 600w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-9-300x229.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-9-393x300.jpg 393w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1907\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interior of a Douglas C47 transport plane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_1906\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1906\" style=\"width: 384px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1906 \" alt=\"Wep sitting amongst the mail bags on a Douglas C47 transport pla\" src=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-6.jpg\" width=\"384\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-6.jpg 384w, https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/4-Borneo-and-Morotai-4-Labuan-6-192x300.jpg 192w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1906\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wep sitting amongst the mail bags on a Douglas C47 transport plane<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s a helluva long way to fly.  All around is a vast hazy world of blue &#8211; the horizon is indistinguishable but you guess it is out where the blues change tone.  Above us long fingers of cloud point their stationery directions while below white balls like anti aircraft shell explosions spot the sea.  It is cold too and I sit dismally wrapped round in a blanket.  There are nine of us sprawled about half of them are either asleep or near it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[929,62],"tags":[996,958,956,378,992,955,995,997,994,933,998,993,999,991,65,1984,245],"class_list":["post-1858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-borneo-jul-aug-1945","category-war-letters","tag-alan-dawes","tag-army-newspaper","tag-balik-papan","tag-borneo","tag-brunei","tag-cigarette-rations","tag-cliff-eager","tag-jimmy-smyth","tag-labuan","tag-morotai","tag-noel-adams","tag-public-relations","tag-table-tops","tag-transport-plane","tag-war-correspondent","tag-war-letters","tag-wep"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>War Letters - Borneo: 19 July 1945, Labuan; Morotai to Labuan via transport plane - Pidgeon Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/?p=1858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"War Letters - Borneo: 19 July 1945, Labuan; Morotai to Labuan via transport plane - Pidgeon Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It&#039;s a helluva long way to fly. All around is a vast hazy world of blue - the horizon is indistinguishable but you guess it is out where the blues change tone. Above us long fingers of cloud point their stationery directions while below white balls like anti aircraft shell explosions spot the sea. It is cold too and I sit dismally wrapped round in a blanket. There are nine of us sprawled about half of them are either asleep or near it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/?p=1858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pidgeon Post\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-19T05:11:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-20T10:27:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wepidgeon.com\/pidgeonpost\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/AWW-1945-11-03-P11-Morotai-army-newspaper-press-Study-BW-neg-6-Copy.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pidgeoncoop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Pidgeoncoop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pidgeoncoop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pidgeoncoop\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wepidgeon.com\\\/pidgeonpost\\\/?p=1858#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wepidgeon.com\\\/pidgeonpost\\\/?p=1858\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Pidgeoncoop\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wepidgeon.com\\\/pidgeonpost\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/246f1974f865764002ab2fa6cf4f22a8\"},\"headline\":\"War Letters &#8211; 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