Evening star., 1942-04-17
BY JOHN LARDNER.
War Correspondent ~ THE star and N
American Newspaper Alliance

NHtffHH NfNhbhptf NiHAAfF
BRISBANE. Australia. April IT
Just before your correspondent
shook Darwins red dust from hi
heels and set out for other point
on the Australian aerial front, h,
was told by Army leaders something
about the wild moments OF Feb.
ruary l9-Darwins red letter day
when the Japs launched their flrst
bombing.
Many OF the cosmopolite popula
tion thought invasion was immi.
nent and as a matter Of ordinar!
humanity, the Jail was thrown oper
and the inmates extended the free
dom of the road Darwin being q
rough. tough town on the edge oi
nowhere, the jail contained severa
tenants with happy lucky
sense Of property and also few
infringers OF the Sixth Command.
ment. mostly aboriginals
These latter included man
named Negilah and man named
Bullblow. who. owing to a streak OF
bad luck. had never managed Ia
kill each other In private life. Each
had sworn to do so but the inter
ference OF the law interrupted this
project
Dash In Opposite Directions.
When local army men heard thai
the jail had been emptied after Tho
bombing. they Immediately supposed
that NeRilah would seize the oppor-
tunity to erase Bullblow or vice
versa. This theory was puncturet
by an aboriginal bystander who wit
messed the evacuation.
"BuIlblow went into the bush very
fast" reported the witness
What did Negilah do?' asked al
army officer.
Him go into bush very fast too.
said the witness
Was he chasing Bullblow7" asked
the officer.
Went very fast in opposite di'
rection from Bullblow, replied the
witness, glaring at the setting sun
by now they 80 miles apart" he
added.
Bullblow. incidentally, when noi
yielding to the impulse TO kill, wa.
known as one OF the best tracker;
in the northern territory and wa
used by the police in the role o
bloodhound to trail parties or indi'
vidualS lost In the unchartec
swamps around Darwin.
Heads Red From Dust.
Your correspondent and three
other involuntary bush whackers sat
in front of tent at the edge of a
new airport somewhere in the Aus
tralian jungle drinking warm drink
with salt tablets and waiting for n
Dutch pilot to fly us to other scenes
OF action in this country.
While fortifying ourselves against
excess sweat with tablets, we won
dered why women henna their hair
All four of us were red-headed as
we sat there, though only one was
born that way and he was too young
to know better at the time. Your
correspondent now Is competent TO
state that red-headedness is not
enjoyable in the slightest degree,
especially when it is superinduced
by one-quarter ton of red dirt from
some Northern Australia road A
shower bath does no good because
the minute you step outdoors you
look like Mickey Rooney again.
Apart from our reluctant red
headedness We felt good after our
inspection of the airport. That day
revealed the extent to which nelp
is arriving in Australia from the
United States. The terrain bristlec
with gun emplacements and soldiers
with the training TO handle them
The gun crews seemed like kid:
on shipboard, performing boat drill
playing banjo in the moonlight anc
wondering what the future held fol
them. But here in the field they
are cheerful, busy and veteran sol
dierS as far as work and purpose
can make them so.
Fighter planes droned over the
held as they do over other fields in
this territory. Whether the Jar
comes or not is becoming increas.
ingly a matter for the Jap himself
TO worry about
Dutch Make Good Pilots.
Then the Dutch flyers we were
waiting for arrived at the field. Civ
ing us chance TO see at first hand
the work of some of Japans most
implacable and Stanchest enemies
We put on clean shirts and trousers
laundered by aboriginal women anc
made the acquaintance of Can't
Karl Smits of the Dutch air force
quiet and sturdy in brown shorts
and white silk shirt
Capt. SmitS had flown l25 hours
In the last 10 days doing vital trans.
port work for the American Army
Like all Dutch flyers in Australia
Capt. Smits will never rest until
Japan Is defeated, He doesn't dis.
cusS the subject, Just works, giving
the Allied cause the profound pa,
uence, zeal and aircraftsmanshir
that Dutch pilots seem to possess tc
man.
Capt. Smits loads his big plane a.
one point, takes of. delivers tn,
load, refuelS and takes off AGAR
as soon as possible for another load
Flying all day or all night wher
necessary, he and his crew prac.
tlcsly have been SleeplesS recently
sometimes Snatching a few-minutt
nap on cot in midair.
SATURDAY. night he took us along