24-oct-42

24th October 1942

On the 24 October 1942 the Japanese bombed Batchelor at approximately 0430 hours, dropping bombs across the administrative buildings at OB Batchelor Headquarters. Fortunately no personnel were injured and no squadron aircraft were damaged. Chas Nottle recalled: “In all the time I was at Batchelor there was only one occasion we had to go for our slit trenches. I remember it was a clear moonlit night – the planes were clearly visible and we could even (so we reckoned) hear the bomb releases click as they let their bombs go.”