Wednesday, October 30, 2024

FRONTLINE DEFENCE EMBALMED

The  above zany full  page  drawing  of  the  Australian early warning systemDarwin Station, appeared  in  another  lively  edition of  the  l969  Broadside  magazine  produced  in  Melbourne .

It showed  a puzzled Chinese soldier with a burp gun and hand grenades, during an invasion, peering in at a soldier snoring at his desk in front of a radar screen, unaware of warning beeps, a panic button nearby.

There is a 1932 nude calendar , with the compliments of Alf Resco , butcher and embalmer. There were instructions to insert a 5 cent piece in the radar . When making tea, the radar had to be turned off because the  jug  caused interference. Instructions for running the vital station were issued by Commanding Officer,   Basil Sweetlips. 

Also seen through the window was a ground to air missile - like the Blood Hound ones now flanking the entrance to the RAAF base at Darwin airport - with a wind up key, a  Blood Nose .