Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

My father was one of a crew of ten Captained by Mick Murphy alias Ned Kelly who took a Dakota for a test flight out of Moratai.
They dressed up in all of the braid they could find, did two passes over Galela and with no fire landed. They had packed the plane with arms but didn’t need them. My dad was Billy Hughes( WNA). They were amazed to arrive to a very polite reception and table set up for the surrender. Mick was questioned about it but was not charged and swore the rest to secrecy. As he said” they kept the loot”, swords, hand guns etc and signed a made up surrender document. My dad owned up in 1992 but only Mick was still alive for permission to publish the story.

My fathers hand written memoirs account being on Biak having coffee with Sister Craig and talking to WO Hunter about the dangerous goose neck flight path out of Biak. Sister Craig was accompanying tropical cases (18) from Borneo.
My father Edward McLEOD was the next plane out and heard the plane come down. It was not found until the 1970’s and remains are buried in New Guinea. All 18 soldiers in a mass grave and the rest identified and buried individually.