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This Japanese aircraft was powered by the same twin row, 14 cylinder
1 000 hp Nakajima Sakae engine used in the Zero. Carrier-based,
it was a torpedo-bomber which was capable of out-performing most
similar Allied aircraft. It was the Kate which carried out the
surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 1941. Total production
of the B5N was 1149 units. The wreck in our photograph was found
in about 40 feet of water, near Kavieng, a popular diving spot
in New Ireland, 1 000 kilometers north of Port Moresby.
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation with shareholders including
General Motors Holden, produced this aircraft, which flew for
the first time in 1939. It was copied from the North American
NA-16 and NA-33. It was fitted with a Pratt and Whitney Wasp nine-cylinder
600 hp engine. Wirraways were originally produced at the rate
of one per week. By war's end that rate had gone up to six. Although
a trainer aircraft, a handful of them was all that the RAAF had
to go up against the raiding Japanese Forces when Darwin was bombed
in February 1942.
The tank in the photograph is all that is left of an American
built light M3A3 tank. It had a radial engine, and was produced
by the American Car and Foundry Corporation. Its 7 cylinder engine
produced 250 hp. Its weight was about 14 tons. Fuel consumption
was 1 gallon a mile. It carried a crew of 4. Maximum speed was
35 mph. Only about 100 M3A3s are left in the world, and only one
is known to be operable. 3427 such vehicles were produced.
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Jeep
Enzo Ferrari is said to have called the jeep "America's
only real sports car". Eisenhower credited the jeep, the
Dakota and the Landing Craft .. as.. "the three tools that
won the war."
The Willys Motors jeep was a 1/4 ton 4-wheel-drive general
purpose vehicle, with a 4 cylinder engine producing 60 hp at
4 000 rpm. It weighed 2315 lbs. The example in the photograph
was pulled from the jungle in its war-time state, and it has
been slowly disintegrating ever since.
Port
Moresby
Under Diplomatic protection, we found ourselves halfway between
two worlds: a tropical Eden unconcerned about the ways and woes
of the civilised world, and an emerging nation hell-bent on
embracing that very civilisation. If one is to believe the local
newspapers, corruption and incompetence cream off a great amount
of the 300 million dollars of overseas aid it receives, so that
services as roads, education, health, law enforcement, and adequate
housing are in serious decline. It is not unknown for teachers,
police, Defence Force personnel and the like to be underpaid
or not paid at all. The consequence of the gap between the haves
and have-nots is that violence and theft have become endemic.
PMVs
As far as everyday motor traffic is concerned, every man is
his own legislator. Public transport is mainly conducted by
Public Motor Vehicle (PMV). These are either small buses like
Toyota Coasters, or pick-up trucks such as you see in the photograph.
PMVs are to be found everywhere - usually crammed with passengers.
Speed limits (not normally indicated) seem to vary between dead
slow and 160 kilometres per hour. Pedestrians, even in the central
business district, ignore the menace of road traffic.
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