Commando Edition 17 2023

independently to the RV at the base camp. Gillies
however never arrived at the RV and was never seen
again.
Figure 10 - Looking west towards “Hoffie Bay”. The advanced
camp was in the hills on the left. The DZ was in one of the valleys
leading away from the bay on the left also. (Google Maps)
The target area
The party never actually got to the target area.
Black and Hoffie carried out a reconnaissance from the
advanced camp towards that objective in the period
18-21 April. They got as far as perhaps a little under 3
km south of the target area. They had to turn back
however because the steep terrain would have slowed
their progress such that they would have run out of
rations. They returned to the advanced camp only to
discover that in the meantime Crofton-Moss had gone
missing (see above). They were never to have another
chance to get to the target. See Attachment ‘A’ for a
sketch map. 31
until last light that day at the base camp RV. They then
set off by themselves in a rubber boat with some
stores, departing around 1900 hrs. They rowed about
750 m out to sea, started the outboard motor and
made their way about 15 km east around the coast to
Pengantap Bay (where the cache had been set on the
first landing on 14 March). On the sea transit back to
the area of their extraction point the inflatable motor
proved difficult to refuel and eventually ran out of
fuel. 32 At around 0400 hrs they arrived about 750 m
west of Cape Kayu Bele (near present day Nambung
Beach). They sank the rubber boat outside the reef and
then made their way ashore, where they found a con -
cealed spot and slept.
When they awoke at 0600 on 25 April (Anzac Day
1945) they found about 20 natives around the from the
nearby village. “On learning that the party was
British” 33 , the natives led them to a hiding place and
helped them evade a Japanese patrol which was in
their vicinity until around 1200 hrs. The natives gave
the party some food and later that day eight of them
accompanied the party to the cache site, which was
about 4 km to their west.
At a meeting on 27 April the locals told the party
that Japanese forces were in the area searching for the
Australians. The Japanese “had already killed some
natives … in order to obtain information” (about the
Australians). 34
On 30 April a group of locals crept up on the party,
but when discovered by the Australians, made off. This
prompted the party to equipment, food and water for
the extraction, which they had arranged for the
morning of 2 May incapacitate their radio and set off
with minimum.
Figure 11 - The target area and the probable furthest point of
reconnaissance at the steep cliffs about 3 km south of the target.
(Google Earth)
Figure 12 - From Cape Kayu Bele looking west towards cache site
Pengantap Bay, approximate location circled. The final landing site
was within a few hundred meters of the point from this photograph
was taken. (Google Maps)
Final landing point
After the Japanese attack on the advanced camp on
24 April 1945, Black and Hoffie waited in vain for Gillies
32
ACA Interview, 29:00
33
NAA 235188, digital pp. 22
31
NAA 235188, digital pp. 20, 21
34
NAA 235188, digital pp. 22, 23
18 COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 17 I 2023