I visited Australia with my wife in 1986.  About a month before, I had gotten a letter from Bruce Hoy, and Dave Pennefather saying they had found my plane, P-38H "Japanese Sandman II" 42-66905.

So, I said to my wife, if we are going to Australia, I want to go to New Guinea!  I flew in there, to Port Moresby and met Bruce Hoy, who I had corresponded with, met us at the airport.  We stayed in the big hotel there, [the Hilton] it was real nice, and the city had changed a lot, but the downtown was the same – plenty of natives chewing betel nut, their mouths all red!  We stayed in Port Moresby for a week, shopped around.  I went down to where the dock was, and recognized where we unloaded our supplies.  We couldn’t find exactly where our camp had been – the place changed so much, the metal runway [Marston matting] strip was gone, the locals took the metal for their gardens and what not.  There were some of the old revetments still at Jacksons Airport and we think we found where we had our camp.  The place where the officers club was is now a resranant and bar for the locals – I wasn’t going to go in there though.

We bought our ticket and flew up to Popondetta in a small little prop plane. I was based up there in Douboudra for a time.  Dave Pennefather, who lived there, was the one who had found the plane and met us.  We stayed out there for a couple days, and that is where I visited “Sandman”.  I took a photo of me with the tail where you can see the serial number, and it matches the serial number on the instrument panel I have off of it that Dave sent me. So, that proves it was my plane.  And, ofcourse the “Lt. R.E. Smith” and the seven flags on the side.  We drove around the old airstrips there too.  When I left, they asked me if I wanted to take back a piece of concrete form the strip, I said no.  But, I regret that now… wish I had.  That was where I used to fly!  When we left to fly back to Port Moresby, we took our seats on the plane, and then the stewardess came back, and told me the pilot wanted me to sit up front.  They had heard that an old Lightning pilot was on board, so they let me sit between them for the flight back.  Oh, that was great – to see from the cockpit on the way home.  I tried to spot the old strip from the air, but I couldn’t .  So much had changed in Port Moresby from the way I remembered it.

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