The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Port Moresby, New Guinea. "This is the Padre, a scrounger renowned, But we furnished the REC HUT by the loot that we found! At Moresby he lost all his middle-aged spread And most of the fluff from the top of his head!" Portrait of Padre P. Sands, the first RAAF Chaplain in wartime New Guinea who helped to obtain and furnish a Rec[reation] Hut for members of the RAAF in Port Moresby. After the hut was finished he formed a concert party with Billy Challoner called the "Moresby Microbes" who presented 50 weekly concerts between 8 May 1942 and 28 April 1943 (including the "Jubilee Concert" which was the last). Padre Sands wrote the verse which accompanies each photograph in an album given to LAC Frank Lansdowne, a member of the Moresby Microbes, now held in the Private Records collection at the Australian War Memorial. (Donor J. Treseder)
Port Moresby, New Guinea. "For billiards and reading And writing, we come - Be blowed to the Black-out! The Rec Hut's our Home." Two members of the RAAF playing billiards in the Rec[reation] Hut that
Port Moresby, New Guinea. "For billiards and reading And writing, we come - Be blowed to the Black-out! The Rec Hut's our Home." Two members of the RAAF reading and writing in the Rec[reation] Hut tha
Port Moresby, New Guinea. "Meet the Padre, the bloke in the HUT! The doors of which are never shut. Recital or concert or cinema show - He pressed the button, the blokes made 'em go!" Portrait of Padr
Port Moresby, New Guinea. "Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Priest, Gather together to our Household feast. Where the week-day's merriment Becomes the Sunday's sacrament." The altar on the stage used by the M
Port Moresby, New Guinea. "Here's the MARBLE STAIRCASE Entrance to the show Wipe your feet upon the mat, And give your nose a blow!" The stairs leading to the entrance of the Rec[reation] Hut which wa
Port Moresby, New Guinea. Members of the concert party called the "Moresby Microbes" performing on stage in the Rec[reation] Hut that they performed in weekly. Note the Union Jack flag hanging above t
