1 54 CHALLENGER 



upon their leader; there was no option, and young Thomson 

 struck out for the skiff. Never had a 200-yard swim seemed to 

 him so long, and never had the difficulties of climbing into a 

 boat from the water seemed to him to be so insuperable. But 

 when he reached the boat he found that he was into it in a flash. 



There was little social activity apart from the visits to Thursday 

 Island, where there was an open-air cinema. Here also was the 

 Pilot House, the headquarters of the pilotage service. Sunday 

 morning here was washing day and one or two Torres Straits 

 pilots and a few naval officers from the sweeping trawlers could 

 be seen on such occasions, clad in shorts, bending over enormous 

 bubbling cauldrons full of khaki 'dhoby'. The heat and the sweat 

 of this work brought on a fine thirst for the Sunday forenoon gin, 

 for there were enough supplies to permit this weekly relaxation. 



At this time there were no women on Thursday Island, except 

 for one Army nurse, so that it had become habitual for the men 

 from the trawlers and those stationed on the island to bathe in 

 the nude. Sometimes it would be rumoured that the nurse was 

 walking in the direction of the bathing beach, and this news would 

 send a hundred naked men running up the sands to reach their 

 shorts. 



Friday Island, nearby, was swarming with deer. In normal times 

 these were protected, but there was usually a meat shortage in 

 the sweeping trawlers and it was extraordinary how often the 

 surveying mark on the summit of Friday Island fell down and had 

 to be re-erected by a party from these ships. 



The ship anchored for a few days off Coconut Island in the 

 North-East Chamiel and the King came onboard. 'King of Coco- 

 nut Island' — what a remote and romantic figure this title conjured 

 up ! But when he came onboard he proved himself a man of the 

 world. When asked if he would take refreshment, he answered 

 without hesitation that he would have a gin and orange. The party 

 who landed from the ship at his invitation to take part in a feast 

 found that they were expected to go to church first. 



The operation of sweeping the channel had begun in October 

 1944 and was completed at the end of April 1945, when the Task 

 Unit was disbanded — a good job done despite the fantastic tidal 

 streams and the very boisterous weather that had endured during 



