Chapter 14

David’s crew clambered into the troop truck and put their swags between their legs.

Anton got in front with the driver, and they were soon heading to the RAAF base. He had them stay in the troop carrier, and then he wandered off. He came back about twenty minutes later with ten men.

The Captain, two of the NCOs and the two Technicians were dressed in American uniforms, while the Lieutenant, two of the NCOs, and the two Pilots were British nationals. This was an interesting ethnic group.

Captain Abraham Bisset, Abe, was of African descent, and all six-foot-two of him was as black as tar-coal, and so were his eyes. The general description was that he was built like the proverbial brick shithouse.

Corporals’ Luke Williams and Paul Smith were mixed-heritage Africans with much lighter skin tones than Abe’s. They were about five-foot-ten tall, and their African heritage was from different tribes from Abe’s.

The corporals didn’t look alike, as Luke had broader, rounder features than Paul. Paul was from the north and had a long, almost hook-like nose and was generally thinner than Luke.

The two technicians were of Asian descent. Joe Kim and Louie Lui were not much taller than Jacky at five-foot-six. Both were slim, but Joe’s parents were Korean, and he had dark-brown, wavy hair. Louie’s hair was straight and black, and he said that his people had come from Hong Kong.

Lieutenant Hans Berger was five-foot-nine, and he was a thick-set man of German ancestry. Leading Aircraftsman Victor Durand was of medium build, five-eleven and of French descent but had signed up with the British Airforce as a mechanic. Leading Aircraftsman Nat Morris was Welsh, and he was their signals/radio man.

Both of the Pilots, John Wakefield and Travis McGill, were of British extraction and on loan to the Aussies like Hans, Victor and Nat. They were both about five-foot-eight, blue-eyed and of average build. They had straight, light-brown hair and typical British complexions.

None of these men had had their twenty-sixth birthdays, and they were all fit and keen. The new recruits piled into the carrier and exchanged names, ranks, and point of origins with David’s crew.

They were as excited to be part of a new Commando Unit as Jacky’s people were.

If Eddie Russo was unhappy about Jacky being promoted above him, he didn’t say anything.

If anything, he was somewhat surprised that he had happily packed his swag. He was glad to be getting out of Darwin, but he also guessed that the next phase of his life wouldn’t be a picnic. However, he did like the sound of being part of a Special Commando Unit.

The fact that Tommy was eager to go had also swayed his decision to come with him. He didn’t think that the others realised that he and Tommy had become lovers since the party at the RAAF base.

Russo had found Tommy after he had let the other soldiers fuck him into exhaustion and brought him home. He wasn’t so proud of using him too, but Tommy had encouraged him, and they had been fuck-buddies ever since.

He also knew that Tommy wasn’t exclusive, but then, that was Tommy. He’d drop his pants faster than a hat could fall off a head if you waved a hard cock at him. The bloke was as gay as a Mardi Gras, as far as the men knew.

Eddie knew that some mystery surrounded Jacky and David. He had heard of men who liked both sexes and could only guess that David was like this. As Tommy would say, ‘One arse was as good as another’. With the lack of women, he could only guess that David had given in to his baser side.

He watched as Jacky rocked into David and saw their glows merge. Mayhaps that was also a factor. He always felt better after a good fuck and wondered if these two were similar to him and the others in the group. Everyone in the back of the lorry had an aura.

Tommy certainly glowed brighter after they had been screwing each other, and he’d told Russo several times that he felt more energised after they did. Russo loved being with Tommy, too and also felt more at peace and content when he was.

Russo decided it didn’t really matter, Tommy made him feel good, and that was all that counted.

The troop carrier took the new unit out to the airfield.

The team was soon seated in the god-awful webbed strapping seats. The bar under their legs would send the shorter men’s legs numb, and the bar at the back and at the top was a pain for the taller men, especially if wearing their tin-lids.

The webbing shifted under your arse in turbulence. You had to wriggle to get it back into a comfortable place, or an arse cheek got stuck in a hole. The seats were along each wall down the fuselage. They folded down and could seat three in a pinch.

The middle aisle was reserved for cargo, and it always shifted. The loaders would pack it as high as possible and tough-shit about your knees if you had long legs.

Some of the Dakotas, or rather Douglas C-47 medium troop/transport carriers, had the back-to-back row of seats down the middle. Cargo and baggage were stashed over your head and under your seat.

Your head would back into the man behind you, and your knees would bump into the man across from you. Most soldiers learnt to sit with their legs, straddling the knee of the man across the aisle.

Some Dakotas even had two forward-facing rows of decent passenger seats near the front of the cabin for the ‘Brass’. Some of those planes had been turned into hospital planes with two rows of racks for stretchers that could be three high, and the front seating was for the doctors and nurses.

You could fit an amazing amount of cargo in the planes, but they flew like wounded ducks if they were heavily loaded. Since this team was going to Cairns, they had little in the way of cargo, and the men could at least stretch out their legs.

The vacant seats were soon filled with people going on leave or redeployment to Cairns or Townsville. They had to travel around 1060mi (approx. 1,700km) to get to Cairns. The estimation for a flight in good weather was just short of three hours.