Smith, Donald 'Don'

Donald (Don) SMITH

54 Squadron RAAF

54 Squadron - Richmond December 1942.

Len Betterman was a member of 54 Squadron together with Don Smith.

LAC Don Smith, from Tasmania, was a Flight Mechanic. He was a most interesting young man. When Len Betterman arrived at the Squadron in December, 1943, he was fortunate to share a tent with Don Smith and Murray Sommers, an electrician. At this time, Don Smith was experimenting with growing cotton in a small bed near the tent. The plants were growing nicely.

Once or twice a week, Don Smith would visit the Allied Works Council camp at nearby Nightcliff. Taking with him only ten shillings (one dollar) to play in the swy game, or whatever was in play. Sometimes he would win a few shillings, sometimes he would return to camp with the same amount that he had started with, but if he lost, he would not gamble any further.

One day, when fossicking on the beach, Don Smith found a point five machine gun which came from an aircraft. Len wondered if it came from the B-25 which had crashed in that area. Don kept this find a secret. Len did not know of the find at the time, but when the Squadron moved to Livingstone, word began to filter through that Don was visiting a few local Squadrons to scrounge parts for his machine gun.

Another Don Smith on the Squadron, this one from Victoria, became interested in "Tassie's" project, so they nicknamed them the "Big Point Five" (Tassie) and the "Little Point Five".

It was either the Americans, who at one time occupied Livingstone, or perhaps 77 Squadron, who left quite a quantity of point five ammo lying about. The intrepid airmen would gather together and belt up five or six rounds at a time. Apparently the machine gun was fixed in the fork of a tree, or somewhere in the scrub.

Len frequently heard the stutter of a point five machine gun from west of the strip. Members of the Squadron would comment, "Ah! The point fives are at it again". When Len Betterman was posted to 54 Squadron RAF, he was not pleased. He had heard of the "spit and polish" parades, etc., of the Royal Air Force and he almost wished to return home. However, the Squadron was not like that. In fact, once the Flight Sergeant Armourer had departed south on leave (he was rather strict on the care of rifles), the Squadron lived and worked in a most relaxed state of mind.

Len recalled about four parades during the fourteen months that he was with the Squadron. On one parade, when having gas mask inspection, an airman, when opening his haversack with a flourish, allowed a moth to escape!

Some time later, when at Pot Shot in WA, during a parade of the Squadrons that were there, one of the Englishmen strolled along with his dog on a leash. The parade was somewhat casual. How he was able to smuggle his dog on the aircraft to go to Pot Shot was a mystery.

Len enjoyed most of his time with 54 Squadron. However, there are times now when he reads of RAAF Squadron activities during the War, that he feels somewhat alienated, but as he says "That was life in the Air Force".

Edited: Bruce Read and Geoff Litchfield