ABSTRACT
Lou Curnock's warning of the approach of unidentified aircraft over Bathurst Island was telephoned to Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Operations at 9.37. The message was taken by Pilot Officer Richard Saxton, one of the officers on duty, and from that moment it became enmeshed in a web of the most extraordinary incompetence. The procedure that laid down for dealing with reports of unidentified aircraft was quite specific and very long-winded. If it came through Darwin Radio, it was to be passed first to RAAF Operations, who in theory were the only people capable of verifying whether it was friend or foe. They in turn would pass it to Area Command Headquarters (ACH) which was situated in a separate building a few hundred metres away. Commander Cobbold and other naval and senior RAAF officers were quick to attribute at least some of the blame for the RAAF's failure to the calibre of the junior officers who were on duty.
