403RD SQUADRON
"THE MAREEBA BUTCHERS"
43RD HEAVY BOMB GROUP
IN AUSTRALIA DURING WWII
The 403rd Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group was stationed at the following locations during World War 2:-
| Melbourne, Australia | 27 February 1942 - 14 March 1942 |
| Laverton, Australia | 14 March 1942 - 27 August 1942 |
| Torrens Creek, Australia | 27 August 1942 - 17 October 1942 |
| Iron Range, Australia | 17 October 1942 - 23 November 1942 |
| Milne Bay, New Guinea | 23 November 1942 - 21 January 1943 |
| Mareeba, Australia | 21 January 1943 - 11 May 1943 |
| Port Moresby | 11 May 1943 - 13 December 1943 |
| Dobodura, New Guinea | 13 December 1943 - 12 March 1944 |
| Nadzab, New Guinea | 12 March 1944 - 28 July 1944 |
| Owi, Schouten Islands | 28 July 1944 - |
Vic, of Camp Hill was a young bank worker in Mareeba during WW2. He wrote to the Good Mail column of the Sunday Mail to indicate that during a visit by General Douglas MacArthur to inspect the 43rd Bomb Group at the Mareeba airfield, he was shown the food preparation area in the kitchen. He apparently ran his finger over the cutting blade of a meat slicer and found that it had a fine layer of animal fat on it. MacArthur commented "You'd better get this cleaned up properly, soldier".
The following evening, Tokyo Rose stated during her broadcast "And how are the Mareeba butchers tonite? Have you got the meat slicer cleaned yet?"
The 403rd Bomb Squadron of the 43rd Bomb Group was known as the "Mareeba Butchers". It has been suggested that they got their name from the above incident.
REFERENCES
Good Mail column, Sunday Mail 16 March 2003
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This page first produced 27 January 1999
This page last updated 20 February 2020
