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The 35th Battalion

Transport on Vella Lavella

Transport on Vella Lavella

One heavy dug-out canoe, one light canoe, two outriggers, and two Jap collapsible boats plied a useful trade. This weird assortment of mixed native and military craft was operated by the transport page 113platoon which called itself the Umomo General Freight and Passenger (No Deadheads) Transport Corporation (Unlicensed). The corporation was to be found in the waters round about Umomo Island after the Japs had flown. It performed full time duty fetching and carrying water, food and munitiions between companies on the coast. There was no cash fare for passengers or goods, but anyone wanting a ride from one bay to another worked his passage at the end of a punting pole or a broken down paddle. Fastest of the fleet was the Cutty Sark, an outrigger. This outrigger carried eight passengers and several hundred pounds of cargo. The Queen Mary, the big dug-out boat propelled by four oars, took a load of three quarters of a ton, but moved terribly slowly.

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