When Japan entered the war in December 1941, Merv Mason was a trainee fitter and turner in the workshop of Cam & Sons Pty Ltd in Sydney. He’d been with the company for 5 years, 4 as an apprentice, working on steam engines and ship’s equipment.
When 8 of Cam & Sons 11 vessels were commandeered by the Royal Australian Navy for wartime service, the company released many of its workers. After being let go, Merv enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on 28 February 1942
Most of Merv’s early training was at the Richmond RAAF base in New South Wales. Merv was first attached to No 30 Squadron and then to No 22 Squadron.
On 14 October 1942, Merv left Brisbane for overseas service. He arrived in Port Moresby on 19 October 1942, where he remained for nearly a year before moving to Goodenough Island in Milne Bay on 2 September 1943.
As operations moved farther north, it was not long before Merv again took up a new station, this time in November 1943 at Kiriwina, the largest of the Trobriand Islands.
During most of his service, Merv worked as a flight rigger, maintaining aircraft. From mid-June 1944 he worked as a turner.
Merv was discharged as a leading aircraftman on 7 December 1945, which was 4 years to the day of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.