of trash that was headed for the dump.

Packed in a crate of old motor parts were dozens of pages from a New York newspaper of 1943, many of them remarkably well preserved.

And now Petty Officers Casey Williams and Tina Cooke are happily piecing together the world of half a century ago.

"We prised the crate open and there were wads of newspaper stuffed into the box,'' said Petty Officer Williams.

"I pulled it out and saw it was pages and pages of the New York Sunday News, which is now the Daily News, dating back to 18 months after the US entered the Second World War.

"Tina sat down with a roll of Scotch tape and started piecing it together.'' The transportation division personnel discovered they had rescued an almost-complete copy of the June 27 paper and some of a July 4 issue.

Petty Officer Cooke said she has spent about eight hours on her task so far, sticking the pages together and placing them between plastic sheets.

"When it was brought in it was all wadded up, so I just went through it piece by piece and straightened it out,'' she said.

Highlights of the discovery are a full-page colour picture of actress Merle Oberon, and a double-page colour photo of the cast of "Oklahoma''.

The papers reveal a world where a bridal ring combination cost $39.50, a 37-piece furniture set cost $178 and a 1942 Plymouth sedan cost $950.

Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra had best-selling records and Henry Fonda was starring in the movie "White Savage''.

The first black fighter plane squadron to see action in war had been successful in a dogfight over Sicily, and a US bomber had dropped 200 tons on Italy.

In a letters column called "The Correct Thing'', a young woman was asking if she should stay at the family home of a man to whom she was not yet engaged.

When they have been fully restored, the papers may go on display on the Base.

"I've always like American stuff from the 30s and 40s,'' said Petty Officer Williams. "I'd like to put the pages up some place where people could see them.'' PIECING TOGETHER THE PAST -- US Naval Air Station Petty officers Casey Williams and Tina Cooke display New York newspapers from 1943 found in a box of trash.