C-47 RECREATES HISTORY TO FLY THE HUMP
MUSTANG A68-199 AIRBORNE after four decades
OV-10 Bronco
Cactus Air Force’s Flagship
SPECIAL FEATURES
Antiquers’ Spring Fly-in
RAAF HURRICANE 3 Sqn & the Hurricane Crossman-One of the Few Flight of Australia’s Hurricane
NEWS Ryan PT-22 ✪ Chipmunk ✪ Moth Minor Ansons ✪ Typhoon ✪ Canadian Lancaster QFM Connie & Albury DC-2 restorations & updates
Subscribe or renew your subscription to
& GET TWO YEARS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE! AUSSIE HURRICANE FLIES Out of Africa Convair 440
r
P-40 Hawks Gathering
Home sweet home. HARS’ new Convair landing at Albion Park [All images via HARS,unl ss ta ed]
an ot aircra t a re ative ow ours n r in x l n n ii n v i rew errie t e aircra t rom o ivia jum in off from Brazil for the eleven hour Atla ic crossing to Ivory oast before heading outh alon Africa’s western shoreline Rovos refu bished the onvairs to a very ig stan ar y insta ing uxury eat r seats similar in standard to the seatin ound on Rovos’ railway carriages) a mo rn galley much upgraded avionics and eat er ra ar e aint an cor sc eme as chosen to match the existin train iv ry e crowning g ory t e rai way i pired toilet would not look out of place on he rient Ex ress! e irst service i t was own y
ONLY $43
ard Way he Historical Aircraft Restoration Society operates Australia’s largest fleet of multiengine radial engine aircra t. On 21 August, the latest addition, a Convair 440, landed at lbion Park after its ferry flight from South Africa. With large quantities of Avgas di cult to come by in some locations, this could be one o the last ocean-spanning erries or an aircra t entering preservation. oug Haywood nd Geo She ard two of the ferry pilots, spoke to Flightpath’s a out t eir a venture etr tter ore than eighteen months of prepar ion invo ving restoration icencing s ip an most important y time o wor or the fli ht crew HAR had been lookin for a Convair ai liner to add to its collection for some time A thou h a su table candidate was source in rizona wo to ma e t service ica Z ARV and Z BRV had been for sale r m im n in 2 HA mm mem er contacte e owner ovos ai a rivate luxur a l o erator in South Africa ne of the aircra t ARV required maint ance to return t to yin con ition an an Vos the man behind Rovos generousl o ere t e aircra t as t was 2
VISIT: www.greatmagazines.com.au SELECT: Flightpath ENTER: promo code ADV/17021
YES! wo
i e to s
CALL: 1800 807 760 QUOTE: promo code ADV/17021
OR
e economics o operating t e t irsty air liners and a decision was reached to put the air u or sa e is ma ave een w ere h ir r f n h ir f l lif r e interest o o an os ohan was lookin for classic aircraft to comp ement is existing vintage ra sa ari ours in southern Africa Unrest in parts of is networ meant e a to y passengers ver t e trou e spots rat er t an operate is rains through them A Lockheed L 1 Ele ra was ini ially considered but the South frican authori ies were concerned about support or t e type or various reasons h r ir r f w r h rn i l r h wners were not intereste in se ing t was not unt l a Rovos employee discovered the wo Convairs for sale that a solution was at
hort nosed Convair ollowing su t soon af r v r h r f he next seven years ese aircra t range ver Africa connectin rai journeys or co ductin air safaris owever ovos oun h n m f h ircra t rove too c a len in Operatin typ a y out o ig a titu e irports t e pay oa ena ty meant that on ccasion passen ers a o have heir baggage arrie anot er ai r f Th nv ir w r re uctan retire an ut out to pasture at reeway ero rome n r h f Pr ri es ite t eir exce en ondition inside and out e rove i icu t t e ovos su se uent restored BRV to full ai T P Captain Doug Ha wood First O cer Geo Sheppard Captain Ro s ell and Sou h Af ican engineers C ris Ba nar an A ra am Mat ing ead for adventure on the morning of epartu e
orlornly now at Pretoria s Wonderboom ir ort o an os i not want to see t e ircraft reduced to scrap Enter HAR and e un raising to return t e aircra t to li ht be an The Convair had not flown for eight years nd required considerable e fort to be made irwort y uring t is ime t e opportuni y was taken to paint the aircra t in an a entic ivery even t oug e air ine did not operate the CV 440 Photo raphs ere sent to t e maintenance crew w o a e a ine o o rep icatin t e inis t is ertainly a most pleasing scheme that ac n h ir r f ’ in lin A i ion was made to paint the aircraft in an verall silver/grey instead of having the ri inal natural po ished metal This also rotects t e sur ace an ma es or one ess ob to do at the museum! ineers hris arnard and Abraham Braam Mattingh he engineering team at Wonderboom and oenie Van der Wa t from Rovos completed mammoth task in resurrectin this ai ra t or w at wou e a re ative trou e
M LE T e Convair’s we equippe ockp t is la gel due to Rovos Air’s ode nisation ho tly after he ircr t’s r iv l in S th A ric he cabin urnishin s w ll be opu ar wit HARS mem ers w en e insta e Note t e us car et hiding beneath the strip of protective astic.
L I H T PAT H
F L I H T PAT H
POST: the completed form to Yaffa Media: Reply Paid 606, Sydney NSW 2001
1
ld War Jets & Corsair moves
OR
1
FAX: the completed form to 02 9281 2750
scri e to Flightpath PLUS ma azine for 2 years / 8 issues @ $43 (normally $86)
MY DETAILS THI I
OR
This particular aircraft serial 54 rolled off the Conso idated Vultee assembl ines in an Diego as a onvair 4 in N ember 1954 A few months later it was a igned to the U AF as a V 1 1D VIP tran ort It then served w th the US mil nt l inally bein mothballed at Davis Mo than AFB in Tucson Arizona in 1987 he next phase of its ife along with the future ZS BRV began when Líneas Aéreas anedo a Bolivian domestic airline pu ase e aircra t or services out o ochabamba Both Convairs spent nine years in t is ro e unti once again ma e su lus Bolivia’s road system had been up rad d in that time and the reliance on domestic ir r v l w m in h w h
PRIN + DIGI L
e
DV 17021
PAYMENT AN EXTEN I N
F MY EXI TIN
B
RIPTI N
A NEW
B
DDRES
AYTIME PHONE
PLEASE FIND ENCLOSED A CHEQUE/MONEY ORDER PAYABLE TO YAFFA MEDIA FOR 4 PLEASE DEBIT 43 FROM M
R MRS MS
UBUR
RIPTI
EXPIRY DAT TATE
P
T
D
ARD H LDER NAME IGNATUR
onditions: This offer is only open to readers with an Australian postal address. Flightpath is published quarterly so you may wait up to 12 weeks for delivery of your first magazine. Offer expires th April, 17. ustomer enquiries to subscriptions@yaffa.com.au. YAFFA 451
TODAY’S DATE
38 Two USAAF squadrons of A-20G Havocs flew a mission that sacrificed Allied crews for little gain. Michael Claringbould describes how it typified the futility of much of the later Pacific aerial campaign.
Volume 28, No 3, February–April 2017
Features 12
44
RAAF HURRICANE SPECIAL 24 3 Squadron RAAF and the Hurricane
46
One of the Few Hawker Hurricane VH-JFW is believed to be the first restored Australian aircraft to honour an Australian pilot from the Battle of Britain. Kristen Alexander and Andy Wright look at one of the few.
36
The Superfortress in Preservation With two examples of the B-29 Superfortress now flying, James Kightly delves into the type’s overlooked civil operated flyers.
Gordon Birkett and Andy Wright recount the brief period when the RAAF’s famed 3 Squadron flew Hurricanes.
30
Memorial Hudson At Canberra Airport The Australian War Memorial’s newly restored Lockheed Hudson Mk.IV was recently unveiled. James Kightly looks at the history and restoration of A16-105.
50
54
Faith in Australia The bleached, torn and vandalised remains of a once great aircraft were deliberately set on fire in 1945. Monty Tyrell recounts the story of the Avro Ten ‘Faith in Australia’.
60
70
Flight of the Hurricane
The Hart(s) of Australian Aviation
The first public display of Hurricane Mk.XII VH-JFW was celebrated at an airshow at Scone.
Neil Follett studies three pioneers in Australian aviation: W.E. Hart, E.J. Hart, and J.R. Hart. Same name, no relation.
Hiwa hau Maka! Using beautifully clear images from the Air Force Museum of New Zealand’s collection, Andy Wright presents 486 Squadron RNZAF and some of its Hawker Tempests.
Antiquer’s Spring Fling Editor Rob Fox attended the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia’s Spring Fly-in when forty vintage aircraft made the trip to Temora.
A Glimpse into hell Four Japanese groundcrew survived in the New Guinea jungle for nearly a decade from 1944. Michael Claringbould reveals the extent and tragedy of the Japanese losses through Allied aerial bombardments.
Cactus Air Force Luigino Caliaro visits the Cactus Air Force in Nevada to fly with a star of their collection, the OV-10 Bronco.
C-47 flies ‘The ‘Hump’ Former airline pilot Alan Searle and crew tell the story of taking ‘Dak’ VH-XUX over ‘The Hump’ to its new home at the Flying Tigers Museum in Guilin, China.
18
38
Deadly Compromise
76
Polish Aviation Museum An oft-overlooked gem in Europe’s aviation crown, Mike Shreeve visits Rakowice-Czyzyny.
MUSTANG A68-199 AIRBORNE after four decades
OV-10 Bronco
Cactus Air Force’s Flagship
Antiquers’ Spring Fly-in
SPECIAL FEATURES
Contents
64
RAAF HURRICANE 3 Sqn & the Hurricane Crossman-One of the Few Flight of Australia’s Hurricane $9.95 / NZ $9.90 ( ncl GST) VOLUME 28 NUMBER 3
NEWS Ryan PT 22 ✪ Chipmunk ✪ Moth Minor Ansons ✪ Typhoon ✪ Canadian Lancaster QFM Connie & Albury DC 2 restorations & updates
COVER: Tony Middleton’s 1951 Cessna C190 Businessliner VH-BIS, flown by Mike Dalton, captured by Flightpath editor Rob Fox from Kenny Love’s Piper Lance.
03
9 771320 587007 PRINT POST APPROVED 1000 8808
Regulars 4 42 72 74
News Poster Mailbag Personal Effects 79 Airshows F L I G H T PAT H | 3
News
Airborne on the maiden post-restoration flight, Peter Gill’s Mustang A68-199 with pilot Nick Caudwell and LAME Peter Robinson on
Editor: Rob Fox Ph: (03) 9580 7436 Email: mail@robfoxphotography.com Contributing Editors: Michael Claringbould, James Kightly, Ron Watts, Andy Wright All letters and contributions should be sent to the editor: PO BOX 253 Bentleigh Victoria 3204. Research: Monica Walsh, John Hopton ADVERTISING National Sales Manager: Andrew Murphy, 17–21 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010. Tel: (02) 9213 8272, Email: andrewmurphy@yaffa.com.au Advertising Production: John Viskovich Email: johnviskovich@yaffa.com.au Yaffa Custom Content Director: Matt Porter Tel: (02) 9213 8209 Email: mattporter@yaffa.com.au Marketing Manager: Chris Hamilton Marketing Executive: Jasmine Gale
Subscriptions WWW.GREATMAGAZINES. COM.AU CALL: 1800 807 760 EMAIL: SUBSCRIPTIONS@YAFFA. COM.AU Subscription Rates 1 year $39.00 2 years $70.60 1 year (overseas) NZ A$50 ASIA A$55 ROW A$60 Customer Service Manager: Martin Phillpott Subscriber Services: Liz Garcorz FLIGHTPATH is published four times a year by Yaffa Media Pty Ltd ABN 54 002 699 354 17–21 Bellevue Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010. All Mail to: GPO Box 606, Sydney, NSW 2001
YAFFA AVIATION GROUP: Australian Flying, Aviation Business Magazine, Flightpath, Aviation Yearbook Publisher: Judy Hinz Production Director: Matthew Gunn Art Director: Ana Maria Heraud Studio Manager: Lauren Esdaile Designer: Beth Reinbott Images should be supplied with a separate list of captions and each image should have a name and address on it. Slides, prints and electronic versions of images are all acceptable, but please note that digital images MUST BE SUPPLIED AT A RESOLUTION OF AT LEAST 300DPI for the actual size of the image. Most editorial queries should be answered within a month; if not contact the editor. ISSN 1320–5870
4 | F L I G H T PAT H
Rare Photo Recce Mustang flies LEFT: A68-199, VH-BOZ with Fawcett Aviation at the time, with Eric Greathead during an engine test in the 1960s. [via Cam Care]
BELOW: Celebrations followed the first post restoration flight. Owner Peter Gill pours the champagne for Nick Caudwell, left, and engineer Peter Robinson. [Rob Fox]
News
n board. [Ian Johnson] LEFT: With the restoration involving over 9000 man-hours, the panel is relatively stock 1950 and, externally, the Mustang still looks as it was displayed at Fighter World. [Rob Fox] BELOW: With only 1370 hours total time, the rare Mk.22 PR Mustang (c/n 1524) lifts off forty years after it last flew. [Rob Fox]
The ranks of the Australian Mustang population grew with the much anticipated first post restoration flight of Peter Gill’s rare PR Mustang VH-URZ on 17 December last. Formerly the RAAF’s A68-199, the flight took place at Tyabb where it has been under restoration for the past four years. Before a reasonably sized crowd, pilot Nick Caudwell, with project engineer Peter Robinson in the newly added rear seat, took the country’s youngest flying Mustang back into the air. The twenty-minute first flight was uneventful with only a slight trimming issue arising as an immediate fix. Tyabb-based aircraft collector Graham Hosking sold this CAC CA-18 Mk 22 Mustang project (c/n 1524) to Peter in 2012. Peter’s aim was to return the aircraft to airworthy status as quickly as possible by concentrating on the engine and systems. As most readers will remember, this aircraft was traded from the RAAF Museum collection in 1998. It was exchanged for two authentic Great War replicas, an Avro 504K and an S.E.5a, which Graham had commissioned to be built in the UK. Rolling off the CAC production line on 12 July 1951, the Mustang’s RAAF service was brief before it was placed in storage in 1953. After being disposed of in 1958, it was registered to Fawcett Aviation at Bankstown in 1960. As VH-BOZ, ‘Zulu’, it was used in the target tug role as part of a civilian contract with the Australian Army. The Mustang crashed on take-off from Bankstown airport on June 6 1976, but was later repaired. It was sold to Doug Arnold’s Warbirds of GB Ltd in 1979 and became entangled in the attempt to smuggle it and the ex-Sid Marshall Messerschmitt Me 109G out of Australia (See Flightpath Vol.23, No.2 & 4). The export was stopped, with the two warbirds impounded by Customs, and in 1984 the Mustang had eventually made its way to the RAAF Museum’s reserve collection. It was displayed at Fighter World at RAAF Williamtown for many years. This restoration brings the local airworthy number of Mustangs to eight, however Bob Eastgate’s VH-BOB is currently undergoing a total refurbishment, the RAAF Museum’s A68-170 is receiving a newly overhauled Merlin and VH-MFT ‘Snifter’ A68110 is undergoing a deep maintenance program. Rob Fox
The Original Classic Leather Hard Shell Flying Helmets
, ,
The
e of
ivan@campbellaeroclassics.com www.campbellaeroclassics.com
Ph: +64 (0) 3 312 8008 Ivan and Sandy Campbell F L I G H T PAT H | 5
News New owner Phil Prapulenis starts VH-NEA for the first time in many years. The Kinner R-540 powered Ryan (ST3-KR) was built in San Diego and flew with the USAAC/USAAF as 41-15561. [Rob Fox]
Ryan reawakened The first Ryan PT-22 Recruit imported into Australia has new owners and will return to the skies after a long absence. Phil Prapulenis and Diane Davey have acquired the 1941 Ryan (VH-NEA) and are in the process of moving it to Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, where they keep their Piper PA-22 Pacer
and PA-11 Cub. Built for the USAAC and disposed of in 1945, this Ryan (s/n 1590) was shipped from the USA in 1985 by Nigel Arnot. Flown as ‘I-342’, Nigel sold it in 1989 and, after passing through two more owners, it was sold to Hank Ebes in 2008. Based at Moorabbin Airport, the PT-22 was rarely
Three decade love affair When Ashley Briggs first saw the fresh restoration of the DHC-1 Chipmunk at Tim Beecroft’s restoration shop at Tocumwal in 1981, he promised himself that he would one day own that Chippy. That dream became reality in late 2015 when Ashley paired with Guy Hanson to acquire the aircraft from Larry Pickering of V8 Super Car fame. Larry had owned VH-PUB since 1980, but it has been in storage since the early 1980s. The Chipmunk is an ex RAF T.10 (WD361) and was one of three dis-
posed of by the RAF in 1974 that were purchased by a syndicate of Melbourne enthusiasts in 1976. The group had mounted a successful challenge to the then DCA ban on operating ex-military aircraft. The three Chipmunks were shipped to Australia and reassembled at Melton, Victoria. Now registered VH-PEU, the aircraft is undergoing a major overhaul at Ashley’s Moorabbin Airport facility, as the new owners have a backlog of thirty years of Airworthiness Directives (ADs) to catch up on. Rob Fox
Thirty years of storage have been kind to the aircraft. Thirty years of outstanding ADs still means plenty of work. [Rob Fox] 6 | F L I G H T PAT H
seen and hardly flown in the past eight years. However, both Phil and Di, as active members of the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia, are keen to get it out and about especially in the company of the other Victorian PT-22, VH-RPT, owned by Scott and Emma Taberner. Rob Fox
Roy Palmer’s Sopwith Pup G-ELRT at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK. [Mike Shreeve]
New Pup Roy Palmer’s Sopwith Pup G-ELRT made its initial flight at Duxford, Cambridgeshire, UK, on 17 October 2016 in the hands of The Shuttleworth Collection’s Chief Pilot ‘Dodge’ Bailey. The aircraft was recreated by Retrotec around a pair of dataplates salvaged from original Pup N6161 and using some original period components and an 80hp (60 kW) Le Rhône engine. On 1 February 1917, after having been newly issued to 9 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, N6161 was forced down in France by Carl Meyer in a Rumpler floatplane. The Pup was being flown by George Elliott, who survived to become a prisoner of war. The Pup was captured intact and was later repainted with German crosses and test flown before being damaged in an accident. The dataplates were salvaged by Meyer and retained by his family after he was killed in a flying accident. The aircraft has been painted in RFC colours, but the intention is to later add German crosses, as several photos of it in these markings have survived. Mike Shreeve
OFFERED FOR SALE
Photo credit: Rob Fox
Photo Credit: Phil Makanna/Ghosts
Yakovlev Yak 9U-M
Waco AGC-8
S/N: 0470409 Registration: VH-YIX Price: US$750,000 + GST if applicable
S/N: 5073 Registration: N66206 Price on application
Photo credit: Rob Fox
Photo credit: via Owner
CAC CA-25 Winjeel
Grumman TBM Avenger
S/N: A85-427 Registration: VH-WJE Price: AUD$127,500 No GST
S/N: 53337 Registration: VH-VTB Price: US$299,000 + GST if applicable
News
Corby Starlet’s fiftieth The Corby Starlet is an Australian design that first flew in August 1966. In early October 2016, local and overseas enthusiasts gathered in Echuca, Victoria to celebrate the type’s fiftieth anniversary. Highlight of the gathering was a talk by the designer John Corby, who spoke of the challenges in becoming the first ever Australian design Type approved under ANO101.28 legislation. Since 1966 over a thousand sets of plans have been distributed, to a remarkable 31 countries. Set number one went to a group from Latrobe Valley, and resulted in Starlet VH-ULV. Back then, all 22 builders in the group had to be Department of Civil Aviation approved! VHULV was used to evaluate the aerobatic capabilities of the type, and subsequently the second Latrobe Valley Starlet went on to win the 1973 Australian Aerobatic Championships. Of
special note in the design is the wing section (NACA 43012A) where the maximum lift coefficient does not drop off at smaller wing chords. This allowed a 15 per cent smaller wing for the same stall speeds. In 1981 two Starlets were among several aircraft airlifted to the Experimental Aircraft Association’s ‘Oshkosh 81’ which resulted in notable sales into the American market. John Kneen
ABOVE: Two Starlets flying at the fiftieth celebrations. [Phil Taylor]
Minor resurrection
QFM Super Constellation moved The Qantas Founders Museum achieved a major milestone in December 2016 when its Super Constellation was moved on seven low loaders from Manila International Airport to the container port. The operation took about four and a half hours to travel fifteen kilometres, which included the partial closing of one of Manila’s main highways. QFM Chairman John Vincent said the museum was very excited to see the aircraft reach the port safely and efficiently. “Moving a sixty-plus year old disassembled, very large aircraft is no easy feat, so we are delighted that this stage of the project has been completed and the aircraft is one step closer to its final home of Longreach. The next stage, the transportation of the aircraft by sea to Australia, is expected to commence in mid 2017.” Rob Fox 8 | F L I G H T PAT H
Brian and Damien Turner, the father and son team behind Latrobe Valley Airframes and Welding, have acquired their own project in the form of the second production DH.94 Moth Minor. The former VH-AAM (serial 94002) was built in the UK in 1939, but never entered the British register. It was initially flown as a demonstrator, on behalf of de Havilland Aircraft Pty Ltd, by the Newcastle Aero Club. It was not impressed into RAAF service during the war. The aircraft went through several owners once sold by the Aero Club, including Moorabbin flying school identity Gertrude McKenzie, before a serious accident on take-off in late 1953 ended its flying career. It was not until 1973, after the apparently useless rear fuselage was burnt in 1959, that the remains were acquired by wellknown Moth Minor owners Donald and Robert Bunn. Brian Turner commented on the massive task ahead. “The aircraft was condemned by the DCA back in the 1960s for glue deterioration. The fuselage was cut off behind the rear seat as it was considered of no further use. The centre section stub wing was also cut in half!” Fortunately, with three British vintage aircraft already underway for clients, Brian and Damien can handle the challenge. It is hoped to start the long-term, after hours, airworthy project in early 2017, if not sooner. Meanwhile, the Turners are collecting data and drawings and are interested in any old photos, information or history pertaining to their aircraft or Moth Minors in general. Andy Wright
News LEFT: Lancaster KB882 flies over Edmundston, New Brunswick, on its final flight on 14 July 1964. [RCAF/ARC Official] BELOW: A recent image of the Lancaster. Despite the tidy appearance, a good deal of corrosion rectification will be required. [RCAF/ARC Official]
Canadian Lancaster saved The New Brunswick, Canada city of Edmundston has transferred ownership of Lancaster Mk.10AR KB882 to the National Air Force Museum of Canada (NAFMC) in order to see this historic Lancaster’s long-term survival. For over fifty years, KB882 has been on outside display in Edmundston. In 2014, the Alberta Aviation Museum (AAM) took on the challenge of preventing further deterioration, intending to move KB882 to Edmonton, Alberta, where it would be fully restored. Unfortunately the AAM, found they were unable to fund the proposed move, and returned ownership back to Edmundston in early 2016, whereupon the NAFMC were able to start discussions. NAFMC Executive Director Chris Colton stated: “The National Air Force Museum of Canada is honored to have been selected as the final resting place for this historic aircraft. KB882 will be fully restored to its Area Reconnaissance (AR) configuration thus
enabling all who visit her to understand not only the heroic role that she and her crew played during the Second World War, but also her post war operational taskings. … KB882 will be reborn and proudly displayed as the NAFMC’s premier exhibit celebrating the 100th anniversary of the RCAF on the 1st of April, 2024”. One of eight surviving Lancasters in Canada (which represents nearly half the world’s population) this is also a rare combat veteran example of the type. KB882 was built by Victory Aircraft Ltd. in Malton, Ontario and flew several combat missions over Europe to Hamburg, Leipzig and Kiel among others, before returning to Canada in 1945. In 1952 it was converted to the Mk.10AR type, and undertook photo-reconnaissance with 408 Squadron RCAF. KB882 was used to map Canada’s Arctic, as
We ha hav 2 % more rde erss th n we w hav ever ver er d at t is t me me of the e year. I get g co ontaccteed by peo peop ple ev very da very day who say y ‘oh I’ve justt watche hed your vid os and I had no id a yo ou did all that.’ Mo t of th m aree placing orde rders.
well undertaking electronic and photographic intelligence gathering during the Cold War, including the Cuban Missile Crisis, monitoring and photographing Russian trawlers. Shortly after retirement in 1964, she was sold to the City of Edmundston to serve as a memorial. Delivered with an essentially complete interior, the Lancaster still has a full fit of the now-rare maritime reconnaissance equipment, and though suffering extensively from corrosion from a half-century’s exposure, it is appropriate it is returned to this configuration, and will join the NAFMC’s Canadair CP-107 Argus, the type which replaced the AR Lancasters in RCAF service. James Kightly
Let us make you a satisfied customer, with lots more satisfied customers.
Pai My Bik Paint ke pr propri roprietorr G Gary Ga ry McDon Dona ald on his Yaff ffa Custom Co Con ntentt ca ampaig amp ign.
Let’s engage. Contact Matt Porter on: t. 02 9213 8209 m. 0414 390 176 e. mattporter@yaffa.com.au
yaffa.com.au/custom-content
F L I G H T PAT H | 9
News
‘Tiffie’ to scale the skies
The organisation behind one of the most exciting and daunting restoration projects currently underway held its official launch on 29 October 2016. Its name, the Hawker Typhoon Preservation Group, is self-explanatory and, while this was its launch, those attending were met by a substantial lump of ‘Tiffie’ in the Boultbee Flight Academy’s hangar at Goodwood Aerodrome, England. Founder and trustee Dave Robinson began researching the Typhoon in 1999. His first acquisition was a complete firewall and cockpit frame that had been buried after the aircraft was scrapped. With an eye on at least building a ground-running Typhoon, two other founding trustees, flight instructor Sam Worthington-Leese and engineer Jonathan Edwards, have joined Dave in the past few years and the trio have been the driving force behind the push to build an airworthy example. It is a lofty goal. Many have only dreamed about it. However, surprisingly for such a rare type, there is a remarkable quantity of components and structures still in existence. The challenge, of
course, is bringing what is available, or accessible, together. Some items no longer exist. This is where Jonathan Edwards comes in. Using Solidworks software, the aviation industry standard, he is bringing the airframe into the 21st century, filling the blanks and producing the requisite source material for when production commences. Two of the most important acquisitions resulting from worldwide networking, and almost the foundations of the project, were only added to the collection relatively recently. Microfilm drawings on aperture cards, recovered from the rubbish and offered to the project in 2010, yielded 2500 documents relevant to the Typhoon. These filled many gaps and have since been scanned and catalogued. Three years later, the largest surviving part of a Second Tactical Air Force Typhoon, the well-known fuselage of RB396, was bought from the Fort Veldhuis museum in the Netherlands. It is this aircraft that will be rebuilt and hopefully flown for future generations. To get there, though, requires a lot of work and the money to fund that work. The project has recently achieved charitable status, with all three trustees working as volunteers, and sponsors are actively being sought. There remains the obvious
Skyway Stearman acquired
10 | F L I G H T PAT H
ABOVE: The Typhoon during its first public display at the launch. The cockpit section and engine bearers are from Mk.Ib EJ922 and are only recent additions. The engine was donated by the Belgian Aviation History Association Archaeology Team who also delivered it from Belgium so they could attend the event. [via www.hawkertyphoon.com] LEFT: The only complete Typhoon, the RAF Museum’s example, is currently on loan to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa where it has been a very popular exhibit. [James Kightly] issue of the Napier Sabre engine. Once again, these are not as rare as is often assumed, but to rebuild one to fly increases the challenge. Add to that, the scarcity of wing structures, finding a permanent home and, often forgotten, sourcing a propeller, among other things, and the aim of a flying aircraft by 2024 seems insurmountable. That is until you factor in what has been achieved already. The trustees are passionate and driven and many agree with what they are doing as evidenced by the significant membership of the supporters’ club. Soon will come the day when we will all revel in the sight and sound of a flying Hawker Typhoon. Andy Wright
The Canadian Museum of Flight (CMF) in Langley, British Columbia, Canada has acquired Boeing 75N1 Stearman, CF-FVW. This Stearman was number 523 (Serial 75-523) out of a production line of over 10,000 model 75s. Records show it was originally fitted with a Continental R670, then re-engined with a Pratt & Whitney R985, and then once more re-engined to its current Lycoming R680. This Stearman has great local historical significance because it was owned and operated by Art Seller, and Skyway Air Services Ltd, which later evolved into the largest aerial fire-fighting company in the world, Conair, still British Columbia based. The Stearman was purchased in 1960 from Troh's Air Taxi of Portland, Oregon, USA for $3,000, and once imported into Canada, was given a metalized fuselage as it was intended to be used for crop spraying. However it was never used for spraying, but served as a company trainer and glider towplane. After retirement from Skyway Air Services, it remained with the Seller family until 28 October 2016, when Art's son, David Seller, graciously donated the Stearman to the Canadian Museum of Flight. The CMF intends to restore the Stearman to airworthy condition and use it to participate in local airshow flypasts. David McIntosh
News
Ansons advance The Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre, in north-western Victoria, continues to make excellent progress with its restoration to ground running condition of Avro Anson W2364. The rebuild team is close to running the second Cheetah engine and work on the internal fit out is close to completion. The Centre’s fundraising to secure Wirraway A20-722, VH-CAC, is also well
underway with $100,000 raised so far. At the South Australian Aviation Museum in Adelaide, Anson EF954 is also under restoration. The starboard wing has been completed and work continues on fitting out the aircraft’s systems and controls. The project incorporates parts from Anson AW965 (VH-FIA). Dave Soderstrom LEFT The Nhill Anson did not fly on the civilian register and was donated by Graham Drage in 2009. [Dave Soderstrom] BELOW: The South Australian Aviation Museum’s Anson EF954, looking externally complete with work continuing on fitting out the systems and controls. [Dave Soderstrom]
Albury’s DC-2 Uiver At the back of the SmartAir hangar in Albury NSW a team of dedicated volunteers is busy conserving the Douglas DC-2 c/n1286. As a tribute to the famous KLM DC-2 'Uiver' of the 1934 MacRobertson London to Melbourne Air Race, in 1979 another aircraft had been procured by the local Rotary Club and mounted on poles at Albury airport. Regrettably, exposure to the elements took its toll and the airframe fell into disrepair. However, following a few false starts the aircraft is now inside and, under the leadership of Dave Stoffels, the DC-2 is progressing toward displayable condition once again. ABOVE: The restoration of the former RAAF A30-11 and Eastern Airlines (NC13736) DC-2 is progressing at Albury. [Dave Soderstrom]
HO
New Book Release ANUARY 2017
JAPAN’S AIR WAR AGAINST NORTHERN AUSTRALIA 1942-45 by Dr Tom Lewis OAM Full colour illustrations by Michael Claringbould
Avonmore Books
JUST
$34.95 PO Box 217 Kent Town SA 5071 • Ph: 08 8431 9780
www.avonmorebooks.com.au
F L I G H T PAT H | 11
C47 flies ‘The Hump’
one last time
In what was likely to be the last flight by a wartime transport over one of the most famous airlift routes, the recently restored Douglas C-47 VH-XUX, after flying from Australia across South-east Asia, crossed the eastern end of the Himalayas, ‘The Hump’, from Mandalay in Myanmar (Burma) to Kunming in China. Former airline pilot Alan Searle and crew were flying the ‘Dak’, now owned by The Flying Tigers Historical Organization, to its new home at the Flying Tigers Museum at Guilin.
F
lying ‘The Hump’ was one of the most dangerous routes at the time, with almost 600 Allied aircraft lost to all causes during the campaign that was first controlled by the USAAF’s Tenth Air Force and then by its Air Transport Command. With Japan controlling the coastlines of China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Burma, and blocking the Burma Road, the air supply route was the only option available for delivering large quantities of supplies to the forces fighting the Japanese in China. Initially flying a mixed bag of impressed DC-3 airliners and C-47 transports, the fleet was bol-
12 | F L I G H T PAT H
stered by the arrival of further examples of the latter, along with Consolidated C-87 and C-109 Liberator Express freighters, and, importantly, large numbers of the big C-46 Commando. It was dangerous work, with the weather, terrain (‘cumulo-granite’), harsh servicing conditions, and even the enemy, combining to make the eventual success of the effort all the more remarkable. The timing of the re-enactment flight was critical because, at present, the United States, in cooperation with Myanmar, is conducting search missions for the remains of aircraft and hundreds of aircrew of all nationalities lost while flying ‘The Hump’.
Anything, Anywhere, Anytime Alan Searle takes up the story. “Last July, I received an email from the HARS organisation passing on a request for an Australian pilot to ferry a C-47 from Bathurst, NSW, to Guilin in China (Alan was the chief pilot for the former TAA DC-3 ‘Hawdon’ now with HARS - Ed). I thought that this flight would be a fitting mission to complete a career in the aviation industry.” The Flying Tigers Historical Organization (FTHO) based in California had purchased a C-47, VH-XUX (ex VH-MMF, see Flightpath Vol.27, No.3) and needed it in China to complement the museum that they, with the
OPPOSITE: The last take off for the C-47, departing the new Kunming airport on its way to Guilin. [All photos via Alan Searle unless credited otherwise]
ABOVE: The C-47 VH-XUX lifts off on its first post restoration flight. [Bernie Proctor] LEFT: Mid ‘Hump’, former airline pilot Alan Searle busy in the Dak’s cockpit. BELOW: Mick O’Grady and Chinese helpers refitting the propeller at Kunming.
LEFT: The first engine failure at Surabaya showing the cowl damage caused by the separated number five cylinder. F L I G H T PAT H | 13
LEFT: Tom Claytor manipulating the replacement engine at Surabaya. ABOVE: Disappointingly for the crew, most of the Hump crossing was covered by cloud.
Chinese people, have built in Guilin to commemorate the ‘Hump’ flights and the defensive operations of Chennault’s Flying Tigers. “The President of the FTHO, Larry Jobe, was contacted and what was to be a three week adventure began. However, little did we know, this was to turn into a three month saga.” Visas for the various countries were to be obtained with haste as the flight was scheduled to begin on 15 August 2016 and end by 23 August. It was finally completed at Guilin on 19 November. “Larry had intended to be the co-pilot but was not Type Rated on the aircraft so CASA would not issue a validation on his U.S. licence. According to FAA regulations, this would not have been a requirement had the aircraft carried a U.S. registration. Another American, Dale Mueller, was validated and he and I would be the flight deck crew. Larry had arranged for an aircraft mechanic that knew the aircraft to be involved, but he withdrew at the last minute. My enquiries lead to Barry Arlow from Victoria, a wellknown and qualified LAME, who was able to come. In addition, my lifelong friend, Ken Parker, was to accompany us as far as Darwin. Preparations completed, we departed on time for Longreach and Darwin where we picked up another crewmember, an American citizen who lives in Thailand and had an aviator’s knowledge of the areas that we were to fly over. He was to prove invaluable in obtaining overflight clearances, embassy and other negotiations. Tom Claytor can best be described as an adventurer/photographer/journalist. The average age of the crew was well over seventy years. Tom thought that this was hilarious. 14 | F L I G H T PAT H
Darwin to Bali was uneventful, but we were getting into the tropical haze that would persist for the entire trip. Communication was scratchy at times as we were not carrying HF radio.
Hurry up and wait The following day, everything was fine until an hour out of Bali, heading for Johor Bahru, when the number five cylinder on the left engine separated at its base. A bit of smoke, some flame and a lot of oil had Barry bursting into the cockpit shouting, “Shut it down!”. Propeller feathered, emergency declared, we initiated a diversion to Surabaya. Landing straight in, we vacated the runway at the first available taxiway and stopped the aircraft to allow the emergency services to catch up. It is difficult to taxi a C-47 on one engine, and it is impossible to turn towards the operating engine, so it was shut down and we were towed to a parking spot on a disused taxiway. This was to be the beginning of our many battles with foreign bureaucracies. While securing the aircraft we noticed the people from emergency services, security, customs, maintenance and the like conferring some distance away. It was not long before we were approached and advised that it would cost US$500 per day to park and $750 per day for time in the hangar. It was a nice try, but it was obvious that this would all go into their own pockets and Larry would have none of it. We were then taken to the Customs and Immigration people who promptly accused us of landing illegally in Indonesia regardless of our emergency status. This matter required a three-hour detention and the
need to engage a local importer to complete legalities before we were granted eight days’ entry to complete the repairs and fly out. Ultimately, repairs took 52 days. Leaving the aircraft and returning to Melbourne, Barry and I purchased an engine. It suited our purposes perfectly as it had sixty hours to run before its overhaul was due. With the engine prepared for shipment there were still numerous legal obstacles to overcome for import to Indonesia. Only new engines can be imported so it was sent as “Aircraft Spares” (two magnetos, one carburetor, fourteen cylinders and a crankcase!). It took many days to find a logistics company that had the ability to handle this. More red tape, it normally takes a month to clear customs in Surabaya, so Larry and Tom approached the U.S. consulate to assist with fast processing, but they were unsuccessful. However, an approach to the Chinese consulate had it cleared in three days. Does this say anything about the status of various countries in this day and age? There was a group of Russians involved in engine changes on a Sukhoi Superjet 100 in the Merpati hangar who just gave up and left in frustration. For the engine change we were joined by Mick O’Grady, a LAME from Brisbane, and all the crew pitched in to complete the task. Dale Mueller could not return due to his work schedule, so I invited Bob Small to join us. Bob is a recently retired Qantas pilot too. Our subsequent departure to Singapore went without incident, with the exception that the pilots received a drenching due to a few rain events. The cockpit of a DC-3 will always leak and I did not have a raincoat to put on backwards as we used to do in New Guinea.
ABOVE: BELOW: Damage to the remaining portion of piston at Surabaya. LEFT: Part of the welcoming party at Kunming was this colourful group in full national costume. BELOW: Tom Claytor is working with the United States MIA (Missing in Action) group in the Thai/Myanmar area. Here the team hold their representative flags.
LEFT: Mick O’Grady, Bob Small and Alan Searle contemplating the engine fix at Surabaya. [Tom Claytor]
F L I G H T PAT H | 15
The Republic of Singapore Aero Club was most kind and helpful during our five-day stay to tidy up some aircraft issues. They organised a maintenance facility (Jet Aviation, which was also an FBO), accommodation, transport and meals and we are indebted to them and in particular to the manager, Lee Buck Choon. As there were military exercises on the Malay Peninsula, our departure had to be early enough to clear Malaysian airspace by 09:00, so take off at around first light was desirable. Interestingly, unlike Australian rules allowing flight between the beginning and end of Civil Twilight, Singapore VFR is allowed only between sunrise and sunset. The overnight stop at U-Tapao, south of Bangkok, was interesting with hotel accommodation at US$15 per night. Although very basic, it was very clean and there was a good pub next door run by a British ex-pat. The next day’s flight continued in the haze that had persisted since Darwin with ATC issuing vectors until well north of Bangkok, then direct to Chang Mai for fuel and Thai customs clearance. After Chang Mai, the build-ups increased and we were dodging large cumulous most of the way until the flat area surrounding Mandalay where the view on approach was dotted with picturesque Buddhist temples and agricultural country. Tom had organised for us to address some local aviation people at the Jefferson Centre that evening. One of the attractions for me of the flight was the chance to fly ‘The Hump’ across the Himalayan range. The route Mandalay to Kunming was chosen to achieve this aim as eighty per cent of a ‘Hump’ pilot’s cargo was
destined for Kunming. This route is over the lower part of the Himalayan range, but still required a cruise level of 15,000 feet. It was disappointing to find that most of the crossing was covered by cloud, but we did get glimpses of high valleys, towns and the occasional city.
“Shut it down!” again Just under twenty kilometres out from Kunming, Bob noticed a vibration in the right hand engine with Barry bursting into the cockpit again shouting “Shut it down!”. This time the number one cylinder head had detached itself. Another feathering and radar vectors to final at the new Kunming airport. For whatever reason the officials were not impressed with this turn of events and, after the welcoming ceremony, the Operations and Engineering Inspectors descended upon us which resulted in a four hour interrogation of the crew. My theory is that they were upset that we disrupted operations at this busy new airport. They were quite rude, but it did not help that ATC had misunderstood our call “engine failure” as “engine fire” and so the entire emergency system was activated for our arrival. However, despite this setback, the aircraft had been delivered to China and ‘The Hump’ had been flown, and our view was that they should take the aircraft the remaining distance by road. We were told it was 2000 kilometres away with many tunnels to go through. It is actually only about 1100 kilometres. So, rightly or wrongly, the aircraft had to fly in to Guilin, not be delivered on the back of a truck. The FTHO was by now out of funds and so the Li County
ABOVE: Mick O’Grady, Barry Arlow, Bob Small, Alan Seale, and their interpreter Jo in the foyer of the Flying Tigers Museum at Guilin.
16 | F L I G H T PAT H
Government paid all expenses for a new (zero time) engine to be purchased and sent from the United States. Another engine for Barry and Mick to change, but this time three Chinese mechanics were allocated and the work all done in the China Eastern hangar. Needless to say, this was not without more red tape frustrations. The weather was always a concern at Kunming, however, on the day of departure, it was clear and, as the airport is at 7000 feet above sea level, I restricted the maximum take off weight by about 1.5 tons for performance purposes, and departed on the last leg. The tools, suitcases and other equipment went by road. Just over half way into the flight the weather deteriorated somewhat with large cumulus, but a visual approach was achieved thus avoiding an unwanted diversion to Nanning. One of the pressures on the flight was that the aircraft’s maintenance release was due to expire on 24 November. We were relieved to be able to complete the journey with five days to spare. The story of ‘The Hump’ and the Flying Tigers is well known and remembered in China. It is kept alive by memorials, museums, restaurants and bars, and the publicity that the media gave the project through the press and TV ensured that, wherever we went, there was someone that wanted to shake our hand and say thank you for the effort. After all, the ‘Hump’ flights were China’s only link to the outside world and the only relatively constant supply line between January 1942 and the end of 1945.”
LEFT: Local glamour was part of the welcome on arrival at Guilin. BELOW: Mick applying some persuasion to remove the propeller dome at Kunming. [Leonardo Correa Luna]
LEFT: Exhaust flame created while doing a Full Feather check on the new engine at Kunming. [Leonardo Correa Luna]
BELOW: With the wings removed the C-47 is manhandled into the museum.
F L I G H T PAT H | 17
A glimpse into Hell By South Pacific Correspondent Michael John Claringbould
Four Japanese groundcrew survived in the New Guinea jungle for nearly a decade after escaping Wewak in early April 1944. Their story underlines the extent and tragedy of Japanese losses through Allied aerial bombardments. It also underlines the futility of consistently sending in replacement aircraft when clearly the situation would not admit it.
T
MAIN: Converted B-25D-5 strafer ‘The Impatient Virgin’ as it would have appeared overhead to hiding Japanese at Wewak in October 1943. The Mitchell (41-30046) sported the colourful eagle motif of the 498th BS, 345th BG, and was lost in one of Wewak’s mysteries on 27 November 1943. Ditched into shallow Murik Lagoon, where it still rests, Captain William Kizzire and his entire crew waved from a liferaft inflated on a wing but were never seen again. A broadcast from Tokyo in March 1944 identified three of the crew as being in captivity, but the Red Cross was never informed and their fate remains undetermined, although they were likely executed at Wewak. ABOVE: B-25Gs on their way to Wewak in early 1944. These are ‘Black Panthers’ of the 822nd BS, 38th BG, who replaced the factory-installed 75mm canon with two 0.5in Browning machine guns. 18 | F L I G H T PAT H
he colonial Dutch policeman slowly comprehended the unusual scene. The four bedraggled and armed men paraded in front of him had Asiatic features and the villagers who had brought him here to make the arrest were insistent that they were Japanese. Communication was awkward, for the stragglers spoke no Dutch and only a smattering of the tribal language. The year was 1954 and the location east of Hollandia, the capital of Dutch New Guinea today known as Jayapura. The four reluctantly accompanied the Dutchman back to Hollandia where they were subsequently debriefed in stilted and arcane military Japanese, much of which they had forgotten. Their bizarre tale encapsulates the draconian fate of surviving aircrew and groundcrew of the Japanese air army who tried to escape New Guinea’s northern airfields after having been bombed to a subsistence lifestyle. These four individuals had originally set out from Wewak as a group of 21. Several drowned trying to cross a river when they reached Vanimo. In the days following, the remainder survived by pilfering Allied rations until concerted pursuit by U.S. patrols left only five survivors. Henceforth they avoided village gardens, so as not to betray their presence, and began surviving on wild pigs and local fauna including snakes. The diet kept them alive, albeit with
RIGHT: This Ki-45 Kai ‘Nick’ twinengine fighter of the 13th Fighter Regiment was captured at Cape Gloucester in early 1944 after the airfield had been all but obliterated by Liberators. Japanese High Command kept pouring resources into New Guinea despite the heavy losses. Another ‘Nick’ unit which did not quite make it to eastern New Guinea was the 45th FR, originally equipped with Ki-48 ‘Lily’ light bombers. Their ‘Lilys’ first arrived in New Guinea in January 1943, but the unit was withdrawn later that year to re-equip with Ki-45s in Japan. Commanding Officer Major Sauchi departed Manila on 13 February 1944 for Hollandia and Wewak equipped with thirty new fighters. Maintenance personnel followed in six Ki-49 ‘Helen’ heavy bombers shortly after. In addition to their machine guns, Sauchi’s ‘Nicks’ could also carry modest loads of 100, 50 or 30 kg bombs. The unit’s forward combat detachment only made it as far as Hollandia before unrelenting Allied air attacks prevented further advance. MIDDLE: This captured photo shows a group of posing Japanese Army groundcrew against the backdrop of a Kawasaki Ki-56 ‘Thalia’ transport aircraft at Wewak. The Ki-56 was a licensed reproduction of the Lockheed Hudson. BELOW: An abandoned Ki-43-II ‘Oscar’ fighter at Wewak. Allied aircrews often mistook this efficient yet underarmed fighter as the infamous ‘Zero’.
F L I G H T PAT H | 19
a serious salt deficiency. Another died of malaria in 1947. The remaining four, led by Shimada Kakuo, lived a life of survival and little else for almost another seven years until they made fleeting contact with a native hunter in 1951. They subsequently made intermittent friendly visits to his village where his tribe tried, unsuccessfully, to communicate the message that the war was over and their countrymen had gone home. In the Hollandia prison, via a specialist interpreter, the four came to realise that, indeed, the war was over and soon they would be repatriated to Japan. Public sentiment favoured the returnees who came to be feted throughout Japan as “living spirits of the war dead”. Their escape from hell, Wewak, had taken a long, hard decade.
Frontline New Guinea Aerial units in other theatres also found themselves transferred to frontline New Guinea at short notice. For example, the 75th Flying Regiment (Sentai), operating Ki-48 ‘Lily’ bombers, was moved to Hollandia in February 1944, leaving behind a detachment in the Dutch East Indies. Its sudden relocation was in response to a decision by Tokyo to reinforce New Guinea’s Fourth Air Army with several units from South-East Asia and Burma. In addition to the 75th Sentai, these included the 33rd and 77th fighter Sentai and the 45th light bomber Sentai. These units were deployed ‘on loan’ to the front at Hollandia, where operations took on a more desperate tone. Commencing in
Aircrew numbers were soon depleted through death, disease and injury. For non-officers of the Imperial Japanese Army, the violent and severe training they received in Japan and China contrasted sharply with the experience of their Allied opponents. Trainees were routinely beaten during induction. Their officers took to them with canes, belts and even shoes, with transgressions often fabricated to justify the beatings. Many served with ground combat units before being assigned to aerial ones. Bayonet training was part of combat preparation and in China live prisoners were often used for practice. Soldiers were ordered to New Guinea without notice and given no reason for the transfer. Thus an infantryman in Korea, or a cavalryman in China, might find himself on a ship bound for New Guinea to become an air gunner. A ten-week gunnery course at Hollandia completed the conversion. 20 | F L I G H T PAT H
March 1944, the ‘Lily’ units even flew night missions in formations of between three to four aircraft against Finschhafen, before being destroyed wholesale on the ground by Allied air raids. For those non-aviators sent to the New Guinea front from other theatres, training was conducted in the combat zone, as described in the debriefing of ‘Prisoner 529’ who was captured by U.S. forces in July 1944. Assigned to the 208th Light Bomber Flying Regiment, equipped with Kawasaki Ki-48 ‘Lily’ bombers, it was at Hollandia that he came to realise the futility of the situation in New Guinea. He became concerned that his aerial gunnery and safety of his bomber would be constrained by the nose gun’s narrow field of fire. At Hollandia, things went from bad to worse; cease-
less air-raids, supplies shortages, and little mail from home quickly eroded his morale. Disease especially became a menace. Aircrew slept under nets and cleared foliage from around their quarters in the vain hope of dissuading mosquitoes. They would even wear the nets over their heads in bomb shelters and trenches. Daily doses of both quinine and Atebrin were issued, but where malaria and dengue fever failed, other tropical infections succeeded. By early 1944 ringworm and painful skin diseases had become ubiquitous. At first his squadron (chutai) comprised fifteen Ki-48 bombers, fifteen pilots and radio operators, sixty gunners and 120 ground and maintenance crew. Their numbers were soon depleted through death, disease and injury. The 208th Sentai, which comprised three squadrons and a headquarters detachment, commenced operations at Hollandia with forty aircraft, half of which were destroyed on the ground in March/ April 1944. All New Guinea ‘Lily’ units were equipped with newer Ki-48-II models that had heavier armament. However, the dorsal gunner was placed in an awkward position. These gunners underwent extra training since it was all too easy to accidentally hit the tail, sometimes with fatal consequences. During daylight missions, Hollandia’s Ki-48s flew with five men per aircraft, but for less frequent night missions they flew with four, leaving behind one gunner. Unlike Allied operators, the Imperial Japanese Army had no trained bombardiers. Either the pilot or the nose gunner in the lead aircraft would toggle the bomb loads with responsibility given to the more senior or experienced airman. To increase range in some ‘Lilys’, an additional fuel tank was fitted inside the fuselage in front of the radio operator. Measuring a metre long by a metre wide, and about thirty centimetres high, it was neither armoured nor self-sealing, ensuring that a single bullet would instantly ignite the
FAR LEFT: This is one of several Ki-43-II fighters captured at Hollandia by USAAF forces. Engineers took parts from many to create several flying examples. The tail motif on this example is that of the 61st FR (Sentai). ABOVE LEFT:A pilot poses with his Ki-48 ‘Lily’ bomber somewhere in the Wewak area. Note the camouflage netting to the right which the Japanese used in limited quantities in vain attempts to hide such aircraft. ABOVE: The Japanese aircraft rebuild camp at Hollandia where numerous hulks were cannibalised to create serviceable aircraft. Most airframes seen here are Ki-43-IIs with the exception of the Ki-51 ‘Sonia’ to the far left. LEFT: Dagua, not far from Wewak, was home to many Ki-43-II units. Two can be seen here including the hidden example in the revetment. Other circled aircraft include a 14th Sentai Ki-21 ‘Sally’ and a 68th Sentai Ki-61 ‘Tony’. A badly damaged Ki-48 ‘Lily’ is in the distant background.
tank, immediately soaking the forward crew in flaming gasoline. Such a fiery demise is often seen in USAAF gun camera footage of ‘Lily’ shoot-downs in New Guinea skies. Medium-level attacks were conducted at around 11,000 feet. On some missions the crews used their Ki-48s as dive-bombers, conducting steep angle dives down to 3,000. Mission briefings were informal. Squadron commanders would select aircraft and crews the evening before attacks. Just prior to departure aircrew were told the target, how to approach it, and given other specific instructions for the mission. Upon return each aircraft commander would provide an oral report to the chutaicho (squadron commander). Intelligence on enemy positions was negligible and restricted to officers. Few aircrew even sighted a map during their New Guinea deployment. Again, these were reserved for officers. Under such constraints, it is easy to see why Imperial Army bombers were so ineffective against the Allied war effort. By early 1944 nearly all Japanese Army aircrew in New Guinea considered that defeat was inevitable. Allied air attacks increased exponentially from March 1944 and repeatedly struck the airfield complexes at both Hollandia and Wewak, and all fields in between. These raids seemed particularly accurate to those afflicted on the ground. Once the Wewak attacks began, air regiments based there struggled to maintain
consistent aircraft inventories. A unit which typifies the resultant confusion is the 13th Sentai, which arrived in New Britain in May 1943 as a specialised heavy fighter unit operating the Ki-45 ‘Nick’ twin-engine fighter. As losses mounted, in order to keep its pilots in the fight, it commandeered abandoned 1st and 11th Sentai Ki-43-I ‘Oscar’ fighters (the 1st Sentai left behind all of their remaining Oscars at Rabaul when they shipped out in mid-August 1943). The 13th Sentai’s operations become more confusing after their ‘Nicks’ deployed to Boram (Wewak) on 2 September 1943, unluckily being intercepted by P-38 Lightings en route. There they remained in action until November 1943 at which point they moved west to Hollandia and further until the war once again caught up with them. Even though still classified as a Ki-45 unit, the 13th never rebuilt its Ki-45 inventory to more than two aircraft and eventually fully transitioned to the Ki-43-II in late September 1943. Thus there is an overlap of approximately three months when the 13th Sentai was unofficially operating Ki-43-Is and Ki-43-IIs alongside a handful of their remaining Ki45s based at Boram. Even the 68th and 78th Sentai, both famous for bringing the sleek Ki-61 ‘Tony’ to New Guinea, were forced to commandeer Ki-43-II ‘Oscars’ from the 24th and 59th Sentai from September 1943 onwards to bolster declining stocks of ‘Tonys’. When Allied forces finally captured the
four airfields in the Wewak area, major air raids had ceased more than a year prior and the area was heavily overgrown, meaning some aircraft were likely overlooked in intelligence surveys conducted of the area. Nonetheless, the teams were astounded at the number of derelict aircraft they found: 175 at But and Dagua, and 304 in the Wewak/Boram complex. It was not only the numbers, but also the variety of types which surprised them, specifically 51 ‘Dinahs’, 31 ‘Nicks’, 28 ‘Helens’, 59 ‘Lilys’, 151 ‘Oscars’, 12 ‘Sonias’, 28 ‘Sallys’, and more than 100 ‘Tonys’. A puzzling revelation was the five A6M2 ‘Zero’ fighters at Wewak as this Navy type never served with the Imperial Japanese Army. The explanation pointed to the first weeks of the Japanese occupation of Wewak in January/February 1943 when aircraft carriers Junyo and Zuiho temporarily deployed fighters there to provide air defence. Very few JAAF aircraft visited Wewak after March 1944, such was the relentless and effective pace of Allied air attack. In March 1944, all of Wewak’s fighter units were ordered to retreat to Hollandia and given only a few days to prepare. Their last major combat over Wewak took place on 19 March 1944. Although farther removed from the reach of the dreaded USAAF strafers, Hollandia’s three airfields were in close proximity, making it a more concentrated target. Nor was the complex as well defended. Wewak’s anti-aircraft F L I G H T PAT H | 21
units had originally been powerful and effective, but ammunition soon ran low and Hollandia lacked radar. Critically, Japanese command assessed that Hollandia lay beyond the range of American fighters. The new model P-38J, its range bolstered with drop-tanks, rendered this assessment invalid. The die was cast and Hollandia’s destiny soon followed Wewak’s.
A simple memorial shrine Behind the littoral of abandoned and shattered aircraft lay a plethora of the mislaid plans of men. For a start, the Imperial Army had never planned for a frontline position in such a remote part of the world. The strategic imperative to deploy to New Guinea took precedence over the logistical considerations so essential to maintain operations. At first, regular convoys to Wewak provided ample fuel for operations, but as the convoys decreased due to Allied air attack, fuel was increasingly rationed. By early 1944 it was almost exclusively allocated for defensive fighter operations and field generators, thereby negating the initial objective of strategic offence. A lack of spare parts posed another challenge, although stripping airframes partially alleviated this problem. The harsh tropical environment played havoc with cooling and hydraulic systems. Even the relatively technically simple Ki-43 was not exempt as on several occasions Allied fighters encountered ‘Oscars’ with one gear leg lagging due to retraction failure. The damage incurred by low level para-fragmentation bombs meant that airframes were often rendered unairworthy, spare parts or not. No bitumen was available for airfield construction, so runway surfaces alternated between mud or dust, interspersed with cavernous bomb craters made by thousand pounders courtesy of USAAF Liberators. Crew fatigue was paramount and rest and recreation was only available to aircrew when units were rotated back to Japan. Such occasions were rare. Recreational pursuit was limited to the nearby coastline where dark sandy beaches offered limited respite. At Dagua, a simple memorial shrine was built, the focal point being a drop tank, to commemorate the souls of lost crews. The Japanese also lacked all-weather steel matting which the Allies effectively deployed. After bombing raids, Wewak’s departing pilots had to negotiate a maze of runway bomb craters, resulting in predictable losses and casualties. Tokyo High Command, distant from New Guinea’s carnage, issued repeated admonitions for these losses in primordial language. Field commanders were reprimanded that the inevitable operational accidents were “regrettable”, and offered guidance exhorting the pilots under their command to exercise “more caution”. As the USAAF juggernaut continued to pound Wewak with near impunity, Tokyo’s rejoinder was to feed more aircraft into the maw. A snapshot example of the resultant futility is provided by the 248th Sentai, a freshly-formed unit posted hurriedly to Wewak in late 1943 to replenish waning fighter supplies. Most of the unit’s engineering staff, some 190 men, em22 | F L I G H T PAT H
barked on a ship while the 32 fighters island-hopped to Wewak. In late October 1943 the aircrews received word that a submarine had torpedoed their ground echelon, and only five of the 190 aboard had survived, an omen of what lay ahead. By mid-April 1944, every facility at Wewak and Hollandia had been shredded, though human casualties were kept relatively low due to protection afforded by a labyrinth of protective shelters and slit trenches. The B-25 Mitchell and A-20G Havoc strafers were especially feared. With six to eight .50 calibre nose-mounted machine guns in each aircraft, these gunships were devastating weapons. The accuracy of attacks by higher altitude Liberators shocked the recipients who concluded correctly that the Liberators had vastly superior bomb sights to those produced by Japan. When aerial operations ceased at Wewak, aircrew were ordered to retreat by foot to Hollandia. Thus it was that a defeated air force, mostly sick and ambulatory, stumbled slowly westwards through the jungle. On 22 April 1944, the Allies launched a surprise amphibious invasion at Hollandia (codename RECKLESS). Forces stormed ashore and secured the airfields there in short order. Most occupants were groundcrew and few combat troops defended the complex. Thus, most Japanese fled into the jungle as soon as the landings began. Chased by U.S. infantry, the Japanese fled without substantive food supplies or weapons. Three thousand air and ground crew set out for Sarmi, a relative outpost on the coast about 200 kilometres to the west. For months these survivors traipsed narrow jungle
tracks only to discover the Americans had outflanked them again at Wakde and Maffin Bay. Joined by other Japanese from all over northern New Guinea, the retreating army of Japanese eventually swelled to about 20,000 including the remains of the once powerful and feared 224th Infantry Regiment. By August 1944, only about half of the survivors remained alive, most reduced to starvation. With Americans behind them, the ocean to their right, and impassable mountains to the left, they wound their way through the jungle only to find the Americans ahead as well. The survivors then scattered piecemeal to forage for food and survival. Most died of disease or starvation and some resorted to cannibalism. The shame of Hollandia’s loss resonated throughout Tokyo too. A suite of senior officers was relieved of office for the loss. Someone had to be held responsible for all the Japanese aircraft destroyed on their watch. It is hard to accurately calculate the extent of human casualties. Of approximately 250,000 Japanese sent to New Guinea, less than 15,000 returned to Japan, including the last remaining four - Shimada Kakuo, Kojima Mamoru, Shimokubo Yoshio and Yaegashi Mitsuyoshi - who finally returned home a decade later. Their motivation to stay alive and maintain blind loyalty to military duty should be examined through the framework of brutality and unquestioning obedience forced upon them so many years before. Nonetheless, their commitment to survive such a hostile environment for almost ten years for little purpose other than to see out their duty almost beggars belief. Little wonder their own labelled them ‘living spirits’.
LEFT: Evacuating Japanese groundcrew did not have time to disable aircraft weapons, let alone carry them on their journey, as seen by the rear gun mount on this Ki-48. BELOW: A Ki-46 ‘Dinah’ about to receive damage from parafragmentation bombs. Fuses were often set so that such bombs would explode a few metres above targets, thus negating the usefulness of revetments.
BELOW: Hansa Bay was a satellite field for Madang, another airfield that received the brunt of low level strafing. Australian soldiers inspect the remains of a Ki-48 ‘Lily’ in mid 1944 long after the Japanese occupants had fled.
F L I G H T PAT H | 23
Secrets Revealed:
3 Squadron RAAF and the Hurricane Gordon Birkett, with contributing editor Andy Wright, looks at the few months in 1941 when the RAAF’s famed 3 Squadron flew Hurricanes.
F
ollowing the successes of 1940 against the Italians in North Africa, 3 Squadron RAAF, as part of 202 Group, moved from Gerawla to a new Advanced Landing Ground some seven kilometres north of Gambut, near Tobruk, in Italian Cyrenaica, on 8 January 1941. It was still equipped with the Gloster Gladiator. By month’s end, however, the decision to replace these aircraft with the Hawker Hurricane Mk.I had been made. This timing coincided with the arrival of the Afrika Korps in the Western Desert. Unit strength would be sixteen Hurricanes with a further four as an immediate reserve. Many of these aircraft were former 33 and 73 Squadron RAF machines. Two Westland Lysanders were also attached for communications duties. On 1 February, following another change of base to Berka, Benina, near Benghazi, the first Hurricanes for both flights were ferried from Amiriya, Egypt, on the outskirts of Alexandria. It was not long before the squadron and its modern fighters were in action. The first enemy contact was on 15 February when Flight Lieutenant Gordon Steege and Flying Officer John Saunders (flying V6737 and V5476 respectively) intercepted a German Ju 88 near Benghazi. Saunders engaged the enemy bomber and scored hits, but then lost sight of it. It was later confirmed that the aircraft was indeed shot down when the crew were eventually collected from their collapsible boat some ten kilometres off the coast (as per 3 Squadron History RAF Form 540 Page 213/ RAF Form 541 Page 220). This was the first Luftwaffe aircraft to be claimed in Africa by Allied fighter aircraft. However, only one Ju 88 was lost that day, from III.(K)/LG1, when it crashed landed at Tripoli. Some three days later, mid-afternoon on 18 February while on the second patrol of the day, a flight of three Hurricanes sighted 10-12 Ju 87 Stukas. Flying Officer John Jackson (P5176), with Steege (V6737) and Saunders (V7770), was at four thousand feet when the German aircraft were spotted carrying out dive-bombing attacks on Australian Army motor transport about 32 kilometres north-east of Agheila. 24 | F L I G H T PAT H
The three aircraft dived in formation to make their attack. After the initial pass, the Stukas scattered in all directions. Jackson attacked three in formation and saw one crash in flames. All three pilots claimed probables, and several aircraft damaged, prior to losing sight of the remaining enemy machines and returning to Agedabia to refuel and rearm. One loss confirmed by the Luftwaffe was a Ju 87R-1 of I./StG 1 shot down near Agedabia. Its crew, Feldwebel Hans Drolshagen and Unteroffizier Wolfgang Schaefer, were killed. Another Stuka was damaged and its gunner wounded. The Germans did claim a Hurricane shot down, but the Australians lost no aircraft during the encounter. The squadron did, however, lose an aircraft when Flying Officer Wally Jewell stalled V7414 on landing at Benina at 08:30. The aircraft was not repairable within the unit. On the following day, the Luftwaffe returned in force, with Bf 110 fighters escorting nine Stukas of II./StG 2. The Messerschmitts were from Zerstörergeschwader 26 of Battle of France and Battle of Britain fame. Standing patrols by squadron Hurricanes over Benghazi were underway when, after 10:00, the nine Stukas were observed and dived on by a flight of three (Flight Lieutenant John Perrin in V7757, and Flying Officers Alan Boyd and Alan Gatward in P3726 and V7552 respectively). One Ju 87 was shot down into the sea by Perrin before the escorting Messerschmitts attacked and shot down Gatward three kilometres on a bearing of 60 degrees from the Mersa el Brega minaret. He was acting as swinger in the flight of three and did not see the attacking enemy aircraft. The continued use of the outdated combat ‘V’ of three aircraft had been his downfall. Perrin then managed to set fire to a Bf 110 before he too caught fire after his reserve fuel tank was hit by cannon fire. Too low to bail out, he made a wheels up landing close
MAIN: An interesting angle of a 3 Squadron Hurricane clearly showing the diamondshaped gas detection patches on each wing. This aircraft, V7770, was John Saunders’ mount when he, Gordon Steege and John Jackson engaged Stukas attacking Australian vehicles on 18 April. [All images via Gordon Birkett]
BELOW: A 73 Squadron machine, V7478 was reportedly pranged in July 1941. After briefly converting to Tomahawks, Hurricanes returned in December and the squadron eventually became a leader in the development of ground attack methods. RIGHT: This unidentified 3 Squadron Hurri would have been a prime candidate for salvage if advancing enemy forces were far enough away. Note the tropical filter under the nose.
F L I G H T PAT H | 25
to the shoreline. The German pilot of the successful Bf 110 continued to strafe his aircraft after he exited, ultimately destroying the Hurricane on the ground. Perrin was later awarded the DFC for this action. German records show only one Bf 110 lost in combat that day with the machine flown by Leutnant Alfred Wehmeyer and Obergefreiter Wust ditching on the way home after it had shot down Gatward. No Stukas were lost in combat although one from 5./StG 2 was destroyed in a landing accident. To make good the losses of the past few days, three 73 Squadron RAF Hurricanes and their pilots (V7553, Flying Officer James ‘Jas’ Storrar; P3767, Pilot Officer Donald Scott DFC; and P3763, Pilot Officer Robert Goord) arrived on 19 February. All three were veterans of the Battle of Britain. The next day lead ground units of the Afrika Korps made contact with British Army units for the first time. The last aerial contact for the month would also signal the first radar control interception by a RAAF aircraft against a German bomber in the Middle East and, quite likely, in RAAF history. On 28 February, at 09:05, the newly operational radar at Benghazi vectored the squadron’s CO, Squadron Leader Duncan Campbell in Hurricane P3980, to a contact which resulted in his shooting down a Ju 88, from III./KG30, five kilometres south of Benghazi ten minutes later. Patrols flown in March met little opposition. The lack of combat, however, certainly did not prevent aircraft from being lost in accidents. On 2 March, while landing, Flying Officer Saunders struck a parked truck on the runway, damaging the left main gear and leading edge of his aircraft (P5176). Two days later, Flight Lieutenant Alan Rawlinson, after carrying out a Tac/R sortie in Hurricane V7484 over the Aghelia-Ras Lanuf area, suffered engine problems and forced landed during the return flight. On 16 March, six Hurricanes carried out an early morning op against a concentration of enemy forces closing in some 32 kilometres west of Agheila. The following day, four aircraft were sent to attack the Marada Landing Ground. While they were refuelling at Agedabia, three Messerschmitt Bf 110s strafed the airfield without effect. With one Hurricane suffering gun mechanism problems, the remaining three continued on to the target and strafed the sole aircraft found there, a crashed Savoia-Marchetti SM.79, and any other targets of opportunity. All returned safely, after refuelling again at Agedabia, to their base at Benina. More patrols and interceptions were flown over the next few days, but without any enemy contact. Another strafing attack of Marada Landing Ground was planned for 21 March, but a severe dust storm en route forced the pilots to turn back. The run of forced landings continued on 28 March, but this time with one of the Lysanders (P9185) when engine problems forced Flight Lieutenant Blake Pelly and Flying Officer Wilfred Arthur to land about thirteen kilometres east of Sollum while on their way to Aboukir in Egypt. On 29 March, during a nine aircraft 26 | F L I G H T PAT H
offensive patrol over Mersa el-Brega and Agheila, Wally Jewell, in Hurricane V2628, returned to Benina with engine issues. No contact was made with the enemy and the remaining Hurricanes returned safely. The last day of March made up for the relatively quiet month. Twelve Hurricanes were launched to intercept an enemy formation approaching Agedabia just after 10:00. They flew in three formations of four aircraft each for the first time, with three Hurricanes in a ‘V’ and the fourth flying as a floater or weaver. The three flights were staggered at 3000, 7000 and 10,000 feet. This arrangement was still used by 75 Squadron RAAF during the defence of Port Moresby and Milne Bay as some of the pilots mentioned here were posted home in 1942. It was even used by the Spitfires over Darwin in 1943, but as with over Moresby at least, the pilots would mostly re-engage individually when the rigidity of the element broke down after the first firing pass. The enemy formation consisted of ten Italian Fiat BR.20s (from the 240th and 241st Squadriglia of the 98th Gruppo Bombardamento Terrestri) with an escort of five German Bf 110s. The middle flight of Hurricanes attacked first with one Bf 110 shot down and credited to Squadron Leader Duncan Campbell. Flown by Oberfeldwebel Josef Bracum and Unteroffizier Kasper of 7./ ZG26, the fighter crashed in flames and both Bracum and Kasper were killed. Though several of the Fiats were seen to be damaged by three of the Hurricane pilots (Flying Officers Saunders, William Kloster and Lindsay Knowles), all managed to leave the area. No Hurricanes were lost. Italian sources recorded that four of the Fiats were severely damaged with a fifth also damaged, but losing one crewmember killed and several wounded, during the engagement.
ABOVE: Flight Lieutenant Blake Pelly’s V7566 being serviced in the relative luxury of a hangar at Benina in March/April 1941. Note the name ‘Pamela’, Pelly’s wife, painted on the engine panel leaning against the port undercarriage.
ABOVE: An RAF Lockheed Lodestar. LEFT: Blake Pelly, having served with 3 Squadron during its earliest days, would go on to command 451 Squadron RAAF and ended the war as a Group Captain and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. RIGHT: Hurricane V7566 ‘Pamela’ OS-B flown by Blake Pelly. BELOW: This Hurricane, P3967, led an exciting life with the squadron. John Perrin claimed thee Stukas shot down while flying P9367 on 5 April while Alan Rawlinson was at the controls two days later when he strafed and destroyed a Ju 52 during an offensive patrol over Mechili.
An obviously posed shot (note the chaps lining up for a turn at the screwdriver!) during the detachment to Cyprus in late May/early June. At the start of April, the squadron had twenty Hurricanes and two Lysanders on strength. Three of the fighters and one of the ‘Lizzies’ were waiting repair. With the Axis forces advancing, 73 Squadron RAF and 3 Squadron RAAF fell back to Maraua by 3 April. While on patrol that day, the Australian unit intercepted ten Stukas of II./StG 2 escorted by ten Bf110s of III./ ZG26. Four of the latter were claimed as destroyed by Flying Officer Peter Turnbull in Hurricane V7492 while Gordon Steege claimed another in V3937. Alan Rawlinson (in V7772) claimed three of the dive-bombers and South African pilot Lieutenant Smith claimed another in P3980. German records show no III./ZG26 aircraft were lost that day and the only casualty was Unteroffizier Bock who was wounded while defending his pilot, Unteroffizier Stirweis’, tail. Two Stukas were lost with one crash landing and another abandoned in flight when the pilot bailed out. Although no RAAF Hurricanes were lost, the Germans claimed success over three. Such ‘over claiming’ by both sides was understandably normal as, during the height of battle, a severely hit aircraft going down on fire could not always be seen to crash lest the successful fighter pilot be caught unawares. Even other pilots who witnessed such things, and could corroborate a claim, could be mistaken. Two days later, 5 April, saw five aircraft from the two squadrons (two from 73 Squadron) presented with the opportunity to get among the Stukas again. A formation of 6./StG 2 machines was spotted at about 14:30. Five of the dive-bombers were claimed with Flight Lieutenant Michael Beytagh and Pilot Officer William Eiby (a New Zealander), both Battle of Britain veterans and the two 73 Squadron men, scoring one each, while Flying Officers William Kloster and Montague ‘Dave’ Ellerton made the Australian squadron’s claims (Ellerton shot down two). Later that day, at 16:35, Squadron Leader Campbell led off another joint squadron patrol of nine aircraft toward the Barca Pass. Here German forces were attacking retreating Allied units. Some twelve Stukas from 4./StG 2 were involved and nine of these were claimed to have been shot down. John Perrin and Wally Jewell claimed three apiece. Sadly, the Australians lost two aircraft and two pilots. Duncan Campbell, in V7567, was shot down and killed and Flying Officer A.M. Edwards (V7347) forced landed and was captured. The Germans lost five shot down and three further aircraft lost in forced landings. On 7 April, an offensive patrol over Melchili, again with 73 Squadron, saw two Ju 52/3m transports strafed and destroyed. Alan Rawlinson and Lindsay Knowles claimed one each. Later that day, on the next patrol over the Derna–Martuba area, Knowles had to land his Hurricane (P3980) at Gazala due to engine problems. Advised by Army personnel 28 | F L I G H T PAT H
A Gloster Gauntlet at Lydda during the squadron’s conversion to the Tomahawk. One of the first Tomahawks on strength can be seen in the background.
that the rapidly advancing enemy were very close, he torched his aircraft and set off with the Army to Tobruk. During a six aircraft offensive patrol the next day, Wally Jewell, in Hurricane V3818, also experienced engine problems and forced landed 32 kilometres south of Gazala. Again, with the enemy in the area, he followed Knowles’ example and torched his aircraft before setting off with the Army for Tobruk. He was certainly not the only person to have a close escape that day as General Wavell and his staff were flying in a Lockheed Lodestar (AX682 of 267 Squadron RAF) when it was forced down, about sixteen kilometres north-west of Sollum, due to a loss of oil pressure in one engine. ‘Jas’ Storrar, now back with 73 Squadron, had seen the troubled aircraft earlier in the day and landed to assist by draining oil from his Hurricane. This allowed the Lodestar to take off (only to come down again near
Sollum), but Storrar now had little choice but to walk more than fifty kilometres to Tobruk. All of the Lodestar occupants escaped injury and capture and Storrar was lucky to avoid the latter by walking at night and threading his way through the enemy forces encircling Tobruk. John Jackson, now a flight lieutenant, found the Lodestar on 15 April and destroyed it in a strafing attack. On 14 April, a pair of Hurricanes, flown by Lieutenant Tennant (a South African) and Wilfred Arthur (P3725 and V7728 respectively), was on an offensive patrol over Tobruk when they were engaged by three Bf 110s. During the attack, one of the Messerschmitts engaged by Arthur was seen trailing blue smoke from its fuselage as it dived steeply to the sea below. Both Arthur and Tennant claimed a probable Bf 110 each before continuing the patrol. They later attacked a Ju 52/3M on the ground at Menastir, but with little result.
LEFT: The RAAF at Tobruk. The aircraft in this photo probably represent the majority, if not all, of the squadron’s strength at the time. BELOW: The ‘spaghetti’ camouflage that has driven modellers mad for years. Author Christopher Shores has quoted John Jackson as saying the scheme was “mottled blue, grey and purple camouflage on the nose, leading edges of wings, and front surfaces.”
By the middle of the month, the number of serviceable Hurricanes on strength with 73 Squadron had fallen to seven, so its two flights were amalgamated. The Australians were in a similar situation as they had only seven or eight aircraft with which to defend Tobruk. Several low level attacks were carried out, along with Tac/R sorties, on 15 April. During the second low level sortie, Squadron Leader Peter Jeffrey saw four Ju 52s flying low beside the Bardia-Capuzzo road. He watched as they landed nearby at Fort Capuzzo, before attacking and destroying all four. Later that day, Flying Officer Donati, flying V7834, strafed and claimed another Junkers in the same area. With the situation on the ground deteriorating further, not helped by the withdrawal of Allied ground and air units for deployment to Greece, the cruiser HMS Gloucester provided gun fire support on 16 April to slow the rampaging Axis ground forces.
Spotting the fall of shot was the ship’s own Supermarine Walrus, escorted by 3 Squadron. Three Bf 110s made a nuisance of themselves, but soon departed. Later that day, Flying Officer Alan Davidson successfully flew a Tac/R sortie to Derna in Hurricane P3977. Further tactical reconnaissance ops and the requisite offensive patrols were flown over the next three days, but there was no enemy contact. With squadron strength whittled down to almost nothing, it was decided, on 19 April, to hand over the remaining aircraft held by 3 and 73 Squadrons to their compatriots at the similarly struggling 274 Squadron RAF. Personnel then headed by road to RAF Station Aboukir before Tobruk was completely cut off. The Australians stood down until 1 May. The first Curtiss Tomahawks, AK407 and AK410, flown by John Jeffrey and John Perrin respectively, arrived on 14 May shortly after 3 Squadron moved to Lydda in Pales-
tine. The days of the Hurricane were thought to be over when six were taken on charge from 80 Squadron RAF to create a Hurricane Flight in Cyprus. The Luftwaffe had been flying from Rhodes along the coast of Turkey to Syria, or inland to Iraq, where they could attack airfields and infrastructure. The detachment lasted until 3 June, it returned and disbanded after handing the aircraft to 30 Squadron RAF. This ended the squadron’s association with the Hawker Hurricane and began a new era for which this famous unit is most well known – the reign of the Curtiss P-40.
Sources: • NAA A50 Number 3 Squadron 1925-1943 History Sheets • Combat Reports No 3 Squadron • Reports of aircraft casualties - Middle East Casualty Reports 1941 F L I G H T PAT H | 29
One of the Few The first Australian flight of Hawker Hurricane VH-JFW was significant for several reasons. Obviously, it had been more than seventy years since a Hurricane had flown here. More importantly, it is believed to be the first time a restored Australian aircraft has worn a colour scheme to specifically honour an airman of the Battle of Britain. Biographer Kristen Alexander, with contributing editor Andy Wright, looks at the life of a local lad who lived his dream.
J
ohn Dallas Crossman was born in North Queensland on 20 March 1918. His father Ted had arrived in Australia in 1912 from Somerset. Ted initially found employment in the Queensland sugar mills then moved south to Newcastle to work in shipbuilding. There he 30 | F L I G H T PAT H
met Australian-born Gladys Dallas. Ted returned to the CSR mills, this time with Gladys accompanying him. They went back to Newcastle after the births of John and his sister Joan. John was a keen swimmer, enjoyed music, collected stamps and was a voracious read-
er. He had elegant hands and his deft fingers were good at electrical work, but his greatest enthusiasm was for flying. He was mad about aeroplanes from the time he could walk and he loved making balsa wood models. When he was fourteen, Charles Kings-
OPPOSITE PAGE: A popular display aircraft in North America, the Hurricane wore the colours of Geoffrey Page’s 56 Squadron RAF machine for more than two decades. Although a Canadian-built Mk.XII, it now represents the fighter flown by one of the Hunter Valley’s finest. [John Parker] LEFT: John Crossman was determined to fly with the RAF, but realistic about his chances. “Should this last any time it seems unlikely that I’ll ever see home again.” [All images via Kristen Alexander unless stated otherwise]
BELOW: A year after his initial application to the RAF was rejected, Crossman became a member of the Hamilton branch of the Australian Air League.
ford Smith came to Newcastle. John waited in line to be taken aloft. He was hooked from the moment he left the ground. With his head in the clouds, it was too much for John to concentrate on his schoolwork. As if to make up for his lack of academic prowess, his teachers found he was ‘a quiet unassuming, capable lad with whom it was a pleasure to come into contact’ and his conduct was ‘very good’. Whenever he could, John visited the airfield to watch the local and visiting pilots, such as Jean Batten, and their aircraft. He collected photos of aeroplanes and travelled to Victoria to visit the RAAF station at Point Cook where he added snaps of Bristol Bulldogs, Westland Wapitis and Hawker Demons to his albums. It was not long before decided upon a career in the air and, in particular, in the air force. The air force, however, had strict educational requirements so, to achieve his dream, John pulled up his socks. He left
school and, on 30 April 1934, began work as an accounting clerk. His employers soon found him to be ‘of gentlemanly demeanour, temperate habits’ and acknowledged that he gave ‘every satisfaction by the diligent discharge’ of his duties. When he was twenty, John applied for the RAF, but was rejected. He reapplied and was accepted. On 12 August 1939, after a grand farewell from his family, friends and fiancée, he set sail on the Orama. John was still at sea when war was declared. Some cheered at the news, but his own reaction was subdued and resigned: ‘Should this last any time it seems unlikely that I’ll ever see home again. Still I expect it can’t be helped. A fellow has to realise that’.
Dark-haired, brown-eyed and of slim build, John was a handsome young man with a zest for life. He made friends easily and was wellliked. He loved dancing, films and the theatre. He was happy, frequently laughing and had a bright sense of humour. Kind, generous and thoughtful, he went out of his way to collect and send back foreign stamps for his sister. He loved his family and was sensitive to their worries as he embarked on an unknown future. He kept small portraits of his mother and sister in his wallet and would proudly show them to anyone who was in the least bit interested. He tucked one of his fiancée, Patricia, into his diary. The Orama acquired escorts and the voyage to England took longer than originally scheduled as she changed her route and F L I G H T PAT H | 31
zig-zagged to elude enemy submarines. They eventually docked at Southampton on 13 October after two months and two days at sea. The Battle of Britain commenced before John finished his training, having taken his first training flight on 31 October. He was posted to 32 Squadron at Biggin Hill, but was not at first allowed to fly operationally. He grew frustrated—he hadn’t even flown the station’s Miles Master. July 25 1940 was a red-letter day for John, however, when he flew a Hurricane for the first time. He practised take-offs and landings for an hour in
was posted down south to 11 Group’s 46 Squadron at Stapleford Tawney in Essex, arriving on 12 September. John’s first combat occurred two days later. Newly allocated to B Flight, and flying Hurricane V7442, he was one of eleven that took off at 6:00pm on an offensive patrol and before long, was ‘in action for first time today.’ The squadron sighted enemy aircraft near Biggin Hill: We attacked a formation of about 60 Me 109s at 20,000. I got one decent burst into a 109 but was unable to see if I got him as had
I can honestly say I’ve never had the wind up more in my life. L2062, then flew a 55 minute sector reconnaissance. His verdict after waiting for so long? The Hurricane ‘certainly is an aeroplane and a half and its power and speed scare me almost. It is very easy indeed to black out in a tight turn as I found out.’ With no time to train new pilots, the squadron sent John to an OTU in early August to convert properly to Hurricanes. He returned towards the end of the month, but still did not see action before they were sent north to Acklington, Northumberland, for a rest after being in constant action while John had been away. It was a bitter pill for John, but, to his immense joy, he 32 | F L I G H T PAT H
to get out of the way of a few more. Jerries turned tail and we came home. Despite anxiously waiting for so long, John’s first experience of combat was not easy. He confessed he ‘was scared sick and panicky’. There is a true courage in admitting your own failings; fear especially is one that has to be acknowledged in order to break through it. John did not flinch from accepting the most basic of human frailties. ‘I can honestly say I’ve never had the wind up more in my life. Worst part was just before we attacked.’ The next day was 15 September. The Luftwaffe launched a concentrated attack
against London in an attempt to bring the RAF to its knees. John, again in V7442, and 46 Squadron were ‘ordered off just before lunch’. It wasn’t long before they ‘ran into hundreds of Jerry kites at about 19,000 feet’. John was ‘still scared stiff in action’, but he again put his fear aside: Three of us were going round to do head-on attacks on some Dorniers. I lost speed, spun down 6000 feet, came out near 20 more escorted by about 60 Messerschmitt 109s. Three of the 109s came after me. I evaded then came round did a stern attack on the Dorniers. Put all my shots into one of them, set his port engine on fire and saw him go down. He was credited with a probably destroyed. John’s nerves passed. Within days, air combat became something ‘not very worrying’; indeed, ‘one gets used to it and regards it as more or less just doing a job of work’. His new attitude to combat was partially based on experience and the security he felt in his Hurricane. On 20 September, John claimed a brand new Hurricane for his own, as his previous one had been written off. He had his ground crew ‘working on my new kite all day and generally getting things ship shape’. He ‘absolutely’ mothered V6748, ensuring it was in tip top condition. ‘My mechanics are just beginning to get used to my ways and are keeping things clean now without being told. It is well worth it because now I know that everything is at its best and I can’t have things better. I spend most of my spare time on my aeroplane with
LEFT: John with his fiancée Pat Foley in 1939. BELOW: As it had been more than twenty years since its restoration, the Hurricane’s fuselage woodwork and fabric were refurbished and replaced. [John Parker] FAR LEFT: John, seated far right, with his colleagues at RAF College Cranwell.
the result that when I go into combat I have ever so much more confidence’. Life for John was near perfect. He had his own Hurricane and he loved the RAF. It was something he had dreamed of since childhood and now, despite the war, despite missing his family, he was fulfilled. He tried to impart a sense of this to those back in Australia: ‘I hope I will never have to leave the RAF. There’s something about the service that gets into one’s blood and these days I get a very satisfied feeling’. As September drew to a close, John was in the air two or three times a day, but, after those early encounters, rarely came in contact with the enemy. Again he was frustrated. When he could grasp a few hours relief, he spent them with Pilot Officer Billy Pattullo and Jacqueline Bush, a bright, lively eighteen-year-old from nearby Romford. The pressures of an operational squadron at the peak of the Battle of Britain could not be forgotten, however. Billy was wounded and John shared his worries with Jackie. He also told her stories of his family and fiancée and how little things reminded him of them. Wise beyond her years, Jackie offered nothing other than friendship, a confiding ear and a chance to escape the war. At 9:05am on 30 September, John patrolled the Hornchurch line, south of the Thames Estuary. Post-operation debrief over, he pulled out his flying log and recorded the sortie while it was fresh in his mind: ‘A large formation Me 109s passed us but we did not attack—were looking for bombers’. He then put his log safely away. He did not take out his diary, however. He only wrote in that just before turning in at night. Entry completed and pen down on the 29th, he had placed the ribbon marker neatly on the blank page for 30 September so he could easily turn to it the next evening. John did not fill in his diary again. That morning patrol was the last entry in his flying log. At 1:15pm, John took off on his nineteenth operational sortie. Eyewitnesses on the ground saw his Hurricane flying in and out of clouds at a considerable height. Then, as he F L I G H T PAT H | 33
emerged from the clouds, one witness claimed he was set upon by two Me 109s. Others reported that he engaged about twenty fighters. Another claimed that he engaged with one in a dogfight, even as two others harried him. Whether one, two or twenty, John fired, and was in turn fired upon. Hurricane and Messerschmitt twisted, dodged and evaded. The young Australian continued to attack. One eyewitness believed he brought down a Messerschmitt that, as it fell, then dealt him a fatal blow. V6748 dived at full throttle before crashing in a field at Tablehurst Farm near Forest Row in East Sussex. The force of the impact scattered wreckage across a wide area.
TOP: On Anzac Day 1940, ironically, Crossman was practicing forced landings at Cranwell in this Hawker Hart when he held off too high and stalled. While the aircraft came off second best, its pilot was uninjured. ABOVE: John Crossman’s grave, at Chalfont St Giles, as seen in 2012 before its regular spruce up.
34 | F L I G H T PAT H
Whatever the actual course of the 22-year-old’s final combat, all witnesses agreed that he was killed instantly given the high speed at which his Hurricane plunged and crashed, and that his last fight was an example ‘of a stupendous courage’. Perhaps John did bring down the Messerschmitt, but if so he is not credited with it in 46 Squadron’s operations record book. In fact, his death was not even mentioned that day, nor the next, nor the one after that. The fallen were not returned to their homelands and often services were rushed affairs as there were no family nearby to arrange things. John, however, had listed his father’s sister, Ann Brawn, who lived at Chal-
LEFT: A fragment of the plate fitted to the undercarriage of Crossman’s Hurricane V6748. BELOW: Crossman loved flying. “Slow rolls are good fun … The only trouble is that everything loose in the cockpit falls out and the chaps are always complaining of losing cigarettes out of their flying suits when they are upside down.” [John Parker] BOTTOM LEFT: Several Hurricanes flown by Australians, including some which flew in the defence of Singapore and Burma, were considered when it came to deciding on the new paint scheme. John Crossman’s ties to the Hunter region, and relative obscurity, made him the perfect airman to honour. [John Parker]
font St Giles in Buckinghamshire, as his next of kin. He had visited Ann and her husband Will, as well as her sister Mabel, a number of times since his arrival in England. He was a dearly loved nephew and Ann was only too willing to accept this responsibility. Soon after receiving word of John’s death, Will Brawn went to 46 Squadron to make arrangements for the funeral. The commanding officer and adjutant told him that ‘everyone spoke most highly of [John]—said he was so keen they could not keep him out of the air and he was popular with everyone.’ They promised to send an officer and six bearers from a nearby aerodrome for the funeral, which would be held on 4 October. John was the first man killed in the Second World War to be buried in Chalfont St Giles and the village grieved his loss as if he were one of their own. Indeed, he was buried as one of their own. ‘Ordinarily’ wrote Ann Brawn to her brother, ‘it would have cost £50 to bury him but our rector let him be laid at ease as one of us’. Many villagers sent flowers and attended the funeral. The young pilot was buried in the local churchyard beside his aunt, Florence Crossman, as Ann thought her brother would rather his son be ‘laid here than among strangers’. As it happened, 46 Squadron was flying a convoy patrol on the morning of the 4th, not returning to base until 12:30pm and the promised officer and bearers could not attend. Billy Pattullo, however, rushed to Chalfont St Giles with a wreath from the squadron as soon as he was released from duty. Even so, he missed the funeral, but stayed for lunch. Billy told John’s aunts that John had shot down a Messerschmitt a few days earlier. They had not known about this victory as John had been too busy to keep in touch during the last weeks of his life. Billy also told them that John’s death was quick and painless: ‘He had been shot while at the controls evidently or he would have baled out ... if he had been 25,000 feet up it would all have been over in 40 seconds’. John’s aunts could barely believe that they would never see their vibrant nephew again. He had been there just three weeks before. They
were consoled by Billy’s description of John as: ‘Entirely fearless and controlled. A wonderful pilot and was constantly scouting about for the enemy and went off the deep end, as we say, when he missed one’. Back in Australia, the masters and pupils of Newcastle Boys’ High School observed two minutes’ silence in John’s honour on the same day as his funeral. In the following weeks, Ted and Gladys Crossman received many letters, messages of sympathy and floral tributes, including one from Ted’s sister Mabel: ‘We loved him so. He was so dear to us, so what he must have been to you who loved him more’. Ted’s son had meant the world to him and he grieved the loss all his life. There was some peace in knowing that he had been laid to rest next to his sister, Florence. He, like Mabel ‘was so glad we had that comfort, just to know he is near us’. Within hours of an airman’s death, the Committee of Adjustment moves in to bundle up his possessions. Ann Brawn received these a week after the funeral. She packaged the photos up in separate parcels to ensure the best chance of at least some of them surviving the hazardous sea voyage to Australia. It was many months, though, before they arrived as she still had not heard in February 1941 if her brother had received them. She also received John’s diary. Over the next few months, she sent extracts to Ted and kept the diary safe until after the war. How difficult was it for families on the other side of the word, relying on mail that took six weeks to arrive, three months for one ‘conversation’, and that assuming both letters reached their destination? The Crossmans were lucky Ann Brawn was on the spot to manage the paperwork and RAF liaison, but it was frustrating, difficult and time consuming. Ridiculously, Ann could not settle John’s financial accounts because
she did not have all of his records. As it happened, John had some debts, most relating to uniform and service equipment which were wearing out after almost a year of use, and not enough in his account to cover them. Despite her disappointment that her nephew died in debt, Ann was all too ready to forgive him. To her, his virtues far outweighed this - in her eyes - weakness: ‘Bless him. He had no vices you may be sure. His heart was kindly towards everyone. He loved life and everyone he came in contact with seemed to have a word of praise for him’. It was July 1941 before Ann could send her brother a final statement of John’s affairs. The business of death over, now they could remember their nephew for the vibrant young man he was. ‘How beautifully John kept everything’, she told her brother: ‘The last day’s entry [in his flying log] tells its story. He went up again after that ... He was a very brave lad and we never realise that he is not still alive. You have need to be proud of him as we all are. A clean lad with enthusiasm for his job. Sometimes I wonder if most of the decent ones had to go for it’s a sorry world.’ John Crossman is remembered on plaques at the site of his former school and during Newcastle’s Battle of Britain memorial services. His proud family carries his name forward with each generation and the people of Chalfont St Giles and Forest Row, who never knew him, tend the grave and visit the crash site. The lad from the Hunter Valley, while never widely known beyond his loved ones, as is much the case with the majority of Australia’s Battle of Britain veterans, now has a flying memorial and many more Australians will soon know his story. Kristen Alexander is the author of two Battle of Britain books - ‘Australian Eagles’ and ‘Australia’s Few and the Battle of Britain’. F L I G H T PAT H | 35
Flight of the
Hurricane
T
he first Australian public display of Hurricane Mk.XII VH-JFW took place at Scone (NSW) Airport on 12 November 2016. It had flown for the first time on 2 October, following a two-year refurbishment by Ross Pay’s Vintage Fighter Restorations. A large number of aircraft attended the event, including Temora Aviation Museum’s Spitfire Mk.VIII (restored to flight by Col Pay in the 1980s), Paul Bennet’s Grumman Avenger, T-28B Trojan, CAC Wirraway, Wolf Pitts Pro and Yak-52, the HARS Caribou A4234, William Finlen’s 1935 De Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth, Mike Worthington’s DH.60 Moth VH-UOI, a 1935 De Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth and two CT4s. Warbirds from the Pay fleet also participated in the display including the CAC Mustang and North American Harvard. One of their most modern aircraft, an Air Tractor Fire Boss fire bomber, gave a dramatic demonstration by dropping its 3200 litre load of water over the airfield. On the Friday before the show, the Hurricane flew a practice display while the Mustang took off late in the day to meet the Temora Spitfire as it flew in. For those who can remember the airshows in the 1980s and 1990s, to see these two legends of the Australian warbird movement together again was very special. The weather forecast for Saturday was grim, with heavy rain expected early in the morning contributing to some people staying 36 | F L I G H T PAT H
The Hurricane Mk.XII pairs up with Temora Aviation Museum’s Spitfire [All images Mark Jessop]
home. However, the skies cleared and the crowd was treated to a fantastic day of flying. The main excitement of the day was, of course, the unveiling of the Hurricane to the public, who were also free to wander through the hangar prior to the show to inspect the aircraft and restoration projects including the two Spitfire Mk.IXs that will be next off the production line. The highlight of the flying display came with the Hurricane taking off in company with the Spitfire. The two aircraft flew formation and solo displays and were flown with
high energy for the very appreciative crowd. The Hurricane in particular was superbly put through its paces by Ross Pay in a perfect demonstration of its handling characteristics. The sight of the two aircraft flying together was very memorable, and possibly something never seen in Australia before. Special mention must be made of the tremendous effort put in by the staff of Pays/ Vintage Fighter Restorations, who worked tirelessly to bring the show to an admiring public, and to the people of Scone who supported the event so well. John Parker
ABOVE: Interest in the aircraft, and the projects underway in the hangar, was strong. LEFT: The former A4-234, one of the Caribous operated by HARS, was the last RAAF aircraft to leave Vietnam in February 1972.
Restored by Col Pay in the 1980s, the Spitfire Mk.VIII remains one of Australia’s most popular warbirds.
F L I G H T PAT H | 37
Cactus Air Force’s Bronco
One of the large hangars on Carson City Airport in Nevada is home to the Cactus Air Force. Rick Clemens founded the organisation in the 1970s to help keep aviation history alive and allow anyone interested to see aircraft important to the United States’ history up close and in the air. Luigino Caliaro met museum chief pilot Lee Griffin and flew with their OV-10A, the star of the collection.
N
amed in honour of the motley collection of U.S. and New Zealand aircraft that operated during the early days of the Guadalcanal campaign in late 1942, the Cactus Air Force Museum (CAFM) collection includes a few warbirds from the Second World War such as a TBM Avenger and an A-26C Invader that was restored to a wartime configuration several years ago. It is just as well known, however, for its Vietnam era aircraft. One of the aircraft most representative of the museum is one of the few privately operated OV-10 Broncos in the United States. This aircraft was used by the Luftwaffe as a target tug, but, after being acquired by Rick Clemens, it was reconfigured by the CAFM engineers as a standard OV-10A as used in the Vietnam War. The major conversion work was concentrated on the complete re38 | F L I G H T PAT H
construction of the observer’s rear position (this is now complete with a seat and all instruments) and on the internal fuselage area, which was completely reconstructed, including the characteristic opening tail section. At the end of the restoration, which proved to be particularly laborious (there being a high demand for available spare parts to support the activities of Broncos operated by various U.S. government agencies) it was decided to paint the aircraft as a Bronco assigned to VAL-4 of the U.S. Navy in 1970. Lee Griffin, the only museum pilot currently qualified to fly the Bronco, explained the significance of working with and flying this particular aircraft. “I am particularly proud to fly in this aircraft. I’m a former Phantom and Skyhawk pilot from the U.S. Navy and, in the period in which I was embarked during the Vietnam War, on many
occasions the Broncos were the aircraft which supported me during ground attack missions, performing their FAC mission in the best way they could.” When Rick Clemens gave the go-ahead to return this aircraft to the air, the museum turned to the enormous experience of Tom ‘Gumby’ Gregory, chief pilot of the Lone Star Flight Museum, who flew hundreds of hours in Broncos with the U.S. Marines and later the U.S. Customs Department. Gregory was fundamental to the completion of the project, realised by the first flight, which occurred on 17 December 2004. Lee Griffin’s first encounter with the museum was casual as, one day, while transiting through Carson City Airport, he noted the collection’s Sabre parked on the apron and decided to contact Clemens, offering himself as a pilot. Subsequently, the two be-
came close friends. The son of a U.S. Air Force pilot, Griffin enlisted in the navy and went on to serve for 21 years, flying an incredible series of aircraft. In his first years of operations, he flew F-4 Phantoms from the decks of aircraft carriers during the Vietnam War and later flew A-4 Skyhawks when assigned to the ‘Top Gun’ programme at Miramar. He was even involved in some flying sequences for the movie of the same name. At the end of his military flying career, before beginning employment with Federal Express, he also had the opportunity to fly the last operational F-86 Sabres in naval service (used for various roles at Naval Air Station Point Mugu in what was then the Pacific Missile Test Center). “When the Bronco project began, Rick quickly proposed that I become the official pilot of the aircraft and, as soon as the flight test had been completed, Tom Gregory helped me through the type conversion
onto the aircraft. I have great appreciation and respect for this aircraft, which possesses excellent performance and manoeuvrability, thanks to its reliable and powerful T-76 turboprops each delivering 700 hp. The aircraft is very manageable and stable and, having been able to fly it for many hours, I’m convinced that it was the ideal aircraft for the type of mission required in Vietnam, well-armed and capable of disengaging itself in the worst situations that an FAC pilot could encounter while flying at low altitude. The engine configuration, moreover, allows you to fly and return to base with only one motor functioning.”
OV-10 Bronco In 1963 the United States armed forces issued a requirement for a ‘LARA’ (Light Armed Reconnaissance Aircraft), a reconnaissance and support aircraft capable of replacing the Cessna O-1 Birddog and O-2
MAIN: The flagship of the Cactus Air Force fleet, the Bronco is a striking sight at airshows around the country. [All images Luigino Caliaro] LEFT: The aircraft is a former Luftwaffe target tug and was not fitted with a second cockpit seat or armament when acquired by the museum. The winch operator sat in the rear fuselage and monitored the target through a Perspex dome fitted in place of the cargo door. BELOW: The Bronco was a massive leap forward in the light armed reconnaissance role bringing additional speed and payload.
F L I G H T PAT H | 39
While the teeth are painted on the nose, the real bite, four M60 machine guns and two pods for 70mm unguided rockets, is pictured here.
Skymaster in use at the time. The requirement specified a twin engine configuration, with two crew, and the capacity to operate from unprepared strips while carrying six parachutists or stretchers, and possessing a combat payload capacity of around 1,100 kg. In 1964, the design developed by North American/Rockwell was judged the winner and in October of the same year a contract was signed which covered the acquisition of the first prototypes. The first flight of the OV-10 Bronco took place on 16 July 1965. The subsequent test flights confirmed the excellent characteristics offered by the design, proving it to be the ideal machine for the COIN (COunter INsurgency) mission. The fixed armament consisted of four M60C 7.62 mm machine guns, with 500 rounds each, mounted in pairs in two housings on the side of the fuselage. These housings also carry the attachment points for a variety of weapons, including LAU-32/A launchers for seven unguided 70 mm rockets, LAU/3A launchers with nineteen rockets, LAU-10/A launchers for four unguided Zuni 127 mm rockets, Mk 82 bombs or retarded (‘Snakeye’) bombs, or an SUU-11/A pod with a M134 Minigun. The fuselage ventral pylon can, in addition, carry a supplementary fuel tank of up to 869 litres or further rockets or a 20 mm cannon pod. Under each wing, outboard of the engine nacelles, are pylons for AIM-9 Sidewinders or rocket pods. The USAF placed its first Bronco into service in Vietnam at the end of July 1968 and a total of 157 aircraft (of 360 built) were delivered. Nevertheless, the USAF, despite realising that the aircraft would be vulnerable to ground fire during the dangerous low level missions over the Vietnam jungle, would not completely replace the type until the end of the 1980s with the A-10 Thunderbolt. The majority of the Broncos constructed, however, were used by the USMC from 1968. The type’s career with the Marines continued until the middle of the 1990s thanks to the introduction of the OV-10D, characterised by a lengthened nose under which was a spherical turret containing an 40 | F L I G H T PAT H
AN/AAS-37 Forward Looking Infrared Radar and a laser range finder/designator. This version, however, lost the ability to carry personnel and supplies as the space in the rear fuselage was consumed by avionic and sensor installations. The Bronco achieved a reasonable level of export success with the type being acquired by the air forces of Colombia, Venezuela, Philippines, Morocco, Indonesia, Thailand and Germany. In contrast to those air arms that used the aircraft in its intended COIN role, the Luftwaffe used the Bronco for target towing. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF or CALFIRE) has operated Broncos for more than twenty years as replacements for their Cessna O-2 Skymasters (repeating the type’s succession in the U.S. military). Crewed by a pilot and Air Attack Officer, whose job it is to coordinate the aerial assets attacking a fire while working with the Incident Commander on the ground, the aircraft can loiter for up to five hours due to an additional fuel tank installed in the fuselage. As it did during its military career, the Bronco has proved to be an excellent observation and attack co-ordination platform and, returning to its forward air control roots, also serves as a ‘Bird Dog’ by leading in, and marking the target for, the air tankers. With the Bronco well entrenched in civilian service and a popular, albeit relatively rare, airshow performer, it could be argued that its military flying days are over. While this is true for many airframes of its vintage, the Bronco has been the subject of a programme to provide a simple, inexpensive and robust aircraft that can loiter for long periods to provide close fire support or conduct reconnaissance. The low profile, but typically fiercely named, Combat Dragon II project has apparently proved the Bronco, upgraded to OV-10G+ status, still has something to give. Indeed, two aircraft were deployed on operations, flown by naval aircrew, in the Middle East in 2015. This versatile and popular type looks like it will be around for some time yet.
VAL-4 ‘Black Ponies’ The only unit of the U.S. Navy to be equipped with the Bronco during the conflict in Vietnam, VAL-4 was formed on 3 January 1969 at NAS North Island. Following an intense training cycle, the unit was deployed to Vietnam in March of the same year, establishing its headquarters at the Binh Thuy base and positioning an operational detachment at the airport near the base at Vung Tau by the South China Sea. Flying operations commenced in April with the principal tasks being to provide air support, reconnaissance and classic FAC duties in the area of the Mekong Delta. The ability to fit the aircraft with supplementary fuel tanks was exploited to the hilt and on many occasions the crews were able to provide more than four or five hours of continuous cover in the combat zones. Activity over the three years of operations was very intense. As an example, in 1970 alone the Broncos of the ‘Black Ponies’ fired 5,450,383 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and 75,616 20 mm rounds, and launched 68,849 70 mm and 35,824 Zuni rockets. The final operational mission was flown on 31 March 1972 and, by the date of the unit’s disbandment, which took place in the Philippines on 10 April that year, the Broncos of VAL-4 had flown 42,862 flying hours, over 21,800 missions, for the loss of seven aircraft and, sadly, six pilots and one observer. Another eight pilots and an observer were injured in action.
LEFT: The field of view for the pilot, out in front of the majority of the airframe, is even evident in this detailed view of the front cockpit. BELOW: One of the original design specifications was the ability to carry several paratroopers or stretcher cases. Note the additional, rear-facing seat fitted to the Cactus Air Force example.
One of the duties of the ‘Black Ponies’ was to provide air support to the Mobile Riverine Force that plied the waterways of the Mekong Delta.
Starting up for another mission, unguided 127mm ‘Zuni’ rockets dominate the pylons of this Bronco.
LEFT: The original insignia for VAL-4 featured a Yellowjacket wasp. One wonders what the new insignia would have been, if any, had the unit been equipped with the Pilatus Porter as first intended. RIGHT: While the field of view is generally excellent, the back-seater has to contend with the nacelles. Note the canopy is wider than the fuselage which affords a vital, and necessary, downward view. F L I G H T PAT H | 41
Boeing Stearman A75N1, VH-EYV, s/n 75-678. [Photography by Rob Fox]
South Australian Tim Brownridge on take-off
in his 1937 Stinson Reliant.
Spring Fling
O
ver the weekend of October 15-16, the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia (AAAA) held its annual Spring Fly-in and AGM at Temora. Forty aircraft, representing the diverse range of types operated by members, made the trip to the Riverina town in southwest New South Wales. The event coincided with the Temora Aviation Museum’s (TAM) flying weekend and Saturday saw several of the museum’s fleet performing for all present. Attending aircraft ranged from a P-40N 44 | F L I G H T PAT H
Warhawk, and classic and vintage types like the Cessna C190 and Auster J/4 Archer, right down to the diminutive antique Porterfield. TAM launched its Ryan STM, CAC Wirraway and Boomerang and TAM members flew the P-40N, Vultee BT-13 and the A75N1 Stearman to complement the display. A People’s Choice Award is the only trophy handed out at this event and this year it went to the 1937 Stinson Reliant SR-E (VH-ISR) owned by Tim Brownridge from Woodside, South Australia. First timers at an AAAA event included several
stunningly restored aircraft headed by Tony Middleton’s Cessna C190 Businessliner (VHBIS) and Brad Fisher’s Boeing Stearman (VH-EYV). Fine weather that eluded many planned aviation events late last year, held throughout the weekend, giving many a chance to shake off the dust and blow out the cobwebs of 2016, with the skies kept busy all weekend. With the next major AAAA event being the National Fly-in at Echuca over 17-19 March, the success of the Spring Fly-in bodes well for a good turnout in 2017. Rob Fox
The combat veteran P-40N Warhawk. Doug Hamilton’s W.W.II fighter is being flown here by Scott Taberner.
This Auster J/4 Archer is now owned by Don Harvie of Wedderburn, NSW.
LEFT: Leo Canteri’s O-1D Birddog was flown by Neil Williams. BELOW: Luke Kempton flying the Vultee BT-13 trainer.
MAIN: Tony Middleton’s Cessna C190 Businessliner. Built in 1951, it was imported from the USA in 2014 and is powered by a 240 hp Continental W670-23. [All images by Rob Fox] ABOVE: The rare 1941 Porterfield has been registered in the RAAA category. RIGHT: The Temora Aviation Museum’s Ryan STM was one of the museum’s aircraft flown in the display program flying in company with Brad Fisher’s Boeing Stearman. F L I G H T PAT H | 45
Memorial Hudson
At Canberra Airport By Contributing Editor James Kightly
O
n 19 December 2016, the Australian War Memorial’s (AWM) newly restored Lockheed Hudson Mk.IV, A16105, was unveiled in Canberra Airport on the Virgin Australia airlines check-in floor, where it will be on display until 2018. Corporate support from Canberra Airport, Virgin Airlines Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia (the legacy company for Lockheed Aircraft of the thirties) enabled the aircraft to be placed on public display. All of these organisations were keen to highlight the event and the type’s import in “… the dark days of the Second World War” when it “defended our nation’s freedoms and vital interests. The aircraft then played its part in expanding commercial aviation in the post-war era,” AWM Director, Dr Brendan Nelson said. Situated at the airport, it will act as a signpost to the Memorial, Canberra’s main tourist destination.
Canberra’s 1940 Hudson Tragedy The unveiling did not mention the most important local connection, the tragic historic crash of Lockheed Hudson A16-97 which killed all ten aboard. The aircraft was due to land at Canberra, from Melbourne, on 13 August 1940, when it stalled close to the airport, hit the ground, and was burned out. Among the ten killed were the six passengers, including three members of the Australian Cabinet and the Chief of the General 46 | F L I G H T PAT H
Staff. The loss of these prominent government members was a major contributory factor in the fall of Robert Menzies’ United Australia Party government in 1941. Understandably, while keen to help Canberra’s flying visitors to “engage with an important part of Australian history and remember those who have served,” as Chief Executive Officer of the Virgin Australia Group John Borghetti said at the event, an airline and airport authority do not want to focus on an air crash – even one so long ago. Those aware of Australian history and military heritage however, find the omission of such a significant local connection unsatisfactory at best. The air force side of the airfield was, for many years, named RAAF Base Fairbairn, after the Minister for Civil Aviation and Minister for Air, James Fairbairn, who died in the accident. The named heritage lives on in the now privatised area of the airfield. There is also a memorial at the actual crash location, on a quiet edge of a modern tree plantation. In 2013, the ABC reported: “The memorial is tucked into scrubland at the end of a rough dirt road, several kilometres off the Queanbeyan road near the Canberra Airport. It has been vandalised and damaged and the gates are usually locked. … The ACT Government is looking at ways to allow better access to the site and in turn provide greater understanding of Australia's most contentious air disaster.” The
Lockheed Hudson’s story is an important one, and the Memorial’s aircraft on show stands for many facets of that history.
Revitalising & Rearming We have been covering the Hudson’s developing restoration at the AWM’s Treloar Centre in Mitchell, ACT, over the last few years, with invaluable help and access provided by the AWM staff. One of the very few surviving Lockheed Hudsons, this aircraft was obtained by the War Memorial in 2001 for its historic significance, as it retains its original engine installation and cowlings and all the major airframe parts are believed to originate from this aircraft (apart from a replacement nose structure). Briefly displayed in the new Anzac Hall, it was placed into storage for a number of years before it came to the top of the restoration queue after the ‘Over the Front’ Great War aircraft conservation projects were completed in 2010. Although looking complete, having been restored to airworthy condition by Malcolm Long’s team, the aircraft in fact lacked numerous parts and had a number of (understandable) restoration compromises, not least missing the wartime weapon fit-out of the distinctive Boulton Paul dorsal turret and often-overlooked ventral gun position. Further, the bomb bay had been fixed closed, with the doors cut about on several
CLOCKWISE LEFT TO RIGHT: The AWM team, L - R: Martin Tanti, Machinist; Tim Sullivan, Assist Director, Branch Head, National Collection; Laura Kennedy, Manager of Conservation; Jamie Croker, Senior Large Technology Conservator Aircraft; Mark Aitken, Workshop Manager; Brian Ewans, Volunteer. (Not present: Kim Wood, Senior Large Technology Conservator Aircraft, Nigel Nolan volunteer.) [Daniel Spellman, AWM2016.8.234.31] The Hudson’s main section is swung into the first floor booking hall at Canberra airport on the night of 1 December 2016. [Jamie Croker AWM] The completed and distinctive Boulton Paul turret awaiting its guns and fitting to the aircraft. [J Kightly] The Hudson in the final stages of being erected at Canberra Airport. [Philippa Brotchie] The repainting underway. [Jamie Croker AWM]
F L I G H T PAT H | 47
RIGHT: Looking along one of the heavily modified bomb doors, showing the two newl reconstructed bell cranks fitted. [J Kightly]
ABOVE: The fuselage interior just after the soundproofing had been carefully removed, revealing the original, damaged, paint and stencils… [J Kightly]
BELOW: …and the same area with the paint and stencils repaired and conserved and two of the myriad original fixtures refitted. [J Kightly]
ABOVE: The ventral ‘bathtub’ gun position with the newly fabricated gun mounting. [J Kightly]
occasions for luggage hatches and survey equipment. Even more of a challenge for the restoration team, the control runs to the tail control surfaces had been re-routed from the original military Hudson configuration. Also, most of the interior was covered with soundproofing material as required for its civilian airliner career. The restoration project addressed these areas as well as a myriad of other details, looking to restore the aircraft to its December 1942 configuration and colours. Despite the type being relatively well documented and widely used across the British Commonwealth and in US service, the many variants of equipment fit that users specified (or modified in service) meant there were plenty of challenges for the team to solve. Other Hudsons, notably in the Air Force Museum of New Zealand and privately owned by Robyn and Bill Reid provided a good deal of data.
from A16-105. The long process of collecting parts had yielded a bushfire-damaged rear fuselage section from Tocumwal that provided patterns that could be used to build new sections. Once these were finished, the completed turret was trial fitted and then removed again to help with access and light in the fuselage for the rest of the project. The ventral ‘bathtub’ gun position was only fitted to a couple of marks of Hudsons, and seems not to have been very widely used or popular with the crews, and further, is often overlooked in hindsight. A couple of units were also sourced, the second example that was still mostly correctly shaped was used, and even the internal paint was able to be conserved. A new machine gun mount runner for the gun’s retraction and chute fairings were fabricated. When the void was opened up for the ventral position, the control runs had to be moved from this area back to where they were originally routed, not a straightforward task.
Turret & Bath Fitting the very prominent dorsal turret was a bigger task than it might seem. While the memorial had obtained enough parts to reconstruct the Boulton Paul Type C Mk.II turret, and had fabricated new Perspex glazing for it, the turret itself sits in a mounting that was supported by a significant internal structure that had long since been removed 48 | F L I G H T PAT H
Throttles, Radios, Stencils & Widgets This Hudson had had its cockpit and nose reconfigured to incorporate a baggage compartment in civilian use. This nose was replaced by Ron Lee for Malcolm Long with another, original glazed nose, but the cockpit centre console needed to be reconstructed back to the original style.
The aircraft’s radio rack was also refabricated by Kim Wood, where the unusual process of fitting it to a particular radio set up was undertaken, the mounting holes drilled out, and then the radios removed and the later type configuration was completed, but leaving the now redundant, but prototypical holes visible in place. This illustrates the level of authenticity which the team was working to. When the interior sound protection was removed (a nasty job involving the removal of a good deal of creosote-like glues) the inner surface thus revealed showed both the distinctive Lockheed green paint, and also numerous original Lockheed stencils and decals, which were cleaned and revived in their presentation.
Bomb Bay This Hudson had two periods when it was used for mapping, as well as the post-military airline career, and each of these seems to have resulted in the chopping of new holes for baggage or cameras and survey kit in the underside, resulting in a major headache for the team. However one of the big successes of the project was a co-operative project with the Temora Aviation Museum to borrow and replicate the bomb-bay door bellcranks, which are required to enable the cable system to open and close the doors. Temora had a complete set, but theirs (also restored by Malcolm Long’s team) had the bomb-bay fixed shut, while the Memorial’s aircraft had the bellcranks hacksawed short. By getting copies cast, (and incidentally replacing a cracked one), the Memorial were able to get the bomb-bay door mechanism working, while Temora were also able to get their bomb-bay reconstructed, with
RIGHT: Fully repainted into the 1942 colours. [Jamie Croker, AWM]
BELOW: A rare photograph of Hudson A16-105 in a late war scheme with the ventral gun position lowered. [via AWM]
BELOW: The bomb doors showing how much had to be repaired. [Jamie Croker, AWM]
theirs having in-flight operable bomb-bay doors on a Hudson for the first time in about a half-century! The AWM’s bomb-bay doors’ stressed skin construction had to be fully rebuilt, no replacement units being found.
The Hudson’s History We have detailed this Hudson’s history previously in Flightpath Vol.22 No.3, but briefly, it is a Mk.IVA A16-105 (C/No.6034, A-28 41-23175). It was issued to 1 OTU at Bairnsdale and Sale, Victoria, on 20 December 1941, just after the start of the Pacific war. Though mostly used in training, A16-105 saw intensive front-line service for about three weeks, in early December 1942-January 1943. A shortage of air transport led to a detachment of fifteen Hudsons from 1 OTU being sent to Papua New Guinea, where they flew supporting the campaign against Buna and Gona. Their role was 'transporting troops, arms and equipment to the forward battle areas'. The Hudsons carried full military equipment including additional armament, and were flown by OTU crews under the command of an experienced pilot, and flew from Ward's Strip at Port Moresby to forward airfields at Dobadura and Soputa. It proved a tough task, with two Hudsons shot down, and three more attacked by Jap-
anese fighters. A16-105 completed about 28 supply flights, and carried Australian and American troops into the battlefield, while also being used to evacuate wounded. The regular pilot of A16-105 was Flight Lieutenant David Campbell, who went on to become a well known poet, his widely published poem 'Men in Green' probably describing his flights in A16-105 on 23 December 1942.
Civilian Service After a brief attempt at use on a migrant and repatriation airline, it went onto Curtis Madsen Aircrafts [sic] Pty Ltd as VH-BKY, before joining East West Airlines (EWA) as VH-EWB ‘Cathedral City’ in honour of the city of Armidale, NSW, in 1950. In 1958 it was re-registered VH-EWS by EWA and used for aerial mapping until 1961, becoming VH-SMO briefly with John Fairfax & Son in 1962 before joining Adastra Aerial Surveys under yet another civil registration of VH-AGP. Struck off the register in 1971, it was ferried from Tamworth, NSW, to Moorabbin in November 1976 and restored back to military configuration, including a replacement wartime – rather than mapping – style nose and repainted as ‘A16-123’ FX-F (later returning to its own serial, but civil registered as VH-FXF). It was displayed in Coolangatta, Queensland, in the early eight-
ies, before coming south again to the Air World collection at Wangaratta, Victoria, before being bought by the AWM in 2001 from Malcolm. As John White noted: “The aircraft was acquired in 2001. By this time it had completed 3 ½ years military use, 30 years of constant civil operations in a variety of roles and 25 years as a museum piece.” Completed back to its wartime configuration and colours, it is a fine example of a rare, but important type. Thanks to AWM staff Jamie Croker and Kim Wood, Senior Large Technology Conservators, Aircraft; Greg Kimball, Media Relations Manager; Laura Kennedy, Manager of Conservation; and now-retired Senior Curator, Military Heraldry and Technology Section, John White. F L I G H T PAT H | 49
LEFT: The 1980 Disney film ‘The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark’ used (and consumed) several genuine derelict B-29 airframes, as well as ‘Fertile Myrtle’ for the flying scenes. [Author’s Collection]
RIGHT: The failed recovery of B-29 45-21768 ‘Kee Bird’ in 1994 from Greenland is an often revisited tragedy of the preservation era. One of the team died during the attempt. [Michael Hjorth]
The Superfortress
in Preservation T he Boeing B-29 Superfortress needs no introduction, and with only one B-29 flying regularly in the last four decades, the remarkable number of survivors can be underestimated. Today, we are lucky that there are two B-29s flying (and well over twenty more survivors) but it is often not realised that there have been several other fliers in civil hands - including one across the Atlantic. The premier Boeing B-29 Superfortress in preservation terms has to be ‘Fifi’. With USAAF serial number 44-62070, and today civil registered N529B, ‘Fifi’ was built at Boeing’s plant in Renton, Washington in July of 1945. Too late for the war, it was pressed into service as a trainer at various stateside bases until the mid 1950s when it was flown to China Lake Naval base in California. In 1966, when the Confederate Air Force (CAF, now the Commemorative Air Force) were looking for a B-29 to add to their col-
50 | F L I G H T PAT H
lection, it was widely believed only two B29s survived – the atomic bomb aircraft. But following up on a lead, the team found the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in Western Mojave Desert, California had not one, but a bonanza of the type, all being held as munitions targets. In 1971 the then-unnamed B-29 was rescued and flown to Harlingen, Texas. After three years of restoration work, she was flying again in 1974, named after the project-leader’s wife, and since that time, ‘Fifi’ has been airworthy for over four decades, with only a few breaks for maintenance, one from 2006 to 2010 when it was completely re-engined to finally solve the type’s engine issues. The General Manager of the CAF B29/B-24 Squadron and also one of the Flight Engineers for the B-29, Brad Pilgrim adds: “Today, ‘Fifi’ is still operated by the CAF and is still out touring the country… Millions of people have seen ‘Fifi’ and since
ABOVE: The Superfortress 44-61669 currently displayed as ‘Flagship 500’ at March Field Air Museum, in Riverside, California, was actually flown out of China Lake registered as N3299F - an often overlooked, albeit very brief, flier. [Mike Shreeve] LEFT: The National Museum of the USAF has B-29 ‘Bockscar’ on prominent show. [Mike Shreeve]
2010, thousands have flown on her. She was the airplane that started the warbird touring business that has been emulated by so many in the US over the last four and a half decades.”
Hawg Wild The B-29 ‘It’s Hawg Wild’ was reactivated to fly again just to be delivered from the USA to the Imperial War Museum collection at their outstation of Duxford, Cambridgeshire in the UK. Taigh Ramey was a supernumerary on this trip: “Jack Kern and his company Aeroservices of Tucson was contracted to get the B-29 flyable and to get her safely to Duxford. Jack had flown three B-29s out of China Lake; one for Dave Tallichet (now at March Field Museum), one for the CAF (‘Fifi’) and ‘Hawg Wild’ for the Imperial War Museum in England.” The B-29 was flown from Tucson, via Flint, Michigan, Loring Air Force Base in Maine, Gander, Newfoundland, Sonderstrom, Greenland, Keflavik, Iceland, RAF Mildenhall, England, and finally Duxford. “It turns out that it was cheaper to fix up Hawg Wild and fly her over the pond than it was to take it apart and ship it.” But it was still a challenge. “We froze, literally, after the heater flamed out on the leg from Gander to Sondestrom, Greenland. It was so cold” about -20 F or -30 C “that the moisture from our breath frosted the inside of the cockpit glass. The same freezing moisture jammed up the air filter for the vacuum instrument system and caused the gyros to tumble. … Skip went on to shoot an instrument approach into Sondestrom and did a masterful job, as usual, as there was no real missed approach available for us. … an awesome pilot indeed.”
Fertile Myrtle
ABOVE: The restored nose section of the once active B-29 ‘Fertile Myrtle’ at the EAA’s Sun n Fun museum, Florida. [J Kightly] LEFT: The CAF B-29 ‘Fifi’ flying over the Great Lakes in 2012. [J Kightly]
Perhaps the most frequently overlooked flyer is the B-29 once registered as N91329. Originally built as USAAF 45-21787, it was transferred to the US Navy as a P2B-1S, Bu-Air No 84029 (an experimental antisubmarine type) before becoming the mothership to the US Navy’s Douglas D588-II Skyrocket, with the National Advisory Council For Aeronautics (NACA, now F L I G H T PAT H | 51
ABOVE: Boeing B-29 46-1748 ‘It’s Hawg Wild’, seen here in a recent airing from the American Air Museum, Duxford, was registered G-BHDK for its Atlantic crossing. [Alan Wilson]
NASA). Launched from Myrtle, in the Skyrocket, Scott Crossfield passed Mach 2 for the first time in history, just one of 129 drops tallied on the aircraft’s nose. It was obtained from Arizona in 1969, by the ‘American Air Museum Society’, and after inserting a section from a derelict B-50, the Superfort was flown to Oakland, California in November 1969, the start of an occasional display flight over the following three years before she was parked up at Santa Rosa. Badly vandalised, it was ferried to Oakland again, but it took a full year’s work in 1977-78 to see this rare machine fly again. Used for the flying scenes in ‘The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark’ in 1980, the sheer demands of supporting a B-29 meant Myrtle became static again at Oakland until 1989 when it was trucked to new owner Kermit Weeks’ facility at Tamiami in 1989. An attempt to ferry the whole aircraft in 1984 had proven abortive. Today the nose is loaned on display at the EAA’s Sun ’n Fun museum at Lakeland Florida.
Atomic Bombers B-29 44-86292 is usually known as ‘Enola Gay’, the aircraft which dropped the first atomic bomb used in anger, ‘Little Boy’, on Hiroshima – both a notable turning point in human history and in the development of aviation and combat as well. In 1946 the aircraft’s importance was recognised, but aviation preservation was far from effective, and it was not until 1961 that it entered the Smithsonian Institute’s storage in Suitland, Maryland, after many years’ exposure and damage. The aircraft’s forward fuselage was proposed as a centrepiece to a fiftieth anniversary exhibition ‘The Crossroads: The End of World War II, the Atomic Bomb and the Cold War’ in 1995, 52 | F L I G H T PAT H
but controversy over the interpretation and presentation of the aircraft led to the resignation of the Smithsonian’s director. Finally, the aircraft was reassembled and presented with a very abbreviated interpretive display at the opening of the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, in 2003, where it remains on show. B-29 44-27297, ‘Bockscar’ the aircraft that dropped the second bomb, ‘Fat Man’ on Nagasaki, was kept in open storage at the 3040th Aircraft Storage Depot, Davis-Monthan from 1948-1961 when it went to the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson in Ohio, where it remains on display to this day. It is not often realised that the name and nose marking were only applied to the aircraft after it had flown the atomic bombing mission, and it was incorrectly presented while at Davis-Monthan as ‘The Great Artiste’, the originally intended aircraft to undertake the bombing, as the two aircraft had originally been confused in some reports.
Doc The most recent flier is just known as ‘Doc’. Built in 1944, 44-69972 missed W.W.II but served in the Korean War, and then in a radar-training squadron - one of nine B-29s, all named after Snow White, the Wicked Witch and the Seven Dwarves. Parked up, tailless at China Lake, it was located by Tony Mazzolini after a big restoration project. Exchanging a restored static B-25 Mitchell with the Navy owners, Mazzolini acquired the B-29 and had it shipped, dismounted, to McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, the very site where the first B-29s were built. It was a major job, including a new mainspar, to get Doc back airworthy, requiring numerous volunteers, the founding of ‘Doc’s Friends’ to manage and fund the project, support from the air base, the CAF ‘Fifi’ crew and Boeing legacy company Sprint Aerosystems, but on 17 July 2016, Doc lifted into the air on the start of a test flight programme, still underway. The B-29’s future seems assured.
LEFT: One of the world’s most important preserved aircraft, B-29 ‘Enola Gay’ on instillation into the Smithsonian’s UdvarHazey annex. [Smithsonian] RIGHT: The Soviet reverse-engineered B-29 copy, the Tupolev Tu 4 has three survivors extant. Two in China, and this example at the Central Air Force Museum, Monino, Russia. [Maarten Dirkse]
ABOVE: ‘Jack’s Hack’, 44-61975, on display indoors at the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. [Mike Shreeve] BELOW: One of the biggest restoration projects in aviation, B-29 ‘Docs’ on rollout before fight. [Doc’s Friends]
F L I G H T PAT H | 53
Faith in Australia
One day in 1945, at Garbutt Field, Townsville, a RAAF demolition squad set fire to the bleached, torn and vandalised remains of a once great aircraft. Within a short time nothing but ashes and twisted metal remained, an inadequate monument to one of the nation’s most historic aircraft whose twilight glory was active service in the defence of its homeland. Monty Tyrell recounts the story of the ‘Faith in Australia’.
T
he story began in September 1929 when the original Australian National Airways (ANA) took delivery of the first five Avro Ten airliners built by A.V. Roe in England. Altogether, seven of the fourteen built were sold to Australian firms. These first five were the ‘Southern Cloud (VH-UMF), ‘Southern Star’ (VH-UMG), ‘Southern Sky’ (VH-UMH), ‘Southern Moon’ (VH-UMI), and ‘Southern Sun’ (VH-UNA). ‘Southern Moon’ is the subject of this story. As VH-UMI, the aircraft was utilised with remarkable efficiency on the Brisbane-Sydney-Melbourne-Launceston runs until 1932. During this period in its career it was flown by such aviation greats as Kingsford Smith, Ulm, Mollison, Taylor and Chaseling, and others, who were all members of the ANA team. 54 | F L I G H T PAT H
When the depression forced the airline to cease operations, the ‘Southern Moon’ was due for reconditioning and for some months lay dormant, collecting dust in a hangar at Mascot Airport in Sydney. In late 1932 the government called for tenders on a Singapore-Australia mail contract and, among those who tendered, was former ANA director Charles Ulm. He immediately set about acquiring the aircraft from the liquidators and making it airworthy. His intention was to fly it around the world to give publicity to Australia’s right in general, and his own in particular, to operate the service. During April-May 1933, Ulm spent close to £6000 transforming the old airliner into a long-distance record machine. On the technical side he called in Australian designer
FAR LEFT: VH-UXX probably soon after conversion from VH-UMI, showing the sealed over windows, with cut outs for the navigator. (All photos CAHS Archives) LEFT: VH-UXX at New Plymouth, New Zealand, in December 1933, after a Trans-Tasman crossing carrying the first women to fly across the Tasman Sea. BELOW: VH-UMI, ‘Southern Moon’, while still in service with the original Australian National Airways.
F L I G H T PAT H | 55
ABOVE: Somewhere in Australia. Note the Adastra hangar in the background and the full-length cabin windows. RIGHT: As is clearly evident here, the Avro Ten was a licence-built copy of the Fokker F. VIIB/3m.
Wing Commander L.J. Wackett. Under their supervision the project took shape. The wing was removed and ten 60 gallon tanks, plus two large capacity oil tanks, were installed between the spars. To give more lift, and to accommodate the large load, the span was increased by an additional four feet. When the covering was replaced, the wing was sprayed silver with a large orange patch on the upper surface. The engine nacelles were polished natural aluminium in preparation for new engines. Meanwhile, the fuselage was receiving a thorough face-lift. All of the upholstery and furnishings were removed and in their place went two 260 gallon fuel tanks and beneath the cockpit floor was placed another tank of 110 gallons capacity. Where the cabin and freight doors once were, welders installed extra bracing. A built-up cabin assembly was placed on the cockpit in lieu of the original three-piece windscreen, and technicians fitted a wealth of extra instruments. As the cabin was filled with tanks, the windows, except for the rear ones on each side, were sealed over on recovering, but two ex56 | F L I G H T PAT H
tra observation windows were cut out for the navigator. The fuselage and tail were painted silver. Where the wing was attached to the fuselage, streamlined fillets completed the joint, and to cater for the extra shock absorbers, larger fairings were fixed to the undercarriage and painted grey. The engineers took over and the Lynx motors were replaced with three new Wright Whirlwind J-6 engines. New propellers, more than eight feet in diameter with a five foot pitch, were also acquired. The cowling on the centre unit was polished to match the outboard nacelles and the Wakefield Oil trademark, the major sponsor, applied to each side. The aircraft was christened with its soon to be famous name, ‘Faith in Australia’, and on 7 June 1933 entered the civil register as VHUXX, Type Avrofok 3E. On test flights it proved capable of lifting 16,000 pounds, considerably in excess of the previous gross of 10,212 pounds. Preparations for the world flight were hurried along and on 21 June VH-UXX left Sydney under the command of Ulm, who had G.U. ‘Scotty’ Allen as co-pilot/radio operator, and P.G. Taylor as navigator/relief pilot.
Their hopes were dashed early in the piece through fuel pump troubles and on arrival in Derby, Western Australia, they were a sick and sorry crew due to the inhalation of fuel fumes. The troubles were rectified and the journey to Singapore was uneventful, but, from then on, they had so many engine problems en route that the hope of setting an Australia-England record eluded their grasp. On arrival in England the motors were thoroughly overhauled and a faulty wing tank removed. This made things more shipshape for the Atlantic crossing as in those times an east-west crossing was not the recommended method of making the flight. To decrease the crew’s workload, Ulm signed on an extra member to act as radio operator, one J.A.W. Edwards. When he was satisfied with the condition of the aircraft and his team, Ulm flew to Portmarnock Beach, near Dublin, the take-off point for North America. Irish Air Force personnel immediately set to and loaded 1,000 gallons of fuel, and the aircraft was ready to leave when further troubles beset the dauntless crew.
LEFT: VH-UXX at Daly Waters, Northern Territory, 1935. BELOW: The size of the aircraft is obvious in this image.
As the engines were about to be started, the starboard undercarriage collapsed and the aircraft fell down on the right wing tip, cracking the wing. It then became a race against the incoming tide to empty the fuel as the aircraft was too heavy to move to higher ground away from the water. Despite every effort by the Irish airmen and the crew, it was a fruitless task and very soon VH-UXX was partly submerged in the surf. They could only stand and watch as the sea pounded it relentlessly. On salvage, it was evident a complete rebuild was necessary so the Irish engineers dismantled the remains and it was shipped back to England. When things were at their darkest, Lord Wakefield himself came to the rescue and through his generosity the aircraft was rebuilt at a cost of £1,400. This included a new fuselage. By October the ‘Faith’ was its proud self again, the only evident difference being the full-length cabin windows along the fuselage sides once more. As Edwards had resigned from the venture, Ulm, Allan and Taylor agreed to abandon the world flight and try to regain pres-
tige by setting a record back to Australia. On 12 October they left England and flew day and night in long stages. Stops were made at Athens, Baghdad, Karachi, Gaya, Calcutta, Akyab, Alor Star, Singapore and Surabaya. Each destination was essentially just a pitstop such was the brevity of time spent on the ground. Six days, 17 hours and 56 minutes after leaving England, they reached Australia and set, for those days, a phenomenal record. This stood for twelve months until Scott and Black virtually halved it in the DH.88 Comet during the MacRobertson Centenary Air Race. However, for the type of aircraft flown by Ulm, Allen and Taylor, it was a really creditable performance. Despite these efforts, Charles Ulm lost on the air-mail contract tender, the original purpose of the flight. He therefore cast his eyes towards the Tasman and the Pacific, parallel to the ambitions of his old friend, ‘Smithy’. With Allen and H. Boulton (as Taylor was flying with ‘Smithy’ on similar deals), Ulm set about survey flights and, between 3 December, and 2 July 1934, made six Tasman crossings. On the first flight
they carried two passengers, Mrs. Ulm and Miss Rogers, and these two ladies gained the honour of being the first women to fly across the Tasman. On the second flight, the first official New Zealand-Australia air mail was carried. The load consisted of 41,000 letters and 600 pounds of air freight. Through these six flights, and two earlier ones with ‘Smithy’ in 1928, Ulm gained the widest experience of any airman on the Tasman’s weather variations. His survey work proved invaluable for the airlines that commenced regular Tasman operations many years after his death. During these Tasman flights, ‘Faith’ had another face-lift. Just before the second return flight, the large fuselage tanks were removed and the cabin was re-upholstered and equipped with thirteen wicker seats for passengers. A tail wheel and pneumatically-operated brakes on the main wheels were also fitted. In late July 1934, Ulm flew VH-UXX from Melbourne to Lae in New Guinea and return with the first official New Guinea air-mail. After his death in late 1934 (in Airspeed Envoy VH-UXY while attempting a trans-Pacific F L I G H T PAT H | 57
RIGHT: The man on the far right is almost certainly P.G. Taylor. A highly skilled navigator and pilot in his own right, he would make a career out of crossing oceans by air. BELOW: The end is near.
THE AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA The Aviation Historical Society (AHSA) was formed in 1959 and has members in all Australian states and in several overseas countries. Part of our Statement of Purpose is: • To encourage and assist the research and writing of Australian aviation history. • To record the achievements of Australian aviation and its people. • To produce journals relating to Australian aviation history. Since the inception of the AHSA, a journal has been produced. Now titled “Aviation Heritage”, and published quarterly, it covers all aspects of Australian civil and military aviation and is now in its 45th volume. A quarterly newsletter gives information on current events and short historical articles. Visit www.ahsa.org.au for further information and to download a membership application form or email: editor@ahsa.org.au
58 | F L I G H T PAT H
flight), the ‘Faith’ was not used until May 1935. The only time it was in the news during this period was when the government refused to buy it as a national relic for £6000. While it was inactive, Kingsford Smith was making plans for a Jubilee Air Mail Tasman flight by two aircraft in formation to further interest in the possibility of a regular service. As the ‘Southern Cross’ was to be one, the ‘Faith in Australia’ was the logical second choice, so arrangements were made with the trustees of Ulm’s estate to charter it. There was much work to be done on the engines and tankage system, and plans were pushed ahead for it to be flown by P.G. Taylor in command, while Smithy commanded the old ‘Southern Cross’. At the last moment the plans were shelved after all of the preparations as insufficient mail and freight had come to warrant the expense of both aircraft. VH-UXX was therefore returned to its hangar and ‘Smithy’, along with Taylor and John Stannage, took the ‘Southern Cross’ only. Strangely enough, the decision to dump the ‘Faith’ saved both aircraft from being lost in the Tasman due to an extraordinary coincidence. Within a period of flying time similar to the misfortune that befell the ‘Southern Cross’, the central engine of the ‘Faith’ blew a cylinder off into the port propeller. This occurred in August 1935 in central Australia while carrying seven passengers under the command of John Chapman. Those who have read the story of the ‘Southern Cross’ will be impressed by the almost supernatural coincidence. Had the aircraft been together both would have
been lost through similar causes, about the same time, in the Tasman, as the original plan called for Taylor to be flying the ‘Faith’ on the Tasman crossing, and it was Taylor’s bravery that saved the ‘Southern Cross’. Until 1938, when it was bought by Kingsford Smith Aviation Service, the ‘Faith’ was stationed at Mascot and used by Eastern Air Transport for joy-riding and aerial advertising. For this part of its career large illuminated signs were fitted beneath the wings and it made for a strange night-time sight flying over Sydney. During this period the centre Whirlwind was removed and replaced with one of the original British Lynx engines. On 21 May 1941, it was sold to a firm in Wau, New Guinea, called Stephens Aviation. As soon as Stephens took delivery, they put it straight into the workshop for modifications and a first class refit. Work done included the removal of the Lynx engine yet again and the substitution of a nine-cylinder Wright Whirlwind J-5. It was also equipped with the original instrument panel, as Ulm had originally installed extra instruments during the first rebuild. Just as all this work was drawing to a close, war broke out in the Pacific in December 1941, so the final jobs were hurried along. In January 1942,‘Faith’ took to the air once more, but this time it was painted a matt olive-green with a RAAF fin flash. During late January and February, flown by E.J. Stephens and pilot Collins, the aircraft was used to carry Australian soldiers and civilians from Wau to Port Moresby. All of this was
done under the very noses of the Japanese. The last flight was late February 1942, when it flew an evacuation trip from Horn Island to Townsville under the command of Captain Stephens. After landing at Garbutt Field, he was refused permission to return to the war zone so the aircraft was left with the RAAF and Stephens proceeded to Melbourne. As its condition wasn’t exactly first class, the RAAF did not utilise the aircraft, so the DCA surveyor, Mr. Pat Hawes, was brought up from Brisbane for an inspection. He checked the old aircraft thoroughly and it was mutually agreed that shortage of spares, plus the cost, would not justify reconditioning work. Even though the Allied air forces were sorely pressed for transports, the Americans weren’t interested either, so once more the ‘Faith’ collected dust for twelve months. It was eventually wheeled out of the hangar to make room for military aircraft and parked behind the rifle butts. In 1944 an appeal was launched to ascertain if it could be made airworthy once more by obtaining parts from other Avro Ten airliners left in Australia. The purpose was to use the airliner in a film being made of Kingsford Smith’s life and then either install it in a museum or present it to the Air Training Corps. However, insufficient parts were obtained for what was, by now, a complete derelict, as the harsh tropical weather and souvenir hunters had reaped a grim harvest. As even a pseudo-restoration was impossible, VH-UXX was taken off the register on 2 September 1944 and duly burnt, another victim of the wastage of war.
ABOVE: VH-UXX is battered on Portmarnock beach in Ireland. LEFT: VH-UXX, looking worse for wear, at Garbutt Field, Townsville, 1943.
F L I G H T PAT H | 59
The Hart(s) of
Australian
Aviation by Neil Follett
M
ention the name Hart to any aviation enthusiast and three different people come to the fore: W.E. Hart, the first Australian to be issued with a flying licence in Australia; E.J. Hart, long-time owner and editor of ‘Aircraft’ magazine; and J.R. Hart of Hart’s Aircraft Services. Same name, but not related.
W.E. Hart William Ewart Hart was born at Parramatta, NSW, in 1885 and trained as a dentist. He practiced this occupation in West Wyalong for five years before returning to Sydney. Having an interest in aviation, he purchased a Bristol Boxkite from J.J. Hammond in September 1911 and basically taught himself to fly. He made many flights in the Parramatta/Penrith area and, on 16 November 1911, he completed a series of tests set by the Royal Aero Club of Great Britain, with the Aerial League of Australia as its examiner. He thus became the first person to qualify for a pilot’s licence in Australia. He participated in demonstration flights and, in January of 1912, opened the Hart School of Aviation at Ham Common, now part of the Richmond RAAF Base. On 29 June 1912, he took part in the now famous race with ‘Wizard’ Stone. On 4 September 1912, he was testing a two-seat monoplane he had built when he sustained serious injuries after it crashed from 200 feet. He returned to his dentistry profession and thereafter only had a mild involvement with aviation. He did design, build and fly a biplane in 1913/14 and briefly saw service as a ground instructor with the AFC in the Middle East during the Great War. He died in 1943 at the age of 58, still working as a dentist at the time.
E.J. Hart Edward J. Hart was born in England around 1885. It is not known when he arrived in Australia, but the first mention of him in newspapers was in January 1920 60 | F L I G H T PAT H
when he was referred to as the founder and honorary secretary of the Australian Aero Club (NSW Section). In March 1921 he commenced as editor of ‘Aircraft’ magazine and became the sole proprietor from March 1922, selling his interest in October 1930. Hart joined the committee of the Australian Aero Club – Victorian Section in late 1925. He resigned shortly afterwards and was later reelected as a member of the club. In September 1926, he was appointed Press Representative and was invited to attend committee meetings. This caused the committee some displeasure when Hart published some of the domestic affairs of the club in ‘Aircraft’. During his time as editor, many of his editorials had the acerbic touch, much like those penned by the editor of English magazine ‘The Aeroplane’, C.G. Grey. Hart frequently denounced record-breaking flights as ‘stunts’, and seemed to take a vitriolic view of anything associated with Charles Ulm. He even called the Kingsford Smith forced landing, in what became known as the Coffee Royal Affair, a deliberate act to gain publicity. He was called as a witness in the inquiry into the deaths of Anderson and Hitchcock who perished in the desert after a forced landing while en route to search for ‘Smithy’. He returned to his native England in 1931 and during the war years (W.W.II) he was a correspondent for the ‘Sunday Express’. It is believed he flew on several operational bombing raids and reported on them for his newspaper. He did not completely sever his aviation connection with Australia. In the December 1958 issue of ‘Aircraft’ magazine, he wrote an article on the early days of Australian aviation. When the inaugural Qantas jet service from London to Sydney was flown in September 1959 by Boeing 707 VH-EBB, Edward Hart was an invited passenger. He wrote of the experience in the December 1959 issue of ‘Aircraft’.
BELOW: An aerial view of Hart Aircraft Service hangars at Essendon. RIGHT: The principals of Hart Aircraft Service as published in Aircraft magazine of July 1932.
LEFT: E.W. Hart in the Bristol Boxkite purchased from J.J. Hammond. BELOW: The aviator’s certificate issued to William Ewart Hart by the Aerial League of Australia.
F L I G H T PAT H | 61
On 19 November 1962, three RAF Avro Vulcans, together with a Bristol Britannia support aircraft, arrived in Perth as part of a round-theworld flight taking part in flypasts for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Commonwealth and Empire Games. One of those accompanying the flight was Edward J. Hart.
J.R. Hart James Robert Hart was the founder of Hart Aircraft Services Ltd at Melbourne’s Essendon Aerodrome in 1929. Known as Bob, he began his aviation career in 1912, serving with 2 Squadron RFC and remaining with them until 1920. He had served as a gunner flying with Hereward de Havilland. He came to Australia and joined the Shaw-Ross Aviation Co., having previously met Major Harry Shaw at Waddington, a training base in England, where Shaw was the C.O. of 47 Squadron RFC. In 1925, Hart and his wife visited England, returning the next year to accept an appointment as the first ground engineer for the Australian Aero club - Victorian Section. He later joined the Civil Aviation Department at Essendon Aerodrome and served as the resident government engineer for three years. In August 1929, and with the involvement of several prominent businessmen interested in aviation, he founded Hart Aircraft Services Limited. The directors of the company were Bob Hart as managing director and chief engineer, Mr N. Trescowthik, chairman, Mr J. Turner, director and chief pilot and Mr. Royce, secretary. Noel Trescowthik was a former Lieutenant with 1 Squadron AFC and was the first owner of de Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth VH-UKV, which was re-registered in the name of Hart Aircraft Services Pty Ltd in September 1929. Jack Turner was a Flying Officer in the Citizen Air Force.
62 | F L I G H T PAT H
Hart Aircraft Services was set up at Essendon Aerodrome to service and maintain aircraft. They obtained an agency for Desoutter aircraft, importing two which were registered VH-UPR and VH-UPS. VH-UPS was sold to Mr Lee Murray and VH-UPR was operated by Harts. In 1931, de Havilland Hawk Moth, VHUNW, was purchased from de Havilland’s and proved to be a very good revenue earner for the company. Many prominent aviators of the day used Harts to service their aircraft including Charles Kingsford Smith, Arthur Butler and Irene Dean-Williams. A story is told of an engine sent to the company for a complete overhaul. When advised that the engine was ready the owner sent a telegram saying, “Send engine, if O.K., will send cheque”. A reply was sent back saying, “Send cheque, if O.K., will send engine”. The ex-Australian National Airways Avro Ten VH-UMG was purchased in 1933 and commenced a weekly Melbourne to Launceston service until early 1934. Hart Aircraft Services ceased trading when taken over by Victorian Interstate Airways in September 1937. James ‘Bob’ Hart, the first licenced aviation ground engineer in Australia, died at Essendon on 27 May 1951, aged 60.
ABOVE: Charles Kingsford Smith’s Percival Gull, G-ACJV, in front of Hart’s hangar at Essendon. The Hawk Moth can be seen behind the Gull. BELOW: Avro Ten VH-UMG at Essendon. Mathews Aviation hangar in background.
ABOVE: Some of Hart’s staff with Gipsy Moth VH-UKV behind them. LEFT: Hart Aircraft Services de Havilland DH.75 Hawk Moth, VH-UNW.
F L I G H T PAT H | 63
Deadly Compromise – Japanese gunners Versus Low-level Strafers in New Guinea By South Pacific Correspondent Michael John Claringbould
O
n 9 July 1944, two USAAF squadrons of A-20G Havoc strafers headed for a hornet's nest of anti-aircraft guns surrounding a remote jungle field called Babo. In retrospect it is easy to discern that the mission would inevitably incur casualties for little return. Such missions sacrificed Allied crews for little gain and this particular one underlines the futility of much of the later Pacific aerial campaign. The fog of war hangs over the rationale of how and why the mission was authorised, given that there were apparently so few or no worthwhile targets. More poignantly, the mission's results reflect a deadly game that was played out between low level Allied attackers and Japanese defenders. As the war progressed, the latter became increasingly proficient at hit-
A grinning First Lieutenant Earl Hill is surrounded by the ground crew of ‘Strictly Eager!’ at Gusap in March 1944. Shortly afterwards Hill was allocated his own A-20G which he named ‘Jungle Princess’. [Len Happ collection]
64 | F L I G H T PAT H
ting low flying targets, by adjusting altitude fuses and azimuth tactics accordingly. Particularly effective was the rapid-fire 25mm twin-mount anti-aircraft gun. The principal weapons used by USAAF strafers were forward-firing nose machine-guns. The A-20G was fitted with six 0.50in calibre Brownings per aircraft. However, the Havocs also carried four 500 lb bombs. If they detonated prematurely at such low altitudes, they could cleanly remove aircraft from the sky, as had already occurred on several occasions. To reduce this risk, by mid-1944 most units had replaced the 4-5 second fuse with the 8-15 second fuse. The result was that formations had to space out more to allow time for the bombs from the waves ahead to detonate. This longer interval gave Japanese gunners time to revise the altitude set-
tings for their AA shells, a lethal capability Allied operations officers knew of only too well. Many robust discussions had raged at New Guinea air bases over balancing the consideration of time-over-target against the danger posed by prematurely exploding bombs. The 8-15 second fuses forced an interval between attacking flights of twenty to thirty seconds. This meant well over a minute between four waves of attackers and this was ample time to both assess and change the fuse settings on the Japanese ammunition. Thus it happened that most leading flights came though relatively unscathed, while the following attackers, particularly the third and fourth waves, bore the brunt of more accurately fused shells. Such was the case on this mission, reflecting a textbook Japanese defence.
LEFT Colonel Robert Strauss sits astride his A-20G affectionately named ‘Old S’ by everyone in the Group. Several days after the mission, a defective 25mm shell was removed from the bomb bay when found by engineers servicing the aircraft.
rt of ‘Queen of Spades’ (the white Captain Ken Hedges admires the fresh nosea just before the Babo mission. The lettering needs to be filled in) at Hollandia BS logo. Jo DiLorenzo, the 389th the was t jacke Donald Duck patch on the ft. He was engaged to artist, decorated nearly all the squadron’s aircra of the Havocs was named. one whom after illen American model Claire McQu
In the mid 1930s the colonial Netherlands Dutch East Indies authorities built Babo airfield on a remote plain near the top of New Guinea's 'vogelkopf' (bird's head), not far from the mangrove coastline of Maccluer Gulf. The remote airfield became the final stop on the island for Royal Netherlands Indies Airways' (KNILM) routes in Dutch New Guinea, then operating Fokker F.XII and DC-2 transports. In those days Babo was about as far away from anywhere as one could get. Against the looming backdrop of Japanese expansionism, in November 1941 the RAAF, with the assistance of Dutch civilian authorities, upgraded the airstrip for military use. Babo airfield and nearby township were bombed on 30 December 1941 by Japanese H6K flying boats. Three civilians were killed. As a direct Australian response, three 13 Squadron RAAF Hudsons were dispatched to Babo in the vain hope of deterring similar future attacks. Their temporary
deployment was bolstered by the arrival of a Dutch garrison of approximately 200 men, rushed there to both defend the area and clear a second runway. The work proved advantageous to Japanese strategic planning, for, on 2 April 1942, a Japanese detachment occupied the town and airfield. The latter was developed into a major base before the Japanese Army’s 7th Air Division and miscellaneous Navy units moved in. In the early stages of the war Babo was used primarily as a staging point to regional airfields extending all the way to Rabaul and, later, Hollandia and Wewak. The Japanese continued to expand facilities. They lengthened the second runway. The runways boasted lengths of 1,460 and 830 metres and were given all-weather surfaces. Bomber and fighter revetments were constructed, but could not be built high due to a lack of engineering equipment. As the war progressed, some were constructed from
ABOVE: Sergeant Nathan Adler at Nadzab showing a 65th BS jacket, the squadron from which he transferred from to the 389th. His three-month old dog ‘Champagne’ logged fourteen combat missions (and two training sorties) including missions over Noemfoor, Otawiri, Nabire, Babo, Boela and Biak. Adler even ensured that the correct paperwork was filled out for ‘Champagne’ whose War Department Form 5 ‘Individual Flight Record’ reveals that the pooch held no rank, had no flight qualifications, but occupied the position of ‘observer’ during such flights. [Brian Onish collection] F L I G H T PAT H | 65
logs, but this reflected more the Japanese lack of engineering capacity at Babo rather than gullibility. The log revetments in particular failed to protect most airframes. Such basic deficiencies cost the Japanese dearly. Babo's main deterrence was its complement of anti-aircraft weapons. Low level approach was facilitated by the geography of the wide Kasira River, and multiple wellplaced gun emplacements enabled a wide azimuth firing range for incoming attacks. Thus, the primary target for B-24 Liberator high altitude attacks was these gun pits. The odds on a direct hit, necessary to neutralise such weapons, was low. Accordingly, Babo maintained its lethal deterrent throughout the Japanese military occupation. Throughout early 1944, with Wewak's airfields mostly neutralised, Babo's main role continued to be as a staging base, principally for Hollandia. On 7 Feb 1943, the first Allied reprisal air raid against Babo took place in the form of a solitary B-24 Liberator. The focus of Allied effort was still very much in Australian New Guinea, particularly against the coastal airfields leading up towards Babo. On 3 April 1944, Babo underwent its first low level attack (B-25 Mitchell strafers). Japanese fighters were slow to react as they lacked an early warning system. Sporadic low level attacks continued. Such attacks were conducted by large numbers of aircraft to minimise focused targeting of individual aircraft by AA as they crossed the wide target area. The strafers were often escorted by fighters. On 3 June 1944, a P-38 was shot down during an overhead dogfight, but it was rare that Babo offered staunch fighter opposition. A low level raid with fighter escort encountered no enemy fighters three days later. Allied crews appreciated that Babo's more lethal defence remained with its ferocious AA capacity. On 17 June 1944, two 3rd Bombardment Group (BG) Havocs were lost. The first crashed into a valley during its approach along the Kasira River. The second crew was forced to ditch with an engine out. They made the shore in their life raft only to be captured and executed. The 388th and 389th Bombardment Squadrons (BS) of the 312th BG were ordered to conduct a low-level raid against Babo on 9 July 1944. At this stage of the war the strafers were running out of valid targets, but the offensive had to continue. Perhaps Allied intelligence indicated that Japanese aircraft would be staging through the area that day. Regardless, aerial reconnaissance showed that the field hosted almost no serviceable aircraft. At this stage, Babo was cut-off, neutralised and posed little threat to the Allied war effort apart from its capacity as a staging field. The Group's commanding officer, Colonel Robert Strauss, flying ‘Old S’, led twentyfour A-20Gs in four flights of six over the target. The first flight of the 388th BS was met with intense AA fire, machine gun fire, and even the occasional mortar. Later, a defective 25mm shell was located in the bomb bay of Strauss’ aircraft. Its failure to detonate saved the crew’s life. The 388th BS had four aircraft damaged, but lost none. The 66 | F L I G H T PAT H
Japanese AA gunners used the minute delay between the first and third waves to adjust their fuse settings, so the second wave of 388th attackers was spared any flak bursts. Following them directly, the approaching third and fourth waves (the 389th BS) clearly saw the AA burst too high as the first wave went over the target. Each A-20G echelon of six aircraft tried to evenly spread out line abreast, limiting manoeuvrability for strafing options. Squadron leader for the 389th BS that day was Captain Kenneth Hedges, promoted from first lieutenant the week before, flying his brand new assigned A-20G named ‘Queen of Spades’. One of his accompanying Havocs, named ‘Oh Please!’, carried an extra passenger in the rear compartment. Turret gunner Staff Sergeant Nathan Adler, on his thirtyfourth combat mission, had brought along his pet dog 'Champagne'. Hedges led the third wave. "I followed the Group Commander … we came in low along a river [Kasira River] from the south in four flights of six planes each when the commander and his first six went over the strip. AA shells were bursting much higher than we were flying as the second six of the lead squadron went over I never saw a shot fired and knew they were busy changing the fuses on the AA shells. When we got there the shells were bursting right out of the gun barrels . . . out of my left window my wingman was on fire I pulled into close formation and saw my tent mate slumped into the cockpit which was a ball of fire the right wing broke away at the fuselage and the plane slid sideways into the water. Out the right window was another wingman low over the water, he touched the water, then flew a little farther and landed in the water. Apparently the pilot had tripped the canopy and loosened his seat belt and shoulder harness before landing as the crash threw him out." Hedges’ tent mate was First Lieutenant Earl Hill in ‘Jungle Princess’ with gunner Sergeant Ray Glacken. The bomber rolled slowly as the wing came off then hit the water and nosed over, killing both crew. Wingman First Lieutenant Walter Sparks ditched much further out into the bay. As he was thrown from the cockpit both arms were broken and he was unable to inflate his life jacket. He shouted for assistance, but by the time Sergeant Howard Williams got there, Sparks had sunk beneath the mild swell. He was never recovered. Further along the flightline, First Lieutenant Walter Van, with gunner Staff Sergeant Gilbert Cooper, received a direct hit to their right engine. The bomber rolled uncontrollably into one of Babo's taxiways and exploded. Thus the mission cost the 389th BS three aircraft and five crew. Nearly every 389th BS bomber received hits of some nature. ‘Stefcia’, flown by First Lieutenant Lee Anderson, received a glancing hit to the engine that blew out four cylinders. Anderson coaxed the bomber back to Hollandia on reduced power. ‘Oh Please!’, flown by First Lieutenant Buskey, lost a nose gun from another hit.
LEFT: Sergeant Howard Williams (back to camera) survived a ditching off Babo but could not get to his pilot in time, while the two gunners who lost their lives that day were Sergeants (L to R) Gilbert Cooper and Ray Glacken. This card scene was taken at Hollandia only days before the mission. The fourth man across, Sergeant William Thibideau, was killed a few weeks later. Sergeant Irving Cohen, on the far right, survived the war. [Brian Onish collection] BELOW: To the left of ‘Queen of Spades’, First Lieutenant Earl Hill and Sergeant Ray Glacken sustained a direct hit to ‘Jungle Princess’. The starboard wing spar gave way and their Havoc crashed into the water offshore. To the right, First Lieutenant Walter Sparks and Sergeant Howard Williams ditched offshore after losing power to both engines. Only Williams survived. The 389th painted the tips of their wings white as a formation marking, while the white strip across the wing join is duct tape to keep water out of electrical plugs.
ABOVE: The 389th BS in formation over New Guinea’s expansive Ramu Valley. This photo was taken around March 1944 when the squadron was based at Gusap. The furthest A-20G is ‘Oh Please!’. It was flown by First Lieutenant Buskey and Sergeant Nathan Adler on the Babo mission. LEFT: Examination of this strike photo from the 9 July 1944 attack at high resolution reveals no airworthy airframes in sight. Scores of damaged A6M3s, Ki-43-IIs, Ki-48s, Ki-46s and G4M1s litter the field and few buildings are left intact. The Japanese left behind at Babo eventually lived out the war surviving off market gardens. Some even took the initiative of removing engines from airframes left on the field in the hope it would lessen the chances of further Allied air attack. The numerals ‘318’ at top right of photo indicate this photo was taken from A-20G Havoc 43-21318, named ‘Stefcia’. Flown by First Lieutenant Lee Anderson, it lost four cylinders in one engine when it was hit by flak. [Brian Onish collection] F L I G H T PAT H | 67
Hedges regrouped the 389th BS away from the airfield. "I contacted the PBY that always accompanied us on missions such as this, he was across a range of mountains to our east, but was hesitant about coming into the gulf because there was no fighter cover. I assured him that we would stay there with him. I'm sure we wouldn't have been much help with most of our ammunition gone, but he dropped in over the mountains, I put another pilot leading the group, circling at a distance, then got in close formation with the PBY and led him to the downed gunner. They landed and picked him up . . . I asked him to circle to the site of the first wingman's crash, which couldn't have been more than half a mile off the end of the Babo strip, he did so (beyond the call of duty) but could find nothing but debris, no sign of life. They then took off and with a long climb ahead to get back over the mountains asked us to stay with them until we all got out of there and back to more friendly territory. I still wonder why there were no shots fired from the Babo strip with all this activity going on, not too far offshore. They may not have had many, if any, fighters still flyable to put in the air, we had just hit them a pretty good lick!"
The 389th BS made it back to Hollan-dia behind the 388th which suffered fourr o hits to their aircraft. Hedges returned to his quarters. d "In my tent two of us were pilots and two were squadron administration of-n ficers. It was not uncommon to return from a combat mission to find that thee two administration officers had divid-n ed our possessions and had it all on their cots. This was done in good hu-mour and we all took it as good fun ass we were all close friends. The day of thee Babo mission was not one of those days." Gunner Nathan Adler later summa-rised the mission in his diary, "…very in-tense AA & MG fire. The roughest mis-sion I have ever encountered.” All crewss logged six and a quarter hours for thee mission, a lengthy one for the Havoc byy any standards. Final word is best leftt with squadron operations officer Nathan-iel Rothstein who reported shortly afterr … the mission with this understatement, "… however lucrative a target it might be,, Babo was not yet a suitable target for two squadrons of A-20s.” Sources: photos and diary of Nathan Adler from Brian Onish, letters from Ken Hedges 1984, and 389th BS official records.
This low level strike photo of Babo was taken in May 1944 by a 38th BG Mitchell bomber. The Ki-48 ‘Lily’ bomber with 34th Sentai markings is perhaps airworthy, but it can be seen that the Japanese removed many destroyed aircraft to a dump which contains remains of a Ki-61, an A6M3 and several Ki-43-IIs. To the left, logs have been readied to build further protective revetments. Two trucks are also in the photo.
68 | F L I G H T PAT H
ABOVE: A graduation photo of First Lieutenant Walter Sparks who ditched a fair way from shore after losing both engines. He undid his harness before impact, however, and was thrown forward of the cockpit, breaking both arms in the process and drowned before help could arrive. [Brian Onish collection]
LEFT: The 389th BS camp area at Hollandia in July 1944. The small sign in the middle background reads “Club Les Miserables”. The gentleman in the photo is Sergeant Butler, a crew chief with the squadron. [Brian Onish collection]
BELOW: Captain Kenneth Hedges led the ill-fated 389th BS over Babo in the A-20G-40 (43-21309) that he named ‘Queen of Spades’. It arguably had the most colourful noseart in the squadron and carried the tail letter ‘H’ to match Hedges’ surname. This rendition depicts the low approach made over the Kasira River leading to the target.
F L I G H T PAT H | 69
A very tidy looking Hawker Tempest Mk.V, NV937, taxies to the runway at Volkel. This aircraft’s time on the squadron was brief as, within two weeks of its arrival, it struck a tree during an op at the end of March. Its pilot, Brian O’Connor, made it home safely without injury, but the Tempest’s damage was too extensive for the squadron to repair. It did, however, return to operational flying with 3 Squadron RAF, also part of 122 Wing, and its pilot shared in the destruction of a Fieseler Storch on 3 May. O’Connor’s war was much longer. He joined 486 in December 1943, no doubt barely having time to cut his teeth on the Typhoon before the arrival of the Tempests. Remarkably, he would shoot down the unit’s first V-1, on 16 June 1944, and then claim its last one at the end of August, for a score of nine and one shared destroyed. To this he added a Fw 190 in April 1945 and a well-earned DFC. [All images RNZAF Official, Air Force Museum of New Zealand]
Hiwa hau Maka! While sourcing additional images for the Leo McAuliffe Tempest feature in Flightpath (Vol 28, No.1), Matthew O’Sullivan, keeper of photographs at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, sent several beautifully clear images of 486 Squadron RNZAF from the collection’s extensive archive. Contributing editor Andy Wright briefly outlines the impressive wartime history of this unit.
O
f all the RNZAF squadrons that served during W.W.II, and they were all remarkable, one fighter unit is almost instantly recognised by many enthusiasts. This is largely because of the aircraft flown in the last year of the war and, of course, the men who flew them. Formed in March 1942 as a night fighter unit flying Hurricanes, 486 Squadron’s war was not a relatively long one, barely three years, but what it lacked in longevity, it made up in operational intensity. Starting quietly, the Hurricanes made way for Typhoons, and the unit’s role changed to intercepting low level raiders, usually Luftwaffe fighters, in late 1942. The Typhoons became dedicated fighter-bombers in mid1943 before what remains the ultimate Allied fighter of the war, the Hawker Tempest, arrived in early 1944. Shortly after being fully equipped 70 | F L I G H T PAT H
with the new type, the squadron returned to interception work to counter the V-1 flying bomb threat following the Normandy invasion. Its pilots, in arguably the best aircraft for the job, claimed well in excess of 200 of the vengeance weapons to be ranked as the second highest scoring unit in the ‘anti-Diver’ role. As the Allied armies advanced through Occupied Europe, the squadrons followed. The Kiwis arrived in Belgium at the end of September, but set up shop at Volkel, in the Netherlands, several days later. They would remain there, flying interceptions, armed recces and ground attack sorties until mid-April 1945. Volkel, as a major base developed by the Luftwaffe, received its fair share of attention from Allied bombers. Indeed, a month before the Kiwis and their Wing moved in, the airfield had been
severely damaged by Bomber Command. Only the runways were rebuilt. The airfield was subject to regular raids by Luftwaffe jets, but, while a target of Operation Bodenplatte, the Germans’ last ditch effort on New Year’s Day 1945, it escaped attention. The pilots’ quarters, because of the attacks in late 1944, were in a monastery, complete with monks, some distance from the airfield. The ever-suffering groundcrew first lived in tents and then huts built on site and dispersed among the trees. The winter of 1944-45 was a particularly harsh one. Serviceability suffered as a result, but the groundcrew, of course, were always up to the task in between the daily clearing of snow from the runway. The weather improved as 1945 progressed and it was during this time the images in this essay were taken. They show a squadron at the top of its game.
LEFT: (left to right) Flight Lieutenant John Stafford, Squadron Leader Keith Taylor-Cannon, Flying Officer Owen Eagleson and Flight Lieutenant Andrew Evans (known by his middle name of Ralph). All four would receive the DFC for their service with 486 Squadron. Taylor-Cannon would also receive a Bar to his DFC and commanded the squadron from mid-February until he was shot down by flak on 13 April. ‘Hyphen’ was an exceptionally popular CO due, in no small part, to his arrival on the squadron as an NCO straight out of OTU in 1942 and subsequent climb through the ranks. Stafford, Taylor-Cannon and Eagleson were all successful against the V-1s in 1944 with the latter leading the squadron with a score of twenty and three shared. ‘Ginger’ Eagleson, like Taylor-Cannon, was shot down incredibly close to the cessation of hostilities, on 2 May, but survived to be captured, whereupon he escaped only to be captured again. He was on the loose again on 4 May. Evans joined the unit in October 1944 and was shot down on 15 April, after claiming his second victory, but evaded and was back with the squadron in short order. He closed out the month with another two victories and a probable. ‘Jack’ Stafford, like Eagleson and Evans, would command ‘A’ Flight for a short time in 1945. Among his claims was the first confirmed Me 262 for the squadron, shared with Robert Bremner, shot down on Christmas Day 1944.
ABOVE: Squadron armourers - (left to right) ‘Bert’ Aldridge, Danny Jago, and Eric Burgess - performing maintenance on a 20mm Hispano cannon. The short barrel Hispano Mark V caused a few problems early on due to a faulty front mounting and it was left to the intrepid armourers to produce the solution. Aldridge, Jago and Burgess all served with the squadron from 1942. BELOW: A fine study of a Tempest at Volkel. Note the surface of the taxiway. Much of the dispersals and runways were bricks laid over sand by Dutch labourers. ABOVE: Ralph Evans taxies Tempest NV988 out for an op. This was the aircraft in which he made his second claim, a Fw 190, on 15 April, and in which he was shot down shortly after. Hampered by his inability to drop the auxiliary fuel tanks, the Tempest was hit after recovering from a spin, and Evans bailed out. BELOW: Tempest SA-X taxies out at what is believed to be Volkel. If this photo was taken at the same time as the other images, then, based on the short stay of NV937 (flown into a tree by Brian O’Connor on 28 March), this aircraft is likely to be EJ888 as it arrived on strength on 8 March 1945 and did not leave until September.
F L I G H T PAT H | 71
Mailbag
Nomad Homestay G’day Rob, re the RTAF museum Nomad display in the last edition (Flightpath Vol 28, No. 2), here are a few photos I took in September 2011 of the ‘Nomad Homestay’ at Phitsanulok Airport/Air Force Base in Thailand. Back then there was a lot of controversy over this with some of the local government officials asking how the operators could buy the aircraft as scrap and re-use them as a home stay and make money out of them. I am not sure if ‘Nomad Homestay’ ever opened, but have seen on the web that they are still there, they had twin beds, air conditioners and a toilet down the back where the entrance is. Dean Milner, Motueka, NZ ABOVE: Two of the ex-Royal Thai military Nomads kitted out for overnight accommodation. [Dean Milner]
LEFT: A RTAF Nomad awaiting its refit. [Dean Milner]
Airacobra Information Dear Rob, with reference to Michael Claringbould’s article ‘When Plan A Fails’, in the last edition (Flightpath Vol 28, No. 2), I can provide more details on the 41st Fighter Squadron’s defence of Port Moresby during the 12 April 1943 raid. Culton claimed one Single Seat Fighter (SSF) after his hospital recovery. He was led by Captain Albert Schinz in P-39D ‘R’ (serial 41-38509) who also claimed a SSF, as did 1/Lt Dugan Woodring, in P-39D ‘Q’ (serial 41-38338) ‘Nip’s Nemesis II’, and 1/Lt James Palmer in P-39K 42-4363. Others in the Airacobra formation included 2/Lt Lloyd Rosser in P39D1 41-38500 and 1/Lt Roy Lawhorn in P-39D-1 41-38369. Both claimed bombers. Neither 1/ Lt Tony Prince, in P-39D-1 ‘P’ (41-38506), or 2/Lt Roy Owen, in P-400 BW128, made claims. Gordon Birkett, Qld. 72 | F L I G H T PAT H
Dear Gordon, many thanks for the extra information. Many sources state that four Airacobras were lost that day. Aside from Culton and Dick Kimball, the loss of pilots Keating and Ferguson are also cited, however this is incorrect. The names Keating and Ferguson are drawn from the excellent biography ‘Nanette’ by Ted Park who flew with the 41st FS in 1943. These two names are fictional, with the former actually being Kimball and the latter Culton. Park says in his introduction that he used fictional names throughout his narrative to protect privacy. This was the last large-scale bombing of Port Moresby by the Japanese who put up 131 ‘Zeroes’ in three separate contingents: overhead cover comprised 23 from ‘Zuikaku’, fifteen from ‘Junyo’,
and eighteen from ‘Hiyo’ (less one abort). Escort for the 751st Kokutai ‘Betty’ bombers was eighteen from the 253rd Kokutai, and fourteen from ‘Zuiho’. Escorting the 705th Kokutai were 24 from the 204th Kokutai, and twenty from the 582nd Kokutai fighter contingent (this unit also operated ‘Val’ dive bombers). The 751st Kokutai lost seven ‘Bettys’ (five shot down, one MIA, and one crashed at Lae killing one crew.) The 705th lost no ‘Bettys’ although eleven sustained combat damage including two that made emergency landings at Lae and Gasmata. There were no ‘Zero’ losses, although one collided with another when landing at Rabaul. Hopefully one day someone will find the missing 751st Kokutai ‘Betty’! MJC
Mailbag
Oxford Today, Again
MAIN: The last flying Oxford on approach. [Adrian M Balch] LEFT: A barn built to fit an Oxford centre section, Rocky View County, Alberta. [via Mark Peapell] ABOVE: The crew from the Harvard Historical Aviation Society recovering the genuine ‘barn find’ Oxford. [via Mark Peapell] After the last feature on the Oxford (Flightpath Vol 28, No. 2), we have received some great feedback. First, Adrian M Balch kindly supplied a rare photo of the Skyfame Aircraft Museum Airspeed Oxford G-AHTW (V3388) on landing approach. This was the last airworthy example of the type and, notwithstanding various restoration projects underway today, is likely to remain so. JK Hi James, I can add a couple of potential other projects that are around this part of
the globe. Frank Thompson has a complete Oxford that has been restored by a group in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan. I am not sure where the airframe is located, but I have seen a picture of it somewhere (I just can’t find it!). It does, however, exist in a very complete form. The pictures above are from a recent, November 2015, recovery from a farmer’s barn. In fact all the barn held was Oxford. The group that recovered it is the Harvard Historical Aviation Society, which is located at the airfield in Penhold, Alberta. The Oxford
was found in Rocky View County, Alberta. The Calgary Aero-Space Museum had a fairly complete project that I photographed way back in 1987. I am not sure if they still have the pieces as I had since heard claims that they claimed they didn’t have it! The Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, Alberta, has also started an Oxford project. They have various bits and pieces, some have come from Frank Thompson. Not enough parts to start a project, but slowly gathering for the future. Mark Peapell, ACAM
Bailed out, not ditched
Hudson Engine Mounts
Charles Richard Page wrote in with a correction to ‘Airspeed’s Overlooked Oxford’ (Flightpath Vol 28, No. 1) regarding the loss of aviatrix Amy Johnson in an Oxford. I’d stated she ditched in the Thames Estuary, but Charles corrected that: “Amy Johnson got caught short of fuel on top of cloud and parachuted into Thames Estuary. The Oxford crashed into the estuary. Lieutenant Commander Walter Fletcher RN tried to save her, but later he also died. Her body was not recovered.” JK
On other aircraft matters, we are currently in desperate need of a Pratt & Whitney R1830 engine mount for our Hudson project at the National Air Force Museum at Trenton, Ontario. We are trying to find one engine mount to help finish the Hudson off, although two would be better, before the Lancaster arrives. Any leads would be welcome. Regards, Mark Peapell, Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum F L I G H T PAT H | 73
Personal Effects
The Empire Strikes South The extent of the fierce air battles fought across northern Australia in W.W.II are still relatively unknown, but fortunately there has been a decent amount of renewed interest. For more than two years Japanese aircraft consistently bombed targets and were regularly intercepted by Warhawks and Spitfires. A total of 186 Japanese aircrew died in the campaign. This book lists all of their names and describes all the combat missions. In the process it reveals that the number of combat flights, aircraft shot down and aircrew losses are much higher than previously published. Scores of aircraft were downed in combat ranging from Exmouth to Townsville, with the majority of action taking place over the Northern Territory. Some of these wrecks have yet to be found. In keeping with this author’s, and this publisher’s, reputation for challenging the status quo with quality research, the book analyses the Japanese records to list 78 raids (up from the previously suggested 64) flown over the Northern Territory alone with a total of 208 enemy combat ops carried out across Northern Australia. (reviewer: Michael Claringbould) Tom Lewis, $34.95 plus p&p, Avonmore Books, www. avonmorebooks.com.au
have flown more than 100 raids. In this book, the prolific and respected Norman Franks shares the stories of each of those centenarians and a number of others that almost made it. Some of the featured aircraft – like R5868 ‘S-Sugar’ or EE139 ‘Phantom of the Ruhr’ – are quite famous, but most are not. That is both a strength and a limitation of this book. The inclusion of the less-famous aircraft tells a rarely told part of the Bomber Command story, but it follows that there is less information on some, and Franks occasionally falls into the trap of supposing and assuming, where there perhaps wasn’t quite enough recorded detail to work with. Billed as a ‘photographic record’, Franks includes several well-known photos, but also draws extensively from a very large collection of images that have never before been published. There are some outstanding photos among them. The final section, a potted collection of nineteen ‘almost-centenarians’, is particularly good. In places the reproduction, which is just on standard paper stock, is not the most impressive quality, but bearing in mind the varying condition of wartime prints, it may well be that this is as good as it gets. Don’t expect the most exciting read, but for that collection of images ‘Veteran Lancs’ is worth a look. (reviewer: Adam Purcell) Norman Franks, £12.00 plus p&p (£8.99 eBook), Pen & Sword Books, www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Images of War: Veteran Lancs The average Lancaster bomber, flying operations during W.W.II, could expect to return from about twenty trips before being lost. It’s therefore no surprise to learn that out of more than 7000 examples, just 35 are known to 74 | F L I G H T PAT H
Recollections of an Airman Great War memoirs written by survivors of the conflict are rare enough. One written by
Luftwaffe in Colour – The Victory Years 1939-1942
someone who survived the entire war is very rare indeed. Louis Arbon Strange was one such man. Strange, having trained at a civilian flying school, was one of the rare breed of service officers who learned to fly prewar. Late in 1913, he joined the RFC as a reservist second lieutenant. He went on to have an extremely distinguished career in the RFC and RAF throughout W.W.I, and later in W.W.II, and was highly respected. The book starts with what must have been a very happy childhood in the country and moves through to his time in civil aviation training as he recounts all the aspects of obtaining his certificate at Hendon. The following chapters describe in detail the early days of W.W.I in the air and the development of reconnaissance, aerial photography and the initial arming of aircraft with improvised weapons. A great innovator, Strange had a hand in some of these developments which he recounts with humility. An excellent airman, Strange eventually commanded 80 Wing in mid-1918. Very much hands-on, he flew with the two Australian squadrons under his command and spares no effort in praising their fighting skills. The British opinion of the AFC is something not regularly encountered. Originally published in 1920, the narrative retains its quality and Strange writes with a good sense of humour. It is hard to understand why this book has not been more popular over the years. (reviewer: John Parker) Louis Arbon Strange, £19.99 plus p&p (£11.99 eBook), Casemate, www.casematepublishing.co.uk
Compiled by two leading researchers, this is part one of a two-part compilation of the best Luftwaffe colour photography. Featuring some 160 pages on thick glossy paper, it is divided into nine sections covering all theatres. While the early reporters on the ground for the launch of Blitzkrieg and subsequent campaigns had privileged access to colour film for official wartime German outlets, there are also good images from private collections (at least one JG 53 pilot regularly 'raided' local shops for colour film!). Luftwaffe camouflage schemes have long been a subject of deep debate. The reader can trace the evolution of Luftwaffe camouflage schemes directly; from the 1939 dark greens of the Stukas and Heinkels - suitable for lowlevel attacks over Eastern European conifer forests and fields to the blues and light greys introduced for high altitude fighter combat in the West and the Battle of Britain. Messerschmitt Bf 109 Friedrichs and Bf 110 Zerstörer appear in winter camouflage in Russia and the yellow and browns of the desert. Aircraft types covered range from seaplanes and transports to night fighters, trainers and reconnaissance machines.
It is true to state that any photo book stands or falls on the quality of photo reproduction and, fortunately, not only is the standard very high but the quality of 90% of the images is very good indeed, while each picture is informatively and expertly captioned. This is a book
Personal Effects to keep close at hand for reference, to dip into constantly. (reviewer: Neil Page) Christophe Cony and Jean-Louis Roba, £19.99 plus p&p (£9.99 eBook), Casemate, www.casematepublishing.co.uk
The Flying Hours
crew books to have been published in recent years. (reviewer: Andy Wright) Demetrius Vassilopoulos et al, £35.99 plus p&p, Eagle Aviation, dimvasil1976@gmail.com
Gloster Javelin – An Operational History
Greeks in Foreign Cockpits The wartime Allied air forces were peppered with American aircrew of Greek heritage whose parents had turned to the U.S. during hard economic times. The RAF was a great melting pot of nationalities. The U.S. forces were the pin-up for economic immigration. The authors have recognised the lack of detailed research on the aircrew of Greek parentage. This first volume looks at ten pilots who served with the RAF and USAAF between 1940 and 1945. Eight flew over Europe and two in the South Pacific. Sadly, three of them were killed serving their countries. The biographies range from eleven pages for Frank Zavakos to 63 for the well known, and recently passed, ‘Steve’ Pisanos. Nicely reproduced photos abound, and it is clear the authors strived to include as much pre-war life as they could for each man. The captions for the photos are in Greek and English, and this is the majority of English text found in the book. What is abundantly clear from the captions, however, is detail that would put many English language books to shame. There is great work being done in the area of W.W.II aircrew research, and it is certainly not limited to the English-speaking world or, to be more accurate, the results are not just seen in English language publications. The mind boggles at what else is out there. This 330-page hardback is one of the most important air-
Decent works on the Gloster Javelin are rather few and far between. While not as glamorous as the Lightning, or perhaps lacking the romance of the early Meteor and Hunter jets, the Javelin played a hugely important role in the development of the British interceptors that followed. Michael Napier’s book is a superbly researched and thorough piece that ranges from the type’s introduction to squadron service, all the way through to the Malayan Emergency and eventual retirement. His compilation of photos, from all squadrons, is amazing, and all chapters read beautifully as the operational development progresses from the FAW 1 to the FAW 9.
The author doesn’t hold back describing the difficulties in keeping the aircraft serviceable, or analysing some inexplicable losses during its career. The operations-intensive Berlin crisis and the Malayan emergency are especially interesting, as are the various exercises and overseas deployments that are, again, captured in impressive detail. Anyone especially interested in the development of British interceptors, or indeed any student of the Cold War, should not be without this book. A fascinating journey through the service life of an incredible aircraft. (reviewer: Takis Diakoumis) Michael Napier, £25.00 plus p&p (£1.99-15.00 eBook), Pen & Sword Books, www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
A Special Duty This is the tale of the author’s father and his Halifax crew. They were assigned to No. 148 (Special Duties) Squadron. Initially flying from Libya, before moving to Italy, the squadron was key to supplying the various partisan groups and SOE missions throughout Eastern Europe. The author gets to grip with this clandestine world which tempts the reader to research further. From November 1943 to 23 April 1944, the crew flew more than thirty successful supply drops at night and over some nasty terrain. Their last op would bring pain to a family for years after the war. The Halifax lost power and was abandoned over Poland. Some of the crew were captured while the rest evaded and lived with partisans either until war’s end or until repatriated via Moscow. Operations, despite the crew’s experience, only cover about the first seventy pages of this 158page paperback. Much of the remainder is given to the time in Poland, which includes unraveling of the crew’s movements and the people who sheltered them. The author’s memories of the post-war period, when her clearly intelligent and loving father was progressively overtaken by forces beyond his control, forces that began to manifest themselves well before his time in Poland, are also laid bare. The book has been a healing process for the author and her family. It is told from the viewpoint of one daughter for whom life would always be affected by a war fought before she was born. It is a special little book. (reviewer: Andy Wright) Jennifer Elkin, £8.95 plus p&p plus p&p, Mention The War Publications, www.bombercommandbooks.com
The author arrived in India in mid-1942 with two years’ experience as an Army co-operation pilot. He was posted to 20 Squadron RAF to fly the Westland Lysander and was soon busy with the challenges of flying operationally in the region while accepting the culture and attitude that was required to survive this very different part of the world. As 1942 drew to a close, the Japanese were at the furthest extent of their advance into the Arakan. Fortunately, the squadron soon began to receive Hurricanes. Millar assumed command in early 1944 and was to remain CO of arguably the most effective ground attack unit in the theatre for almost two years. There is a hell of a lot in this book. Millar’s observations extend well beyond squadron and operational life, but even the seemingly mundane in a place like India takes on a remarkable quality. He freely admits he was bonkers, a coping mechanism, but remains an exceptional, self-critical pilot and a firm, but fair, CO intent on leading a happy and effective squadron. Any book about a long stay in India/Burma will describe extended periods of relative inactivity. But when the weather and terrain allow (more so than the Japanese), things heat up quickly! This book is several things at once. Memoirs, yes, but also a squadron history. Overall, though, it is a remarkable social and operational look at India and Burma and a reminder of the challenges faced at all levels by those serving in the ‘forgotten war’. (reviewer: Andy Wright) Andrew Millar, £20.00 plus p&p, Fighting High Publishing, www.fighting-highbooks.myshopify.com
F L I G H T PAT H | 75
Ernst Udet’s Curtiss Hawk with the reconstructed wings. [All photographs Mike Shreeve]
Polish Aviation
Museum T
he Polish Aviation Museum is on the former airfield of RakowiceCzyzyny, near Krakow. The airfield dates back to the late 19th century, first being used for military balloons, before the Austrian Air Force established a maintenance unit there in 1912, and it had a continuous history (under Polish, German and Soviet control, as the fortunes of the country changed) until 1963, when the site was handed over to the Museum, which opened in 1964. A 2,000 feet (600 metre) section of the runway remains, which is now used for an annual June airshow. A new building, shaped like a three-bladed propeller, was added a few years ago, and allows the Museum to showcase some significant airframes in the collection. The museum also has one surviving pre-WWII hangar, which houses many of the pre-1945 aircraft, and smaller buildings housing the WWI collection, a comprehensive aero engine display, and the unrestored early airframes held by the collection. When the Allied bombing of Berlin was in full swing, the decision was made to evacu76 | F L I G H T PAT H
ate some aircraft from the Deutsche Luftfahrt Sammlung (German Aircraft Collection). Over twenty aircraft from the collection were dismantled and put on a train heading east, to Czarnikau in eastern Germany for safe keeping. After the war, it fell within the borders of Poland, and the aircraft (mostly wingless) became part of the Polish Aviation Museum collection. A common story was that a second train, carrying the wings, disappeared en-route. A more likely explanation is that the wings were used as firewood in the harsh Polish winters. Many of the surviving fuselages were of German Great War types, but there were other aircraft which, today, form some of the real gems of the Krakow collection. Some of the fuselages were restored, and some have since had wings constructed to bring them back to complete exhibits once again. The fuselage of the (only surviving) DH9A, now in Hendon, was exchanged with the RAF Museum in the 1970s for a Spitfire XVI. Three of the gems of the collection came from Berlin. Most significant is the PZL P.11c fighter, the most important preserved aircraft in Poland. The only survivor of the
brief but bloody conflict with Germany in September 1939, and the Polish Air Force's front-line fighter at the time, it was powered by a Bristol Mercury engine. The P.11c fuselage is currently receiving attention in the Museum’s workshops, with the engine being overhauled off site. Second is the Curtiss Hawk biplane, one of a pair from the US and flown by Ernst Udet promoting the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The Hawk fuselage was restored a while back, and it has recently had a new set of wings. Thirdly, the museum holds the unrestored fuselage (firewall-aft) and tail surfaces of the Me209 in which Fritz Wendel set the world air speed record (at some 469 mph, 754 km/h) in 1939. Recent additions to the museum include several airframes bizarrely disposed of by the IWM at Duxford, including a combat-veteran F-105 Thunderchief, Amiot AAC.1 (Junkers 52/3m) and DH Sea Venom, all now reassembled and on display. There is also a Caudron CR.714 Cyclone on loan from Finland for restoration. Examples of this Renault-powered fighter with a wooden airframe were used by Polish pilots during the Battle of France in May-June 1940. Mike Shreeve
The PZL Iskra (Spark) was Poland’s first indigenous jet design.
ABOVE:Clayton & Shuttleworth built Sopwith Camel in a new display. BELOW: Poland’s most important preserved aircraft, the sole surviving PZL P.11c
ABOVE: The fuselafe of the world-speed record setting Messerschmitt Me 209 OPPOSITE PAGE: Messerschmitt Me 209 cockpit.
ABOVE: The recently arrived Caudron CR.714 light fighter fuselage. LEFT: 109The Museum’s Messerschmitt Me 109G.
F L I G H T PAT H | 77
GET YOUR Auto-renewal Subscription LOCK IN YOUR PRICE: Pay as little as $6.50 an issue, for life*. AUSSIE HURRICANE FLIES
D UP
Out of Africa Convair 440 P-40 Hawks Gathering
Song of t e Square ilss
Stearman evoolution tionn
$9.95 / NZ $9.90 (incl GST) VOLUME 28 NUMBER 2
02
OUTGU ED D & OUTCLASS D The loss of Hudson A16
1
Tem est down
Me 109 ‘Gustav’ ‘G s a ’
An Australian in Euro
rst flight in the USA
$9 95 / NZ
90 ( ncl GST)
VOLUME 288 N NUMBER 1
NEW
01
Mustang moves
✪
P-40 projects
✪
Zero flies
✪
AIRSHOWS S Echuca c
AVA
✪
✪
Illawarra
Leg
✪
Neptunee Canberra Caribous aribous and Tracker racker moves & 9 771320 587007 PRINT POST APPROVED 100008808
AIRSHOWS Atlanta Warbirds ✪ Reno ✪ Oshkosh ✪ Hahnweide ✪ Cold NEWS NZ Mosquito ✪ Miles Falcon ✪ DH Fox Moth ✪ Wellington & Cors
PRINT + DIGITAL
Flightpath PLUS auto-renewal
Just $31.20 for your first full-year subscription – $7.80 an issue Then only $12.99 every 2-issues thereafter – $6.50 an issue LOW FIXED PRICE Secure your on-going low price of just $6.50 an issue after the first year. UNLIMITED ACCESS Get Flightpath delivered to your door, AND on your Android, iOS and PC devices. SET AND FORGET You won’t have to worry about renewing your subscription. It’s automatically done for you.
To subscribe:
VISIT www.greatmagazines.com.au/flightpath *Terms and conditions: Your nominated account will be charged regular amounts, in regular instalments, as set out in the terms of the subscription. You may voluntarily stop your subscription at any time. From time-to-time, due to greater commercial or economic influences, Yaffa Media may be required to reasonably increase the cost of your recurring subscription. In such an event you will receive reasonable advanced notice of these changes and have the opportunity to cease your recurring subscription. Customer enquiries to subscriptions@yaffa.com.au.
YAFFA 06434
OR CALL 1800 807 760 & QUOTE promo code WEB/AUTORN
Port Lincoln Air Spectacular 2016
A five warbird flypast led by Ben Lappin in the Avenger, followed by Peter Clements in the Corsair, Paul Bennet in the Trojan, Steve Death in the Mustang, and Cameron Rolph-Smith in the Yak-3.
T
he first Air Spectacular at Port Lincoln Airport on 16 October coincided with the eightieth anniversary of the first paying passenger flights to the South Australian seaside town. Despite the tyranny of distance, several warbirds made the journey. Paul Bennet’s well-travelled Grumman Avenger, Steve Gale’s Marchetti S.211, Judy Pay’s Mustang and Trojan, and the Team Steadfast Yakovlev Yak-3 were welcomed by an enthusiastic crowd. Graham Hosking’s meticulously restored F4U-5N Corsair, piloted by Peter Clements, made its first appearance in South Australia and was certainly the highlight of the show. Weather conditions were less than favourable, however the show went on with the sun finally appearing for the climactic five aircraft warbird formation. The Port Lincoln event will return and alternate with the established Jamestown Air Spectacular. Phil Hosking RIGHT: Judy Pay’s CA-18 Mustang takes to the sky for a handling display. BELOW: Mike Damp (Waco VH-LFZ) and Mike Hart (Wichawk VH-LUV) take off together.
ABOVE: Steve Gale arrives at the event in his former Singapore Air Force Marchetti S.211. BELOW: Steve Johnson arrives in his de Havilland DH.82A Tiger Moth.
John Hinton flying the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s P-51A Mustang ‘Mrs. Virginia’ to Thermal.
Jacqueline
Cochran Air Show N
amed in honour of the pioneering aviator, the Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal, California, hosted its eleventh annual air show on 5 November 2016. With free admission to the public, the flying kicked off with an aerobatic display by Vicky Benzing in her Stearman Kaydet and John Collver in his SNJ-5 Texan ‘War Dog’. Warbirds and classic aircraft, and even a USAF Reserve C-17A Globemaster III, were on static display, with most of the warbirds being provided by the Planes of Fame and Palm Springs air museums. The former’s P-51A Mustang, F4U-1A Corsair and F-86F Sabre also flew in the show which concluded with a formation flying display by the Patriots Jet Team in six L-39 Albatros trainers. Frank B. Mormillo
LEFT: The Planes of Fame F-86F Sabre was displayed by Steve Hinton. ABOVE: Vicky Benzing performing an aerobatic display in her Stearman. TOP: Scott Turner flying the Planes of Fame TBM-3 Avenger to the show. 80 | F L I G H T PAT H
BELOW: Mike De Marino flying the Planes of Fame Air Museum’s Vought F4U-1A Corsair. LEFT: The P-51D Mustang owned by Planes of Fame, flown here by Rob Patterson, carries ‘Dolly’ on the port side of the nose and ‘Spam Can’ on the starboard.
The SBD-5 Dauntless was another aircraft at the show from the Planes of Fame stable. It is seen here, with John Kerpa at the controls, on its way to the event with the collection’s Avenger.
John Collver performing an aerobatic display in ‘War Dog’.
The Palm Springs Air Museum’s P-51D Mustang ‘Bunny’ and P-63A Kingcobra ‘Pretty Polly’ on static display.
supporter The Planes of Fame Air Museum is a strong of the event. This is their B-25J Mitchell.
ABOVE: The Planes of Fame Air Museum’s P-38J Lightning ‘23 Skidoo’. LEFT: The T-28B Trojan from the Palm Springs Air Museum on static display. [All images Frank B. Mormillo]
F L I G H T PAT H | 81
The Planes of Fame’s P-40N Warhawk and P-51D Mustang on their way to the event. Rob Patterson is at the controls of the P-40 and John Hinton is flying the Mustang. [All images Frank B Mormillo]
Nellis Aviation
Nation C urrently the home of the USAF Warfare Center, the 57th Wing, Red Flag and the USAF Thunderbirds, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, celebrated its 75th anniversary with the Aviation Nation Air Show & Open House over the weekend of 11-13 November 2016. Tracing its history to 1929 when the field was first operated by Western Air Express for contract air mail work, the facility was also used by the U.S. Army Air Corps for training in the 1930s, and named McCarran Field in 1941 after the very aviation-minded Nevada senator of the same name. Used by the Army Air Force for gunnery training during W.W.II, it was renamed Las Vegas AFB in 1948 and, on 30 April 1950, the name changed once again to Nellis AFB in honour of First Lieutenant 82 | F L I G H T PAT H
William H. Nellis, a Las Vegas resident killed in December 1944 while flying P-47 Thunderbolts with the 406th Fighter Group during the Battle of the Bulge. With the 57th Wing operating the most diverse range of aircraft in the USAF, today’s latest U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy aircraft were displayed. Numerous warbirds also took part in the flying displays with aerobatic displays performed by Vicky Benzing and Greg ‘Wired’ Colyer showing off their 450hp Stearman and Lockheed T-33 respectively. Of course, there was also an extensive static display featuring operational military aircraft, warbirds and classic aircraft. Each day’s activities concluded with a performance by the USAF Thunderbirds. Frank B. Mormillo
Peter W. Norman’s Republic Seabee.
The Commemorative Air Force’s P-63 Kingcobra is one of only two F-models built. It returned to flight in April 2016.
The PB4Y-2 Privateer, owned by 4Y-2 LLC, preparing to taxi out.
ABOVE: Rob Hertberg leading the warbird action at Aviation Nation 2016 in John A. Anson’s SNJ-5 Texan. Greg ‘Wired’ Colyer flying his popular T-33 Shooting Star ‘Ace Maker’ during the event.
LEFT: The Hangar G-1 Aviation Partners T-28C Trojan in action. BELOW: John Kerpa flying the Planes of Fame Aichi D3A Val replica (a modified Vultee BT-15 Valiant).
The Western Sky Aviation Warbird Museum’s MiG-15UTI is actually a Polish-built SB Lim2.
ABOVE: This 82nd ATRS QF-4E Phantom II (serial 74-1638) flew the type’s last USAF public display at Aviation Nation 2016. LEFT: A Draken International A-4N Skyhawk, contracted for adversary training by the military, on static display. F L I G H T PAT H | 83
rate daily and bookings are essential. ation tour packages are also available.
P: (
3737 E: info@qfom.com.au Sir Hudson Fysh Drive, Longreach