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June 2024
“CV”
The
Association is occasionally asked if there is any “meaning” behind the
3SQN WW2 code “CV”.
The joke answer is, of course, - “Yes, it means STOLEN BY 3 SQUADRON!”
Actually
the squadron recognition codes were rather randomly allocated within the
RAF organisation. In 239 Wing, the other Squadrons were: “OK” (450
RAAF); “GA” (112 RAF); “HS” (260 RAF); “GL” (5 SAAF); and “LD” (250
RAF). “CV” was first painted on 3SQN Tomahawks around the
start of 1942. (Prior to that, the Tomahawks had shown
only individual aircraft letters. - Although that hadn’t stopped
3SQN notching up more than 100 aerial victories by that stage!)
The “CV” squadron-code was really required for British organisational
purposes, since all the squadrons of the growing “239 Wing” were
co-located, and had to sort themselves out both in the air and on the
ground.
“CV”
was also used to mark 3 Squadron’s fleet of more than 100
vehicles. (Not all of which had been obtained through strictly legal logistical channels!)
The
photograph above comes via our new member Dave WALSHE, from the
collection of his dad George, who was an Engine Fitter
in Africa, Sicily and Italy. This aircraft is a lovely sporty
Italian Macchi C.205 Veltro (“Greyhound”) fighter at
Agnone aerodrome, Sicily. Dave’s photo has now been added to our
website page "3
Squadron’s Italian Air Force".
And
as for all those Italian aircraft? Well yes, we do admit it… They
really were: “Stolen by 3SQN!”
Alan
CLARK’s WW2
memoir on our website mentions a tragic training
accident that happened just after the end of WW2 in Italy.
Five Mustang pilots of 112 Squadron RAF took a wrong turn and smashed
into a cliff in the Alps. This frightening peak, Carè Alto, is so
inaccessible that some of the wreckage is still there. The five
pilots, one Brit and four South Africans, are in Padua War Cemetery.
This artistic Memorial to the five pilots was recently
erected by the local Italian populace. (We have added this
photo to Al CLARK’s article.)
Marston
Mat was an amazing “flat pack” system of steel
runway-sections that could be quickly laid over a sand base to make an
instant aerodrome. At several “pop-up” bases in Italy, 3SQN
depended on it. Also called “Pierced Steel Plank - PSP” and
(mistakenly) “Marsden Mat”, there is now a good video available
of the first-ever
installation in Marston, Georgia, USA. (This original
“kit” was later shipped out to Townsville, Australia.)
Our
member Peter WEEKES, who (amongst his many claims to fame) is
the AWM’s “pin-up boy” for 75 Squadron in OPERATION
FALCONER 2003 (despite being a “ring in” from 3 Squadron!) has
been in touch.
“Weeksy”
was impressed with the photographic detail collected by geeky
Aviation Modellers regarding FALCONER. He says, “I did a
posting to 75 SQN shortly after FALCONER and didn’t even know about
the Magpies originally being painted on the jet incorrectly backwards!
Quite interesting. The photos the AWM took of me were in the jet
with the unique ‘Gin Ye Daur’ artwork. I never knew the
origin of that artwork ‘till now!”
Weeksy’s final word on the subject of pin-ups: "Pin-up Boy? -
Now that's a first! In those days we usually left photo work to
ROOSTER (Steven BRADLEY), or ‘PR-Bradley’ as we used to call
him. He loved the camera, but didn't come to Iraq in ‘03, so I
guess I was the next best thing.”
John
QUAIFE, in his book "The Classic" mentions that the FALCONER
Hornet force, while based on 75SQN resources, had been beefed-up with
selected aircraft and personnel from throughout 81 Wing. [Hence
the 3SQN tails: A21-37, A21-52 and A21-55, in the aero-modellers’
photos! - Also two from 77 SQN.] Weeksy confirms: “There
were a handful of us 3SQN guys used to supplement 75 SQN.”
Quaife
also reports the embarrassment that ensued when 75 SQN was awarded a “Meritorious
Unit Citation” for FALCONER, but not the other 81 Wing
ring-ins! However that was soon straightened out, and we are
pleased to report that Weeksy and the others did indeed receive their
M.U.C. “bling”.
Meritorious Unit Citation Badge.
It’s
a sad fact that 3SQN itself has never been awarded an M.U.C.
Surely there’s an anomaly here? (Wikipedia has a lengthy list of recipients.) This ADF
award only commenced in 1991 and we note that it has been given to both
3SQN RNZAF and (Army) 3 Squadron SAS. (Both for
East Timor.) No M.U.C.s were given out for OP OKRA in
Iraq/Syria 2014-2020. [Not "war-like" enough, we
wonder??? Although it was certainly the hottest campaign that
3SQN has fought since Italy 1945!]
As
mentioned above, 75 Squadron's M.U.C. in Iraq 2003 was earned with the
assistance of several 3SQN pilots and aircraft. [But no prizes
for supporting units…] In past eras, 3AFC personnel earned a
heap of recognition in WW1 (French, Belgian, American and even
Serbian awards, to various members). And in WW2 it was often
remarked as to how many gongs 3SQN had. But, sorry to
say, M.U.C.s were not "a thing" in those days.
Our
member Ian McLAREN sent in some memories of 1967:
“Re the return of 3 Squadron Sabres to Australia. I was
in Darwin with 76 SQN Mirages on exercise when one day the WOE called
all the ground crew together to inform us that the following day, "The
famous 3 Squadron," (his words) would be returning to Australia
from Butterworth. He went on to say it was a very important day
in the history of the RAAF. As such, there would be a lot of
VIPs in attendance as well as an ABC-TV crew to record the
event. Our job he said was to see the Sabres in and then send
them on their way down to Williamtown the next day. He asked
those of us that had worked on Sabres to raise our hand.
Surprisingly, of the 40-plus ground crew, only about 10 of us had
Sabre experience; such was the turnover of personnel at the
time.
The
next day I marshalled-in the C.O. [John PULESTON-JONES] and as
I was about to climb up and put the safety pins in the Ejection Seat,
I got a tap on the shoulder, it was an official holding a spray
can. He said he had to disinfect the cockpit first.
I said OK, but be careful, the Ejection Seat is alive! He very
gingerly sprayed the cockpit and the C.O!! Once the C.O.
was on the ground and had been interviewed, he turned to me and asked
that I undo the Ammo-bin and remove a six-pack of Tiger Beer he had
stowed there, so that he could pose with a beer to celebrate the
return to Australia. I did as asked, but he had left the
Ammo-bin heater on and the beer was warm! He pretended to drink
from an unopened can. The next day we sent
them on their way. ”
Upon
his return to Williamtown, Ian was transferred to 3SQN to help introduce
the new ground-attack Mirages.
The
RAAF History Unit has been seeking images of the replacement
3SQN Standard being presented by the Governor of New South
Wales, Air Marshal Sir James ROWLAND, at RAAF Williamtown on 19
September 1986.
Fortunately our Association member Mark “Perse” PEARSALL
was able to help. - In the image below, that’s Mark as a young Flight
Lieutenant receiving the Standard! Also in shot with the
Governor are OC Williamtown (and former CO3) Dick
BOMBALL and CO3 Bruce MOUATT. Many Association members are
seated in the background.
March 2024
A sad milestone reported
by our good friend Sandi NIPPERESS of 450 Squadron
Association…
[Remembering that 3 and 450 fought side-by-side for three years,
from 1942 to 1945, across North Africa and Italy.]
We
believe we have now sadly reached the end of an era of amazing 450 SQN
aviators, as our last known surviving 450 SQN veteran, FLTLT
Evan 'Jimmy' JAMES, RAF pilot, passed away in his sleep on
the morning of 11th January 2024.
His
son, Steve, who has helped us maintain contact with Jimmy for many
years, has advised that, "He really loved the Australian connection
and was very proud to be part of 450 Squadron. - We’d often get
stories of how they would tease him as a Pom, but he found a great
acceptance among those fellow pilots."
Our
last communication with Jimmy was on the 10th of January 2024, when we
responded to his New Year email via Steve. Apparently he was not
ill, and was planning to go shopping the next day, followed by choir
practice. So his passing was quite sudden. Although
according to Steve, from Jimmy's point of view, with no need for
hospitalisation, or home care, it was by far the best way to go.
Jimmy
was just three months off his 101st birthday - a magnificent
innings for one of the Squadron's pilots who also survived a crash
followed by his capture and subsequent imprisonment in Stalag Luft 7,
Bankau, Poland in 1944. [Which had a horrible reputation.]
His
story can be accessed on the 450 Squadron
website.
His funeral service was held at St Mary’s Church, Chesham,
Buckinghamshire, England, on the 31st of January 2024.
450
Squadron was represented by the following members of the RAAF currently
stationed at Australian High Commission, Australia House,
London:
• Group Captain Scott WOODLAND (Air & Space
Advisor)
• Wing Commander Teresa WYNTER (Assistant Air Force
Advisor)
(The CO of 3SQN, WGCDR Adrian KIELY, who was then deployed overseas,
kindly put us in touch with GPCAPT Woodland and his team, for which we
are eternally grateful.)
I
laid a wreath at the foot of the 450 Squadron public exhibit at Fighter
World, Williamtown in the week of his death; and later transferred the
wreath to the 450 Squadron Memorial on RAAF Base Williamtown.
[A 3SQN tribute was also added.]
- Lest We Forget -
Our
Slovenian archaeologist friend “Miha” MIHEV was in touch for
Xmas. He says:
“Greetings!
First happy and abundant health in the New Year to you and
yours! In our country, several authors will write about various
crashed planes in Slovenia. Eventually a book will be
published. My friend Igor TRATNIK will describe the incident of
Mustang
pilot Alan CLARK - KH631.
I am still looking for planes and there is some success, as long
as there are still older witnesses surviving.”
Our
ever-active member Peter RING sends in the latest news about Air
Force Association communication initiatives:
-
AFA NSW has opened a Youtube Channel called Wings Australia. We wish to put up
some original content using video/photo supported stories or existing
video/movie/photos to which we can add an appropriate story. We
can digitise old Super 8 etc. movie film. Or some recordings of
events.
If
you have any good original exciting stories about your Air
Force Life, then please send them to me. If you have
original video clips/photos please send those. If the files are
too large to email then I can give you a Google site where you can
drop them. For really old movies done way back, you can post
them and we will digitise and get a digital copy back to you. -
If you are worried about what we make out of anything that you send,
then anything you send will be put back in front of you before we post
it.
Anything
from WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Malaya, Borneo, Timor, Middle East, UN (what
have I forgotten). I want to get some more history recorded as
we have done with our Podcasts, which will be continuing.
For those of you who had major emergencies such as ejections, please
write your story and we can read it in and put some vision to
it. Over to you. I hope I get inundated! - Pete
RING, AFA NSW, “Ringo”.
Ringo Postscript 1: AFA NSW recorded a Video Chat with
Lindsay
BOYD re his Ejection on 1 April 1974 from a Mirage.
It is up on our YouTube Channel. If you have not
subscribed to our Channel yet, please do so.
Ringo Postscript 2: AFA NSW intends to do a number of
these chats with people who have ejected. - If you have ejected from
any aircraft at all then please contact me and volunteer which will
help me to record more history. A few of you have ejected from
Sabres and then more from the Mirage. Then there is the F-111
and the F-18, Macchi, Meteor and Vampire. Additionally, If
someone you know has ejected, then please dob them in.
Ringo
Postscript 3: I can keep things rolling for some time
further by video chatting with people who have had experiences in
Vietnam on Choppers, Caribous and Canberras and as FACs. To me
this is important history that many people including our
current Air Force should be reading about.
Former
3SQN Sabre pilot Mike MATTERS is chasing a contact number or
email address for former distinguished pilot Owen WORTH. If you know Owen, please Contact
us.
On
the latter, Paul GILL has posted an interesting video covering the
history of the innovative Australian Sabre jet, which is widely held
to have been the “best” of all the production versions around the
world:
3SQN Sabre artwork by Drew HARRISON, from our website.
Doug
NORRIE, the Honorary Historian with 450 Squadron
Association, submitted a couple of questions that allowed us to
exercise some of our favourite online “Research”
resources…
1) “When did 3SQN start receiving Kittyhawk
Mark IIa's? I am interested in FL301 “CV-T” which I know
was at El Djem in April 1943. Apparently it was struck off
charge on 8.3.44”
- The MkII Kittyhawks (Rolls-Royce Merlin engined) were something
of a 3SQN “special”, as there were not enough to supply all RAF Desert
Air Force fighter-bomber squadrons. (Most were snaffled by
the Americans as “Warhawks”.) 3SQN was favoured with the
remaining Rolls-Royces, amongst British units, as 3SQN were the Desert
“top-scorers”. Kitty IIs did a huge amount of work for 3SQN
and the “FL” serials started appearing in early November 1942.
(See 3SQN Operations Record Book page 834.)
FL301 was one of the first batch and was flown by a variety of pilots
including Bob GIBBES.
2) “Re 3SQN's Caproni 309 Ghibli captured
at Castel Benito [near Tripoli, Libya]. When did the squadron
get rid of it? At the end of African campaign?”
- Despite being heavily used as
a 3SQN utility aircraft (both for personnel carrying and beer-carrying!)
the Ghibli’s flights were not usually recorded in the 3SQN
ORB. However, there’s a story on our website of CO3 Brian EATON
flying this captured Italian aircraft across from Africa to Sicily and
being intercepted by hostile British Spitfires! – Eaton was not
amused! - So maybe that was the end of the Ghibli’s use.
Also presumably the conventional
beer supply system got better as the landscape became more
civilized… [And for any reader who is wondering, the famous Japanese
animation company Ghibli is actually named after this
aircraft type!]
Victorian
descendant Steven HORNE has sent us a nice picture of his
grandfather R.G.J. “Snow” HORNE, a great personality in
the WW2 Squadron and post-war Association.
Kristen
ALEXANDER, the Canberra biographer of Clive CALDWELL [Australia’s
top WW2 Ace] has now had her research published on the opposing German
ace who shot down 3SQN’s Fred EGGLESTON - and whose subsequent
death in combat has been a mystery ever since… Kristen’s ‘whodunit’ answers all the questions!
Our
National Library’s TROVE system is packed with stories that
would otherwise be lost to history. The tale below concerns two of
the notable officers of 3rd Squadron AFC during the First
World War, who got bored one day and went on a rather eventful joy
flight…
Reg FRANCIS DFC was a 3AFC Flight Commander who
survived two busy tours of flying in France and Belgium. Quite
famously, Reg’s first plane, RE8 A4397, set the record for the highest
number of combat missions of any British aircraft flown over the
entire Western Front.
Reg in A4397’s cockpit when the plane was retired. [AWM
P00394.015]
Walter
WARNEFORD was one of the Equipment Officers of 3rd
Squadron. He was part of the 3AFC Engineering crew who recovered
the body of the Red Baron and his wrecked Fokker
triplane. Warneford later donated some of the most important Red
Baron relics now held by the Australian War Memorial.
Post-WW1, he was one of the founding partners in the pioneering Australian
Aircraft & Engineering Company at Mascot NSW, along with
3AFC’s Nigel LOVE.
Left: Walter WARNEFORD. [Pic: ASWW1AH.] Right: Bits and
pieces of the Red Baron’s plane at the 3SQN base.
“A
Hectic Joy-Ride”
THE day was dull. The clouds were low. The Squadron
Commander had gone over to Corps Headquarters. So Reggie
Francis and Warneford (better known as Warnie), of the Third
Australian Flying Corps, decided to take one of the flying mangles,
alias ‘Harry Tates’ (R.E.8.) on a joy flip to St. Omer.
Everything went O.K. till they got beyond Doullens. Then the
mist became pea-soup. They decided to fly above the
pottage. No sooner had they entered the azure blue, when Warnie
frantically hit Reggie on the shoulder.
He pointed up… They both looked at six Hun machines, all doing
their darndest to get this engined thing of joyous mien. Reggie
put the old mangle down into the soup, engine flat out.
They
kept their course and hit St. Omer aerodrome, and hit it hard.
Undercarriage smashed and one wheel crumpled. Warnie saw a
red-tabbed officer [a Staff Officer] coming over at the double.
"Do what I tell you, Reggie. Leave it to me," he said.
"Just too bad," said Warnie to the officer. "And we
are on a special mission."
Aerodrome Officer: "Dear, dear. What is the mission?"
"Highly confidential, Sir. Get some mechanics on to this at
once.
Can you have it finished in two hours?"
It took them three hours.
Reggie and Warnie enjoyed the cabarets of St.
Omer and then started the trip back. It was nearly dark.
The occupants of that Third Squadron machine never thanked the
inaccuracy of our Archie [anti-aircraft*] gunners so much as
they did on that return trip. They were fired at all the way
back to Vignacourt.
Anti-aircraft shrapnel - "Archie" - bursting near an
Australian RE8 aeroplane. [AWM E02038]
-
By an interesting coincidence, the same man, later as a
senior RAF officer, was instrumental in supporting the pioneering
first flight (by the SMITH bros., SHIERS and BENNETT) from England to
Australia in 1919.
December
2023
Our
member Jennifer BALLARD enjoyed the Gold Coast ‘Pacific
Wings’ Airshow in August. Her uncle, Henry YOUNG,
now 100, also attended the airshow and was a big hit with the other
invited guests. During WW2 Henry was a Seafire pilot [the
naval version of the Spitfire] with the Royal Navy &
later also flew with the RAN. Henry still has amazing
recall of his flying experiences and is currently an outstanding
participant in Masters Tennis.
Centenarian Henry YOUNG meets one of the youngest airshow attendees,
6-month-old Jett ELLIOTT.
[Pic: CONTACT magazine.]
Jennifer
also had the pleasure of meeting the two US Marine Corps V-22
Osprey display pilots who performed at the
airshow. – But just one week later she heard the shocking news
that they had both been killed in the Osprey crash on Melville Island,
north of Darwin. [The cause of the crash is believed to have been
a technical failure in the complex transition control systems of this
unique VTOL aircraft. It had been loaded with troops during
Exercise Predators Run. USMC Corporal Spencer COLLART
was also killed. 20 other Marines were injured.]
The USMC V-22 Osprey flying over the Gold Coast.
Inset: Its USMC pilots, Captain Eleanor LeBEAU
and Major Tobin LEWIS.
Our
colleague Sandi NIPPERESS of 450 Squadron Association
sends news that she has purchased a gold & silver-plated commemorative medallion, remembering the Battle
of El Alamein in 1942. “Where Australia's 9th Division
and Nos.3 and 450 RAAF Squadrons fought in a battle that ended
Germany's hopes in North Africa."
War
isn’t always hell. The AWM holds a number of interesting
photos of 3SQN members walking the fascinating tourist trails in
the unearthed Roman city of Pompei, whilst Mount Vesuvius broods threateningly behind
them. (There was a significant eruption cycle while the
Allied Armies were moving through the region.)
Pompei, Italy. 1943. An elevated view of an Amphitheatre
where the airmen of No.3 (Kittyhawk)
Squadron RAAF are standing in the middle of the arena. [MEA0914]
Naples,
Italy, 1943. An informal group portrait of No.3 (Kittyhawk)
Squadron RAAF at the foot of
Mt Vesuvius, where smoke is billowing out of the active volcano.
Left to right, standing: unidentified; unidentified;
Jack LOVE; Ben DODD (Fitter IIA); Gibb CALVERT (Armourer); Charlie
BARDAS (Parachute Packer); unidentified; unidentified.
Front row: unidentified; Kev HARRIS (Fitter IIE); Bill
GRAHAM (Fitter IIA); Tom JONES (Fitter Electrical).
[AWM MEA0916. - The date was Wednesday 3rd November 1943;
noted in Tommy
Jones’ diary.]
Distinguished
aviation
history author Anthony COOPER presented an
interesting ZOOM talk from The Aviation Historical Society of
Australia QLD meeting at Brisbane’s historic Archerfield
Airport on October 27 2023, titled: “No.3 Squadron 1940-41 –
The RAAF’s WW2 Pioneer Fighter Squadron.”
Pete TURNBULL and John SAUNDERS (both later KIA) at Rosh Pinna,
Palestine, June 1941. [Colourised by RJ Molloy from the UK.]
The video of the lecture is
now available online.
[Begins at 3mins 30sec on the slider.]
Anthony
has conducted extensive research for his forthcoming 3SQN 1940-41
book. This lecture is notable for the fascinating facts
and figures presented to support his point that 3SQN had a uniquely
intensive combat experience, when compared with other RAAF
fighter squadrons. Our member John LOVE commented, “It was
most interesting to hear some of 3SQN’s history from that era.
Well put together. The Middle East was a nasty campaign. I
was surprised at the high casualty numbers that related to those who
received limited warfare training before being sent overseas.”
Anthony also mentioned
the incredible number of “prangs” that occurred when 3SQN
was converting to their new P-40 Tomahawks in Palestine, prior to the
invasion of Syria in 1941.
Our
website
has C.O. Peter JEFFREY’s explanation: “Well, the main
difficulty was the fact that it was an unsuitable aerodrome for a
start, with a bitumen runway which wasn't all that wide, and it had
very deep and wide drains at both sides so if you went off the runway
that was the end of it. We had a steerable tailwheel which we'd
never flown before, which meant that people had to have much less
rudder movement than they would normally have had with a non-steering
tailwheel. But the main thing was that there was a weakness in
the undercarriage of the original Tomahawks and in fact it was some of
my best pilots that had some of the prangs there, so it wasn't a
matter of flying, it was this undercarriage collapsing which was the
main problem.
Also
although we had two American Army Air Corps people who'd come out to
give us some information on the aircraft, their method of landing that
they told us was to fly them in on the wheels and fast. - And that was one of the
things that was breaking the undercart, so we modified that type of
thing and from then on we had no problems. But we did have a lot
of prangs initially.”
The
Air Force Association has continued to add well-produced Biographical
Podcast Interviews to their archive. The latest ones with
particular interest for 3SQN are:
-
Henry YOUNG: (The 100 year old Gold Coast star!) WW2
Naval Seafire and Sea Fury Pilot.
- Air Marshal
Mel HUPFELD: From 3SQN Flight Commander, via OPERATION
FALCONER in Iraq, to Chief of Air Force - in the RAAF’s
spectacular Centennial Year!
- Air Commodore
Tim ALSOP: Reflections on the Air Combat Group and
combat flying in the Air Force, from this popular ex-CO3.
- Wing Commander
Tim IRELAND: Highlighting the F-18A
& F-35A. Former Flight Commander at 3SQN 2012-2015,
with numerous exciting operational command deployments to the Middle
East since then.
- Group Captain Jason
(‘Easty’) EASTHOPE. Flying fast jets since he was 19,
and still going fast! A former 3SQN XO, he led 77SQN at the time
it was super-sized with 2nd-hand 3SQN Hornets. Easty
earned the honour of performing the RAAF’s last-ever Hornet
display flight over Williamtown. Now on a Heritage
Binge at 100 Squadron, running the nation’s historic aircraft
collection!
Our
new member Kev STOW wrote in, concerning the 1976 Mirage crash that resulted in 3SQN’s
“last” operational fatality:
“I've
just discovered the 3 Squadron website and am impressed with what
I've read and found out so far.
To
place my email in context, I'm a retired 'Framie' (eventually ENGO)
and was at Butterworth when this accident happened. I was at 75
SQN after being at 3SQN for 18 months, and had been promoted to Sgt in
Nov’75, I think, hence the move. At the time of the accident, 75
was on Tengah duty and our CO had to fly back and land at Bayan Lepas
[Penang Island Civil Airport] to get home that afternoon. I
remember seeing the smoke from the accident rising over the field and
being called in to go to Bayan Lepas by chopper to receive and turn
around our aircraft, in prep for a return to Butterworth when
suitable.
I
didn't know who was involved in either of the accident aircraft until
after I'd returned to Butterworth. I then found out that Perry
KELLY, who was a friend of mine, had been killed. I was an
Announcer on RRB [Radio
RAAF Buttworth]
and was in the process of training Perry to become an announcer.
I had completed a training tape and lesson with him only the night
before.
I'd never until today
read anything official about the accident and it was refreshing and
sobering to read Jim HALL's contribution. And yes, the rumours
he mentions were what I'd heard, but this is the first 'official'
article that I've read.
I remember speaking to
Paul KAYE sometime after the accident, he was on O/O duty as I recall,
and he didn't seem to me to be the same man that I knew before the
accident, which is understandable. - As you might guess, it's
still with me after all these years.
Hope my email
adds to the Squadron story, even though I was with 75 at the
time. I have to say that my four years I spent on the Mirage
were the most satisfying of my entire service career.”
Our
member David PIETSCH had a long and distinguished RAAF career,
but it was almost “terminated” at an early stage, when he inadvertently
flew his training Sabre into powerlines that had been strung
across a rainforest valley in southern Queensland - by an amateur
electrician! One wire even sliced the top off David’s flying
helmet, as if it were a boiled egg! [Amazingly he remained
unscathed and conscious. He recovered his damaged Sabre to
Amberley, but the plane never flew again.]
Prompted
by some questions from Queenslander Matthew DAHLITZ, we have added some
further images from David’s collection to our web-page about the incident. They
particularly highlight the glorious blue “racing stripe” colour-scheme
of No.5 Operational Training Unit in those “final days” of RAAF
Sabre operations. - Very fitting for the plane they called, “The
Last of the Sports Models!”
The young Dave with one of the No.5 OTU Sabres.
CHRISTMAS
DETECTIVE. Our Melbourne member Tony FAEHSE (who is
something of a bower-bird…) long-ago purchased an old album of Christmas
Cards from a Deceased Estate auction.
Recently, while sorting
through his collection, Tony’s interest was piqued by this mysterious
RAAF 1944 Christmas Card [pictured] and he thought that it may be
of interest to our Association members.
He also wondered whether
he should find it an appreciative home...
We embarked on a little
detective work to see if we could uncover the story: “36 RAAFTS”
refers to No.36 RAAF Transport Squadron, who were based at
Essendon VIC during 1944, but operated all over Australia and into the
South Pacific.
The
card is signed “Nick Horsfield Sgt”, so we consulted the online
Veterans Affairs WW2 Nominal Roll Database and found three
Horsfields, two of whom were Sergeants.
But then another minor
mystery arose – none of them were named Nicholas!
- "Nick" must have been a nickname!
However,
by happy coincidence, "Nick" was publicly dobbed-in by his bride-to-be
in a 1951 newspaper gossip column, so the identification could
be made.
36 Squadron has remained
in existence over the intervening 79 years and are now based at Amberley
QLD. Following enquiries from Tony, Air
Force Heritage in Amberley have now agreed to accept the 1944
card into their collection.
Tony described the card’s interesting background: “My wife and
I had a vintage furniture and homewares shop here in Melbourne, called
Retro Active, from 1996 to 2019. We also stocked records,
magazines and some ephemera to give customers something else to browse
if they couldn’t find the Fler chair or Barsony lamp they were looking
for. (This was of course before you could browse everything
online!)
I
got a lot of our stock from weekly auction rooms, including Aingers in
Richmond VIC. One day an auction lot came up consisting of two
very large scrap books of mostly Christmas Cards from what we call the
“mid-century” era. I bought them and they turned out to be a
fascinating trove. We used to display some at Christmas. There
is also a market for these things and we sold a couple at the time.
They all belonged to one person and dated from the 1930’s through to
the 1970’s. (Obviously they would have been part of an estate
which the executors couldn’t find a home for with the family.
Such is the nature of things.)
Hundreds of cards carefully collected and sellotaped into the
scrapbooks in chronological order, all sent to a Miss Peggy AIRD,
nearly all of them care of Myers Emporium. She was head of the
Display Department for makeup and beauty products; and then also Head
of the Makeup & Toiletries Department. She seems to have had
a huge circle of friends and business contacts, many of whom courted
her with samples of their latest products. (Including Helena
Rubinstein, Cyclax, Palmolive, Coty and all the brands of the day, who
were very appreciative of her display and promotional
abilities.) She was well valued by the management with bonuses
and citations at Christmas time.
It sounds like the makings of a movie! “Lady in Black”…
Needing to downsize soon, I had another look at them and sold bundles
of some of the 1950’s and 60’s ones to collectors on eBay. The
earlier ones from the 30’s and 40’s I’ve kept for the moment, as well
as some other significant ones. - Including of course the card
we are interested in.”
From
TROVE, 80 years ago:
A 1943 XMAS MESSAGE FROM THE MIDDLE EAST…
There
is a group of Air Force boys in the Middle East who are almost as
famous as the "Tobruk Rats," for many of them left the home
shores with the first volunteer drafts - before Pearl
Harbour, before Singapore, before Darwin. Travel where you
will throughout the length and breadth of the Mediterranean
sectors you will find them at every type of task, carrying their
weight according to the best Australian traditions.
As Chaplains, moving in
and out among these fellows, we have come to have an unbounded
admiration for them. You will recognise them by their
weather-beaten fur-felt hats, their grease-stained and dust-seamed
shorts, and a desert sore or two. They smile airily and quietly
at any newcomer from Australia who begins talking about what he's
done. - For these men have seen things in the raw from the
beginning; they have created a kind of fresh tradition in the Middle
East, and withal, they were the ones who bred and cemented the good
fellowship with the A.I.F.
We are sending this
note to the home folk of some of these 'Old Contemptibles' -
their parents, their wives and children, their sweethearts - so that
you may have a reminder at Christmas time of their devoted thoughts of
you.
Now these fellows
would have loved to have been with you for Christmas! How many
of them counted on that! How these fellows, every one of them, long to
get home to do something on the Australian Front! As a matter of
fact, certain snippets of information have led them to believe there
was a reasonable chance of getting back soon; and we hear that some
newspapers at home have published misleading statements. These
false hopes have been as hard for the boys out here to take, as they have been for you at home.
The thoughts of
eventual return home are gloriously sweet, but another Christmas in
the Middle East seems inevitable - and even though it may bring a lump
to the throat of many a loved one at home, just give a bracing three
cheers on Christmas Day for these blokes whose exploits have
been unsung and whose sacrifice is scarcely known.
- God bless you
all. And God bless them all.
Yours
sincerely,
Bob DAVIES; Fred
McKAY; John McNAMARA.
Chaplaincy Section,
R.A.A.F. Middle East.
The Squadron’s 1943 Xmas Card design.
[Artist: 3SQN Groundcrew member Norm FRENCH.]
We’re
very impressed with the serving Squadron’s work rate, but our
member Ken McCRACKEN has also been racking up some impressive
totals as the Tow-Meister at Southern Cross Gliding
Club...
Says Ken: “I had a test of stamina a couple of weeks ago,
when I did 20 glider launches from 1100hrs to 1800hrs
(refuelling twice) after driving an hour to get to the airfield.
I spent another hour doing the paper-work and cleaning up the aircraft
after flying, and then an hour driving home. - Glad for an ‘old
bastard’, I can still do it! - Cheers Ken.”
Our
member Bruce BAILEY sends an interesting photo:
I came across this old photo tonight and thought it timely to share
it.
The
image was taken by my son Geoffrey PEI, then aged 9, a few minutes after
the completion of a re-opening ceremony (after the Sydney City Council's
restoration) of Robert Woodward's beautiful El Alamein Fountain,
in Kings Cross, in July 2012. It is a memorial to the men who
turned back the Axis forces at El Alamein, in North Africa in October
and November 1942.
I was privileged to have been befriended by the man who designed this
fountain. Robert WOODWARD did not patent his nozzle
design, and so you will often see this type of nozzle in many fountains
around the world. Robert had worked with the Finnish architect
Alvar AALTO in 1953-54. The fountain required the skills of
precision metalworker machinists.
I intentionally took my son Geoffrey to this re-opening ceremony in July
2012. A special day for me. We met and talked with a Chinese
poet and also met some Sydney celebrities... Robert Woodward's
daughter gave a speech using her Dad's words describing his design
intent… She gave me the full text of it, which included:
"The El Alamein Fountain is a War Memorial. However it
is not the usual sombre structure of granite headstones with bronze
plaques and inscribed tablets. It is a lively burst of water
depicting the Ninth Division AIF breaking the deadlock of WW2."
[Not to mention
3SQN!]
In my words, the fountain is much more than the "wishing-seed-head of
a Dandelion" standing in a rowdy disturbed pool. There are
also hundreds of jets in the lower, more-still, levels, quietly creating
more-gentle sounds.
It is certainly a place to make a wish for Peace.
Some
comments received on our Williamtown Association Day (22/9/23):
- “Vicki – thanking you for the great day you organised. It was
fantastic seeing the new planes and the Base – how it has grown!” Allan
& Wendy JONES.
-
“It was an awesome day, thank you. Dad has called a number of
times to express thanks.” Greg & Bernie.
-
Also we received telephoned messages of thanks from Yvonne THOMPSON
and John RILEY.
A “Big Wing” F-35C, of US Marine Squadron VMFA-314 [left]
formates with an F-35A of 3SQN [right]. [Picture by
our member Kieron BALL.]
- The larger wing of the F-35C allows lower landing speeds for Aircraft
Carrier operations (lessening touchdown impact) and provides
some improvements in range and an increased maximum ordinance
load.
[Probably its Maximum Supersonic Speed is also lower, but the USMC
doesn’t talk about that!]
The F-35C wingtips can be folded, at about the 30% mark, to reduce the
deck-space required on the carrier.
Now that international travel is becoming more
affordable again, Annette GUTERRES, Secretary of Bomber
Command Assn. Aust., has given us a recommendation:
2018 saw the opening of the International Bomber Command Centre museum
in the beautiful and historic city of Lincoln in the
UK. It is well worth a visit and their website is also very
interesting; including stories, historical explanations and many photos
of this attractively-landscaped site.
The British WW2 Strategic Bombing Campaign was for several
years the only offensive option against Germany that was available on
the Allied side. Service in Bomber Command was remarkably dangerous
and this particular campaign against Germany killed far more
Australian service personnel than any of the other major battles of
WW2. [4,145 dead – who were often the “best and brightest” of RAAF
recruits.] The incredible death & destruction wrought on the
ground in the Axis countries also became highly controversial after WW2
and for that reason the official recognition of the sacrifices of the individuals
in Bomber Command was (quite unfairly) muted, up until recent decades.
Jane GOFFMAN in Canberra has sent us a photo of
the bronze plaque erected by the ACT Government to mark the
centre of the original Canberra Aerodrome, which was once located where
the suburb of Dickson has now been built. The plaque features a
profile of a 3SQN DH-9 aircraft, serial A6-28, which crashed near the north–west
boundary of the aerodrome in February 1926. This sad event
involved the first fatalities for the newly-formed No.3 Squadron RAAF
and was also the ACT’s first fatal air-crash.
Sydney aero-modeller Adrian RAVEN has been
building a scale-model of a 3SQN P-51K Mustang from 1945. He has
chosen to depict Lew RANGER’s CV-W “Anita” KH755.
Adrian has made a great job of modelling Lew himself, including a white
silk scarf. [The pilots wore these scarves to prevent
chafing of their necks, as they had to keep a constant all-round lookout
for bad guys. Made of fine silk, they were printed with
full-colour “escape
maps” of the area of operations – manufactured by some of
London’s top couturiers! These maps were very useful to shot-down
pilots; they would remain readable despite getting soaking wet or being
scrunched-up to be hidden away.]
Newly unearthed in the historical aviation collection of
Fred MORTON in the National Library of Australia is a
1980 digitised interview with a famous 3SQN Commanding officer from the
Desert in 1940-41, Alan RAWLINSON OBE, DFC & Bar, AFC.
Al speaks on quite a wide range of topics for over 40 mins.
Tony FAEHSE from Melbourne, another of our
members, had a fabulous time on the Amalfi Coast of Italy, just
south of Naples, where his dad Colin and many other 3SQN
serving members were able to enjoy some rest and recreation in
1943/44. Tony found that the Hotel Luna is still on the same spectacular
clifftop site and the staff there were very interested in Tony’s picture
of his dad in uniform on the terrace. Tony was able to have a good
look around, but he didn’t stay overnight – their room rate now leaves
little change from $1,500AUD/day!
Our member Peter RING, who was a 3SQN Sabre
pilot in the 1960s, has sent in a brilliant collection of photos and
press clippings regarding 3 Squadron’s last Sabre operation,
which involved the long-distance return of these jets from Butterworth
to Australia. Pete’s materials will be presented in a History
article in the next edition of 3SQN News, in time to commemorate the
57th anniversary of this flight.
John LOVE has found some further idyllic
pictures of his dad Nigel taking out his Air Training Corps
boys in sailboats on Sydney Harbour in 1942, to appreciate the effects
of wind.
We do hope that these boys grew up slowly enough to miss
the worst parts of the war, such as Bomber Command's "Battle of Berlin". But since
even their training-flights were perilous, sadly at least some of them
must later have become casualties of WW2.
Jason “Westie” WEST, the much-respected
current 3SQN “W.O.E.” (Warrant Officer Engineering) at Williamtown,
asked an interesting question: “During my time at 3SQN I have
heard various stories as to the origin of the nickname ‘Milk Drinkers’
given to personnel of 3SQN. Is there someone within the
Association that may be able to provide the origin please?”
We have already asked several 3SQN history experts where
this somewhat derogatory-sounding nickname may have come from. Bob
TRELOAR mentioned the 77 SQN “Lemon Squeezers” being named
for their poor maintenance record at one stage, but nobody had any
‘smoking gun’ evidence on “Milk Drinkers”. Certainly the term
was not known in Butterworth, pre-Hornet. Vinny
IERVASI also pointed out: “The Squadron has been colloquially
tagged that way as long as I can remember. [But…] We’ve
embraced the term and have happily ‘drunk milk’ in the bar!”
So, over to our readers - does anyone out there have the
bona-fide “3SQN Milk Drinkers” origin story???
Paul SIMIDAS, of the Western Front
Association – Australia, tells us that they have started a
new Facebook page. Well worth browsing for
anyone interested in 3AFC’s surroundings in 1917-1918.
The Australian National Memorial and Sir John Monash Centre
at Villers Bretonneux,
just south of the Somme River in France.
After the 3AFC boys returned from the Western Front in
1919, most went back to civilian occupations. However a very small
number of highly-qualified individuals were retained in the Australian
flying services, to form the core of the future Royal Australian Air
Force (31 March 1921). One such man was Henry WRIGLEY,
who had flown RE8s with 3AFC during WW1 and was temporary CO3 after
hostilities finished. Wrigley is now known as “The Father of
Australian Airpower”, based on his academic writings in the 1920s, and he also performed
the very practical feat of completing the first transcontinental
flight across Australia in 1919. Sydney historian Tom
LOCKLEY has discovered a wonderful article in TROVE with many quotes
from Wrigley about this pioneering feat. [NB. Wrigley
remained the Patron of 3SQN Association until his death in 1987.]
Our good friend Kristen ALEXANDER, who is a
historian in Canberra, has just published a new book, Kriegies: the Australian Airmen of Stalag Luft III.
This topic is very relevant to 3SQN, as many of our shot-down pilots
ended up in Stalag III in German Lower Silesia (now
Poland). – We even have an amusing
poem about the place on our website! But life there
was decidedly NOT fun! - Stalag III was the site of “The
Great Escape” and two 450 Squadron RAAF pilots were murdered by
the Gestapo in the disastrous aftermath of that event.
Kristen kindly says: “Your website’s Alan RIGHETTI interview was a great help
with writing the book.”
Furthermore she has sent us a new photo of the German ace who is thought
to have downed Fred
EGGLESTON of 3SQN…
Erbo Graf von KAGENECK, who was himself fatally wounded a few weeks
after he shot down our Fred. (Fred became a POW of the Italians,
but then spectacularly escaped to Switzerland.)
Kristen has also recently starred in an enjoyable
online interview about her book, hosted by
raafdocumentary.com.
Luke SYPKES from Tasmania, who is currently
residing in France [lucky chap!] is part of Project 44 Australia, which is undertaking
the huge task of mapping the daily locations of all major combatant
units in WW2. Luke has very kindly sent us a long list of latitudes
and longitudes of the great majority of the airbases used
by 3SQN in WW2. [If this sort of data floats your boat, then
please contact us for a copy! - Or maybe just enjoy the view from the old Mileni
aerodrome near Foggia in Italy!]
More stimulating than a morning mug of coffee is this
4-minute “Top-Gun-esque” TV Report from 2014, about
3SQN’s Hornet
operations. [It certainly looks like Tim
ALSOP had his coffee that day!]
Our member Lindsay NAYLOR, a former pilot, was
amazed to see the articles and pics about his own career that can be found
in the wonderful TROVE system mentioned in our last newsletter.
Lindsay says: “Wow!!! Many thanks. I had no idea that
sort of material was available anywhere. An example of the old
adage that shows you are never too old to stop learning.
As you indicated, lots of memories there!”
Our member Des SHEEHAN has sent in photos of
Les SELL, who flew alongside Des’s father Malcolm in 3AFC and
was killed at the Western Front in March 1918.
Lieutenant Leslie Simeon John SELL, from Albert Park, Melbourne, standing
in front of a WW1 truck. Les had been a 25 year old photographer
prior to enlisting on 23 October 1916 as 944 Private Sell.
He was then designated as an Air Mechanic 2nd Class. He embarked
for overseas with 4th Squadron AFC Headquarters from Melbourne on 17
January 1917 aboard RMS Omrah. After arriving in England, he
undertook further training that lead to promotion and on 20 December 1917
he was commissioned as a Flying Officer (Second Lieutenant in
AIF). In March 1918 he joined 3rd Squadron AFC in France. 3AFC
operated against the German Spring Offensive of March 1918.
It was during these operations that 2nd Lt Sell was severely
injured, trying to make a forced landing on 25 March 1918. He died
later that day of his wounds. He is buried in the Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, France.
June 2023
Our artist friend Dom BARTOLO has very generously gifted a
total of four of his brilliant aviation art posters to the Association
and the serving Squadron. - Kudos Dom!
From Italy, Professor Giuseppe ANGELONE tells us that
his archaeology team may have found fragments of 3SQN Kittyhawk
FS-434, which was shot down by anti-aircraft fire on 6/10/43,
behind the German lines in the Termoli-Venafro area. The Pilot
was FSGT Ted HANKEY, who luckily evaded capture and made it back to
3SQN. (But didn't fly operationally again after
returning.)
The Professor was looking for more information about Ted, who
had arrived at 3SQN in Africa on 13 Nov 1942 and departed for
Australia from Italy on 30 Nov 1943. We were able to send
Giuseppe several file references:
1) During air combat in Tunisia, Ted had claimed the “Probable”
shooting-down of one Italian Macchi Mc202 fighter. [3SQN
Combat Claims page 1225.]
2) Ted’s Casualty File on page 5 has a copy of CO3
Brian EATON's crash report, with a map reference. The
mission itself is described on pages 47&48 of the 3SQN ORB.
3) There are 14 photos in the Australian War Memorial.
4) Also several entertaining press articles: Ted had
been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal for his prowess
in ground-attack. He had also been a champion athlete in 1941 - this may have
helped him in running away from the Germans! Ted distracted
his pursuers by ditching his Pilot’s Wings, which the soldiers stopped to pick up!
- Ted became something of a celebrity back in Australia, when
he was sent on tour to raise War Bond subscriptions.
Our member Tricia COONEY has mounted these WW2 BEER LABELS [collected “in
action” by her dad Frank!] into an attractive display.
Adrian RAVEN in Sydney has found an interesting video of a
modern-day Mustang pilot saving himself from disaster when his engine
failed just after lifting off. Adrian says, “It must
be a scary moment when your engine fails on takeoff, but this pilot
handled it very well, with impressive reaction time.” The
pilot immediately glided down
‘straight ahead’ and landed. [Don’t even think about
trying to turn-back in the air!] He then made a controlled ground-loop
to stay within the fence! [Comparing with 3SQN’s WW2
operations, he was lucky he didn't have bombs on!]
Clive ALSOP (father of Tim) wrote in to say how much he
enjoyed our last newsletter…
“Perhaps partly because of the article about Tim...”
[!]
Clive also wanted to mention the story of the brilliant planning and
execution of OPERATION JERICHO, the 1944 low-level Amiens
Prison attack by Mosquitoes, largely flown by Aussies,
including WGCDR Bob IREDALE DFC,
“…Who lived very near us when Tim was about 14.”
Clive’s “ultra–short” version of the story is:
“1. Amiens Prison 1944… Executions of
French Resistance inmates scheduled in near future…
Prison attacked by Mosquito Squadron…
Walls breached…
Prisoners ‘buggered off'!
2. When Tim was about to go into
the RAAF, he and I spent a morning with IREDALE and got the full
story.
It was inspirational.”
Clive has visited the prison-site in France:
“…The other indelible memory of being in that part of the world is
sitting in a lovely French pub; a bloke came over to us and asked
(in French), “Where are you from?”
It took me a minute to reply in very stagnant French. When I
remembered the right word… ”AUSTRALIE!”
…All of a sudden, Sal and I were heroes. Obviously, we
had won WW2 by ourselves!
Oh, the memories of the past…
Thanks again for your wonderful work in recording our Squadron’s
modern history.”
Peter RITCHIE, a keen sea-kayaker, was offshore from South
West Rocks recently and videoed a pair of F-35s flying by at low level.
Peter says, “Just let the pilots know we loved it!”
The AWM has digitised the diary of 3SQN 1942 Kittyhawk pilot Garth
CLABBURN. Also his logbook, where CO3 Bob GIBBES
rated Garth “Above Average”. Following Garth’s exciting
time in North Africa, he finished the war back in Australia on
training duties.
The AWM also holds a 1926 menu from a 3SQN “Cheerio Dinner”
at Richmond. Given the wild and erratic autographs applied
thereon - and the rather good caricature drawn on the back – it
appears to have been a very successful night!
The signature of the famous WW1 fighter ace Garnet MALLEY, MC AFC,
can be
discerned. (Near the illustration of the 1920s “Flapper” in the
skimpy shift!)
Also note the 'Aviation-themed' dishes, such as "Tight Roll
of Camel".
Matthew DAHLITZ, a video producer from Park Ridge, QLD, is
creating a website of RAAF History, and hopes to post an original
video tribute on his 3SQN page, based on some of the personal
stories on our website.
Good News! The National Library’s TROVE research database system was facing
the threat of being shut down, but a large-scale public campaign has secured
additional funding in the latest Federal Budget. - If
you’ve not tried it, it’s a wonderful system for unearthing
information from old newspapers (sourced from all over Australia,
since the earliest days of colonisation). Also libraries, film
collections etc. – It’s easy to start with the name of a
rellie, or any other topic that you’re interested in.
Thanks to new info contributed by Blue FARRELL, we have now
added some further memorial text to Jim HALL’s comprehensive article
on the 1976 3SQN Mirage Collision that claimed the life of Perry KELLY.
(The Squadron’s last operational fatality.)
May
2023
Our mate ‘Boomer’ rang! - Geoff
WONG is a West Australian aviation researcher currently publishing
a series of articles on the CAC Boomerang. The Boomerang
was an “emergency fighter”, based on the Wirraway. It was thrown
together here in Australia in the impressively short period of five
months, in early 1942, under the leadership of Lawrence WACKETT (who
previously had distinguished service with 3AFC in WW1).
Geoff is trying to chase down one particular rumour, relating to the
development of the CAC-manufactured 20mm cannons for the
Boomerang, which seems to link back to 3SQN. For example, quoting
Wikipedia: “Common to many of the latest fighters at the time,
the Boomerang was equipped with automatic cannons. As no such
weapons had previously been manufactured in Australia, a pair of
British-made Hispano-Suiza 20mm were used. Allegedly, an example
that an Australian airman had collected as a souvenir in the
Middle East was reverse-engineered.”
In conversation with Doug NORRIE of 450 SQN
Assn, Geoff realised that 3 Squadron was probably the only RAAF unit
where ground personnel were returning from the Middle East in the
correct timeframe, i.e. late 1941. We were able to confirm for
Geoff that a large cohort of 3SQN "1940 Original" groundcrew were
rotated back to Australia from October 1941, after the Syria
campaign. There is a list in the 3SQN ORB, page 495.
However, we could also tell Geoff that the
“souvenir” rumour is unfortunately not repeated in any
of our 3SQN veteran interviews, nor any other sources known to the
Association. (So that rumour is sounding rather unsupported to
us!) The AWM Official History of WW2 Armament Production
also didn’t mention any souveniring, and in fact sounds rather irritated
with Wackett wasting his time designing his own cannon:
“Production of 20-mm cannon for
aircraft, for different reasons, had a checkered history.
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty Ltd took up the Hispano cannon
as a project during a slack period at the end of February
1942... The cannon was easy to make but progress was slow.
Raw materials for the British design of the Hispano were in short
supply and it was estimated that adherence to that design would delay
production for up to 18 months, whereas a revised design, it was
claimed, could be produced in five months. By December… the
Australian design had been abandoned, after all, in favour of
reversion to the British, and the double change in design added to the
cost and time required to complete the Air Force order for 420
guns. That order was confirmed in April 1943, but with a warning
that there would be no further orders. As it turned out,
production was slow (about six a week) and the order was terminated by
the War Cabinet with only six completed guns that had passed
inspection and only 202 fully-assembled guns. By then,
British-made guns were freely available, and the Air Force no longer
wanted the Hispano for operational aircraft.”
If any reader has information that may help Geoff to further analyse
his rumour, please contact us.
Fans of RAAF-themed videos, podcasts and articles may care to
check out “Runway”, a stylish new collection
of thought-provoking articles (such as “Where is the Confrontation
over Ukraine headed?”) on the Air Force website.
The Association was able to help identify a mysterious photo of
burning aircraft wreckage (below) in Tasmania in 1937.
It’s a 3SQN Hawker Demon, A1-8, which crashed near the top of
a wilderness mountain and was then deliberately incinerated.
Amazingly this burnt airframe was recovered and completely restored by
the RAAF 50 years later - now a star exhibit in the RAAF Museum!
SQNLDR Eamon HAMILTON will be doing the Anzac Day TV
Commentary in Sydney this year. He has asked us about videos
showing the settings of 3 Squadron’s “80th Anniversaries”
coming up this year, which are:
> "Victory in Africa" 12 May 1943.
> "Invasion of Sicily" 10 July 1943 (with
3SQN flying from Malta for pre-invasion attacks).
> "Invasion of Mainland Italy" by 3SQN, 15
Sept 1943.
We have recommended to Eamon:
1) Our member Tony FAEHSE’s YouTube video, “IN THE BLUE”, which shows interesting
views of these events, accompanied by Tony’s original music and
historic tunes.
2) An AWM video donated by 3SQN's WW2
Engineering Officer Ken McRAE. [Highlights
listed below:]
(Timer) 1:30:44 Medenine, Tunisia. Wrecked German
tanks. Burning British truck. Road convoy. Roman
ruins. Low angle shot of poppies with P-40 in background. Berber and
Tuareg nomads.
1:37:40 Boston bombers fly overhead. Tunis, city
streets, war-damaged buildings. French national flag flying from
buildings. Burning German halftracks. Vichy French 155mm
heavy artillery piece. French light machine guns. Dug-in
French 105mm field guns.
1:35:20 Park of captured artillery and machine guns.
Captured ammunition. Tunis. Panorama of city.
1:47:40 RAAF group in open top car with "RAAF' stencilled on
the side of the car waving to camera. General city scenes, civilians,
Americans. [Later streets and buildings are Algiers.]
1:56:15 Axis POWs behind barbed wire enclosures.
1:57:00 Men bathing in sea. AFRICA VICTORY PARADE
FOR GEORGE VI. 3 Squadron men and P-40s line up [Sorman
airstrip, Libya] for visit by King George VI. King bestowing
knighthood. King drives off. 3 Squadron on parade raise a
cheer. RAF P-40s sporting shark's mouth [112 SQN RAF].
Various long-shots of parked aircraft. Spitfires and Mosquitos.
2:00:20 Shipwrecks in the harbour. Tank Landing Ships
(LSTs) bound for Malta. Valetta Harbour Malta.
Bomb-damaged buildings. Views of the city of Valetta and bomb
damage.
2:05:10 SICILY
INVASION. Voyage to Sicily aboard LST.
Bivouac Sicily - Pachino.
2:07:10 Captured Italian seaplanes. City scenes.
[Syracuse] Sicilian police pose for camera. C-47 parked on
airfield. Air-to-air shot of C-47 in flight. Italian Breda
25 seaplane painted over in 3 Sqn colours. Caproni seaplane
painted in 3 Sqn colours. Road convoy including Sherman
tanks. Burning Italian/German bomber, possibly shot on a
raid. [Ragusa hill town scenery.]
2:16:30 Agnone airfield, large bomb crater with 3SQN P-40 in
background. Delayed action bombs exploding. Men standing
next to crater. Town views Palermo.
2:18:05 ITALY
INVASION. Flight to Italian mainland aboard
C-47. [3
SQN were the FIRST full Allied squadron to mount a attack from a
mainland Italy base - Battle of Salerno.] Note shadows
of C-47 on ground while in flight. RAAF men board truck.
General city scenes possibly Taranto.
2:22:20 Airfield possibly Grottaglie or Bari 3 Sqn P-40.
Studies of 3 Sqn men.
2:31:20 to 2:33:50. Later on there is good aircraft
footage from Cutella airfield, Italy, near the ‘Gustav Line’,
occupied late 1943. [Long-range fuel tanks fitted; possibly this
is the raid against Forli German base.] The escape of the famous
3SQN ace Nicky BARR from German captivity is also being
celebrated.
Nicky BARR [left] visits 3SQN's base at Cutella, Italy,
following his escape from behind the German lines.
Aviation researcher Ray CHRISTENSEN has pointed out an
excellent online 3SQN WW2 Photo Album, preserved by the Coffs
Harbour Regional Museum. Ray says: “It was donated by
the family of No.15080 Leonard BLACK, who was one of the 3
Squadron ‘1940 Originals’. It has photos of his time in the
Middle East and North Africa; also of Morotai where he was later
posted with 79 Squadron. There are a number of cartoons in the
album [Page 22 et seq.] drawn by No.12028 Allan Redall
“Darby” MUNROE, who was another of the Originals.”
[One of the cartoons and another early photo both feature a "captured"
Italian uniform that greatly impressed the boys with the quality of
its cut, compared with our Aussie uniforms!]
The press clippings on page 28 and subsequent colour pix of 3SQN 70th
Anniversary, 1986, are also of value to the Association.
Our member Paul McGUINESS, from the NSW mid-North Coast, has
painstakingly produced yet another of his fascinating
aircraft-histories for our website. In this case, the Tomahawk
- used by 3SQN from May to December 1941. Paul’s skill in
writing interesting but thorough history has created yet another ideal
reference that can answer many questions on 3SQN’s “Tommies”.
Our member John LOVE, whose aviation interests span an
entire century, has pointed out a ”VERY interesting” online slideshow about “Fighter Design”,
delivered to The Military History Society of W.A. in January
2023. The author, David ARCHIBALD [who has a reputation
for being a provocative peanut in quite a few subject areas!] has
scraped together every possible criticism of the F-35.
(And for that matter, the Super Hornet.)
However, perusing these slides will help you to hone your skills for
separating truth from propaganda, and real determinants of success
from straw-men.
[And Remember that 3SQN has always been successful in combat,
no matter what they were flying. …Now why would that be, Mr.
Archibald?]
Also in W.A., our member John SAINSBURY has been helping the
Australian War Memorial to compile a study-guide for
schoolchildren, titled “CHIVALRY”, highlighting the North
African desert service of John’s 102-year old father, our “W.A.
Hon.Pres”, Felix. John also sent in this posed pic
of ex-boxer Felix, still capable of defending his
country! [Maybe he can sort out David Archibald for us!]
John says, “Felix has just had a new pacemaker inserted, which
should give him another eight years’ service…”
[But sadly, that was not to be - Vale Felix, May 2023.]
3SQN Association has been able to compile three dossiers of
information that point out mistaken dates-of-death on the
gravestones of three 3SQN 1941/42 WW2 casualties:
Flying Officer James Andrew McINTOSH;
Flying Officer Donald Erskine KNIGHT;
and Flying Officer Percival Roy BOTHWELL.
The Office of Australian War Graves has responded to say that
these errors will be corrected when the memorials are next maintained.
South Australian aeronautical memorabilia collector Paul OATEN
has managed to resurrect a 3SQN History video that he thought has been
long-lost. In the year 2000, Paul recorded Jean DAWKINS,
the widow of 3SQN WW2 Kittyhawk pilot Arthur DAWKINS, reading from Arthur’s combat diary.
The focus of the reading is the day that Arthur’s plane (“CV-B”,
FS493) was destroyed by a mistaken American strafing raid!
This was April 29th, 1944. Arthur’s Engine Fitter,
“Slim” MOORE, was sitting in the cockpit of CV-B when
American 50-cal bullets started bouncing and sparking all around
him! Luckily Slim and his comrade Kev HARRIS escaped
serious injury, and then both of them had the presence of mind to unshackle
a live 500lb bomb from the burning plane, and drag it to
safety. This action saved many 3SQN assets, including
the Ops Tent and Radio Room, from a potentially disastrous secondary
explosion. [Slim and Kev both received “Mentioned in
Despatches” medals.]
However, the actual damage was bad enough! - The whole ‘friendly
fire’ incident was deliberately NOT mentioned in the
3SQN Records, but Brian EATON (commanding 239 Wing) recorded, “Casualties
were 1 killed, and direct or incidental injuries to 4 others.
Material damage included one aircraft Cat.3 and three Cat.1, plus
other minor damage.”
Paul also asked about a latter-day rumour that the American Flight
Leader committed suicide in despair. - This
suicide story is probably a ‘furphy’. The Historian of the
USAAF 325th Fighter Group could not find any possible matching
casualty in their personnel records after that date. [Also on
the American side: apparently that week’s individual aircraft
operational records have gone missing!]
By happy coincidence, Arthur and Jean’s
son Grant has decided
to donate some of the items shown in this video (Arthur’s diary,
and the clock salvaged from CV-B) to the 3SQN Williamtown collection.
We’ve had a rather unexpected “win” over the AWM’s Collection
Management System…
Readers will be aware that in WW1 the Squadron was referred to as “3rd Squadron AFC”
(NOT “No.3”) and our theory has always been that this was due
to Aussie Spirit - wanting to differentiate ourselves from
the Poms.
Unfortunately Cutlack’s Official WW1 AFC History and many AWM
WW1 records have used the wrong name (which of course did
apply to RAAF No.3 Squadron - after 1925). These systematic
errors seemed to have become uncorrectable in this modern digital age,
as all the AWM’s records were all keyed to a Master “No.3”
Index. (Similarly with all the other AFC Squadrons.)
HOWEVER, in the process of suggesting some caption corrections to a
photo of one 3AFC crew, and having our usual whinge about the whole “3rd”
situation, Joanne SMEDLEY, the AWM’s Photo Curator, bravely
took the issue upstairs to the bureaucrats of their Collection
Management Team – and won!
3rd has now become an official Key and, as Joanne says
re the other AFC squadrons, “We are going to attempt a clean-up of
other records, but this may take some time!”
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