I stumbled across this site and enjoy the fact that there are still people out there to promote and remember the sacrifices of the past generations. My grandfather was a survivor of the HMS Hogue (3 cruisers Debacle) in WWI. My dad flew in Malaya RAAF in the '50's & picked up a disease that eventually killed him. I served 3 years in the OZ army in the late '70's. My son is thinking of joining the forces. I have been an avid reader of books and articles of the main conflicts of the past century. Lest We Forget.
Welcome GW. That is an impressive family contribution. I hope you enjoy visiting ww2chat, and I look forward to your contributions
G'day GW and welcome to the forum. I hope you enjoy it here and look forward to reading your posts especially of your family's experiences. We have a number of Aussies here, myself and Spidge are regular Melbourne posters. Nostalgair is the author Owen Zupp. His Dad was RAAF after the war and flew Meteors in Korea. Owen is a good source for 1950s RAAF activities. Was your Dad on Lincolns?
Further information Thanks for the warm welcome. Dad was a Flight SGT, he did a couple of tours in Malaya. He was a Signaller in Lincolns. I have a (photo) copy of Lincoln at War 1944-1966, very interesting. A quick story, Dad and his crew were flying off the coast of NSW in '56 in a Dakota A65-71 (the one that flew J.Curtins body) to his funeral in Perth. Anyway it was standard procedure to "Buzz" the local ships for practice. Guess what, the pilot misjudged the height and hit the mast and ripped the bottom out of the plane and damaged the prop. I have photo's if I can figure out how to post them I will if you would like. Dad never told me the result of the Court Martial (of the Pilot only). To answer Kitty: It depends on what I'm reading at the time. I swing from the Atlantic convoys to the SWP to the the desert or the POW's. Navy,Army or Airforce or as I saw on one of the posts Merchant Marine, I can only marvel at the strong beliefs and strength of character it took for that generation to endure what they did. I sometimes sit there and read of the waste of WWI and cry. Those who had been through the Somme and other battles learnt a harsh lesson. At least from the Allied side in WWII there was an effort (Mostly) to minimise the casualties. Any way sorry to "waffle". I hope to read and maybe contribute to this interesting forum.. Cheers
Welcome Golden Wattle. I hope you enjoy yourself here. I am from Melbourne as Andy has already said. I collect photographs of headstones and memorials of the 11,300+ Australians who died in the RAAF & RAF in WW2 and the 316 AFC/RFC/RNAS/RAF Air Corps deaths in WW1. Cheers Geoff
Reply to Spidge Thanks for the welcome. That is a fascinating hobbby out of left field. Do you travel o/s often? Are there many seperate/independent gravestones in the UK and OZ or are they mainly memorials? Am I correct on thinking you would struggle for WWI memorabilia? Cheers
The aircraft is still around: Clyde North Aeronautical Preservation Group - CNAPG. Details of the court of inquiry, and the pilot's details are available on the NAA, but haven't been digitised yet. But can be applied for. I shan't name the pilot
Thanks Kyt, :clapping:Fast work. I have emailed the website about the original photo's of the incident. Cheers
Hi, I was able to see inside A65-71 not that long ago and have a few images of the event. Here's one of the cockpit. View attachment 1918 Cheers Owen
Thanks Nostalgair, Do they still fly it? The instruments look in top shape. I haven't been to the museum as yet, but I will make an effort now. Cheerslane::clapping:
I used to travel to the Pacific quite often and saw many graves and memorials however I did not start this project until July last year. Could have done with all the Lae, Port Moresby & Rabaul Cemeteries and Memorials as they amount to 756. Memorials (28) account for 3364 in WW2 & 74 (6) in WW1. Runnymede memorial is the largest with 1,445. WW2 lads are buried in 1052 cemeteries in 65 countries. The list attached is interesting, however not up to date with Australians killed in the RAF not included. Don't forget to click the images twice to read. View attachment 1919 View attachment 1920
At this stage it's a long shot, but I may be going to Egypt (El Alamain) and Turkey next year. It just depends on the money. I'll let you know. Cheers P.S. However not up to date with Australians killed in the RAF not included. That must be a confusing & hard to track down list.
Hi again, It was fully restored in 1981 as part of the RAAF's Diamond Jubilee and flew as part of the celebrations at that time. It is no longer flying and is now in storage at the AWM's Treloar Annex. Cheers Owen
Found over 200 through a search engine then had to track them one by one. That was easy. To get their "posting at death", I had to go through the 11,000 one by one through the roll of honour as the CWGC does not have that information.
You're off to a good start, GW. We'd certainly be interested in pics of the Dak incident your Dad was involved in. Maybe start a separate thread in the post-war section so it's a stand alone historical record. What did your Dad think of Lincolns?
AA, Good idea re: the Dakota. As to the Lincoln's, Dad thought they were underated in most peoples minds. He enjoyed flying in them. Cheerslane:
