tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90 
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 21:52:41 GMT 12
Just some shots of various US Aircraft, taken on Emirau during Oct 1944 - Aug 1945. C-46 'Commando'  |
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 21:54:39 GMT 12
C-47 crash  |
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 21:56:09 GMT 12
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 21:57:38 GMT 12
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 21:59:25 GMT 12
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 22:03:26 GMT 12
My Dad, Jim, in front of a PBY. He always talked about going up in these when things were quiet?! Is this a 'Black Cat' of VP-44?  |
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 22:07:56 GMT 12
B-25's of Marine Air Group 61 (MAG61)  |
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 22:09:26 GMT 12
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 22:12:36 GMT 12
Dad used to say that he would sometimes go up with MAG61 and hang out as a waist gunner?!!  I find this hard to believe, even though I'm sure I read a similar story in one of the past forums?? I don't know if he took these next two photos or not   |
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 28, 2012 22:14:03 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 28, 2012 22:19:19 GMT 12
More great photos Tony. It is interesting to see the colour scheme on the Commando, a straight and a wavey demarkation line, I have never seen a scheme like it.
Nice to see the PBJ's (US Navy B-25 variants) and the Grumman Goose.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 28, 2012 22:23:22 GMT 12
It seems that a numbe rof RNZAF guys, both aircrew and groundcrew members, got the chance to fly missions with US crews. I even knew a chap here in Cambridge, now dead, who was an Army machine gunner and he got to fly a few times in USAAF B-17's as a supernumery air gunner, just for the hell of it and opportunity for something different.
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Post by angelsonefive on Feb 29, 2012 4:04:08 GMT 12
More great photos Tony. It is interesting to see the colour scheme on the Commando, a straight and a wavey demarkation line, I have never seen a scheme like it. Nice to see the PBJ's (US Navy B-25 variants) and the Grumman Goose. Dave, I do not think the straight line represents a different colour. It is just the figure-8 cross section of the fuselage that gives it that appearance. |
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tc64
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 90
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Post by tc64 on Feb 29, 2012 5:19:04 GMT 12
Thanks Dave, Grumman Goose, wondered what it was! And Dad had actually written PBJ's..I called them B-25's, but I was wrong  As the years have gone by, I've always thought it strange that the Aircrew would allow a total novice to fly with them, in action how much use would he be, he'd more than likely be a liability  He did say that when he went up he'd just end up spraying fire on Jap positions in the jungle, don't think he ever saw an actual target though ;D |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 29, 2012 11:01:40 GMT 12
Thanks AOF, I never thunk of that.  Tony, an extra person aboard meant an extra pair of eyes to keep a lookout for fighters or anything in the water. In the case of my mate who was a qualified machine gunner he could take over a turret and give the US crew member a spell too. Bomber aircraft, even our own, often carried extras as observers - mainly high ranking RNZAF officers who needed to see something for themselves to help planning ops, or Army officers who were working with coastwatchers and troops, etc. |
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Post by flyjoe180 on Feb 29, 2012 12:18:40 GMT 12
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Post by John L on Mar 1, 2012 18:13:15 GMT 12
Dad used to say that he would sometimes go up with MAG61 and hang out as a waist gunner?!! I find this hard to believe, even though I'm sure I read a similar story in one of the past forums?? Dad said he'd been up for a couple of flights as a waist gunner, and he was in the Army. He said it was tricky to arrange, (nudge,nudge) but not impossible. |
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Post by chinapilot on Mar 2, 2012 21:35:33 GMT 12
The PBJs with the radar pods could possibly belong to VMB-611.
They were a night 'heckling' unit that harassed Jap outposts on New Ireland and of course Rabaul.
They deployed to Emirau from the USA via Hawaii on Dec 31st '44.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 2, 2012 21:45:54 GMT 12
The RNZAF Hudsons and Venturas also did night heckling, just in case anyone wasn't aware.
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Post by chrislackner on Dec 17, 2014 6:57:20 GMT 12
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