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Post by corsair5517 on Aug 8, 2013 10:57:15 GMT 12
The old boys just been visiting and bought with him some more photos that he took - he's 90 this year and has just bought himself a new set of professionally fitted golf bats and a new computer; obviously thinks he's got a good few years left in him!! - so here are a few of them. Apologies for the quality but they are old and were processed by the photo bods on the islands with very used chemicals!! Aircraft first...  Aussie beaufort had an "Ooops!"  .. and again.  Hudson on take off roll??  PV-1  The Zero  Boomerang. Dad has nothing but the highest praise for the 5 Sqn RAAF pilots who flew these low and slow over the Jap positions, and he thought the Boomerang was a fine little aircraft! He became good mates with one of them and is still in touch to this day!  Corsair aloft... with canopy open.  On the ground. I know we've all seem this pic, or very similar, before, but I like it so we can all view it!! :-)  Bob Butt in the cockpit.  Remember I said that he, another pilot and 2 5Sqn lads went to the forward area?? Well, he took his camera!  Wrecked Jap artillery  If you look carefully, there is a gun barrel on the ground. The story was - as Dad recalls - that it was built into a position with a limited field of fire, and when the Aussie infantry ventured into that area, the Japs pushed it into the loophole and let fly with a round or two. Whether 15 Sqn dealt to it, or the Boomerangs did, he can't be sure ....  He thinks it was an Aussie bulldozer; it certainly doesn't look too damaged! Note the young 5 Sqn pilot with the Owen gun!! The NZers just had their revolvers...  Hugh Hamilton, 15Sqn RNZAF, walking up a jungle track. Bougainville, 1945  He thinks this was a beach junket...  Man of the hour on the right hand side, kitted out in Digger gear for the trip "up the line" I've got a few more, and group shots, too and Dad identified most of the people. Unsure of the etiquette of posting them here without their, or their families, consent. Anybody care to share an opinion? That is, if anyone here want to see them!! |
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Post by machpants on Aug 8, 2013 11:30:45 GMT 12
Awesome pics, thanks for posting.
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Post by Luther Moore on Aug 8, 2013 12:46:52 GMT 12
Great photos,You're lucky to have them.
Why did they paint crosses on the Zero?
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Post by baz62 on Aug 8, 2013 15:12:06 GMT 12
Great photos,You're lucky to have them. Why did they paint crosses on the Zero? I think all Japanese aircraft had to apply them that were surreneded to Allied forces. Then is somebody came across one in the iar instead of a red "meatball" they would see the green cross signifying a surrendered aircraft. Ie: don't shoot! |
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Post by suthg on Aug 8, 2013 18:47:44 GMT 12
Tropical air conditioning. It must have been hot flying in those at times...
Thanks for the pics - very interesting! Certainly back to basics for conditions, obviously got quite bored at times - no social life, rare comms with home, hence the interest in going forward to see what is happening on the ground.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 8, 2013 19:20:41 GMT 12
Great shots, thanks for sharing them.
There's no issues with posting group shots with names. If they are official group shots just remember to add "Air Force Museum Official Photos" to the post, to give credit where it's due.
I for one would love to see them please.
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Post by corsair5517 on Aug 8, 2013 21:45:48 GMT 12
Nope; nothing official, just his own shots!
OK, I'll get onto it soonest....
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Post by chinapilot on Aug 9, 2013 13:33:56 GMT 12
Great to see these 'personal' photos and to remember that our Aussie mates were there too...not to forget the Fijian soldiers who did a lot of the jungle fighting.
Lived in Bougainville in the early '70s and walked around many of the areas around Torokina and have always had a lot of respect for the servicemen who served in the Pacific.
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Post by ngatimozart on Aug 9, 2013 19:07:46 GMT 12
Great to see these 'personal' photos and to remember that our Aussie mates were there too...not to forget the Fijian soldiers who did a lot of the jungle fighting. Lived in Bougainville in the early '70s and walked around many of the areas around Torokina and have always had a lot of respect for the servicemen who served in the Pacific. My dad was on Green (Nissan) Island with the RNZAF and his oldest brother was in the 3rd NZ Division chasing the Japanese through the Solomon Islands jungle. Both came home but have since died. So I really appreciate your comment as I do any pictures and stories from the time and place. |
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Post by shorty on Aug 9, 2013 20:25:55 GMT 12
Ngatimozart, what unit was your Dad with?, mine was at Green Island with 10 SU
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Post by corsair5517 on Aug 9, 2013 22:48:22 GMT 12
The servicemen and women who served in the SWP have been poorly served; there used to be a certain "glamour" attached to those who served in the ETO which did not rub off on the Pacific veterans.
The example that is glaring is 3 Div; I've read an awful lot about Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy in regard to NZ involvement in WW2 but very little apart from official histories on 3 Div. who were involved in amphibious landings on enemy occupied territory an awful lot closer to home.
The European pilots stories also had a glamour, for lack of a better word, that eluded the Pacific pilots, by and large, though my father and his ilk don't seem to bothered by the lack of recognition at all. You know, all Dad got when he returned was the ribbon for the Pacific Star; not the actual medal or any of the others!! I had to apply and get those for him in the 90s! And they weren't named either: Australian service medals were all engraved with the recipients name around the edge; NZ defence chiefs were miserablists even back then!!
I'm ever in awe of these youngsters who went away and did a job of work which may have resulted in their death or injury with a cheerful demeanour. Some of the lads in Dads pictures don't look old enough to be out of school!!
We are unlikely to ever see their likes again and I'm ever so grateful to be able to spend time with my father as he reminisces about those days as he experienced them.
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Post by ngatimozart on Aug 9, 2013 23:28:42 GMT 12
Shorty, probably the unit that got into the most trouble. I can't remember as he was a LAC general dogsbody so will dig his records out. They are in a box. Corsair I totally agree. My uncle Jim never complained about the 'fame" dads brother in laws who were in the 2nd Division had. He recognised them for what they were - soldiers like him and had a lot of respect for them which went both ways. He did comment that as far as he was comcerned he'd be buggered if he as going into a desert to fight and they reckoned that they'd stay well away from the bush, that being unnatural as it didn't have in stills in it. But they were all good mates. Mind I reckon Jim was a might jealous of their ability to obtain grog easily in Italy though. He taught me a few things about military service and I was lucky to have him, my dad and my other three uncles to guide me. They all said never volunteer for anything - it was the first comandment - the second was not getting caught. I noted that they all volunteered for service, my father falsifying two birth certificates. They were really silent when I mentioned that after they taught me the first comandment. Oh for about two seconds then told to stop being a smart arse. Another of my dads brothers told me that dad & Jim were dead keen on getting a free overseas trip on the government and in dads case he was dead scared the war would be over before he was legal  I think that because the war started in Europe and pomland was endangered in 1940 it was at the forefront of everyones minds. Empire & King was very strong then. So by the time of Pearl Harbour the 2nd Divison had achieved quiet a degree of fame within NZ. I use the word fame as at moment can't think of a better one. NZ was very eurocentric then and I think because Churchill was involved in keeping the Division in the ETO that it remained to the forefront. The Japanese were not seen as being equal to european troops and they quickly proved that wrong. To this day I think that kiwis didn't and haven't realised just how much danger NZ was in. We were lucky we didn't suffer a direct attack apart from the sinkings by mines. Yet we had Japanese and German subs and surface ships in our waters. I don't really understand the reasons why there is such a difference in public awareness and respect of theose who served in the ETO and the SWP. |
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Post by corsair5517 on Aug 11, 2013 17:09:25 GMT 12
Rightio, here we go...  ... the boys playing on an abandoned Nip tank. You took your entertainment where you found it, eh!  Keith Wakefield, Hugh Hamilton,Colin Hardacre, (f) Ken Otter, Johnny Corbett  Cec Downes and another Aussie pilot, 5Sqn, RAAF on their trip up to the line.  ?, "spy", Hugh Hamilton  Hugh Hamilton, ?, Cyril Cheeseman, Keith Wakefield, ? (f) Bill Bagrie, Ken Otter, Des Stokes, Andy Shanks, ?.  AS fara as Dad can tell, the bloke extreme left is "George" Washington, ?, 1st white trunks is Ken Otter, Bill Bagrie, Johnny Corbett, and the rest ?. |
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Post by corsair5517 on Aug 11, 2013 17:24:11 GMT 12
3 more...  Dad in flying kit.  Dad in the overalls  Johnny Corbett. All Bougainville, 1945. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 11, 2013 19:10:09 GMT 12
That's not a Japanese tank, it's an M3 Stuart, as used by the NZ Army, the British and the US Army.
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Post by corsair5517 on Aug 11, 2013 21:48:05 GMT 12
. To this day I think that kiwis didn't and haven't realised just how much danger NZ was in. We were lucky we didn't suffer a direct attack apart from the sinkings by mines. Yet we had Japanese and German subs and surface ships in our waters. I don't really understand the reasons why there is such a difference in public awareness and respect of theose who served in the ETO and the SWP. Absolutely, though the Australians did, and to their credit withdrew their troops from half a world away to help defend Australia over Churchills machinations. I wonder if there was any thought given by the politicians of the day here to withdraw NZs troops as well?? About public perception.... the vets have possibly bought a little of this on themselves: I was a youngster and asked Dad the age old question, "What did you do in the war, Dad??" "Not much" says the man of the hour.. " I flew Corsairs in the Solomon Islands" And that was it. I was far too callow and tied up with Spitfires, 109s and my Uncle John who was in tanks through the WD and Italy to probe any further until much later on in life, and Dad never ever volunteered anything; you had to ask him specific questions to elicit a response. This generation with their heroic self-effacing modesty are their own worst enemies; count the books written by SWP veterans and compare that number with the amount written by ETO vets!! May their gods bless them and keep them; they are few in number now and their service must never be forgotten or devalued by an increasingly non engaged government; it is beholden upon us to keep that flame burning!! @ Dave; thanks for that! The misidentification was mine, not Dads!! |
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Post by davidd on Aug 12, 2013 10:40:03 GMT 12
Good to see members of 15 Squadron at Bougainville, on their 7th and final tour. There is only one book published on 15 Sqdn to best of my knowledge - by former pilot Lance Adlam (deceased, killed in crash of the Jodel he built), and only covered this last tour as he was only a very young bloke. As regards the captions, all look pretty good, but Keith Wakefield should read Keith Wakeman, later went to Japan with 14 Sqdn, then on to a long career as a commercial pilot, particularly in aerial topdressing, died about 10 years ago. Also the Hudson taking off in one of the earlier pictures looks a lot more like a PV-1 to me, seems to have drop tanks of bombs on underwing racks. My late Dad was on Bougainville in 1945, although on COMZEAIRTAF HQ staff in the signals section under "Jumbo" Roberts. Dad had a similar large collection of small brown photographs (contact prints), all processed under very poor conditions using His Majesty's very own film stock and chemicals, by some friendly types in photo section. Many of these were printed at temperatures and humidity totally inconducive to a good clear print, with a spider's web of lines across them. Included in these photos were some of that same Aussie Beaufort on its belly, and many "jungle scenes" - Dad was one of the butterfly hunters!
After the war ended, Dad received a small number of official RNZAF photographs in the mail - this was a thoughtful gesture by Air Department, and they seem to have taken the trouble to include scenes which would have been familiar to the recipient. In my dad's case he received pictures of Bougainville and the Piva strips, including Corsairs of 2 SU taxiing their wending way out to the main strip, and another of a C-47 just after lift off. I still have the original mailing envelope somewhere.
David D
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Post by corsair5517 on Aug 12, 2013 10:56:12 GMT 12
Yep: "The quest for wings" - Lance Adlam is the one. Lance was killed in a flying accident some years ago now and the book was privately published; I was lucky enough to get a copy a year or so before he died.
Wakefield should indeed be Wakeman; my error!
The 'Hudson' is a crap shoot; even under a glass it's hard to say - he remembers Hudsons being around, probably RAAF ones; but I figured I already had a Ventura!!
Dad, Cec Downes and Hugh Hamilton I know for sure are all still alive and kicking; unsure about anyone else.
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Post by John L on Aug 12, 2013 18:16:57 GMT 12
...not to forget the Fijian soldiers who did a lot of the jungle fighting. Dad reckoned the Fijians were brilliant in the jungle - reckoned they could smell out the Japs.........he was with the 4th ASC - meant to be a truck driver but they seemed to be maids of all work - did his share of patrols and even scored a trip on a B25 as a waist gunner...... |
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