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Post by camtech on Jun 2, 2014 18:54:31 GMT 12
Baron, you are right. The interesting part of the story is how the aircraft got from Woodbourne to Aramaho
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Post by baronbeeza on Jun 2, 2014 18:58:09 GMT 12
Thanks Les, with it now. Cheers.
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Post by errolmartyn on Jun 2, 2014 21:21:26 GMT 12
This from Dave Homewood on that previous thread. I thought they decided it came from a Mr Bergersen that lived at Aramaho. If correct, then quite likely he be Leslie John Bergersen, carpenter, Boyd Avenue, Wanganui - 1954 Electoral Roll. Still there on the 1981 roll. Died in 18 May 1998, aged 87, ashes buried at Aramoho Cemetery. There are photos of him on Ancestry.com as an infant and in old age. Errol
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Post by komata on Jun 3, 2014 7:20:15 GMT 12
Very curious, and thanks for the clarification that 'LJB.Aramaho' was an actual individual and that he did in fact have 'physical' 'on-site' ownership of the Oxford.
Therefore, the next bit of the 'mystery'; how did it move from Woodbourne to Wanganui? If it didn't fly (Rego, anyone?) it could only have come by sea, presumably from Port Blenheim, on the Opawa River.
As the only 'coastal' vessels plying into Blenheim were those owned by T Eckford & Co. presumably one of that company's ships carried the Oxford from Blenheim to Castlecliffe (Wanganui). The vessel could possibly have been the S.S. Wairau.
As it would have been just a little unusual to see such a sight, does anyone have any photographs or newspaper clippings which show an aircraft on the deck of a ship operating out of Blenheim; or even an 'aircraft-sized' crate' on such a vessel's deck?
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Post by Ian Warren on May 1, 2015 16:34:51 GMT 12
Just Over .. well little more .. a year later, this is what the team has done in the Wigram toyshop .. ITS An Impressive Sight
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 1, 2015 16:53:28 GMT 12
Superb! It's really great to see it is going into the wartime camouflage and yellow scheme. Thanks for the photos Ian.
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Post by Ian Warren on May 1, 2015 16:59:16 GMT 12
Dave , I'm hoping to be there on the day they glue the wings on, Sam, mentioned this is not to far away, hopeful will get the call and follow through, it is an impressive looking ... just , yeah ... was left alone for twenty minutes and to study it, really amazing work !
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Post by jarradscott on Jul 27, 2015 13:59:39 GMT 12
Jarrad, If Bruce Scott is the same man as NZ2232 John Bruce Thomson SCOTT (ex Temporary 2nd Lieutenant, NZ Infantry, Otago Regiment, regimental number 596909), the photograph is almost certainly taken at No. 1 Service Flying Trainig School, Wigram (New Zealand) on about 8th June 1944. They all trained on Oxfords. This was date of the graduation ceremony for No. 48A Course, when a grand total of thirty (30) Army officers received their "Wings", in concert with another 14 Leading Aircraftmen (most of whom became sergeants). He departed for the UK in July 1944 as one of 36 others from this course, the last qualified pilot trainees to depart for the "old country". The Army officers carried out all their pilot training as Army officers (on attachment to RNZAF), and the successful ones (three others dropped out as unsuitable for various reasons) were all granted RNZAF commissions in the GD Branch and were ordered to quickly purchase RNZAF tailor-made blue-grey uniforms to replace their "Greens". David D Hi David, thanks for the info. yes you are correct its the same person and eys he was on 48A training course (sorry for the delay in replying, I didnt see you reply, I have attached the course photo and the marching out photo that was published in the Christchurch Press, I also attached the original photo (from page 1 of this thread) that I got back last week from being colourised. As for the RNZAF commissions it is strange as his RNZAF parchment is dated 1946 when he joined the Territorial Airforce. I would like to Identify the other men in the photo, I know that the man beside my grandfather is 'Red' Robinson but have no Idea who the other two men are, the four of them all appear in several photos together so they must have been good friends. I have some more photos etc that Ill try to dig out. see your post) I have
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Post by davidd on Jul 28, 2015 11:22:14 GMT 12
Nice colourisation job, although I imagine that it is likely that the Oxford standing behind them was in fact painted yellow! As for the query about why the commissioning parchments were dated 1946, I can only guess that a), these parchments (that is the printed ones) were just not available in 1944, or b), perhaps a decision was made to forgo these niceties in 1944 and to make it up to these fellows after the current war had been won.
Interesting (but not surprising) that in the march past, all the Army officers lead the formation. Also wonder what Corps or Regiment the lapel badge of the leading officer represents? He also appears in the formal photo, front row, extreme left. Some of the other officers also wear lapel badges. If names can be established, I can provide their parent Corps or Regiment. The list I have shows that 13 were NZ Artillery, 14 were NZ infantry (from various Regiments), one NZ Armoured Corps, one NZ ASC, one NZ Intelligence Corps. Majority were Lts and 2nd Lts, plus 4 Captains.
As to the names of his three companions, if you check with Wigram, it may be possible to establish which man is which - I presume you have the names of all the course members? The negative for this particular course print would include the names printed across each member in the traditional white ink. David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 28, 2015 19:08:06 GMT 12
I agree about the colour of the Oxford and I think behind the cabin window you can also see where the camouflage started.
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Post by gibbo on Jul 29, 2015 18:12:39 GMT 12
I did a behind the scenes tour 2-3 years ago & had a look at this project, it certainly is an incredibly high-quality job! Me & the wee-fella were the only ones on the tour & got a good long look at stuff at a leisurely pace so there were lots of questions answered! One question I asked was when does it have to go back to Canada - his reply was (quote) this will never go back (unquote)... which is what I'd like to think, but might be wishful thinking.
My question is, there must be a generally accepted protocol between museums in cases like this, where the party loaning the object does effectively the full restoration, also providing some of its own sourced parts. Would it be generally accepted that in this scenario the Canadian museum will ultimately 'gift' it to the RNZAF museum?
I appreciate it's a 'crystal ball' question & that a protocol isn't enforceable but 20-odd years on display still seems a short gain for the huge effort that has gone into it.
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Post by nzjet on Jul 29, 2015 18:40:17 GMT 12
Why is the fuse so rippled? was the skin not replaced?
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Post by skyhawkdon on Jul 29, 2015 19:54:32 GMT 12
Why is the fuse so rippled? was the skin not replaced? It's fabric so maybe it will "tighten" when it is painted?
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Post by curtiss on Jul 29, 2015 20:58:53 GMT 12
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Post by jp on Jul 30, 2015 18:39:49 GMT 12
Is this aircraft still only on a 20yr loan from a Canadian museum, or has AFW purchased it?
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Post by ZacYates on Jul 31, 2015 8:42:43 GMT 12
Incidentally, the aircraft in the photo curtiss linked to was the last airworthy Oxford and flew up till the mid-70s I think.
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Post by chbessexboy on Aug 1, 2015 17:33:20 GMT 12
Photos taken 15th June, 2015:
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Post by ZacYates on Aug 5, 2015 12:20:45 GMT 12
Wonderful.
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Post by Richard Wesley on Feb 18, 2016 21:17:29 GMT 12
Front area of the Wigram museum this afternoon...
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Post by Ian Warren on Mar 6, 2016 14:09:08 GMT 12
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