Corsair in the Garden

[hairy]

Just scanned this negative and it has no info with it, anyone know where it was taken and which Corsair it is?

[Dave Homewood]

Holy quack and duck shit!!

I think you've finally discovered a photo of the Walsh brothers' Corsair here in Cambridge! Fan-bloody-tastic!!

I've been searching for a photo of it for years. The positon of the gate, hedge and house look right, and I think it was the only one that made it into a front yard.

Can you please email me a larger scane mate? I'd love to add this to my page on Alf and Manly Walsh's Corsair.

THANKS!! ;D ;D ;D

[Peter Lewis]

Hole in one there Marcus - NZ5644.
You have made Dave very very happy!

[shorty]

Just as I remembered it!
That was up by the intersection a couple of miles north of Cambridge wasn't Dave?

[Dave Homewood]

Yes if you're heading out of Cambridge north towards Hamilton on SH1 you have Vogel Street as the last street of the then-Borough (where I grew up and Mum still lives) crossing Hamilton Road (SH1) and then the greenbelt (athletics club on one side, Resthaven old folks home on the other). The Athletics club field is behind that hedge you can see by the Corsair. I went through hundreds of old photos at the Museum taken at the Athletics club and found no background shots of the Corsair cause that hedge was too big.

Mum's looked at it (she's lived around the corner from that place almost all her life) and confirms this is the Walsh's Corsair. Brilliant!!

[sputnik767]

'He was not aware till I interviewed him last year that Motat sold the Corsair onwards including all the parts he legally owns! Guess who to.... '

From the 'stories' I have heard over the years, Motat did not sell the corsair, just the hangar that the corsair was in and then over time the aircraft became part of the incidental stuff left in the hangar.
There has been a lot of legal interaction over this aircraft, although I never heard that it was finally sorted out...
But I should add that I do not know the history and had heard many versions of this one over time....Best they contact their lawyer and look at their options....

[John L]

Is this the Ross Jowitt collection of stuff?

I can recall seeing that Corsair as a kid....was it still there in 1958?

[petera]

For those overseas, how about a time line for these events, please?

PeterA

[hairy]

No problem Dave I'll be glad to. I just got from work and have to go back at 11.00pm so it won't be tonight.

By your first reply, Dave, it looks like it was a good job you were not drinking anything when you initially opened this thread or your monitor would have been ruined. ;D

As for the Corsair that Ross J has, I have spoken to both sides (Ross J and Tom C) of this quite frankly nasty affair and my opinion is the Corsair is, and has always been Ross's. I would love to share the details but both sides don't want it in the public domain, sorry.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks again Marcus, no rush on the scan mate.

Peter, for a general idea about this Corsair, see my webpage here:
www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Cambridges%20Corsair.htm

I have since interviewed Manley but have no yet had a chance to type it all up. He basicly backed up all that Alf told me and a little bit more info, plus he told me about his own RNZAF career. A basic timeline...

September or October 1945 it was ferried to NZ from its Pacific base to be stored at RNZAF Station Rukuhia's Storage Depot

9th of May 1949 - sold by the War Assets Board to Alf and Manley Walsh of Cambridge. They towed it to the location seen in Marcus's photo. It remained there well into the 1960's, gradually getting smaller bit by bit because the main reason they bought it was to get nuts, bolts, cables and all sorts off it to use in their car garage, Walsh Motors (which still exists and run now by Ken Walsh, Manly's son). Parts were so short after the war this happened a lot when old aircraft and military vehicles were sold off, garages and farmers alike scavenged bits off them to keep more necessary things running. A secondary reason they bought it was they wated to turn parts of it into a racing car. They eventually used the wheels on a car I believe.

Sometime in the early 1970's the engine ended up in a shed at Walsh Motors, then disapeared. And without the wheels the rest sat on its belly in the long grass I think.

During the early days too they had found the tanks were full of petrol, and certain stowage holds were full of cigarettes which the ferry pilot had smuggled back from a forward PX store probably but had not had a chance to retrieve!

[John L]

So....what was MOTATS 2nd Corsair?
And where did that end up - was it one of Ross's bits?

[Dave Homewood]

Well, this is probably the best page to explain the surviving RNZAF Corsairs including those that have passed through MOTAT's guardianship:

webzoom.freewebs.com/cafcorsair/Australian_NZ%20Corsairs.html