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Post by apteryx on Apr 26, 2024 14:23:24 GMT 12
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Post by apteryx on Apr 18, 2024 14:15:44 GMT 12
The destruction of the DC-3 is very sad, but so is the reporting: "A plane that was one of the first to fly passengers commercially around New Zealand has been destroyed in a fire in Kenya." Did the reporter even think about what he was writing? After military use after WW2 "in 1953, after a refit and a new name of ZK-BBJ Piripiri, it began flying passengers around the country". Who could think that a plane starting to carry passengers in 1953 would be "one of the first" to do so?
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Post by apteryx on Jan 6, 2024 8:53:14 GMT 12
The International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) is appealing for volunteers around the world, including in New Zealand, to identify, photograph and geolocate memorials to members of RAF Bomber Command. This work has been done for the UK, and the scope is now spreading worldwide. An explanation of the memorials project is here. It states that a memorial can take any form and be dedicated to an individual, a crew, a squadron, unit or airfield. The memorials are linked to entries in the IBCC losses database, so people with an interest in an individual (or crew, aircraft etc) can identify and easily visit them. If you take a name from any of the memorials shown in the linked article, you can see how this works. IBCC are asking for volunteers, and invite people to email info@internationalbcc.co.uk with 'Memorials' in the subject line to get further details.
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Post by apteryx on Dec 28, 2023 16:09:36 GMT 12
I've just visited the Te Kuiti Museum and Gallery, housed in the old post office in that town's main street. It's an excellent local museum run by volunteers. It has an announcement that the museum is preparing an exhibit about the Airtruck. I'm sure that the museum folk would appreciate help from members of this forum with photos, exhibits or technical expertise. Contacts are here: tekuitimuseum.nz/
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Post by apteryx on Nov 3, 2023 10:33:18 GMT 12
Great photos, thanks planecrazy. I visited last year and was impressed with the collection and the effort of the organisation.
Another exhibit with New Zealand connections: Metroliner painted as VH-BPV was once ZK-SWC with Air Albatross.
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Post by apteryx on Feb 15, 2022 9:42:26 GMT 12
The family history site Ancestry now has a collection of RAF operations record books covering 1911 to 1963, said to comprise more than 750,000 records. They're supposed to be searchable, though to be honest on an initial trial I didn't find the search function very exact. If you're looking for a specific squadron and date, that's easy to do. You can download images. If you don't have a personal subscription to Ancestry, you can access the site for free at many public libraries. The records are also available from TheGenealogist, and WW2 ones only from Findmypast. They're also available from the UK National Archives, which currently allows a modest number of downloads free of charge. The digital archive at the International Bomber Command Centre links to individual records at The National Archives, which is very helpful. As most readers know, the ORBs contain monthly summaries and accounts of individual sorties: flic.kr/p/2n3Hc73flic.kr/p/2n3Hc61Sorry I haven't managed to get the photos to show here. Any tips? Thanks.
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Post by apteryx on Dec 8, 2021 13:55:57 GMT 12
Hi Joseph. Thanks very much for adding this comment, and providing more information about both Mathieson brothers. Fred Riley reaching 102 years old is very impressive. Best wishes for the launch of the book.
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Post by apteryx on May 15, 2021 13:49:37 GMT 12
Thanks very much for your help, as always, Errol. That Cornwall period is most likely to be the link, for a reason such as the ones you suggest.
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Post by apteryx on May 15, 2021 11:41:50 GMT 12
This pilot saw extensive action with 66 Squadron in 1942-1943, only to die at the hands of a trainee pilot in the UK. His story is here. He died at RAF Heathfield in Ayr, Scotland, but was buried five days later at St Illogan's churchyard in Cornwall. I'm not aware of any family connection to the area. That churchyard contains the graves of airmen from nearby RAF Portreath and Perranporth. Errol Martyn's For Your Tomorrows shows that Mathieson served in 5(P)AFU, 59(OTU) and 486 Sqn RNZAF before joining 66 Sqdn. Does anyone know if any of those units were in Cornwall in 1942? That might have made Cornwall Mathieson's UK 'home'. Thanks.
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Post by apteryx on Apr 26, 2021 17:31:48 GMT 12
Hi Jason Thanks very much for posting in this thread, and for offering to share copies of Archie's logbook. I'll put my hand up for a copy too, and will email you. There is a profile of Archie on the Clan Matheson New Zealand website. If you have any corrections or additions, please let me know. Andrew Matheson
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Post by apteryx on Nov 27, 2020 15:43:57 GMT 12
BTW, I'm revising and adding to a small profile I wrote of Dawson Cotton, NZ431063. He was 'washed out' at 12 SFTS and retrained as a navigator, and after (it seems) endless training ended up in 75 (NZ) Sqdn just in time to do two operational flights in April 1945 and a few others in the succeeding months (including Manna and Exodus).
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Post by apteryx on Nov 27, 2020 15:40:46 GMT 12
Errol
Thank you very much for your reply; so prompt and right to the point. I'm familiar with your work, but didn't think it extended to airmen's nautical activities. Now I know! Though with the library in Wellington long closed, I don't immediately think of going to look something up in a physical book.
Really appreciate your help.
Andrew
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Post by apteryx on Nov 27, 2020 14:41:02 GMT 12
Can anyone point me to a source for identifying ships (and ports of embarkation and disembarkation) used to transport RNZAF trainees to Canada for further training?
I'm specificlly looking for details of one that left New Zealand on 4 October 1943. The personnel file I'm looking at says "Port of disembarkation Brandon 16 Oct 43". Whether that date is disembarkation or arrival at Brandon in Manitoba, I'm not sure.
A harder quest might be to find out more about the same person's voyage across the Atlantic. From Y Depot he went to Halifax NS and departed 25 June 1944, arriving in the UK on 3 July 1944 and going to 12 (RNZAF) PDRC.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Andrew
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Post by apteryx on Sept 28, 2020 18:04:42 GMT 12
Hi I've written up R C Mathieson's story for the Clan Matheson website. The photo comes from an earlier post by chinapilot, and I can add a credit if required. It's a privilege to record the story of another young Kiwi who died far from home. Andrew
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Post by apteryx on Jun 23, 2019 11:50:39 GMT 12
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Post by apteryx on May 25, 2019 12:05:11 GMT 12
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Post by apteryx on Oct 21, 2018 14:22:15 GMT 12
This 1958 map refers to an airstrip on Ropiha Road, which is about 8 km SW of Mangakino. Not sure if this was just a farm strip, or 'the' Mangakino airstrip.
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Post by apteryx on Sept 1, 2018 18:33:39 GMT 12
I saw this movie at a preview at Wellington's Penthouse Cinema, and can highly recommend it. There's very little commentary, but rather the narrative unfolds through the voices of those who flew the Spitfire and a range of contemporary sources. Filmed in 2016, it seems, the stars are the plane itself and the men and women interviewed who had flown the Spitfire. Do the maths; they must be in their late 90s. And indeed, one newspaper report I read said that very few are still alive, only two years later.
This movie probably won't hang around. Make every effort to see it on the big screen before it goes. The story is wonderfully told.
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Post by apteryx on Jun 5, 2018 15:12:23 GMT 12
Congratulations, Errol. It's not just the work you've done that is meritorious, but the generous way you share it with people who hold similar interests.
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Post by apteryx on Nov 19, 2017 16:44:38 GMT 12
A nice article in Stuff about Nelson Bomber Command veterans' final get-together.
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