Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 9, 2013 22:16:35 GMT 12
Hi all,
For some time I have been planning and working towards recording a series with Glen Turner of the No. 75 Squadron Association that will cover the history of No. 75 Squadron, in several detailed parts.
We're hoping to begin recording soon, and at this stage we are looking at covering the history in phases per episode, such as thus:
Episode One - The New Zealand Squadron forming in 1939 to train our RNZAF crews on Vickers Wellingtons, and then the war intervening and the squadron being redesignated as No. 75 (NZ) Squadron. We'll give a brief overview of the backstory of No. 75 Squadron's formation in the RFC during WWI and bringing it up to date to the point were the NZ Squadron re-established its historic number. Then the story will cover the squadron's Wellington period, from the earliest wartime raids right through till the Wellingtons were withdrawn in 1942. We plan to cover details of the Wellington bomber itself, all its strengths and virtues and its foibles and misgivings, etc.
We hope to bring the listeners stories of the various commanders and squadron personalities in this period, including the story of Ward's Victoria Cross. Also events like the famous long range Narvik reconnaissance that Breckon undertook, various important raids, and the likes.
I am planning to have some input from veterans, whether using interviews with them telling the stories themselves and also readings from diaries, logbooks, memoirs or official reports.
And we hope to talk about the more famous Wellingtons on the squadron, famous because of their individual nose arts. There will likely be much other info come up in the show too.
Episode Two - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Short Stirlings in No. 75 (NZ) Squadron service
Episode Three - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Avro Lancasters in No. 75 (NZ) Squadron service
Episode Four - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Avro Lincolns in No. 75 (NZ) Squadron service, and cover the disbandment of the squadron in England and it's re-establishment in New Zealand as an RNZAF squadron. This will also cover the Mosquito era.
Episode Five - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Vampires in No. 75 Squadron RNZAF service
Episode Six - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Canberras in No. 75 Squadron RNZAF service
Episode Seven - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Skyhawks in No. 75 Squadron RNZAF service
Throughout the series we'll also be dipping into various other topics like the different books that have been done over the years on the squadron, also the films made featuring them, all sorts of aspects of the No. 75 Squadron Association, the history of the squadron mascots like Henry Fanshawe, and various aspects of social life on the squadron through the eras.
So, as you can well imagine we have a huge task ahead. The episodes will not come out all at once, there may be several months between each due to the bulk of work required, but we hope they'll end up as a worthwhile effort and a great archive of history at the end of it.
What I'd like to do with this series is not just cover the same old stories that get told every time a book or article is written but also uncover and include previously untold stories if possible. I know a lot of you out there have connections to the squadron and have a lot to tell. If you have a story or some details that you think would be well worth including please do email me on dave_daasnz@hotmail.com and I will consider it for inclusion. If you want to tell the story yourself in the appropriate episode I can record an interview with you about the topic to use as a segment, so long as you have Skype or better still can meet up face to face. Or maybe if you have a digital recording device (apparently smart phones have them) you could record a nice clear message about the topic and send me the digital file. In fact if you had a father or grandfather or any relative or friend who served on the squadron at some time, you could record a little tribute to them or interesting story which we may be able to include.
Please also send in any ideas about the squadron that might be worth us investigating to include in the series. If you know of any specific raid that was significant, a great story about a specific crew, or anything like that which might not be generally well known, bring it to my attention please and supply whatever info you have.
Also please let me know now what you think of this series idea. I hope you'll all support it. If it works then down the track I'll look at covering other famous NZ squadrons in a similar way.
Cheers.
For some time I have been planning and working towards recording a series with Glen Turner of the No. 75 Squadron Association that will cover the history of No. 75 Squadron, in several detailed parts.
We're hoping to begin recording soon, and at this stage we are looking at covering the history in phases per episode, such as thus:
Episode One - The New Zealand Squadron forming in 1939 to train our RNZAF crews on Vickers Wellingtons, and then the war intervening and the squadron being redesignated as No. 75 (NZ) Squadron. We'll give a brief overview of the backstory of No. 75 Squadron's formation in the RFC during WWI and bringing it up to date to the point were the NZ Squadron re-established its historic number. Then the story will cover the squadron's Wellington period, from the earliest wartime raids right through till the Wellingtons were withdrawn in 1942. We plan to cover details of the Wellington bomber itself, all its strengths and virtues and its foibles and misgivings, etc.
We hope to bring the listeners stories of the various commanders and squadron personalities in this period, including the story of Ward's Victoria Cross. Also events like the famous long range Narvik reconnaissance that Breckon undertook, various important raids, and the likes.
I am planning to have some input from veterans, whether using interviews with them telling the stories themselves and also readings from diaries, logbooks, memoirs or official reports.
And we hope to talk about the more famous Wellingtons on the squadron, famous because of their individual nose arts. There will likely be much other info come up in the show too.
Episode Two - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Short Stirlings in No. 75 (NZ) Squadron service
Episode Three - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Avro Lancasters in No. 75 (NZ) Squadron service
Episode Four - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Avro Lincolns in No. 75 (NZ) Squadron service, and cover the disbandment of the squadron in England and it's re-establishment in New Zealand as an RNZAF squadron. This will also cover the Mosquito era.
Episode Five - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Vampires in No. 75 Squadron RNZAF service
Episode Six - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Canberras in No. 75 Squadron RNZAF service
Episode Seven - This will be in a very similar vein but will cover the period of the Skyhawks in No. 75 Squadron RNZAF service
Throughout the series we'll also be dipping into various other topics like the different books that have been done over the years on the squadron, also the films made featuring them, all sorts of aspects of the No. 75 Squadron Association, the history of the squadron mascots like Henry Fanshawe, and various aspects of social life on the squadron through the eras.
So, as you can well imagine we have a huge task ahead. The episodes will not come out all at once, there may be several months between each due to the bulk of work required, but we hope they'll end up as a worthwhile effort and a great archive of history at the end of it.
What I'd like to do with this series is not just cover the same old stories that get told every time a book or article is written but also uncover and include previously untold stories if possible. I know a lot of you out there have connections to the squadron and have a lot to tell. If you have a story or some details that you think would be well worth including please do email me on dave_daasnz@hotmail.com and I will consider it for inclusion. If you want to tell the story yourself in the appropriate episode I can record an interview with you about the topic to use as a segment, so long as you have Skype or better still can meet up face to face. Or maybe if you have a digital recording device (apparently smart phones have them) you could record a nice clear message about the topic and send me the digital file. In fact if you had a father or grandfather or any relative or friend who served on the squadron at some time, you could record a little tribute to them or interesting story which we may be able to include.
Please also send in any ideas about the squadron that might be worth us investigating to include in the series. If you know of any specific raid that was significant, a great story about a specific crew, or anything like that which might not be generally well known, bring it to my attention please and supply whatever info you have.
Also please let me know now what you think of this series idea. I hope you'll all support it. If it works then down the track I'll look at covering other famous NZ squadrons in a similar way.
Cheers.
