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Post by smithy on Feb 24, 2017 9:03:41 GMT 12
Brilliant job posting that Dave and great footage.
I imagine none were too gutted on news of a posting to Lauthala Bay. The wives and significant others don't look terribly put out either!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Feb 24, 2017 9:12:31 GMT 12
Pearce 'Darkie' Dunn was gutted, he was meant to be posted to Singapore where he was planning to rescue a German U-boat. Sadly the authorities in Wellington heard his plans and had his posting changed to Fiji. The U-boat was scuttled, sadly.
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Post by smithy on Feb 24, 2017 9:18:59 GMT 12
Pearce 'Darkie' Dunn was gutted, he was meant to be posted to Singapore where he was planning to rescue a German U-boat. Sadly the authorities in Wellington heard his plans and had his posting changed to Fiji. The U-boat was scuttled, sadly. One of the few to be miffed about being shoved off to Fiji then Dave!  |
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Post by camtech on Mar 6, 2017 19:46:45 GMT 12
I certainly would be interested in knowing more on the Whenuapai book, |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 6, 2017 23:30:29 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 6, 2017 23:31:00 GMT 12
Sadly it doesn't cover the more important period, 1939-45.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 12, 2017 13:12:50 GMT 12
Here is a superb film of the Catalinas at Lauthala Bay in 1948
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 12, 2017 13:26:27 GMT 12
The 8 minute scramble of the Air Sea Rescue Catalina in the above newsreel is fascinating. I had not realised that the Catalinas were started on shore and then taxied into the water. I always assumed they pushed them into the water, removed the beaching gear, and then started the engines. Or, also, that they'd have aircraft in the water already, ready to go, moored by a braby or a little off the shore. Were the aircraft always removed from the sea after a flight in the postwar period?
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Post by davidd on Mar 13, 2017 8:43:00 GMT 12
Dave, My late uncle (Erle Knox Duxbury) was a wireless mechanic in the RNZAF in 1946 at Lau Bay, and he used to routinely service the wireless equipment on Catalinas "on the water", so it would seem that this was the usual place to find a Catalina when it was not flying - at anchor. Pulling one out of the water was quite a major operation (and even more so for a Sunderland) so leaving them at anchor was probably the most economical way of maintaining them at readiness over long periods. I think the usual term for hauling a flying boat out of the water was "slipping", and putting them in was launching. Anybody else care to comment? Incidentally the main vehicle used for slipping and launching was the amazing looking American "Cletrac" caterpillar tractor, the name of course being a contraction of the full name of the manufacturer, Cleveland Tractors, makers of (mainly) tractors for civil construction and farming purposes. However the "Cletrac" model in question was unusual in that it has military origins, being designed to meet a US Army request for a high-speed artillery tractor, although I believe it was in the event seldom if ever used for this purpose, and was mainly used for "general purposes". I don't think its track and suspension system was used in other model of tractor built by this firm.
David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 16, 2017 11:11:22 GMT 12
Thanks David, yes having the operational aircraft moored on the water was certainly the usual practice through the war, with aircraft 'slipped' onto shore on;y for major maintenance. So I find it really interesting that this film shows them launching the Air Sea Rescue aircraft from the hard stand. I wonder if at some period in the late 1940's they ran tests and found this was quicker than mucking about with boats. An 8 minute launch is, after all, pretty bloody fast and I doubt all those groundcrew and the aircrew getting into boats to motor out to a moored aircraft in the lagoon, then having to start it up, would be any quicker.
I wish there were some 1940's and 50's No. 5 Squadron folks here to confirm.
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Post by planewriting on May 14, 2017 18:27:52 GMT 12
By frame analysis of the air and water shots, the five aircraft at the time were code-numbered A, P, Q, U, and Z. At that time (about 1962) that was the last occasion they had five Sunderlands in formation, and it wasn't filmed officially or by anyone else. They closed the base a few years later, but never got five up together ever again, so it has some significance. The five aircraft involved were "A" NZ4105, "P" NZ4114, Q "NZ4115, "Z" NZ4120 and "M" NZ4113. There wasn't a "U" in the fleet. If you look carefully you will see that the aircraft letter is slightly obscured resulting in the "M" appearing as a "V" teasing the viewer to interpret it as a letter "U". |
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Post by snaphead on May 16, 2017 9:14:19 GMT 12
I realize this may be slightly off topic, for that I apologize.
When I was in SEMS (Support Equipment Maintenance Section) @ Ohakea mid '70's, my boss was F/S Wally Munro who had married a Fijian Princess while he was posted to Fiji. He commuted from Himatangi beach daily.If I recall correctly he was a Flt/E.
On my basic Engineering course at Hobsonville our Course NCO was a F/S engineer from Catalina's. He used to regal us with tales of daring-do. His name eludes me at the moment, this was towards the end of 1966.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 16, 2017 10:22:58 GMT 12
You probably noted in the Obit section that Wally Munro passed away in the last week?
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Post by snaphead on May 17, 2017 10:26:40 GMT 12
No Dave Id'nt know Wally was deceased, I don't usually check the orb's as I may find myself listed there. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 17, 2017 11:35:40 GMT 12
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, then.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 10, 2021 18:28:28 GMT 12
Here is an article from the Press newspaper, dated 10th of October 1952.
R.N.Z.A.F. BASE IN FIJI
GOOD AMENITIES AT LAUTHALA BAY
200 DOMINION PERSONNEL ON STATION
[R.N.Z.A.F. News Service] SUVA, September 30.
Thirteen hundred and ten miles due north of Auckland, on the Suva peninsula of Viti Levu Island, 200 men of the Royal New Zealand Air Force are finding life more agreeable at present than their families back home, for whom summer is still some months away. For these men, whose job it is to maintain the forward New Zealand base at Lauthala Bay—and No. 5 Squadron of the R.N.Z.A.F. —this is the best season of the year.
Temperatures during the day in this season—the islands' winter—range from 70 to 90 degrees. The sun is even stronger now than in New Zealand’s summer, and the evenings are pleasantly mild.
To maintain an Air Force station in this area, many men are required beyond the 200 New Zealanders stationed here. About 200 natives—Fijians and Indians—are employed on normal Air Force duties, such as driving vehicles, servicing aircraft, making and repairing uniforms, cooking and serving meals, and boat repairing.
A further 200 natives are employed on works maintenance and construction. By using native labour, the R.N.Z.A.F. frees an equivalent number of New Zealand airmen for duty in other Air Force units.
Lay-out of Station
The station is laid out in what could be called three separate “camps.” On the water’s edge is the marine base, with its huge main hangar, the crew rooms and offices of No. 5 Squadron, the control craft section and squadron servicing section. The second camp is known as the technical area. Here are the many servicing sections and workshops indispensable to any Air Force command.
A mile away is the third and largest camp. Here are station headquarters, with the commanding officer. Wing Commander K. W. Trigance. D.F.C., of Christchurch, and his staff, the cookhouses and messes, the canteens, rations store, butcher’s shop, Y.M.C.A., tailor’s shop, accounts section, and the station hospital.
The men stationed in Fiji keep very fit. There are plenty of minor tropical infections, mostly of the skin, but the civilian medical officer who visits the station each day says the health of the men is very good. The food, which follows the New Zealand pattern, is better than that served in most families at home; and scrupulous cleanliness is insisted on in the kitchens and messes. The same food is served to officers, n.c.o.’s and airmen. Fruit is reasonably abundant, and pawpaws, with lemon juice added to bring out the delicate flavour, make a change for breakfast.
Meat is brought out regularly from New Zealand, and the station has good refrigeration equipment There is no fresh milk, but tinned or powdered milk is substituted.
Good Library Available
There is a good station library, which is the responsibility of the station education officer. Flight Lieutenant T. C. Ralfe, of Christchurch. About 2300 books, 600 of them non-fiiction, are available to the men, and an exchange system with the Army Education and Welfare Service ensures fresh material from time to time.
The men work hard, and in all weathers, and many are on duty for long hours. The squadron’s role is primarily ocean reconnaissance, with the accent on anti-submarine training, but its work is stepped up by exercises with units of the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy and by "mercy flights” and rescue missions which it is occasionally called upon to undertake to remote islands of the Fijian group.
Night flying is a regular part of the squadron’s training. When crews are not in the air, Sten and Bren gun, rifle, and revolver practice, navigation training, lectures, instructional films, dinghy drill, physical training, survival exercises, and the assault course all combine to further their training.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 10, 2021 18:31:34 GMT 12
With the flying boats doing night flying, how did they light the alighting area? Was there a series of boats with lights, similar to the goose-neck flare paths on land? Was that tricky in terms of depth of field and knowing where the water's surface was? Did the flying boats point spotlights down?
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