A.H.S.A. NEWSLETTER

Published by the Aviation Historical Society of Inc. A0033653P, ARBN 092-671-773 Volume 28 Number 4, December 2012 Print Post approved 318780/00033 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ahsa.org.au Editor: NEIL FOLLETT

Editorial Comment. This will probably be the last news¬ Additionally, by the time that this is being read by Australia letter delivered by mail. It is expected future one will be -wide and overseas members, the AHSA Website should emailed, but a hard copy will be mailed to those who do be in service to provide the many benefits expected there not have email facilities. from.

As I expected we have not been inundated with candidates While membership has increased slightly, I urge all mem¬ to take over as newsletter editor. Our short list of appli¬ bers to be active in promotion and the recruiting of further cants is so short it doesn t exist. numbers in their own circles. Bear in mind the benefits of larger numbers in keeping down prices of journal and The position is still open and if not filled will probably result newsletter production and membership fees. With Christ¬ in the newsletter becoming extinct. mas only four months away, plus many birthdays ahead there must be many nephews, sons, or aviation-ambitious 2012 Annual General Meeting. At the 2012 AGM held on teenagers to whom a subscription may well be very pleas¬ 22 August the following members were elected unop¬ ing. To repeat, I urge all members to be a promoter. posed. Our Queensland Branch is showing signs of increased President: Keith Meggs. OAM, DFM, AM (US) activity and membership under the appointment of a new Vice President: Alan Patching. AM chairman, George Palmer, ex Ansett and Singapore 747 Secretary: Allan Trower Captain, and with a very-active and knowledgeable back¬ Treasurer: Antony Grage ground in aviation. My encouragement goes to all Committee: Neil Follett, Roland Jahne. Queensland members to assist George in making the Branch a viable organisation, in a state which has a rich 2011-2012 President s Report. source of research from the earliest days of aviation, even I m pleased to pre¬ before QANTAS. Go to it! sent the Annual Re¬ port , which indi¬ It would be very pleasing if we could add to the East cates a pleasing Coast branches with similar ones in South and West Aus¬ increase in interest, tralia and the Northern Territory. While there are members activity, member¬ in al of them, there is no organisation therein. ship, and publication standards. While Within our many members, there is a lot of experience and there is still more to interest in the various aspects of, and activities in aviation, be done, it is obvi¬ providing a large collective amount of unrecorded material. ous that the intro¬ duction of a number Please commit your own memories and records to paper of specialized com¬ and submit them for the benefit of all. You don’t have to mittees has been of be a Shakespeare or a Tom Clancy. great benefit, with the input to them of Keith R. Meggs. OAM. DFM, AM(US). members with ex¬ pertise and interests which were not pre¬ The annual, not to be missed, AHSA Bar-B-Que. viously benefitting the Society. To be held on Sunday December 16th at Moorabbin Air¬ port, in the usual spot, under the trees adjacent to the One benefit already evident is the presentation and fence on entry to the aerodrome. content of the journal, under the previous editor, but ho has since resigned and been superseded by the long-time Bring your own liquid refreshments, and seating. Cooking member and secretary/cum Newsletter Editor, Neil Follett facilities, condiments and good company supplied. who I m sure will maintain the high standard reached and also improve on it. The introduction of colour is gaining In the case of usual location being clagged in, the recom¬ ground. mended alternative is the Aircraft Museum. Please plan for extra fuel reserves to allow diversion to the alternative..

1 Melbourne eetings. May 2012. Peter Carr spoke about the early days of the Ultra July 2012. Our guest speaker was Neville Ruttledge who Light Aircraft Association. His powerpoint presentation spoke of his WW2 experiences as a navigator with 30 showed examples of some of the first ultralights built in Aus- Squadron RAAF. tralia.

August 2012. After the AGM our guest speaker was member John McCullough who gave an interesting illustrated lecture on the formation and operations of the Commercial Aviation Company by Home Miller and Arthur Kennedy. The company was started on 8 October 1920 and ran until December 1921 operating from Rochester, Victoria, and in that period made a profit with no accidents!! Their aeroplane an FK-8 was re¬ tained by Miller but was later sold to QANTAS. Only remain¬ ing evidence of the operation is a Beardmore engine and a model of the FK-8 in the QANTAS lounge, and a photo in the Peter Carr. TAA Muse¬ um in the June 2012. Russell Darbyshire s subject was The Dar- QANTAS byshire s in Aviation Member Leigh Ryan remarked that the simulator Darbyshire family tree resembled an aircraft parts catalogue building, considering the number of Darbyshires that were involved in Essendon. aviation.

Russell with some of the aircraft he spoke about. 2 September 2012. Guest speaker was Mike Rosel, who has October 2012 Our guest speaker was Mrs Jean Rickards, just published his book on R.A. Little. the daughter of Australian-born aviator John Stanley Stocks, who spoke on her experiences in aviation, both with her fa¬ ther and on her own account.

John Stocks flew with the RFC and the RAF, and in the 1930s flew flying boats for Imperial Airways and helped es¬ tablish the Egyptian Army Air Force.

At the outbreak of WW2 he was on liaison with Boeing, and they returned to England where Jean joined the WAAF as an intelligence officer. She brought her father’s albums from 1918 with photos of Allied and German WW1 aircraft.

Jean spoke of her experiences as a radar operator during WW2, based on the south coast of England. An amusing aspect (definitely not at the time) was her account of being ’chased’ around a haystack by a Messerschmitt 109 making several strafing runs from different directions.

Mike and book after his talk.

Mike Rosel (born Melbourne) was a journalist on Australia s largest-circulation daily, The Sun, in the early 1960s before joining the Federal Government s Australian Information Ser¬ vice. He served as a public affairs officer at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC (1972-75) and at the Australian Jean in a thoughtful pose while enjoying a cup of tea after High Commission in London (1979-81) and wrote widely, her talk. especially on science, technology and historical subjects, for government publications. Jean is a delightful lady and despite her age was extremely articulate and her non-aviation anecdotes were as interesting He served twice as national public relations officer for Aus¬ as her aeronautical ones. tralia’s Bureau of Meteorology and still contributes to Bureau publications. Since leaving fulltime work he has written and taken photographs for travel and technology magazines, and for university publications. His interests include military histo¬ From Gary Sunderland. Re the last (very excellent) talk by ry, photography and tennis. Mrs. Jean Rickards, I checked the Royal Aero Club Certifi¬ cate list in the Cross and Cockade International Journal and This first biography of Little would hardly have been possible found that John Lawrence Stocks was awarded number without the Little collections ( logbooks, medals and memo¬ 4471 on6 April 1917, rabilia) lodged by descendants in 1978 with the Australian War Memorial and Australian Defence Force Academy in At that time there were no Camel squadrons at the front, Canberra. While almost no personal family documents are only Pups. If someone can suggest in which squadrons known, research in museums and national archives and in¬ Stocks may have served I can check the Squadron histories terviews in France, London and Australia fleshed out the for information on his service and eventual combats. Little saga.)

3 Obituary. Air Commodore James Coward RAF.(ret) ill’s staff, where he was in charge of ensuring the Prime Min¬ ister’s safety from air attack at Chequers and Chartwell. After As a flight of Nazi bombers were returning to France, they promotion to in late 1941, he was appointed encountered No. 19 Squadron s Spitfires. Flying Officer flight commander at an operational training unit at Aston James Coward saw a Dornier and lined up for a beautiful Down. Further command appointments followed and in 1944 shot but, he later recalled, when I pressed the firing button he moved to the Air Ministry in charge of operational fighter absolutely nothing happened’. His guns had jammed. Then, ‘I training. suddenly felt a hard kick on the shin. I looked round and I saw my bare foot sitting on the rudder pedal’. His shoe and sock had disappeared; his foot was hanging by the ligaments. He James Coward’s service in the RAF did not end in didn’t have time to think about the pain because his Spitfire 1945. After staff appointments and an attache posting to Nor¬ was diving out of control. ‘I was sucked out of the cockpit and way, he was Flying at the Meteor Ad¬ my parachute got caught and I was trapped. I was dragged vanced Flying Training School. On 1 January 1954 he was back along the fuselage, my trousers had blown off and my awarded the Air Force Cross for demonstrating the dangers foot was banging around my knee’. He pulled the ripcord and of inverted spinning and correct recovery on Meteor jet air¬ found himself alone in the sky. As he descended, he remem¬ craft. bered experiencing ‘the most wonderful feeling of peace until I suddenly looked down and saw my blood pumping out red In 1960, Group Captain Coward joined the British De¬ spurts’. fence Liaison Staff in Canberra, a posting he and Cynthia thoroughly enjoyed. Returning to the United Kingdom in Octo¬ He used his helmet wireless lead to tie a tourniquet to ber 1962, he was appointed Air Officer Commanding Air Ca¬ staunch the blood this saved his life. Upon landing, he was dets and in May 1966 took up the post of Defence Attache in accosted by a young lad with a pitchfork, and after Pretoria. ‘pleasantries’, was whisked to Cambridge Hospital where his left leg was amputated below the knee. It was 31 August The Cowards retired to Australia in September 1969 1940 and he awoke to find a heavily pregnant wife at his bed¬ where two of their four daughters were already resident. They side. His first words to her were, ‘Hallo Cinnie. I shan’t play lived in Canberra for over 40 years in one of the first passive¬ Rugger again’. ly heated houses in the Territory. Paying homage to his fa¬ vourite aircraft, he erected a Spitfire weather vane which James Coward’s served as a landmark to visitors walking down the battleaxe Battle of Britain ca¬ drive. reer was only brief but he was one of the 2940 or so men who were awarded the Battle of Britain Clasp to their 1939- 45 Star. He will al¬ ways be remem¬ bered as one of The Few, indeed one of the last of The Few. With the death of Charles Palliser on 24 September 2011, James was one of only three members of The Few resident in Australia. Now there are only two, Leonard Bartlett and John Greenwood, neither are Australian born. 72 years after the world’s greatest air battle, the Battle Cynthia and Charles on the occasion of their 70th of Britain Fighter Association believes that only about 60 air¬ wedding anniversary. crew survive. James Baird Coward was born in Teddington, Middle¬ James Coward loved life intensely. He never let the sex on 18 May 1915. He was educated at St John’s School, loss of his leg hamper him. He skied until his 90s, thinking Leatherhead. As a 15 year old he went to work in his father’s nothing of possible risks. He also enjoyed Scottish dancing office. He hated it. He desperately wanted to fly. When he and would often don a kilt for an evening of highland reels. was 21, he applied to the Royal Air Force and was granted a Air Commodore James Coward AFC, RAF (Retd) died commission on 16 October 1936. After training, he was post¬ at Yass on 25 July 2012 with Cynthia holding his hand. He ed to 19 Squadron, based at Duxford. Two years later he was had recently celebrated his 97th birthday. James is buried at in the cockpit of the RAF’s sleek new monoplane the Spit¬ Michelago beside two of his daughters who predeceased him. fire. He was thrilled to be flying fighters and later recalled, ‘it He is survived by Cynthia, his two youngest daughters and was a lovely aeroplane’. On 29 December 1939, he married many grand and great-grandchildren. Cynthia Bayon. Their marriage was to last over 70 years. Kristen Alexander and Air Commodore (Retd) Mark Lax. After recovery, James was posted to Winston Church¬ 4 JOHN DUIGAN MEMORIAL LECTURE - 2012

PRESENTED BY GEORGE MORGAN - GIPPSAERO

November 28th saw the 2012 John Duigan Memorial George spoke of his interest in aviation, starting as an Lecture with the guest speaker George Morgan, one eight year old watching aircraft such as the Millicer Air of the founders of Gippsland Aeronautics, now Tourer being built. His interest proceed through the GippsAero. gliding movement and an apprenticeship at GAF, ironi¬ cally working on the original Nomad project.

We were treated to an in depth insight into the devel- * -1 opment of GippsAero, from an aircraft maintenance organisation, modifying the Piper Pawnee to the stage where it became a new type of aircraft and named the GA-200 Fatman, the building of the first GA-8 Airvan, and its considerable success on the world market.

Future projects include the GA-10, a ten-seat , turbo¬ prop version of the Airvan and the GA-18, the Nomad look-alike.

George Morgan

His talk was accompanied with a comprehensive pow¬ er point presentation, prepared by AHSA member and GippsAero Communications Officer, John Willis. Part of the Airvan production at GippsAero.

5 lections should have been pared to a few descriptive sen¬ I Leon Kane- tences, and a handful of survey paragraphs would have Maguire: Lost served better than the pages describing the fall of Rabaul M Without Trace. when Wilbur a recent posting to 24 Squadron was in Squadron . My sole criticism is no fault of the author: it is the Leader Wilbur lack of an index. I believe an index is essential for any histori¬ Wackett, RAAF. cal work. A Story of And now to the praise. Kane-Maguire’s literary talents Bravery & are obvious in Lost Without Trace. He had the support of Tragedy in the Wilbur’s extended family and competently draws on their Pacific War archives and other available source material. The text is well- written and sparkles with Wilbur’s letters and diary extracts. Air Power De¬ His whimsical sketches are a charming and enlightening ad¬ velopment dition. It is a shame that Wilbur did not write more as there Centre Publica¬ are large gaps in his diaries but they are largely filled by tions drawing on recollections and the historical record. Card covers, The danger in quoting letters in their entirety, as Kane 243pp, b& -Maguire has done, is that the incidental can distract from the photos important. Where few contemporary witnesses remain, how¬ RRP $25.00 ever, they become an essential gauge of personality and character. In including Wilbur’s letters almost unedited, Kane- Maguire has allowed Wilbur’s personality to shine through. His enthusiasm for his flying and RAAF work is vivid and I for one was glad to read of the exciting and mundane in his ser¬ , ». I > I i vice career. Perhaps Wilbur’s account of his difficult trek The biennial RAAF Heritage Awards were established in across Papua could have been shortened but, penned short¬ 1987 to foster an interest in the history of service aviation ly after his return to Australia, it is a significant document and and enhance RAAF records. Awards are given for outstand¬ through it the reader gains a clear impression of the hardship ing achievements in literature and art, and assistance is giv¬ Wilbur and other evaders, for that matter endured during en to those undertaking historical research. As well as a gen¬ the long and dangerous walk home through Japanese held erous prize, the literary award includes publication of the territory. winning manuscript. These memoirs, biographies and histori¬ I always find last letters’ moving. With the benefit of cal accounts have added considerably to Australian air force hindsight, I cannot keep the knowledge of what-happens-next knowledge. Lost Without Trace, which won the 2010 award, from my reading of them. And so it is with Wilbur’s. It is to his is a welcome addition to the RAAF s publication program. parents, and, as he congratulates them on their silver anni¬ Leon Kane-Maguire was one of Australia s most re¬ versary, he shows clearly the depth of his love for his young spected scientists and, as well as over 175 scientific papers, bride. He touches on the pride and love for his daughter who he had written or co-written three RAAF squadron histories. he will never see, and we feel his stoic sadness that he is He died in January 2011 and never saw his final work in missing out on her growing up. His joy in flying is briefly en¬ print. capsulated when he proudly declares that ‘I have my own Lost Without Trace is a biography of Wilbur Wackett, kite now and she’s a little honey.’ The final poignant re¬ son of Lawrence Wackett, who flew in the Australian Flying quest do not worry about me I’ll be OK, and home again Corps during the Great War and founded the Commonwealth before you know where you are’ is heart wrenching. This is Aircraft Corporation. Wilbur followed his father s footsteps one letter that needed to be published in full. into the air force and served with 2, 24, 75 and 31 squadrons. Wilbur’s story resonates. He never returned home. With 75 Squadron, he participated in the New Guinea air His body was never found. We share the Wacketts’ pain, campaign during which he was shot down. Barefooted, he their frustration at the dearth of official information, Lawrence spent a month crossing Papua’s rugged terrain, avoiding Wackett’s desperate attempts at string-pulling to find out capture, to return to his comrades at Port Moresby. In Sep¬ more, and the ultimate despair of not knowing what hap¬ tember 1944, 23 year-old Wilbur’s Beaufighter crashed in the pened. We grieve at the continuing loss for the Wackett fami¬ Northern Territory. Evidence was later discovered that Wilbur ly: the deaths of Wilbur’s daughter when she was only four¬ and his navigator had survived, but there was no sign of what teen months old and Peggie at a young age. had become of them. The bulk of this biography deals with The Wackett family only learned in 1980, by chance, Wilbur’s background, training and RAAF service but the heart that Wilbur had survived the crash and Peggie, who died in is his loss in September 1944 and the aftermath. 1956, never knew. We wonder at how vital grief-assuaging I enjoyed Lost Without Trace but I have one concern information and relics were not passed on when first discov¬ and one criticism which I will get out of the way so I can give ered. In piecing together what happened to Wilbur after his it the praise it deserves. Firstly, heritage manuscripts are September 1944 combat, Kane-Maguire has provided clo¬ supposed to be 55,000 words, although longer manuscripts sure for Julie, Peggie’s daughter from her second marriage, may be considered. Lost Without Trace is just under 60,000 and Wilbur’s extended family. words (including standard preliminaries). With such a tight Leon Kane-Maguire’s posthumous literary gift is a fine biog¬ word limit an author must make hard decisions about what to raphy and a fitting memorial to Wilbur. Recommended. include and what to omit; the ruling doctrine must be if it (Originally published in Sabretache, the Journal of the Mili¬ does not specifically relate to the central subject, leave it out’. tary Historical Society of Australia Volume 53, Issue 2 (June My concern is that Kane-Maguire did not make the best use 2012)) of his word limit when he included large extracts from non- Wilbur material. For example, bloc s of scene-setting recol¬ Reviewer: Kristen Alexander 6 BOOK REVIEWS: an index. I was not disappointed. Any book, novels except¬ ed, are greatly enhanced by a comprehensive index which _Flying The Southern Cross by Michael Molkentin. This is most valuable to other researchers. book is about the 1928 trans-Pacific flight based on the hand written log kept by Charles Ulm. Each chapter commences with a copy of a page from the Flyers of Time log and the author has expanded on those notes which often gives the impression that the reader is in the cockpit with Ulm as he keeps the log.

FLYING THE e* OUTHERN CRO Aviator Charles Ulm and Charles Kangstord Smit

Pioneer Aviation hi Country Victo ia The I'i st T ijh> Years A Collectio

Kevi O 'Reilly

Looking through the index is almost a who s who of early Victorian aviation. There has been many books and articles written about Smithy , but this one gives a few details that have not Flyers of Times is available to AHSA members at the spe¬ been published before, and also gives credit to Ulm, cial price of $55-00 plus p&p, while stocks last. Enquires whose contribution to the flight is often overshadowed by to Kevin at: [email protected] or his website at: the accolades heaped upon Smithy. It is profusely illus¬ www..flyersoftime.com trated. Neil Follett.

The author s approach to the subject is refreshingly differ¬ ent and is a very readable book. Life Member. At the November meeting, long time AHSA member and contributor to Aviation Heritage Mac Job It is published by the National Library of Australia an is was presented with available from their bookshop or any good bookseller. life membership to the Neil Follett. AHSA.

Flyers of Time by Kevin O’Reilly. Written by AHSA mem¬ In his acceptance’ ber, Kevin O’Reilly this book tells the stories of aviation in speech Mac briefly Country Victoria, covering the first fifty years . spoke of the changes he had seen in avia¬ The text consists mainly of newspaper reports from coun¬ tion during his dec¬ try and city newspapers and are presented in chronologi¬ ades of working in the cal order. It is A4 size and contains 416 pages and con¬ aviation industry, from tains several hundred photos, many never before pub¬ a flying doctor pilot, lished. editor of the Aviation Safety Digest, acci¬ The amount of time Kevin has spent researching this book dent investigator, au¬ shows up in the depth of detail. Whenever I pick up a thor and a consultant new book one of the first things I do is to check if there is on aviation safety. 7 Lores Bonney. The National Library of Australia has asked The AHSA at Avalon 2013. The AHSA has been offered a AHSA Member Kristen Alexander to write an account of Mrs. small area in the tent to be occupied by the Gliding Museum Harry Lores Bonney for their Collection Highlights series. at next years (2013) Avalon Airshow.

It will focus on items held in the Library’s collection, particu¬ We hope to have a small display promoting ourselves to the larly Mrs. Bonney’s 1933 and 1937 flight diaries. It is sched¬ aviation community. It is anticipated that we will man (or uled for publication in early 2015. woman) the display on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Accordingly we need a number of volunteers to assist with If members have any memories of Mrs. Bonney, Kristen this. would be very interested in hearing them. In any member can assist for a couple of hours on any of Contact details: [email protected] those days, please contact the secretary, Allan Trower at: Or: Kristen Alexander, PO Box 746, Mawson, ACT 2607 [email protected] or contact any committee member.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 50th Anniversary of the AARG. (Australian Aircraft Resto¬ NATIONAL AVIATION MUSEUM ration Group.) 1962 saw the formation of the AARG, formed for the initial purpose of obtaining the Beaufighter A8-328 Enclosed with the December issue of Aviation Heritage is a from the Lord Mayor’s Children's Camp at Portsea. petition calling for the establishment of an National Aviation Museum in Australia. Today, that one aircraft has led to the formation of the Aus¬ tralian National Aviation Museum, formerly the Moorabbin Air It is an initiative of the Australian Aircraft Restoration Group museum at Moorabbin Airport. (AARG) and we ask all members to read the petition and endeavor to obtain as many signatures as possible, for this A dinner was held to mark the occasion was held at the worthwhile cause. RVAC on 27 November.

Contributors to this issue: Keith Meggs, Kristen Alexan¬ der, Mark Lax. THE ODD SHOT

Percival Proctor Mk. 1, VH-AUC, after crossing the Murray River on the ferry at Mannum, S.A..