Seventy Years Ago Today An Ausssie Airliner Went Down. You've Not Heard Of It.

[sixtiesrelic]

I've researched this and can see the holes in the cheese match, the wheels going into motion when contact is lost with the aircraft, after they radioed they'd have to do a forced landing. (Why put radios in wheelwells?)

 

The search unfolding, then the investigation uncovering mistakes and omissions, inter service rivalry, Captain Manwaring (of Dad's Army) syndrome, where little people have high opinions of themselves and make strange and blockhead decisions.

 

There are highjinx of young blokes not thinking before they do naughty things, people wanting and expecting things, so thinking they happen.

 

There's the stress levels rising, and tired people not sleeping because they can't stop wondering 'why?' or 'should I have...'

 

I'm going to feed you this in real time, because the records enable me to. Air crash investigaton compresses months of tedious re-construction and investigation into an hour's show. Things were quicker and simpler then.

 

Telegrams flitted, accusations arose, attitudes changed and in the end the captain got the blame.

 

A sanitised report was made, but because it was war-time, the records got a big red 'SECRET' stamped on them and they were bunged into a vault for sixty years, to cover up minor things like inter service rivalry and the 'Captain Manwarings' .

 

The interesting thing about this story is the knowlege of the official information, as well as a knowlege of the family of one of the pilots and how they contended in the middle of war time.

 

Daddy went to work in his airliner, sometimes coming back that night, and sometimes eleven days later and he didn't say where he'd been or what he did.

 

'It was the WAR'.

 

..............................................................................................................................................................

 

At about 6 AM on the 21st of April 1942, three airliners took off on 'a secret operation'. They were transporting over thirty US servicemen from a teletype course in Brisbane, back to Bartchelor in the N.T.

 

The lads were a bit pissed of, because some lousy officer had shortened the course and they had to leave the comfort of Bris-bayne and all those galls to return to dust flies and tents in the tropics where they were close to bombing raids that they had been forbidden to mention while in the metropolis.

 

Our Lockheed 14, under the command of Guinea Airways chief pilot Duncan Gordon Cameron and Captain Bill Gray as second pilot, got off at 0622 EST on the first leg to Charleville where they'd refuel. The next stop would be Cloncurry then the last at Daly Waters before the final leg to Batchelor. The other two aircraft were Lockheeds of Australian National Airways. They spread out so they weren't waiting too long on the ground during refuelling operations... flies and the stinkin heat.

 

Gray had been away many days and would arrive home tomorrow night, or so the family thought.

 

 

 

[Spin]

I look forward to reading more - always interesting to see what was considered so dangerous that it had to be suppressed back then.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

 

Weather 70 years ago as the aircraft flew up to Batchelor ... how many warm fronts have you seen?

 

Weather at the destination is a bit murky.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

The pilots…

 

D.G Cameron. Cameron was an experienced captain who had transferred from Australian National Airways to become chief pilot of Guinea Airways. He was chosen to fly the flagship VH-ADY over from England in company with VH-ADW in the record time of 65 hours in 1940.

 

W.T.Gray. I have learned more about, because the family has given me much information.

 

He was born the first son of a doting father. He had a strong ability to do well at what he attempted and with the backing of a father who had stars in his eyes, was able to hone his self confidence and competence to a high degree.

 

He had been flying in in New Guinea for seven years, flying over the last couple of years, mostly Ford Tri-motors and Junkers G31s... the tri-motor that led to the development of the larger JU52 we all know .

 

He had organised a job for his young brother, Charles, two years previously in New Guinea. They had been evacuated with their wives around Christmas 1941 and were based in Adelaide at the head quarters.

 

W.T was mad as hell because he had been made a first officer. His belief was, he should have been a captain, seeing as he had more time with Guinea Airways AND more command hours than the many of the captains he was to fly with … on larger aeroplanes too.

 

He was a person who wanted to keep up with the latest developments in aviation and paid out the same amount of money for a technical book printed in the USA as the Guinea Airways office boy earned in a week.

 

He picked the pilot’s brains in New Guinea when they flew the Lockheeds up there on mail runs He had also picked Amelia Earhart’s brains when she stayed in Lae .

 

He taught himself Morse at night, practising with Charles, even though there were no radios in their aircraft, knowing they would have to know it sometime. They sat the exams for 20 words per minute at a post office exam site.

 

 

In January 1941 W.T was agitating against many unsafe practices he saw in the Adelaide to Darwin run.

 

His aim was to do as he had in his seven years in NG and move up into bigger better airlines. He had ANA in his sights in January.

 

In New Guinea he had started with Ray Parer (Battling Ray of the London to Sydney air race fame in 1934).

 

He left Ray to join Stevenson Aviation who had bigger better aeroplanes. From Stevensons to Carpenters, because THEY had modern aeroplanes and more money behind them. When he had Dragon time, he was able to get into the biggest and richest airline… Guinea Airways Limited.

 

He had crashed twice in NG and walked away and then to top it off, had an engine failure in a Fox Moth on the way to Streaky Bay and fixed the problem himself in January 1942. He was a tool maker prior to learning to fly and that enabled him to hold an aircraft engineer limited license.

 

We have two strong willed captains in one aeroplane flying to Batchelor. They were tired from the extra hours required of them.

 

W.T's log book shows he flew 125 hours in January, 131 hours in Febuary,107 in March. His brother Charles did 120 in April and 60 in the first eleven days of May .

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

 

AERADIO MESSAGE.

 

Office of origin … Darwin 18 words Time 1724

 

……………………………………………………………………………………………

 

All Civil aircraft must arrive Batchelor in daylight today or return to Daly Waters. Weather doubtful.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Commonwealth of Australia- Postmaster General’s Department

 

TELEGRAM

 

PRIORITY IMMEDIATE 5-30 PM

 

AVIAT MELBOURNE

 

Ref 5:18 WEATHER DEFINITELY SATISFACTORY MET REPORT AS FOLLOWS.

 

OVERCAST 1000FEET CLOUD BASE 6000 FEET TWO TENTHS RAGGED CLOUD BETWEEN 4000 AND 5000 FT

 

VIS GOOD … AVIAT

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The flight was uneventful till well into the last leg, when the Katherine aeradio operator sent them a message (Morse code) to remind them that they were not to land at Batchelor after dark, but to go down to Katherine.

 

They replied… what time is it dark.

 

No daylight and darkness graphs to look up, so the operator noting the dimness of his windowless office, because of the heavy cloud outside, said, “In quarter of an hour.”

 

The aircraft was twenty five minutes from Batchelor, so they turned back towards Katherine. It was in fact, forty minutes to last light.

 

Seventeen minutes later at 18:23 CST, Cameron asked that the rotating beacon be turned on at Katherine.There had been a NOTAM to say it was out of service. (They weren't turning it on because the batteries that powered it had been getting depleted by the hospital)

 

At 18:30 they asked Darwin for a DF bearing to start establishing their position. HF radio at sunset is bad, Add thunderstorms and HF radio waves are real bad. Direction Finders were pretty primitive in good conditions. The civy pilots didn’t particularly trust it and the RAAF pilots used it only as a back up to their navigation… THEY had an early warning device that was better…radar.

 

The operators of the direction finding unit had a near impossible job, but came back with a bearing. They were over the other side of the aerodrome and had to communicate by telephone (through recent bomb-damaged lines to the switchboard) with the aeradio operator in contact with the aircraft, so couldn’t talk directly to the aeroplane. It took four minutes to get the bearing.

 

The operator calculated they were east of Darwin. They reckoned they were over a hundred miles south of Batchelor or around one fifty south of the DF station. They queried the bearing and told him to have another go. Again… east of Darwin. The first bearing at 1835 was 103 degrees. The second at 1840 was 100 degrees. Darwin asked’ “Are you coming here?” Cameron asked if the weather was OK and was answered yes. They were asked for an ETA and ADY sent “1915.” The radio was crackling with lightning and many times WT Gray, the second pilot, had to have words repeated.

 

18:48 ADY sent a message, “Coming to Darwin …another bearing please … “099 degrees”. They asked for a continuous watch on the HF/DF because the early warning device wasn’t available and they asked that the aerodrome rotating beacon be put on as well.

 

Tired pilots. “Well, HE’S sure, but I’m buggared if I know how we could have gotten this far north … too tired to try and work it out, but Darwin here we come.

 

I think Captain Cameron was pleased about not going back so far south in heading to Darwin. To me it makes sense, as the aircraft was on a government charter and normally did the daily Adelaide Darwin, or Darwin Adelaide flights.

 

Why land at Katherine and have to take off at or before first light the next morning, to drop the soldiers off at Batchelor, then go on to Darwin to start the courier flight to Adelaide hours late, when the soldiers could get a truck ride the hour or so from Darwin to their base that night and the pilots could get more sleep.

 

To have given an ETA of 19:15 CST for Darwin, they had to have found themselves out along that bearing line, to be able to work the ETA.

 

More educated guesses on my part… They glimpsed a couple of rivers through the rain and towering Cumulus. Guestimated them to be the East and South Alligators. I work this out from their applying the estimated fifteen miles they ran between bearings and marking it on a piece of paper then running the paper out from Darwin, aligned with their heading of probably 275 degrees, till the fifteen mile points they’d run, were on the bearing lines.

 

 

1900 ADY was told they won’t get bearings for about ten minutes as another aircraft on a different frequency wanted one.

 

1906 A bearing from Darwin of 095 was given to ADY.

 

1914 Aeradio asks for their ETA… ”Possibly fifteen minutes.” They couldn't see much in the murk and darkness now.

 

They didn’t see Darwin at the ETA and maintained their heading till they crossed a coast line, showing gloomily through the rain as a lighter area of sea westward and dark land to the east.

 

1923… They circled for fifteen minutes in the darkness and drizzle, working out where they were (Boyne Harbour… about seven minutes past Darwin.) and then their track back to the Darwin designated lane of entry so the Ack-Ack gunners didn’t start blazing away at them (The Japs had been coming unannounced and dropping bombs on the boys, so they were keen to do them damage and the Civil pilots knew they weren’t always waiting till the whites of the pilot’s eyes were in sight . While circling they asked for a DF bearing and were told 095 from Darwin. ADY sent, ”Check sense!” No wonder they found trusting DF a difficulty… it could be one eighty degrees out unless the operator was on the ball. After all, they had over-flown Darwin and out over a western coastline and here they were being told they were still east.

 

19:25, 19:27, 19:34, 19:42, 19:43,19:48, more Q code messages requesting bearings and answers of 288 ,302 284 288 … all second class or doubtful.

 

19:49 while returning to Darwin, Cameron asked for the QNH ‘in plain language‘, so he thought he was pretty close and was preparing for a landing.

 

19:53 … ADY sent, “Ask army for searchlights please” … Darwin answered “OK wait”.

 

19:56 You are 288 degrees second class.

 

19:58 “Are the search lights ON?” He was advised, “In a minute.”

 

20:01 He reported he was six hundred feet, There were a couple repeats of the transmission required for Darwin just to ascertain the altitude due to static.

 

20:04 ADY tries voice transmission… it was poor … again they were given a bearing of 283.

 

20:08 Darwin sends QRK (Are you receiving) … no answer.

 

20:09 ADY is asked to “listen to the phone again’ (I guess that was VHF)

 

20:11 ADY was given a bearing of 282 first class.

 

20:12 Darwin sends, “One light is north and the other is NNW of the drome.” ADY asked them to repeat and on the second transmission got it all and answered OK (Search lights on nineteen minutes after asking for them. That equates to around forty miles of flying)

 

20:16 ADY is asked to transmit for another bearing but only answers “Is it raining?” Darwin answered, “No” and gave a bearing of 277

 

20:23 ADY asks for another bearing and “check sense” so the crew is really confused they’re in heavy rain… consider that most of these messages are going backwards and forwards in q code … eg QAA is ETA, QAL … what is your landing time, QTE is bearing, QRK…. Are you receiving, K … go ahead. Imagine Morse code with the extra clicks of static. --.- .-. -.- ..---- ---.. …-- could come out --Z- .-.-.ZZ.- .zzT-zz---- …--

 

20:29 Darwin gives a bearing of 278 and ADY replies OK we have the beach again.

 

GET OUT A MAP and plot the above from 1840 and see how confused you are. Groundspeed of say 140 knots. You aren’t tired, dehydrated or as totally bushed from the confusing info you have been supplied with as Cameron and Gray were.

 

20:32, 33, 38, 43, 46, 50, 51, 53, 54 more unanswered calls and calls for bearings which when calculated were around 270 with the last being 238.

 

20:56 ADY reports it is over some lights and in heavy rain. There were mines south of Darwin … perhaps they were the lights. The north coast was blacked out, so the Bettys couldn’t have an easy time navigating to their bombing runs.

 

21:00 They are told that their last transmissions couldn’t produce a bearing “but you were over East Point seventeen minutes ago. ”ADY asks them to repeat that info and then answers OK. (The Port War Signal Station had reported the sighting of a white light near Point Charles at that time and shortly before that, they had seen red flashes in that same vicinity.

 

21:08 Darwin sent, “You are over drome now. Come down now you are over drome. “

 

21:10 ADY sent “You are over where?. Send one word at a time and I will repeat it. Darwin sent the words one at a time but ADY was unable to read it. The aeradio operator held his Morse key down so the pilots could wind the loop aerial around to get a bearing.

 

21:18 Darwin sent, “You were over the drome ten minutes ago.” ADY didn’t reply.

 

21:21 ADY asks for a bearing and that it be repeated back six times.

 

21;24 ADY makes signals that are unreadable.

 

21:27 Katherine aeradio contacts Darwin and relays a message they received from ADY, “We are going to try and land beside some lights.

 

What is going on in the pilots’ heads? They are told there’s light rain falling on Darwin and yet their windscreen is white with rain that is hissing crackling and making conversation difficult. They are unable to talk on the radio or be heard and are having to use Morse. Where are the search lights. HOW could they have been over Darwin and not seen something and more… not been able to talk on the VHF. They are LOST and need to land while they still have fuel and control of where they crash land.

 

Landing Super Electras (Civilian version of the Hudson bomber) in rain is a bugger. DC-3s were the same. If you peer forward out the open, sliding, side window you see better than through the windscreen. The hydraulically operated wipers weren’t too flash.

 

Cameron would have done this and most likely have to do a slight turn to the left to see where he could bung her down.

 

His plan ??? I’ve been to the area and reckon he knew the country well, having flown over it time and again, on the daily courier runs. Grassland with anthills, gumtrees about two feet thick … and rugged hills.

 

He was looking for a light patch ahead to denote lots of grass while flying very slow with the gear down and takeoff flap in readiness to chop the power and apply full flap as he plopped her down.

 

Landing lights … better to be off, till the last moment, as they wouldn’t be illuminating where they’d touch down at this stage.

 

21:28,

 

21:33

 

and 21:38 CST, Darwin sent QRK, QRK, QRK… (are you receiving?)

 

No answer

 

………………………………continued tomorrow………………………………………

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

This was a repeat of the page above.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

!0 PM on the 21st April 1942. The wheels are in motion.

 

DCA is madly typing out all the communications logs. Everything on them was written down, sometimes in personal code.

 

The RAAF is having people write out reports.

 

Telegrams are flying between Darwin and Melbourne (DCA head office) and Adelaide … Guinea Airways management, 48th Fighter Group of the Fifth Air Force for just some

 

Phones are ringing to organise the search tomorrow.

 

See it wasn't our fault they got lost!

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

The morning of 22 April in the office of Guinea Airways

 

Who will we send round to tell the families of the pilots that they force landed last night. Better tell Charlie too when he signs in, before he hears the scuttlebuck.

 

Can we get another aircraft up there to search and which aircraft can we use to replace ADY on tomorrow’s courier run to Darwin.

 

We want all relevant details including all the radio logs for our own investigation.

 

Darwin… people running for cover, telegrams heading to DCA Melbourne, RAAF headquarters back and forward. Phone calls to various commanders to get search aircraft.

 

 

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

This is the text of a letter written in pencil on Wednesday, 22nd April, 1942 by Hilda Gray (wife of W.T Gray) to her sister Alice in Sydney.The letter was continued in ink, starting the middle of the third page (on 24th April.)

 

Here we see a side that isn't normally covered in crash stories... those at home.

 

This letter to a sister in Sydney (all her family were there), is an insight into the wives contending with husbands away flying airline flights and other secret ones.

 

Hilda had been snatched from a house with at least two servants, in New Guinea to a flat in Adelaide. She was lucky that she sailed just before the forced evacuations that Tess, her sister in law, and all her friends were subject to.

 

The evacuees were allowed only one small suit case and a pillow and were crammed into unlined, noisy freighters, to cross the mountains hiding from attack inside the cloud, to Port Moresby, then put on a ship that scuttled south with the threat of attack from the Japs all the way.

 

They at least had the chance to put their valuable mementos in the suitcase. Hilda thought she was returning after leave, but the sudden movement of the Japs south stopped that, so everything was left behind.

 

Many Happy Returns of 19th

 

love, Hilda

 

Dear Al,

 

Your welcome letter received the other day and so glad to get it. It was your birthday the other day and not being able to get to town as often as I’d like to am sending 10/- (ten shillings) – buy a pair of stockings or something for yourself. Wrote to Betty and sent some snaps to her and here are some for you. Don’t you think it’s a nice one of Lyn hanging over the back of her pram. Then Ann in front of my bicycle ready for school. She has on a canary brushed wool beret, fawn jumper and brown pleated skirt. The sox are fawn with tartan colours at top and black shoes. Then we are aboard and about to go off on the bike and daddy snapped us. At first Ann didn’t feel too safe on the back with me but now is quite OK. Then the other one. She has an Easter egg in one hand and Topsy in the other. And does she love Topsy. At present it’s 9.15 pm and the two of them are in bed, my bed seeing daddy is away. She sleeps with me when Bill is not home. Bill went away Sat., was supposed to be home tonight but they were forced down somewhere near Darwin last night. G.A. (Guinea Airways) sent me word and one of the pilots came and said when they find out some more news of them he will let me know. Ran out of juice and bad storm at

 

 

page 2:

 

Darwin couldn’t land there so had to put down somewhere. The RAAF are looking for them. I think they would be alright but its not so good is it.

 

Charles went away the other week and then Tess got word he wouldn’t be back for a week or two. Arrived back eleven days after he went away. He went off again this a.m., don’t know when he’ll be back. GA are doing some extra work here there and everywhere – it’s best not to mention what and where they are going. – I’ve never been settled in this house. – It’s nice and comfortable but I haven’t any interest in it. – I’m hard to please, aren’t I. Well a couple of streets away there’s semi-s and we went and inspected them and like them so will move (won’t be finished for a month.) It looks like we’ll be here for the duration so we may as well be settled and satisfied. How we can get our things over I don’t know. Received a letter from Mr. Gray (Father-in-law ) stating the mater has appendicitis. He says the Dr. is not operating. Poor little thing, don’t know who is going to look after her, suppose Caroline. Have been thinking of Auntie Hil and wondering how she is. Give her my love and I’ll write to her. Got a letter from Mar[??]. She wrote to Auntie Ann and Auntie got my address from someone I don’t know. There’s two more letters to write and one to Auntie Al. Am having some snaps printed same as I’ve sent to you and Beaut and will send a few in the letters.

 

Suppose you and Beaut have had Robert and Ian in to be blood grouped. I’ve got to take Ann and Lyn but

 

 

page 3:

 

will wait till Bill can come with me. Everyone tells me the winter here is very severe so the children will want plenty of warm things. If you have some scraps for making into little coats for Lyn around the house and sleeping in, would you send me some, please Al. Lyn is wearing Ann’s old woollens but of course I had to buy some woollen vests for her and got some nice little ones with sleeves. Am taking the calcium once again, got the big jar. If you look closely you’ll see I have a new perm (one of the snaps). It’s a [????] ends and wave. Seems OK and easy to manage, has been done five weeks now. And gone back to the side parting to cover up all the gray hairs on the right side. Well I’ll have to finish tomorrow, it’s late and time I was in bed.

 

All the search aircraft found no sign of ADY on the 22nd. No smoke signals or smoking wreckage.

 

Heavy rain last night and low fuel could mean that the aircraft came down reasonably intact and the fuel tanks didn't burst into flames.

 

The aircraft carried emergency rations and a rifle and the Yanks also had their fire arms with them, so they should be able to shoot some food if they are uninjured.

 

 

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

THE SECOND DAY OF SEARCHING.

 

Everyone is pretty flat after spending a fruitless day searching to no avail.

 

here is a telephoned telegram from Collopy who was in charge of the search in Darwin to Department of Civil Aviation head office Melbourne.

 

NO SIGN ADY TODAY RECOMMEND AS MANY CIVIL AIRCRAFT AS POSSIBLE JOIN SEARCH (.) AEC UZF USP AT BATCHELOR NO WORD ANY GUINEAS HERE LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY WHAT ACTION TO TAKE.

 

COLLOPY

 

Initials of Repeated to A/DG who dictated

 

Receiving Officer ………… reply attached.

 

There is obviously a lot of difficulty in communications. DCA is using internal and PMG telegram services but there is no mention of phone calls from Melbourne or Adelaide to Darwin. This is obvious from the facsimile of a letter that was sent today from Guinea Airways to the search centre in Melbourne.

 

 

 

Charles Gray and his captain arrived in Darwin in the afternoon after having engine trouble yesterday and landing at Oodnadatta to have repairs done to the daily Lockheed ten flight to Darwin.

 

Charlie wasn't too alarmed at the news that the search hadn't been successful. Bill had come down three times in aircraft and walked away. He had been a boy scout into his teens, who had prided himself on his bushcraft and was very handy with his hands around machinery, so everyone tended to look on the bright side.

 

Charles was given leave to go out on the third day of searching as an observer. He would be needed to crew the flights for the rest of the week though.

 

 

It can be seen that they were working hard from these pages of his logbook.

 

Of course the newspapers didn't take long to get onto the story.

 

 

 

[siznaudin]

This is gripping stuff, Sixties ... much appreciated.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

I was wondering if any one was really interested. Next installment lunchtime tomorrow.

 

 

[Guest DWB]

I was wondering if any one was really interested. Next installment lunchtime tomorrow.

Ah hell yeah - we're all hanging on to the edge of our seats, didn't want to interrupt the flow!

 

 

[willedoo]

Ah hell yeah - we're all hanging on to the edge of our seats, didn't want to interrupt the flow!

Likewise. Riveting story, sixties, thanks.

Cheers, Willie.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

Conversation in VH-USC at 8.34 CST.

 

"Hay Skipper. over there on the lft about three miles away... Smoke started rising from near that creek line."

 

"Got it. I'll continue this leg and we'll be closer on the next one to see if we should break the search pattern.... should pass by it in .... er eight to ten minutes. "

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

great history. i wonder how many other stories like this are trussed up in red tape?

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

08.50 In the cockpit of USC

 

“There’s someone near the fire…. Bloody turbulence… I can’t hold the binoculars steady on them .”

 

0851 “There’s one… no two men by a fire.”

 

0851.5 Captain “ Note the time ... we’ll descend from search height and circle.”

 

0853 They’re stockmen by the looks and if they were survivors they’d be waving like mad, not just standing looking at us… false alarm.”

 

There were no telephones out in the area, so most stations didn't know there WAS a downed airliner.

 

08.23 In the cockpit ofVH-UYB. Captain resting his eyes; second dicky flying and sees a flash just in front of the nose.

 

"Something there just went under the nose!"

 

"Right we'll turn and have a look."

 

Second dickey starts turning.

 

"No! maintain your heading for one minute then do a proceedure turn, so we have a minute lined upon it to spot it, rather than trying to see it in a three sixty turn son."

 

Nothing sighted. Another proceedure turn and they continued on the search leg.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

24th April 1942

 

Doreen Mc Allister was the newest girl to be put on in Aviation House Melbourne.

 

She was sixteen and three quarters years old; a pretty girl, who’d ‘developed’ early. She was excited to get a position with the Department of Civil Aviation, ‘safe government employment for life' if she didn't marry… not quite as excited as her mum though, who told anyone she could button hole in the street about Doreen’s coup. Doreen was the office girl, but would soon enough, become a typist when a position became available.

 

She was going to night school after work, doing an advanced shorthand typing course, so was loose end between five thirty and her six thirty class. She took sandwiches to eat for her dinner, usually walking to Spencer Street station to sit and eat them while she watched all the people passing by, especially the handsome Yanks.

 

Mr Johnston called her to his office just as she was leaving and asked if she could file some telegrams in the ADY file. Doreen was trying to get her head around all the letters they used for everything… DCA, ADY…

 

‘Mr Johnson was nice. A real gentleman… always well mannered and courteous… not like that miss ‘Oldmaid’ who was nasty and spitefully threw her weight around when out of earshot of the men.

 

Poor Mr. Johnson, he seemed tired and sad. Always in his office before and after Doreen arrived and left. (He was a mate of Cameron so naturally, was worried after two days of searching an no word)

 

Doreen took the telegrams to the file room, she wasn’t overly interested in what they said, half the time they were in code. She had her mind on other things. She wasn’t going to typing school tonight… she had a date with a cute American Naval Lieutenant and he said he may be able to get her some silk stockings because she had been ‘nice’ to him last time and she’d let him kiss her goodnight before she got to the tram stop to go home.

 

 

 

[Guest aviatrix27]

I'm reading too sixties, don't stop!

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

Continuation of Hilda’s letter to her sister in Sydney…

 

 

24th: No more news of Bill and Co. I’ve just finished a letter to mater telling them Bill is missing. The morning paper mentioned G.A.’s Lockheed is missing, the air force is searching and everything is being done to find them. They had rifles and ammunition, food and water, so if they got down OK they would be alright for awhile. Their wireless being in the undercarriage would be useless after landing. The last message received from them, they were making a crash landing near some fires – lights. The bad weather made

 

page 4:

 

it difficult to receive them well and their bearings couldn’t be received too well either. Oh well we can only hope they are safe and sound and won’t be long before they are back here again. It’s very worrying, but I feel they got down OK. I’ll write you or Bet. when I know he is found and give you what particulars I can. You understand I may not be allowed to say very much but I’ll try and give you something to understand and as soon as I hear. Charles is away and Tess is staying with me. Some of G.A.’s pilots and engineers have come and asked if there is anything they can do for me but of course there isn’t. They have all been very nice and thoughtful. One of the wives brought a bottle of brandy thinking I'd need some to put me to sleep at night. But I don’t need it. We have a warm drink before going to bed.

 

Hope Alan is back again at Randwick and you see him more often now. Hope all’s well with all of you and Bet and family. Well Al I don’t seem to be able to write any more my mind is elsewhere. And it’s 10.45 so I suppose we had better go to bed. The children are well and look so well. Hope I can send you word very soon so give my love to all.

 

love to yourself

 

yours,

 

Hilda

 

Mrs. W. T. Gray

 

Interesting sign off to a sister. They were the days when neighbours might live next door to each other for fifty years and still call each other Mrs Whatever over a cuppa.

 

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

 

 

 

 

[Guest JabJockey]

Yes keep em coming, great reading !!

 

 

[cficare]

gee whizz some aviation sites would have paid a fortune for this thread...rivetting reading...a great story...and now 'told'.

 

 

[sixtiesrelic]

25th April... ANZAC DAY

 

Things are becoming serious. Collopy up north has been burning the candle at both ends, what with all his normal work the extra the war threw at him and now ADY.

 

In Adelaide:- Steele of Guinea Airways is getting frazzled. Pilots annoying him for information and wanting to go up and search. “Where’s a man to find aircraft for a search when we’re down one and we were up to our ears in work when DY was flying. How long is it going to take to get it back in the air. Engineers in a man’s ear about not enough manpower and time to service the kites. Work piling up on Dunc’s desk, ‘spose I’ll have to attend to that as well as my own till he gets back. Gawd I hope he hasn’t been injured and can’t get back to work at least in the office."

 

In the DCA office Darwin:- “Telegrams demanding this and that … yesterday, people ringing about search aircraft… Hell! Things are starting to look a bit grim for ADY. We should have found them by now. How bad are the injuries? … there’s gotta be injuries or someone would have turned up by now, anyway we’ve got a kite going straight to that sighting yesterday evening for a closer look. Place is still a mess even though it’s twenty days since the last raid.”

 

Search master’s briefing Darwin drome:- “Take particular note of any areas of recent burning… I think our forced landing may have been crash landing and they unfortunately, usually end up in fire.”

 

Melbourne :- Johnston’s been in his office since six keeping tabs on the search for ADY. He scanned the Argus on the way in the tram … ‘Allied troops still forced back by Japs in Burma... Heavy Jap ship losses in Pacific, Port Moresby had 3 raids in a day…

 

Page two … Young munitions workers for the army, Polish girl joins WAAAF, Today’s first aid hint. No 13 The large arm sling…

 

Page 3… Allied planes on Soviet territory, JAPANESE WILL NOT ATTACK AUSTRALIA by DR VAN MOOK LONDON. “Oh! For crying out loud… bloody experts safe in Washington… ” Roosevelt’s mother left $1,090,000… Wouldn’t mind a piece of that… Ah … REPORT THAT MISSING PLANE WAS SEEN

 

‘A report that the missing Guinea Airways Lockheed 14 airliner had been seen somewhere in the vicinity where it was lost in Northern Australia on Tuesday night was received late yesterday afternoon.

 

Mr. A B Corbett Director-General of Civil Aviation stated last night that this report was so far unconfirmed, but that a plane had been sent to search the locality It was however, not possible to obtain any results from the search till this morning.The missing plane was under charter and flying on a special trip for the Department of Civil Aviation It carried a complement of 12 including a crew of 2’

 

Darwin:- A couple of Sergeant fitters.

 

“Where th’ hell you been?... Man’s dyin’ o thirst out here and you’re in the mess tent gutzin y’self on a leisurely breakfast.”

 

“Sorry Lofty, The boys were discussing the lost kite and there’s all sorts of rumours going round. Didn’t want to leave till I heard ‘em all.”

 

“While I’m out here in the hot sun, bloody miles from a trench. Hell I hate this dispersal area. Too far away from safety. At least I got ‘Rinso’ on my team. Good worker Rinso. Got the best of both worlds there. His mum’s mob’s hearing and eyesight and his dad’s brains. Gawd he heard the nips comin’ long before the air raid warnings the last two times an’ we was runnin’ flat out for the split trench I c’n tell ya…Beats that useless bloody secret ‘early warnin’ device’. Where was that the other night?”

 

“Yeah the boys were talkin’ about that at breakfast. They reckon poor old Johnno from the DF. You know … that sarge that comes into the mess and has a good singing voice?... he got put through the wringer yesterday good and proper to make sure he hadn’t stuffed up in some way."

 

"Someone reckons the skipper of that kite said he was in heavy rain a lot of the time.”

 

“What? I was out here on the line puttin’ the Hudsons that arrived just after dark, to bed, then we had to give bloody ol’ -210 an oil change in both motors. Took hours with bloody mossies tryin’ to find a way past the Kokoda I had sloshed all over meself. … eyes stingin fr’m th’ mongrel stuff and there was a bit of drizzle, that’s all.”

 

“Well that’s what the boys said.”

 

“That Civy skipper isn’t a patch on our boys… got lost once before, comin’ up from Katherine, an’ only just got back from half way to Timor with enough juice to keep the bottom of the tanks wet.”

 

“You know ‘Carrots’ Ryan the flight engineer?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Well, he was on that flight from Koepang that arrived just after seven and reckoned they could see the moon through the high overcast clouds at six thousand with some at two and visibility of six to twelve miles… they had no problem getting in… Funny ay?”

 

“Yeah … well! I can’t stand here maggin’ and listenin’ to you all day with me guts growlin’. C’mon I’ll hand over to yer.”

 

“Titch Taylor was in the D.F. hut when they flew over you know.”

 

“When who flew over?”

 

“The lost kite!”

 

“What?”

 

“There was a mob of them who went in for a squiz and Johnno said,” they’re about to pass over us now” and Titch and co heard it fly over.”

 

‘Whad y’r talkin’ about? I was out here all that time workin’ on -210 an’I didn’ hear no eighteen thirties passin’ overhead … what time was that s’pose ter have happened?”

 

“Dunnow”

 

“Bloody Titch wouldn’t know the difference between a Singer sewin’ machine an’ a Yank, bloody Army Harley!”

 

“Well they all heard it.”

 

“Well I was ‘ere all the time and never ‘eard nothin’!”

 

“….. Was it just after nine?”

 

????

 

“… We did a quick engine run after changin’ the oil at about nine. All we did was slowly chase the oil temp up with max RPM for it rather than wait idling for the temps to get up… we wanned ter get off for smoko. THAT coulda sounded like a kite passin’ by.”

 

“Might go ‘n talk ter th’ officers an’ run it past ‘em.”

 

OK! That actual conversation didn’t really take place, BUT someone worked out that what the boys in the hut heard, was an aeroplane running its engines up, down the other end of the aerodrome.

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

Groan..... another ad break.