Well, yesterday afternoon the day finally arrived for the reunion of people from my home town, Cambridge, who had served in the RNZAF and other Allied Air Forces. And I have to say it was a resounding success.
My mate who was helping out said he counted 75 people at one stage, and at least half of these were genuine veterans, the remainder being families, etc. We even got a couple of family members of airmen who died 60+ years ago in the war, and I got some more leads for the research project.
I projected the website (http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz) onto a big screen and took everyone on a tour of the site, as most of the veterans do not have the internet and all were very interested to see the results of the project.
Also we had Bryan Cox as guest speaker. He was born in Cambridge and lived here till 1935. During the war he trained as a fighter pilot on P40’s and Corsairs, and did two tours in the Pacific during the war, and a third in J-Force. He was a great speaker and had everyone enthralled. He even detailed the story of his involvement in the RNZAF’s darkest day, the Green Island Incident – Bryan was one of the few survivors.
But for me the most magical moment of the afternoon was the revealing of the lovely bronze plaque dedicated to the Cambridge men and women who served in the Air Forces of WWII. We had a current RNZAF Padre present to conduct the dedication service – Ross Horton of RNZAF Base Whenuapai, who’s family happen to be from Cambridge so it tied in really nicely. He made a really stirring speech, and as we stood there outside the Town Hall where the plaque is situated beneath a beautiful flowering chestnut tree, I looked around and saw the faces of all these veterans. It clearly showed that they truly appreciated this recognition, and so many of them said to me how much the appreciated my work on the website and the work the team had done to set up the reunion. It really made me very proud of the acheivements I’ve made – till yesterday I had really considered it as my silly personal hobby with some historical importance attached. Now I realise it is also personally very important to each of the individual veterans involved, and their families, and they are so appreciative of the whole thing.
We always say we’ll not forget the war dead, or those who came home too, but I think it’s important to record as many individual stories as possible so that when they’re gone, there is still something tangible to remmeber, not just a few names on a stone cenotaph… This is why I really appreciate the work of people like Mark Crame (our Snapper), etc., who are doing similar
Anyway, as this weekend was Armistice Weekend here in Cambridge, last night I went to the brilliant wartime styke Victory Dance, which was fantastic (big band, almost everyone in WWII costume – I wasn’t, had no time after the reunion, etc.)
Then today was the main event – but in the morning it was pouring with rain so the wreath-laying ceremony, powhiri, speeches (incl. the French Ambassador) preayers, etc. was all held inside the Town Hall. It was during this ceremony that the plaque was to be officially unveiled (it was only ‘dedicated’ the day before, not ‘officially’ unveiled) by Air Commodore Terry Gardner of the RNZAF and myself. So we, and Geoff Crawshaw – the Vicar conucting the ceremony – were escorted out of the hall by the Guard Commander from the 6th Hauraki Regiment. We went out into the rain to do the unveiling – and then quickly marched back in. Such a pity that the weather did this, it was beautiful yesterday, but today none of the hundreds present got to see the event. The only ones who did were Territorials from the Hauraki Regt and a platoon of Army Cadets who had very kindly formed an Honour Guard for us, and had presumably stood out in the rain for ages awaiting us to come out. I felt almost ashmed of this, poor blighters.
Once the morning ceremony was over the weather, typiclly, improved. And so other events like the mock battles between re-enactors, a display by old military vehicles, and many other events continued. Only the parachute drop was cancelled by the weather, and I was most impressed that despite appaulling weather when they took off – the Harvard display team refused to cancel even after the Cambridge guys said it was too dicey. They flew down from Ardmore and their optimism paid off because by the time the four Harvards arrived a lovely blue hole had opened up and the sun was shining. Though quite gusty, they put on a stunning low display with very tight formation. It was a briefer display than previous years but definately much appreciated by the crowd who’d all doubted half an hour earlier that they’d come. So, thanks NZ Warbirds, it really made the day.
Anyway, that was my weekend. I hope this isn’t too boring.
By: turbo_NZ - 14th November 2004 at 21:54
Congrats on a well thought through function !!
Cheers
Chris
TNZ
By: Smith - 14th November 2004 at 21:21
Well done Dave, this must take a lot of your time – I am both impressed and inspired.
By: STORMBIRD262 - 14th November 2004 at 12:42
Go Go Davey Boy
Top Stuff Dave and Lad’s 😀 , And your stuff is never boring Dave 😉 , A job very well done Matey, Cheer’s all. :dev2: Tally Ho! Phil. :diablo:
By: archieraf - 14th November 2004 at 12:36
Thanks for posting the details about your weekend Dave and congratulations. It sounds like all your hard work for an extremely good cause paid off.
We always say we’ll not forget the war dead, or those who came home too, but I think it’s important to record as many individual stories as possible so that when they’re gone, there is still something tangible to remmeber, not just a few names on a stone cenotaph… This is why I really appreciate the work of people like Mark Crame (our Snapper), etc., who are doing similar
Couldn’t agree more with you about how important it is to record as many individual stories as possible. I wish more people were doing it.
I’ve been at a ceremony at our local war memorial this morning then came home and watched the Remembrance Day parade march past the Cenotaph in London – always brings tears to my eyes. I was absolutely thrilled to bits when the phone rang as the credits were rolling at the end and it was two of my veteran friends calling me from Horse Guards Parade (on their mobile!) having just completed their march past the Cenotaph. Both ex RAF POW’s and not in the best of health, I was so proud of them and told them so. They are a generation the likes of which I don’t think we will ever see again so we must treasure them and we must remember them.
By: Locobuster - 14th November 2004 at 10:26
😮 LOL, actually, no, the boss asked me to do one for next year and I simply changed the date to 2005. I posted the second one by mistake. 😮
By: Dave Homewood - 14th November 2004 at 10:23
Excellent Locobuster, well done.
But 2005? Do you work with Moggy by any chance? 🙂
By: Locobuster - 14th November 2004 at 10:09
I’ve been meaning to post this for a few days and since this thread is vet related, I thought I would ad it here. I work for a regional newspaper (in the Ohio – West Virginia area) designing ads and I talked my boss into giving me free space to run this ad in the October 29 issue. Response was so great she also ran it in the Nov.11 issue as well. 🙂
By: Dave Homewood - 14th November 2004 at 09:13
Hey guys, I really appreciate these comments, thank you very much.
Matt, I think a heck of a lot of the RNZAF Corsair pilots flew with the Aussie Boomerangs doing their Forward Air Control job. In fact I have been told that the NZ Corsair squadrons virtually had Boomerang units attached to them, they worked as unison units I believe.
One of the Corsair pilots who flew with them was Bryan Cox , who was our guest speaker yesterday. There are some photos of 5 Sqn Boomers in his book ‘Pacific Scrapbook’ taken while he was with No. 16 Sqn RNZAF. I will pm his email to you. Bryan will also no doubt know others who also flew with the Boomers because he’s also secretary of the NZ Fighter Pilots Association.
I also got in touch with another pilot in Cambridge only this week who also flew Corsairs, and he may also be able to help you. I have to interview him soon so I’ll see what he remembers.
As an aside about the ANZAC effort…. In Bryan’s time up in the Pacific the Corsairs were used mainly in the dive bomber role of course, but as he said yesterday, had the atomic bomb not been dropped, his Sqn was about to convert to Mustangs and be joined with the Aussie Mustang squadrons for the invasion of Japan. I’m sure they’d have seen a bit of fighter vs fighter action then. There’s an interesting ‘what if’ scenario for ANZAC co-operation. Of course 485 (NZ) Sqn worked alongside an Australian squadron (forgotten the number) in Europe and they flew many ops together in their Spitfires.
By: OzMatt - 14th November 2004 at 08:28
Hi Dave,
Just wanted to congratulate you on all of your efforts mate. I haven’t been to your website (should do that sometime) but just from your regular reports on here, I know that you’re doing a great thing. Unfortunately those who served in WW2 are passing away rapidly and it’s very important that we record their memories whenever possible.
A related question – I don’t suppose you’ve ever come across any Kiwi Corsair pilots who flew with 5 Sqn RAAF Boomerangs (and maybe the odd Wirraway) on Army Co-operation work? I’m sure you know the details, but in case you don’t then a single 5 Sqn aircraft would lead out a flight of Corsairs before marking the target with a smoke bomb and then letting the Corsair boys bomb the place.
Enough rambling from me. Once again, Well Done!
Cheers,
Matt
By: Locobuster - 14th November 2004 at 08:18
Dave. Don’t ever underestimate the good researching veterans can do for both them and their families. These men and women who sacrificed so much earned the right to be remembered and we owe them so much. Great job on your part and don’t ever consider this “just a hobby”, it’s so much more.
By: mmitch - 14th November 2004 at 08:06
Well done Dave. You have certainly put your Cambridge on the (www) map!
mmitch.
By: Dave Homewood - 14th November 2004 at 07:50
Thanks guys. Much appreciated.
I meant to mention that when I eventually get around to it, I’ll hopefully add some photos of the event and the plaque to the thread.
By: Snapper - 14th November 2004 at 07:29
“till yesterday I had really considered it as my silly personal hobby with some historical importance attached. Now I realise it is also personally very important to each of the individual veterans involved, and their families, and they are so appreciative of the whole thing.”
The importance will increase with the years too Dave, Bloody well done mate! It sounds like you put on an absolutely cracking comemoration – you should be very proud of yourself. It is easy to put a pound in the poppy jar, more difficult to stand with one outside – but to do something like you have takes a lot of time, effort, thought and dedication, and rather than congratulate you (though it is certainly due) I would like to thank you for all those hours spent working on this, and I hope that all the efforts and time spent on your ‘silly little hobby’ in the future will also be appreciated.
Bloody well done once gain mate,
Mark
By: von Perthes - 14th November 2004 at 07:24
Not boring at all Dave.
Well done to you & all who made it possible.
Hopefully it will inspire others to undertake a similar project to your website etc.
Geoff.
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November 14, 2004 at 6:15 am