South Pacific Battlegrounds wrecks (Old Thread 2004)

Gooday All

A Friend of mine (a former RAAF Photographer) bought to my attention that where aircraft have pranged on the mountains in the middle of New Guinea, there is very little corrosion of the alloy because the rain water is very pure. He told me about a wreck that they visited that was high up in the mountains where it crashed in the side of a cliff.

He said the paint work was quite intact and the metal free from corrosion.

Can this be correct? I have often wondered.

cheers

rust in peace

just looked on amazon and the book is still avaliable (rust in peace)

Their command of their version of English was probably rather good:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pijin_language

There English was very good not.;)

Or even “their” English!

There English was very good not.;)

That news item was from 2007, where did all the relics end up?

An old Tread but thought this might be interesting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGdF0G-4v5E&feature=related

Would make for an interesting Recognition competition !

Folks,

I havent seen the book but Bruce Adam’s articles on the same subject were features of various Australian Aviation magazines in the 1970’s, I think you will find the “near complete” wirraway is the one swapped for a zero by Tom King in the 1970’s (zero recently restored and put on display in USAF Museum).

The Wirraway is claimed to be A20-13 a CA-1, and is now in the PNG National Aviation Museum collection, it was not a relic from PNG but shipped up from Melbourne in the 1970’s and was probably a left over from the CAC by-back for the Cere’s program, as were many others including A20-10 at Moorabbin.

regards and Merry Xmas to all

Mark Pilkington

Hello,

Also discovered this book a few years ago and enjoyed the reading. Makes a good companion to “Pacific Aircraft Wreck”.

The Betty bombers shown in his book and photographed on Ballalae (Ballale ?) island in Shortlands are still all there, altough deteriorated by 30 more years of tropical and sea exposure.

Same for the Pete floatplane. The wreck iluustrated in his book is still there.

The Catalina has been scrapped long ago.

No idea for the Wirraway.

Laurent

In a similar vein in Pacific Wrecks, this looks interesting as well:

http://www.oceanicresearch.org/kwajentry.html

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the belated birthday greetings, and same back to you. It sounds like you had a great day.

To the book, that particular library, Hamilton Central Public Library, I am not a member of because I live outside the city and it would cost $100 a tear, so i just go in and use their facilities without taking books out. Also, it was in the reference section so I couldn’t even if I were a member.

However, it might possibly be in the university library – I’ll have a look. If it is, I can certainly scan the photo. Failing that, the book used to be in the Cambridge library. I don’t really use that library any more as it’s tiny compared to the other two I mention, but I can see if they still have it.

I can scan the other wrecks too if I can get the book to a scanner, if anyone is interested.

How is the B24 coming along? Any photos?

Cheers
Dave

Hi Dave,
Very interesting to read this post of yours. I don’t suppose there’s any chance you might be able to borrow that book and somehow manage to have a digital copy of the Wirraway photo (or plural if there’s more than just one) find its way to me? Would be very, very interested to see that. No worries if you can’t do this mate but I can only ask.

By the way, Happy Birthday for recently mate. I’ve just had one even more recently and also had a day filled with aircraft related activities. Visited the B-24 restoration at Werribee before continuing on to Point Cook to do a couple of things down there. They flew the Winjeel in the Interactive Flying Display on the day so that was a nice touch to the day.

Hope all is well over there.

Cheers,
Matt

I picked up a book in the library today which I’ve seen many times over the years, but for some reason never bothered to flick through. Well today, flick I did.

It is called Rust In Peace: South Pacific Battlegrounds Revisited, by Bruce Adams.

Adams basically went up to the Islands, and mainly around New Guinea, and photgraphed remnants and relics of the battles that took place 30 years before.

This copy I noted was dated 1970 and published here in NZ by AH & AW Reed Publishing. I just did a websearch and found there was an Australian printing in 1975 too, and this site claims it was the first edition! :confused:

Anyway, I was amazed at many of the aircraft, how intact they were. Lots of Japanese medium bombers like Betty’s just lyingh in long grass. One was on it’s undercarriage even. There were floatplanes in the undergrowth, a largely intact Catalina, a virtually complete Wirraway (which the author purported might be the last one surviving, but I think not) and lots more of interest.

I know PNG has long had restrictions on people taking planes away for restoration but I wonder if any of the aircraft in that book have made it to a restorer. Especially the Jap bombers which must be hugely rare.

Has anyone even heard of this book up-over in the Northern Hemisphere? It is in itself a time capsule. I doubt the places Adams visited look the same now. One house had a Jap plane’s wing as its porch!

Hi Dave (s) ,

I’ve read the same book, and you’re right it really is superb reading….not to mention a little salivating at the endless possibilities..!! 😀

TNZ

Hi Matey

Try the Pacific Wrecks website, its packed full of information about that sort of thing.