Probably not HF795

I’ve updated the list of losses on the website: http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/142sqn_losses.htm

I don’t think HF795 is the correct serial for the subject of this thread though. The squadron ORB is actually pretty confusing for April to June 1943, but HF795 appears to have been operating in June. Air Britain has it listed as missing 10/4/43 (Decimomannu). The ORB lists 3 operational losses in May and Air Britain attributes 4 aircraft to two of these. One of these could well be QT-C which failed to return from Enfedaville. I suspect the records were written up incorrectly at the time.

Any help sorting this out will be great! The web page is still being updated and I’m slowly adding the crew names for 1943-44 to the list of aircraft losses. If anyone can identify crews that I haven’t listed yet, please post a reply and I’ll add details to the website. The crews up to the end of 1942 are already listed here: http://www.aviationarchaeology.org.uk/marg/men_of_142.htm

Don’t think it’s Oxford.

Tanks from the IWM Duxford Oxford while under restoration. (Thanks to the IWM for access).
What’s not immediately obvious is the air vent through the tank.

OK, I may not check the forum very often, but the email woke me up…

The photos show the combined oil tank/ cooler for the Cheetah. This arrangement was on the temperate climate Oxfords (nearly all of them) but the winterised ones in Canada had a different oil tank, with separate equipment next to it – because they didn’t need the cooler. There were numerous other mods associated with winterisation. The wreck of Mk I AT605 in our collection has these mods.

Back to the tank… Yes, it is certainly Oxford. The part number is the key: 1015006. 10=Oxford, 15=fuel system and 006 is the drawing number. The drawing 1015006 is an “auxiliary tank”, 29 gallons. I.e. its the one from the outer wing panel, outboard of the centre section. The photos of the fuel tank of the IWM Oxford show the main tanks in the centre section.

Any parts marked 10xxyyy (or some 11xxyyy) are Oxford.

Does anyone know where we can find the last few bits we need for our restoration please? (Props, Cheetah pot and some anciliaries, bomb doors, perspex, turret internals and some instruments). We have lots of Oxford parts for possible exchange. Thanks.

Status of Wellington Z1206

Cees,

The front fuselage was largely stripped for de-salination and cleaning. We’ve almost finished building a workshop to house it. As soon as it’s built, the bomb bay will be jacked up inside so we can strip the bomb beams out and clean them properly. There’s still a lot of conservation work to be done before we can start reconstruction. We’re having some success finding the families of the 142 Squadron crews who flew it and the short-term goal is to get the fuselage laid out so they can see it.

We do plan to rebuild the front fuselage – but this is a very long-term goal. The cockpit floor and front turret are quite complete, so can be done. There are numerous parts missing elsewhere, which we are looking for. Last year we recovered the fuselage frames (big D shaped hoops) from another site, so a restoration of the fuselage is now feasible. We have certain rare items such as canopy and many cockpit parts. We’re looking for seats, control column yokes, bombsight, F.24 camera etc etc. Once we can get original equipment back into the crew positions, the public will be able to appreciate what each of the crew members was doing. Needless to say, leads to any parts will be appreciated. Thanks.

Mark