Flood,

You may well be right on both points there – I may have jumped to conclusions. The Anson apparently made the first attack of the war on a U-boat but i don’t know if it sank. I had assumed it did, and I’ve always assumed they would have sunk a few at least as they are touted as rather successful in the Coastal Command role. But I may be wrong.

I am not sure of the colour scheme. I had thought the white sides and green/grey camouflaged upper was a standard scheme on Coastal Command aircraft from about mid-war. I think I have seen the scheme on Ansons but I can’t be certain of that. It may have been on an innaccurate model.

I have read that Ansons served with Coastal Command up till sometime in 1942. Was the Anson fased out of service before that scheme came in perhaps? Or did it briefly wear the scheme?

In NZ there were two colour schemes. Early scheme was the stock standard RAF Green/Brown/Sky scheme as supplied. The later scheme was NZ Blue/Green/Sky, a scheme adopted by most RNZAF home aircraft (P40, Hudson, Hind, Vildebeeste, Vincent, Harvard….) which was rather unique as the paint was made here rather than imported.

I wonder, would the Ansons that came to New Zealand have been ex-Coastal Command ones which were released for EATS training? Or were they still building them in 1942? Ours were ordered in 1941 and arrived in 1942 and were used purely in an advanced training role for crews going into the GR squadrons (gunners, wireless ops, navs, pilots.

A friend of mine worked on the Anson squadron, which was known as the School of General Reconnaissance and Navigation, at RNZAF Station Bell Block. He was an aircraft fitter and would often fly in them because the wheels had to be cranked up by hand, so two ‘erks’ were always taken along on training flights so the crews didn’t have the laborious task. He loved it, flying round Taranaki, the coast and Mt Egmont all day long.

I do not think the NZ Ansons ever saw a sniff of action, unless perhaps there may have been one or two false alarm scrambles. But sadly no record of service like the RAF ones.

A Few more RAF veterans:

Warren Mitchell (actor who played Alf Garnett) Navigator, 1944 – ?
Cliff Michelmore (TV Presenter) WWII
Donald Pleasance (actor) shot down 1944, became POW
Eric Porter (actor) National Service late 1940’s
Cardew Robinson (actor) WWII
Eric Sykes (comedy actor and writer) WWII
Max Wall (comedian) WWII

Also
**** Van Dyke (USAF, WWII)

I just remembered the late Welsh actor Talfryn Thomas, who is best remembered as Private Cheeseman in Dad’s Army, and had roles in Survivor and The Kenn Dodd Show, served on Lancasters during the war.

And the late great Denholm Elliot was RAF, and was shot down over Denmark and became a POW. It was as a POW he began acting. Not sure what he was shot down in though.

Patrick Moore was a Navigator in Bomber Command during the war, and had to fiddle his medical to get in!

I just read that Rod Hull was in the RAF, finishing his National Service in 1961 – I wonder if Emu was also in the RAF (or RAAF)!! 😉

And Dan Maskell, who used to be the main British Tennis commentator apparently, was a Sqn ldr in the wartime RAF.

Frank Muir was in the RAF, as apparently a cameraless photographer in Iceland, a writer of comedy sketches for Forces Radio, and a parachutist. His pal Denis Norden was also wartime RAF.

And yes Des O’Connor was in the RAF but I expect this was postwar as he was born in 1928.

Harry Worth was in the RAF too during the war. And for a bit more info, Max Bygraves was a Fitter in the RAF.

Did the likes of Olivier and Richardson get special jobs in the services where they were allowed leave to make films and do plays then? I guess morale was considered as important as flying?

A great painting Daz. Is one of the Spits in it meant to be Raymond’s? Or is it simply a co-incidal painting of the Sqn rather than about the man himself?

Jagan, thanks for the info on Sabu, that was a really obscure one and really interesting. Do you know which theatre of operations he served in at all? It wasn’t on the Indian subcontinent was it?

It must have been quite something for the ordinary chaps to have had someone already world famous in their unit like him.

Jimmy Stewart apparently did some of the actual flying for scenes in Strategic Air Command – I don’t know if that is obvious as I’ve never seen it. But I can see what you mean Chris about the advantage of a real pilot playing a pilot, it must make things more authentic. Perhaps that will bode well for The Few when Tom Cruise plays a pilot – though I wonder if insurance companies will allow him to actually fly these days.

Yes, Lawrence of Arabia fits in I guess.

Hmm, imagine if Stewart and Matthau were ever assigned together in the same bomber crew. That would make an interesting film in itself!