lauriebeThis is one I found stumbling around google a few weeks ago, This is my first post so apologies if I’ve not quite got it right
You got it right Paul. Welcome to the Forum.
Regards,
Laurie.
lauriebeLet’s keep the best till last.
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words……..
Or, as the turkey king would have said, booootiful!!!!!! 😀
lauriebeHappy birthday Dave.
By coincidence, I have just bought Tora, Tora, Tora as well. Last saw it on the telly a lllllooooonnnnnnggggggg while ago. Thought I would test out the new mini hifi with DVD and DTS sound! It does make a difference. Great movie. They also had the Pearl Harbor DVD in the shop but that was passed with nary a second glance!!!!
Enjoy what’s left of the day.
BR
Laurie.
lauriebeThanks Laurie, another eyewitness account. Very interesting. Flick rolls and slow rolls are, are they not, two different manouvres? Perhaps for the Doctor that Mitchell talked to, it all happened in slow motion.
It almost sounds like Cobber was totally burned out, which is understandable. He apparently had been very keen to get back to the UK and become an instructor for a rest.
I have read that Noel Monks’ book ‘Fighter Squadrons’ is dedicated to Cobber Kain, but I have not yet seen a copy of the book.
As for his story getting a Hollywood make-over, I perish the thought. They’d no doubt want to cast that idiot Russell Crowe simply because he’s a Kiwi, rather than find an actor that would suit the part. No, I am certain this is a job for New Zealand filmmakers. They are, after all, among the best.
I can think of one star that would be perfect however, Sir Tim Wallis’s Hurricane P3351. It served with Cobber Kain on 73 Sqn, and was one of the aircraft that did a flyover at his funeral!
Flick and slow rolls are different manouvres and, as you mention, the burn out is very understandable after the events of the previous weeks.
Can’t help on the rank issue, I’m afraid. Although, at the time, acting ranks were granted because of the prevailing circumstances and could well have been dropped as replacement Flt/Sqn commanders became available.
BR
Laurie.
lauriebeDave,
I have just finished reading “Fighter Boys” by Patrick Bishop. It is a relatively new book about the BoB and the events in France that preceded it. It is well researched and told. Excellent book, I thought.
It mentions Kain on several occassions. There is one passage that deals with an encounter with Kain by a pilot of 1 Sqn, Paul Richey. Richey had been recuperating in Paris after being wounded earlier.
The meeting took place in a cafe on the Champs Elysees the evening before Kain’s death. At that time he (Kain) was with the Daily Express journalist, Noel Monks. Richey describes Kain on that evening as ‘young enough to still have acne, but his spirit was frayed’. Richey also noticed that Kain was nervous and preoccupied and kept breaking matches savagely in one hand whilst glowering into the middle distance.
The next paragraph in the book deals with Kains death the next day. He had taken off from the Sqn base at Echemines, southwest of Paris and started perfoming rolls very close to the ground. The incident, according to the book, was witnessed by Sergeant Maurice Leng, a 27 year old RAFVR pilot from London, who was one of the first VR pilots posted to a fighter unit to replace casualties. Leng states, ‘he’d taken off in…. the last original surviving Hurricane of 73 Sqn with a fixed-pitch, two bladed propellor’ Leng goes on to say ‘He took off and came across the airfield, did a couple of flick rolls and hit the deck. That was it’.
I must admit, I don’t know a great deal of Kain but his story certainly seems to be an interesting one and probably worthy of telling on either TV or film. Hopefully, if it was told, it would not be “souped up” to appeal to the Hollywood clique.
BR,
Laurie.
lauriebeThe Seafire XVII’s belong to No. 800 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) aboard HMS Triumph.
Triumph’s deck code was the letter ‘P’ which is visible on the tail of each aircraft. 800 NAS’s aircraft side numbers were in the range 171 -182. 800 NAS, along with No. 827 NAS, whose Fireflys are in the background, formed the 13th Carrier Air Group (CAG). The aircraft with side number ‘199’ belonged to the Air Group Commander (AGC) who at that time was Lt Cdr W C Simpson DSC RN.
This dates the photo between Feb 47 and late March 49, when 800 operated this mark of Seafire. They re-equipped with Mk 47’s in April 1949. Throughout this period, Triumph served in the Med.
BR,
Laurie.
lauriebeI think the aircraft in photo 1 is a Farman F168 torpedo bomber as used by the French navy between 1928 and 1936. It was a dirivative of the Farman F60 Goliath series, I think.
The photo below of an F168 bears more than a passing resemblance to the aircraft in photo 1.
The aircraft on short finals to the carrier could be a Levasseur PL 7. The windshield and strut arrangement certainly look similar, as does the cowling. Ollie mentioned in an earlier post the French carrier Bearn. Some PL 7’s were serving on that ship right up to the outbreak of WWII.
Still stumped by the wreck though.
BR
Laurie.
lauriebeDave,
As a followup, the entry for W3645 in ‘Spitfire – The History’ reads:
W3645 1907 Joseph Smooha FF 31-7-41 6MU 3-8 485S 15-8 CB Ops 18-12 ASTH 121S 30-4-42 FTR Ops 31-5.
So it was with 485 Sqn for a while.
BR
Laurie.
lauriebeDave,
There is a footnote with the list of Presentaion aircraft in ‘Spitfire – The Story of a Famous Fighter’. This states that presentation details were sometimes transferred between aircraft ie; on change of squadron.
Could that be a possibility here?
Maybe the resident Spitfire expert, Mark12, can help out here.
BR,
Laurie.
lauriebeI knew that Bill flew Kk VB Spitfire W3645, OU-S ‘WAIKATO” as his personal mount for some time. This name is the district we live in, it’s a county. So I’d assumed it was paid for by money raised in the Waikato district. But, now it seems it was donated by Howard Ellis. How do I confirm who donated that particular Spitfire? Is there any record of who donated what?
Dave,
According to ‘Spitfire, The History’, and ‘Spitfire, The Story of a Famous Fighter’, W3645 was donated by Joseph Snooka of Johannesburg, South Africa and carried his name.
The latter publication has a list of presentation Spits but I can’t find Waikato in it. However, this list is not definitive.
There is a book on Presentation Spits but I don’t have the details. Perhaps someone else can help on that
Br
Laurie
lauriebeInfo needed by the Malaya Historical Group to ID Meteor wreckage found in Malaya
Meteor F.8 ?
I saw this report a few weeks ago and have tried to identify this aeroplane.
After checking through Colin Cumming’s excellent books and Air Britain’s Broken Wings, there is still no clue to its identity.
There are 10 recorded Meteor accidents in the Malaya/Singapore area; 1 x F Mk8, 4 x T Mk7’s and 5 PR Mk10’s. Nine of these accidents are shown as happening on, or very close to, airfields. The 10th was, I believe, south of Singapore in the Pulau Batam area. No accidents are recorded as happening in the area of the report.
The reference to a Brazilian pilot is somewhat confusing.
As far as I know, only the RAF operated Meteors here in the Malaya/Singapore area. Anyone know differently?
BR,
Laurie.
lauriebeWonder what’s left of the Spit 18 from 60 Squadron?
http://www.geocities.com/malaya_hg/spitfire_231.htm
Dan
Dan,
About a year ago, I talked with the compiler of the website on this one.
He tells me that the area that the Spit came down in has now been completely developed. Apparently, all the wreckage was cleared from the crash site some years ago. No trace of the pilot, Flying Officer P M Sketch, was ever found. He is remembered on the Memorial Wall of the Terendak Military Cemetary, near Malacca.
Five other lives were lost in the search for this aircraft when a Dakota C4, KN633, crashed after its wingtip struck a tree whilst looking for the Spitfire and pilot.
BR,
Laurie
lauriebeI came across the Malaya Historical Group on the web today & there list of post-war crash sites includes Bristol Brigand RH755, (+ 2 others) a couple of pics show an engine & cockpit parts.From the comments I would guess all the wreckage is left ? Only one left, at Newark I think (incomplete ex.Failsworth) Holiday in Malaya anyone ?
Brigand RH755
There is a fuller account of the rediscovery of the wreckage of RH755 on the RMAF Museum website:
http://www.gtitec.com.my/af_museum/welcome.htm
When the page displays, click onwreckage. I was involved in the initial discussions on the net on this.
There is also a very good site dealing with Brigand ops here in Malaya at that time.
http://members.aol.com/famjustin/Brigandphoto.html
Makes very interesting reading and well worth a visit.
BR
Laurie.
lauriebeNAM Venom NF3.
Here are 2 views of Newark’s NF3, WX905. These were taken taken about 4 years ago.
This aircraft is now classified as a National Benchmark airframe.
BR,
Laurie.
lauriebeDifficult one as you’ve tried the obvious places that have always supplied me with what I’ve needed.
You may want to give the chap below an e-mail or phone call. I’m not sure how up to date the info is though as I’ve had problems getting hold of him recently via the web. Perhaps a telephone call will be best?
Depending on when the cross was awarded, early ones were numbered (IIRC) so if you have the medals that may help, if you don’t, well obviously no help!
Good luck – let us know how you get on with the good Dr. above.
Dean
Dean,
I found another e-mail link to the gentleman yesterday and tried that. I got an answer in my inbox this morning. He cannot help unfortunately.
So, it’s back to the drawing board again.
BR
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