People & Bottom Line

Books

New Zealand Aircraft Illustrated:

Alan Knowles This pocket sized booklet is in a format similar to the popular Observer’s guides.

Its 240 pages contain useful type information on all flyable types in NZ, supported by quality B&W and colour pictures which are well chosen for their illustrative value. Included with each aircraft type is at least one B&W photo and a specifications table showing country of origin, year of first flight, dimensions and weights, performance parameters and the number in NZ. Fortunately most, though not quite all, designations are correct.

The book is thoughtfully divided into clearly defined sections Aeroplanes, Homebuilts, Military, Helicopters and Microlights-which, it could be said, sorts the real aircraft from the weekend toys. Included are the usual hordes of Cessna and Piper products, the big jets such as 737, 747, 767 and the smaller BAe 146, an interesting Fokker Triplane replica, and the classics and war- birds such as Spitfire and Venom, Moths, Proctor and Chipmunk, and lots more.

This book is a real gem. It is current up to late 1990, so already there are a couple of additions and deletions but it does remain quite useful. Available in Australia for $A17 from Industrial Publishing, GPO Box 1209, Sydney 2001.

Catalina, Neptune and Orion in Australian Service:

Stewart Wilson The RAAF’s fighter and bomber types may be the aircraft which receive most publicity. but maritime reconnaissance aircraft have long been vital for the defence of Australia.

Stewart Wilson’s sixth book in Aerospace Publications’ popular ‘Australian Air Power series examines the RAAF careers of three important front line maritime recon types, which more often than not have flown long tedious and unglamorous patrols out over Australia’s ocean approaches.

The first of the three aircraft detailed, the Consolidated Catalina, entered RAAF service in 1941 and bore the brunt of the war against Japan. Besides its use as a patrol aircraft, it was pressed into service as a bomber, undertaking long missions well north into Japanese held territory, a transport, air/sea rescue aircraft and minelayer, suffering high losses in the process.

The Lockheed Neptune served Australia well from 1951 for over a quarter of a century. It was increasingly filled with technological equipment, from the age old “Mk. 1 eyeball’ to the then latest in maritime recon equipment. It was eventually replaced in RAAF service by the Orion, still going strong patrolling Australia’s coastline and approaches as our frontline maritime patrol defence weapon, and like the Neptune before saving lives as a search aircraft.

The book’s detailed text is supported by over 250 illustrations (including some very fine, previously unpublished colour shots) and quality line drawings. Its 178 pages are packed with interest and new information, including the ever useful tables revealing each individual aircraft’s service career and eventual fate.

Catalina, Neptune and Orion in Australian Service is available for $19. 95 plus $3. 95 p&p (soft cover) or $29. 95 plus $3. 95 p&p from Aerospace Publications, PO Box 3105, Weston Creek, ACT2611.

Guests of the Unspeakable:

TW White Thomas White was one of Australia’s first four military airmen, leaving to fly in 1912 before proceeding to Mesopotamia in 1915 with the First Half Flight.

White’s book, first published in 1928, provides an interesting insight into the conditions experienced and the types of missions. flown by the airmen of a forgotten campaign. Australia’s first airman to be killed in action died in Mesopotamia, in tragic circumstances described by White. White himself had several narrow escapes including a high speed taxi chase across the desert – but his luck ran out after volunteering for what was considered a suicidal mission.

Most of the book is devoted to White’s subsequent experiences as a POW and his escape from Turkey. This not only records the appalling conditions faced by POWs, but reminds one that an airman’s active service does not necessarily end with capture.

This 320 page hard cover book makes excellent reading, well worth its RRP of $27. 95. Published by Little Hills Press and available from most bookshops.

The 13 Squadron Story:

Sid Grantham This well produced soft cover book was printed to mark the 50th anniversary of No 13 Sqdn RAAF, one of Australia’s lesser known frontline squadrons.

No 13 was first formed in June 1940 and fought its way through the Pacific war before being disbanded in January 1946. More recently, it was reformed on 1 July 1989 as No 13 (City of Darwin) Active Reserve Sqdn. No 13 was initially equipped with Lockheed Hudsons, which it operated until April 1943 and with which it bore the brunt of early Jap- anese aggression against the north of Australia, putting up a “brief heroic stand” at Ambon before retiring to Batchelor, NT for bombing and patrol missions.

After a brief stint on Beauforts, the unit became fully equipped on Lockheed Ven- turas, No 13 being the RAAF’s only Pacific user of this type. Further patrol, bombing and anti shipping missions continued until the war’s end, by which time 88 personnel had lost their lives and No 13 had been awarded a US Distinguished Unit Citation.

This book is a fitting tribute to No 13 and its members, and more unit associations should consider undertaking such a task. Illustrated mainly with photos of personnel but also aircraft, No 13’s history is well told. Available for $24. 95 plus $5 p&p from S Grantham, 26 Bowman St, Hendra, 4011, or from the RAAF (Pt Cook), Darwin and RAAF Assoc (Perth) Museums.

Letters to Mother, From a Wwii Raaf Pilot:

Keith Williams (ed) This is a nicely produced 204 page book consisting mainly of letters from an Australian pilot during WW2. Len Williams entered the RAAF in January 1941 and was posted to Southern Rhodesia for flying training on Link Trainer simulators, Tiger Moths, Harvards, Ansons and Oxfords. His detailed letters and some photos well record training experiences, including his first crash and later conversion to twin engined aircraft, flying the Anson after the Harvard being aptly described as “like driving a bus after a car”.

Posted to England to fly Whitleys with 58 Sqdn RAF on anti submarine patrols, Sergeant Leonard Williams had little time to write such detailed letters about operations, for tragically he failed to return from a North Sea patrol on 6 August 1942 (his 21st birthday), just six weeks after joining the squadron. There only remains the inevitable telegram “Informing you that your son. . . is reported missing. . . a pained mother’s diary entries, some letters from those who knew him and part of 58 Sqdn’s Operations Record Book to complete the story.

This book is to be commended, for it is both a tribute to one who did not return and a very interesting and all too rare account of RAAF wartime training experiences. Available for $16 from Keith Williams, PO Box 290, Cremorne, 2090.

There I Was at 20,000 Feet. . . the Best of Raf Humour:

J Spence A humorous look at the funnier side of service in the RAF, published in aid of the RAF Benevolent Fund.

With the RAF having been formed on All Fools’ Day in 1918 there is much material to fill this book’s 156 pages with anecdotes, book extracts, poems, cartoons and official notices that somehow just went a little wrong, such as this very short example from 1961: “Wednesday 5th June there will be a domestic evening. The airmen will wash the windows as well as the airwomen. ” Older readers might appreciate the extracts from letters to POWs in Germany, such as this little gem. “I was so glad you were shot down before flying became dangerous”.

A book with something for most peoples’ sense of humour, though perhaps best suited to readers with wartime experience.

RRP $24. 95. Available from Capricom Link, Unit 5C1 Lincoln St, Lane Cove 2066.