Warbirds #393 | RAAF WWII bomber found after 80 years

WOFF Wiggins was a schoolteacher, born in Gatton, Queensland, and enlisted in Brisbane in March 1941. He was 28 when A9-186 went missing, and he was killed in action. WOFF Henry Grigg was a fruit grower from Brisbane and also enlisted in March 1941. He was 34 when killed in action.

FSGT Hamilton, also from Brisbane, was a baker before he enlisted in July 1941. He was 26 years old in 1943 when he was killed in action. The youngest of the crew, FSGT Beckett was born in Launceston, Tasmania where he later enlisted in November 1941. He was an apprentice carpenter before the war and was killed in action at age 22.

The crash site and wreckage of A9-186 were found in 2020, 43 metres underwater in the sea south of Gasmata, by a dive team working for Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest. Forrest’s team has been searching for the aircraft and remains of his uncle, Flying Officer David Forrest, who was reported missing in action in a very similar RAAF Beaufort mission to Gasmata.

Due to the wreckage’s location and age, it has taken several years to confirm with certainty the identity of the aircraft and crew. Ultimately, the plane’s identity plate and cockpit lever were recovered from the ocean, as well as several DNA fragments, which were identified with the aid of the RAAF Directorate of Historical Unrecovered War Casualties (HUWC).

According to Chief of Air Force Air Marshal Robert Chipman, the HUWC team confirmed that the DNA fragments found were identified as the remains of WOFF Wiggins and WOFF Grigg. “Unfortunately, it’s with a heavy heart we can confirm that no remains of the other two crew members, Flight Sergeant Albert Beckett and Flight Sergeant Gordon Lewis Hamilton, were recovered,” he said. “We will continue to strive to find, recover and identify our missing service personnel as part of our commitment to honouring their service and sacrifice for our nation.”

A memorial service for the four crewmen was arranged for 26 April. “Thank you to all those involved in this significant mission,” Air Marshal Chipman added. “It is especially heart-warming for the families of the four aviators involved to finally know what happened and learn of their final resting place.”

First circumnavigation of Australia by air honoured 1 century later

It’s officially been 100 since the first aerial circumnavigation of Australia took place – in a seaplane no less. The onerous task was completed nearly five years after the pioneering first flight connecting England to Australia, highlighting the sheer mammoth accomplishment that it is to circumnavigate Australia’s jagged, expansive coastline and its unpredictable weather patterns that span from tropical to temperate to desert.

If you don’t know the story, over 44 days, then-acting Chief of Air Staff, Wing Commander SJ ‘Jimmy’ Goble, and Flying Officer Ivor McIntyre were the first to successfully fly around the entire Australian coast, simultaneously completing the first aerial survey of Australia’s coastline. On April 12th, 1924, the pair departed from Port Phillip Bay in Victoria in a single-engine Fairey IIID floatplane.

They headed north to Sydney, Gladstone, Townsville, and Thursday Island in far north Queensland to name a few. From there, they continued on west to Darwin, Broome, south to Perth, east to Esperance, through to Port Lincoln, South Australia, and back to their starting point. The trip took longer than expected, with a total of 27 stops, due to fatigue, illness, extreme weather, aircraft damage, and engine troubles.

To celebrate the centenary of this momentous flight, two re-enactments of the iconic flight have taken place. First, RAAF 6 Squadron performed a commemorative exercise using two EA-18G Growlers, a ground support team, and a 35 Squadron C-27H. Exercise Centenarie Redimus didn’t stay particularly true to the original flight plan, departing from RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland and touching down at numerous RAAF bases throughout the country over seven days. However, the RAAF did try to honour the airborne flight path as much as possible.

Meanwhile, a local certified adventurer is currently performing a much more literal attempt at Goble and McIntyre’s original 1924 flight plan. Michael Smith – who was named Australian Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year in 2016 – has been flying his own amateur-built Chaika LLC L65 SeaBear seaplane ‘Southern Sun’ around that very route since 6 April 2024. Smith’s odyssey will take over six weeks to complete, as he documents the whole journey via his ‘Southern Sun’ social media profiles.

“It’s so important to recognise the mechanised apparatus that made Australian life possible,” Smith said in a Vintage Aviation blog post. “Still today there are towns where their mail and milk are delivered by plane.”

“It’s also a chance to reflect on the services of our air force and the importance of air bases today. We must preserve these airfields, built where they are, because of the information gathered from that flight 100 years ago.”

RAAF and HARS break out warbirds for ANZAC Day flypasts

The RAAF pulled out all the stops to commemorate ANZAC Day 2024 in its biggest nationwide aerial display for the year. Vintage warbirds enthusiasts had their heads turned to the skies on April 25th, to catch a glimpse of key inclusions, such as the world’s only flying Neptune – provided of course by the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society Museum in Albion Park. Other aircraft on show include the Museum’s AP-3C Orion, a Caribou DHC-4, a Dakota C-47, and a privately-owned L-39 Albatross.

The RAAF also provided one of its own 100 Squadron Historic Flight aircraft – an A-37B Dragonfly – to perform several flypasts throughout the Riverina, operated by the Temora Aviation Museum team. Meanwhile, RAAF Squadrons around the country were showing off the best and brightest of their air power in numerous flypasts, including its F-35a Lightning II fleet, its EA-18G Growlers, and its F/A-18F Super Hornet aircraft. Other additions included the E-7A Wedgetail, C-130 Hercules, C-17a Globemaster, P-8A Poseidon, and, of course, the Roulettes and their Pilatus PC-21s.