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In an event hosted by the Australian War Memorial late last month, the now-grown passengers of Australian aircraft that carried them as orphaned babies from South Vietnam in April 1975 met the pilots and crew who operated the flights for a commemoration ceremony.
The Avro Lancaster B1 aircraft was flown by the RAAF No. 460 Squadron and completed more than 90 operational missions over Germany and occupied Europe.
After significant restorations, the aircraft has now been ferried by the Royal Australian Navy’s ADV Reliant ship from Queensland to Port Moresby, where it will feature in the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery.
Warrant Officer Russell Grigg (navigator) and Warrant Officer Clement Wiggins (pilot), who died when their aircraft Beaufort A9-186 went down off the coast of Papua New Guinea in September 1943, were interred last month at Bomana War Cemetery.
Bland Shire Council received more than $167,670 from the NSW government to repair and upgrade the plane including site works at Lions Park, concreting, paint stripping and re-painting.
Announced on 2 April, 1975, the first two RAAF C-130 Hercules flights left Saigon on 4 April, bringing 194 children to Bangkok, where they were put on a specially-chartered Qantas Boeing 747 to Australia. Two more flights followed on 17 April.
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