| Col Bruggy |
5th March 2018 07:05 |
Re: eBay: Allied intrest
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snautzer
(Post 246370)
|
2. RAAF Spitfire Mk.VIII: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C245636 Photographs don't lie, do they. But they don't tell the "Full Story", either.
W/O Colin Beech RAAF, on leaving Labuan Island on the 19 October, 1945, was forced to return with a faulty belly tank. After the fault was rectified he took off to rejoin the flight (Zamboanga-Morotai-Biak-Tadji-Finschafen-Port Moresby-Higgins-Townsville-Oakey[Q'Land]). All aircraft reached Morotai, but Spitfire A58-604, piloted by F/Sgt Ron Reuter crashed on landing without injury to Reuter. On 23 October, on the trip from Morotai to Biak, W/O Beech (in A58-607), was forced to bale out, 10 miles SE of Morotai and was picked up by a 115 ASR Flight Catalina A24-114, uninjured, and A58-648 was left behind at Morotai with an unserviceable airscrew. A further disaster overtook the flight when F/L Fred O'Brien crash-landed A58-639 on Mokmer airstrip, due to engine failure during take-off. He was uninjured.
Eventually, 10 of the 15 Spitfires which left Labuan arrived safely at Oakey.
Col. |
