An emaciated Wendy Pamela Rossini, 19, an internee at Stanley Civil Internment Camp in Hong Kong, photographed shortly after liberation in 1945. She shows the small quantity of rice and stew which served as rations for five people.
Already by 1939, following Japan's invasion of China some years earlier, the British Government had drawn up evacuation plans for the British and other European residents of Hong Kong.
The city's fall to the Japanese was viewed as inevitable and...
Continue Reading
Captain John 'Jake' Easonsmith, of the Long Range Desert Group, and an unidentified colleague, clean their weapons during a break while on patrol in the Western Desert, North Africa, 25 May 1942.
John Richard Easonsmith was born in Bristol, England, on 12 April 1909, the son of a prominent local printer, George and his wife Daisy Easonsmith.
After leaving school, Easonsmith joined tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer WD and HO Wills in Bristol, followed by a time worki...ng as a salesmen in the wine trade for the Emu Australian Wine Company Ltd (clearly had good taste!)
With the outbreak of war, Easonsmith joined the 4th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment. He obviously showed a natural aptitude for the military, and by August 1940 he had been promoted to the rank of sergeant and recommended for a commission.
Following the completion of his officer training, Easonsmith was promoted to Lieutenant and by the end of year had been posted to the Middle East. Upon arrival, he was selected to serve with the newly formed Long Range Desert Group (LRDG).
Easonsmith's first command was of 'R1' Patrol, the New Zealand patrol who came to the aid of the equally recently formed Special Air Service (SAS) after their failed mission, Operation Squatter. Undertaken in heavy rain and strong winds, one of the aircraft was show down killing all 15 soldiers and the crew. Of the 65 SAS men who took part, only 22 made it back after trekking through the desert on foot for 36 hours.
In August 1941, Easonsmith had been promoted to captain followed by the announcement in January 1942 that he had been awarded the Military Cross.
The successful Barca Raid, noted in my earlier post depicting fellow LRDG soldier Nick Wilder, was carried out under Easonsmith's direction, commanding two patrols, the New Zealand 'TI' and the Brigade of Guards 'GI' patrols, along with elements of Popski's Private Army.
The success of this raid no doubt led to his promotion in October to major, and the awarding of the Distinguished Service Order in November.
Twelve months later, in October 1943, and promoted to lieutenant colonel, Easonsmith assumed command of the LRDG.
With the North Africa campaign now at its tail-end, the LRDG was sent to Leros to partake in the Dodecanese Campaign, an attempt by Allied forces to take the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the east Aegean Sea - following Italy's surrender in September 1943 - and use them as bases against the still German-controlled Balkans.
During the Battle of Leros, Jake Easonsmith was killed in action on 15 November 1943, purportedly shot by a German sniper while carrying out a lone reconnaissance of a village. He is buried in the Leros military cemetery.
Photographer: Lieutenant Graham, No. 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit
Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum London
Air hostesses Margery Lawless-Pyne and Pat Allen, Australian National Airways Ltd, posing for an informal portrait photograph on the tarmac, 2 July 1948.
Early in 1936, Ivan Holyman approached the Adelaide Steamship Company, owners of Adelaide Airways, with a view to an amalgamation of his own Holyman's Airways, aiming to become Australia's most powerful airline.
Adelaide Airways had recently taken over West Australian Airways and the new combine would thus effectively contr...ol airline traffic between Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney.
With funding from the Orient Steam Navigation Company a new Australian National Airways was registered on 13 May 1936, and began services under its new name on 1 July 1936.
When Australia entered World War II in 1939 the Government of Australia requisitioned ANA's four DC-3s, leaving it to battle on with its assortment of lesser aircraft.
However, ANA was soon operating a network of services around Australia on behalf of the war effort. It operated a large number of Douglas DC-2s, DC-3s and even at least one rare Douglas DC-5, mostly on the behalf of the American forces in Australia.
In the post-war period, ANA faced severe competition in the form of the state-owned airline Trans Australia Airlines (TAA). ANA had hitherto enjoyed a near-monopoly on domestic air transport.
From the start, TAA was a better run airline. It particularly made better choices of aircraft than ANA. Ivan Holyman stuck to his relationship with Douglas, buying Douglas DC-4s and Douglas DC-6Bs, while TAA opted for Convair 240s and Vickers Viscounts.
By the mid-1950s TAA had driven ANA close to collapse. Holyman had wanted to expand overseas but the government's ownership of Qantas prevented this. He bought shareholdings in Cathay Pacific and Air Ceylon, but ANA aircraft were never seen on international routes.
In 1952 the conservative Menzies government declined to close TAA down, instead it provided ANA with finance to upgrade its fleet to compete with TAA. At this point Holyman opted for DC-6Bs while TAA went for the more attractive Viscount.
When Sir Ivan Holyman died in 1957 the shareholders offered to sell out to the government, in order that ANA merge with TAA and some smaller airlines. The government declined.
After initially dismissing his offer, the ANA board began talking with Reginald Ansett, head of the much smaller Ansett Transport Industries; with its main interstate operation Ansett Airways.
Finally, ANA was sold to Ansett, on 3 October 1957, for £3.3 million. The two airlines were merged to form Ansett-ANA on 21 October 1957 and the name was retained until 1 November 1968 when it was renamed Ansett Airlines of Australia.
Text: Wiki
Photographer: Whites Aviation
Image courtesy of Whites Aviation Collection, Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand
Trans-Australia Airline pilot Captain James Andrew Hepburn DFC, with South Australian branch manager, Reginald Max Rechner, 2 September 1948.
Rechner, who had served with the Royal Australian Air Force during the war, was appointed as TAA's branch manager the previous January.
His appointment came only three months after the airline's inaugural flight on 9 September 1946, carrying 21 passengers, from Laverton Air Force Base near Melbourne to Sydney, a flight that took three h...ours five minutes.
The pilot on that inaugural flight was also Captain Hepburn, himself - like many commercial pilots in the immediate post-war period - a veteran.
Holding the rank of Wing Commander, Hepburn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1944, for 'courage and skill on numerous operational sorties'. An Air Force Cross (AFC) followed on a few months later.
The establishment of TAA in the late 1940s broke Australia's domestic air transport monopoly, held by Australian National Airways (ANA). They expanded rapidly, becoming a defining presence in the Australia airline sector during the following decades. However in 1986, TAA was renamed Australian Airlines, before it was ultimately merged with Qantas in September 1992.
Rechner was interviewed by Ken Llewelyn about his service with 11 Squadron Royal Air Force (RAF), 1 Operational Training Unit (OTU) RAAF and the City of Adelaide (Citizen Airforce) Squadron, 1939-1960, in July 1993.
The interview, held by the Australian War Memorial, has been digitised and is available to listen online:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C282966
Photograph: Whites Aviation
Image courtesy of National Library of New Zealand
Captain Nick Wilder, NZ 21988, who served with both T-1 and T-2 patrols with the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), poses with a Vickers 'K' Gas-operated machine gun on a Chevrolet 30-cwt truck, Western Desert, North Africa, May 1942.
Wilder was involved in Operation Caravan, a subsidiary of Operation Agreement under which four simultaneous raids were carried out against important Axis Lines of Communication positions in September 1942.
The four raids were against Tobruk (Agreem...ent), Benghazi (Bigamy), Jalo oasis (Nicety) and Barce (Caravan). The LRDG, although supporting all the raids, were responsible for the attack on the Italian forces at Barce. It was the only successful attack of the four.
In order to reach Barce, the group had to travel some 1,859km (1,155 miles) over 11 days to reach their objective, splitting up into two raiding parties to attack the airfield and barracks respectively.
An after-action report written by Captain Wilder he observed that the Italians were:
...waiting for us, but they seemed to be very panicky and their fire was very wild.
Based on Wilder's report it was thought that T1 patrol had destroyed or damaged 32 aircraft, mainly bombers. Official Italian figures quote 16 aircraft destroyed and seven damaged.
Wilder succeeded Capt. Bruce Ballantyne, who I posted a few weeks ago, as commander of T-Patrol.
* Once again, a grateful thanks for John Valenti, chief historian with the LRDG Preservation Society, for identifying Wilder.
Photographer: Lieutenant Graham, No. 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit
Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum London
Two soldiers of a Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) patrol on a road watch in North Africa, 25 May 1942.
** Thanks to Jack Valenti, chief historian at the LRDG Preservation Society, the soldier on the right has been identified as Sgt. John 'Jack' R. Shepherd, NZ #1328, 2 New Zealand Division Cavalry Regiment. Check out their page for more on the LRDG - http://www.lrdg.org
Still hoping we can positively identify the solider on the left; we have a suggestion it is Jake Easonsmith.... Any other wants to offer ideas?
---
The LRDG - founded in June 1940 and originally known as the Long Range Patrol (LRP) - was a British reconnaissance and raiding force, established to fight back against the Italians in the Libyan desert campaign.
Initially founded heavily by New Zealanders, they were soon joined in the ranks by Southern Rhodesian and British volunteers, with new sub-units being formed. The LRDG never numbered more than 350 men, all of whom had volunteered for the work.
Except for a period of 15 days, they operated continuously throughout the Desert War campaign, from 1940 through until 1943, behind Axis lines. Here, they assisted other Allied elite forces such as secret agents and the SAS in their desert crossings.
One of the LRDG's most vital roles was carrying out the task depicted here - 'Road Watch' - during which they clandestinely monitored traffic on the main road from Tripoli to Benghazi, transmitting the intelligence to British Army Headquarters.
We had some luck recently identifying New Zealander Captain Bruce Ballantyne, of T Patrol, from otherwise obscurity.
Anyone out there recognise these two gents?
Photographer: Lieutenant Graham, No. 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit
Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum London
Lieutenant Albert Sachs, South African Air Force, seconded to No. 92 Squadron RAF, sitting on his Supermarine Spitfire Mark VIII at Canne, Italy.
On 30 November 1943, Sachs recorded in his Sortie Report:
'I was flying Yellow 3. At 0935 I saw 10+ 109s and 190s which we had been warned of by Control, bombing along the secondary road parallel with the Sangro River towards the River mouth.
...I dived on them and as I approached they turned and began straffing the road towards the mountains. I closed in on a 190 and fired several bursts from quarter astern and astern from 250 – 50 yds. He dived N.W. along the side of the mountain and after seeing strikes on the cockpit I saw the A/C half roll and it crashed in the vicinity of H.1898.
I then broke slightly up as a Warhawk was on the 190s No 2s tail. The Warhawk fired several shots none of which hit the E/A. He then broke up and I closed in on the 190 and fired a burst at quarter astern from 100 yds. getting strikes on the wing roots, as I was firing the Warhawk flew through my sights so I broke away and then lost sight of the 190. I then rejoined the Patrol.
I claim One F.W 190 destroyed. One F.W 190 damaged.'
On 5 December 1943, Sachs scored the 99th and 100th victories for his Squadron when he shot down two Focke Wulf Fw 190s near Pescara, before colliding with a third Fw 190 and being forced to bale out.
After a period as a flying instructor in the United Kingdom, he returned to Italy to command No. 93 Squadron RAF from September 1944 to February 1945.
Photographer: Flying Officer B. Bridge, Royal Air Force official photographer
Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum London
Wing Commander Wilfred George Gerald Duncan-Smith, No. 244 Wing RAF, with "Bonzo", a bulldog mascot of one of the squadrons of the Wing, standing by his personal communications aircraft, a commandeered Italian Saiman 202, at Tortorella, Italy, 1943.
Born in Madras, India, on 28 May 1914, Duncan Smith was educated in Scotland, before returning to India in 1933 to become a coffee and tea planter. He returned to the UK three years later however, working first as a mechanical en...
Continue Reading
Local fisherman Tom Swaffield takes Private First Class George W. Burnett (left, of Route 5, Spartanburg, South Carolina) and Private First Class Harris L. Whitwell (left, of Main Street, Rogersville, Tennessee) out in a rowing boat to see his lobster pots. Burton Bradstock, Dorset, England, 1944.
In the lead-up to the D-Day Landings in Normandy, France, in June 1944, coastal port towns throughout Dorset and Hampshire became a hive of military activity.
Full-scale battle reh...earsals were carried out, tactics were planned, while engineers devised ingenious ways in order to make the beach landings as effective as possible.
Tens of thousands of soldiers were stationed in the area, all being supplied and supported by civilian communities working under the outmost secrecy.
A notable exception was the 225 residents of the village of Tyneham, who were given just a month's notice to leave their homes by 19 December 1943 in the 'national interest'.
A letter explained to residents that a special office would be set up in Wareham to answer any questions, and that: "The Government appreciate that this is no small sacrifice which you are asked to make, but they are sure that you will give this further help towards winning the war with a good heart."
Many residents expected to be able to return home after the war, while others had built new homes and lives in Wareham. A public enquiry in 1948 finalised the matter, with a compulsory purchase order being issued for the land to remain under permanent ownership of the Ministry of Defence.
Today, over 70 years later, Tyneham remains an uninhabited ghost town, a curious village falling into decay, frozen in time.
Photographer: Ministry of Information Photo Division
Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum London
Great to see some of my work featured in the Daily Mail today for Anzac Day!
ANZAC is the acronym for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, a term formed during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915 where both countries served closely alongside one another. A tradition we still continue.
Although it's not immediately obvious in the text, for those that follow my posts here, you'll recognise the recent Capt. Ballantyne of the Long Range Desert Group, representing my Kiwi countrymen. (His 'NZ' badge has been cropped in this version)
In the early hours of 25 April 1915, Australian and New Zealand soldiers, commonly known as Anzacs, landed at what is now called Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula, in present-day Turkey.
For the vast majority of the 16,000 Australians and New Zealanders who landed on that first day, this was their first experience of combat. By that evening, 2,000 of them had been killed or wounded.
The Gallipoli campaign was a military failure. The most successful operation was the evac...uation in late December, after nine months of holding positions that had barely changed since the first day.
By the time the campaign ended, more than 130,000 men had died; at least 87,000 Ottoman soldiers and 44,000 Allied soldiers. Australia suffered 26,111 casualties, including more than 8,200 fatalities.
However, the traits that were shown there – bravery, ingenuity, endurance and mateship – have become enshrined as defining aspects of the Anzac character.
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
Lest we forget.
Staff Sergeant Maynard Harrison 'Snuffy" Smith of the 306th Bomb Group, salutes after being awarded the Medal of Honor by the US Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress at Thurleigh Airfield, USAAF Station 111, England, 15 Jul 1943.
Born in Caro, Michigan, Smith was drafted into the US Army in 1942 before volunteering for aerial gunnery training. At the conclusion of his training, he was posted to the US bomber base at Thurleigh, in Bedfordshir...e, England.
At only 5' 4" tall, he earned the nickname 'Snuffy' from the comic strip characters, 'Barney Google and Snuffy Smith', apparently on account of 'his obnoxious and belligerent attitude' - traits that found him frequently in trouble.
His awarding of the Medal of Honour - the United State's highest award for valour - came following action in the skies over Brest, France, on 1 May 1943.
It was his first combat mission, in the position of ball turret gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress, attacking U-Boat pens at Saint-Nazaire in Loire-Atlantique, France.
On the homeward leg, their aircraft was attacked by German fighter aircraft, causing serious damage, erupting fuels tanks which in turn resulted in a massive fire breaking out in the centre fuselage of the aircraft.
Three crew members bailed out, as the fire threatened the integrity of the aircraft. With power lost to his ball turret, and their communications gone, Smith scrambled back up into the fuselage and attended to badly injured crew - all the while manning the two .50 calibre waist machine guns, holding enemy fighters at bay.
For nearly 90 minutes, Smith alternated between shooting at the attacking fighters, tending to his wounded crew members and fighting the fire. To starve the fire of fuel, he threw burning debris and exploding ammunition through the large holes that the fire had melted in the fuselage. After the fire extinguishers were exhausted, Smith finally managed to put the fire out, in part by urinating on it.
The B-17 limped back across the English Channel and made a forced landing at the nearest airfield, where it broke in two as it touched down. The fuselage metal had melted in sections due to the heat of the fire, and the aircraft had been struck by more than 3,500 bullets and anti-aircraft shrapnel.
Sadly, the three aircrew who bailed out were never located and were presumed lost at sea. However, Smith's actions saved the remaining six members of the crew.
Stimson, who was in Britain on a visit, attended Thurleigh Airfield to present Smith with the Medal of Honour personally. He was the first enlisted US Army airman to receive the award.
'Snuffy' Smith survived the war, and died at the age of 72 in May 1984.
Photographer: Planet News
Images courtesy of the Imperial War Museum London, FRE4438
Colours of Yesterday shared their photo.
Following yesterday's post, 100 years ago today - the Red Baron is buried with full military honours, 22 April 1918.
One from the Archives! This was when I had just first begun colourisations. Be interesting to return to some of these early images, and see how I might approach them now.
The funeral and burial of Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen at Bertangles, Somme department in Picardie, on the 22 April 1918.
No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flyin...g Corps' officers and other ranks formed the 'official' party - pallbearers, firing party, motor transport, funeral procession.
2237 Air Mechanic 2nd Class John A R Alexander, No. 3 Sqn AFC
Private Record Collection PR86/133 (extract from personal diary)
".... he was buried that afternoon, Tuesday at 16.30. They obtained a coffin and it was engraved with the following inscription in plate for his coffin – 'Cavalry Captain Baron Von Richthofen aged 25 Killed in Aerial combat Sailley-le-Sec Somme France 21-4-18.'
There were three wreaths one from 5th Div HQ with German colors and the card read to a worthy and valiant foe. Another wreath came from the Royal Air Force and one from our own 3rd Squadron each having the German colors.
We supplied a firing party of 25 men, he was given a full military funeral. Oh we had all the heads here – quite a dozen official reporters and a cinematographer from the War records Dept. Of course it seemed a down right shame that such a fuss should be made over an enemy airmen – no doubt he was brave man they all are, but unless they have proof that Germany treat our good pilots in a like manner I would be one to pass him by like they are known to treat our boys. On the morning of his fall Germany were sending out to the world news of his 80th victim but our men say he always fought fair – we stood to attention as 6 of our pilots carried him out to the car. He was buried at Bertangles a French Village but oh such a dirty forsaken hole."
Dale M Titler (in his book The Day the Red Baron Died, 1970) quotes Oliver C Le-Boutillier, an American airman who was the leader of B Flight, 209 Squadron RAF, on the circumstances of Richthofen’s death and burial: 'The next day several of us got into lorries and went to Bertangles to represent 209 at the funeral. We weren’t able to view the remains. While the services were conducted, we stood outside the cemetery and watched over the tall hedge directly opposite the open grave.’
(Note the Chinese Labour Corps man on the right, behind the hedge.)
Thanks to WW1 Colourised Photos for suggesting the image to be coloured, and for researching the text.
Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum, Q 10923
100 years ago today - 21 April 1918 - Manfred von Richthofen, better known to the Allied forces as the 'Red Baron', was shot down and killed near Vaux-sur-Somme, France. He was twelve days short of his 26th birthday.
Debate has ranged for the best part of the following century as to who actually shot down the Red Baron.
Credit went initially to a Canadian pilot, Captain Roy Brown, who was engaged in a dogfight with Richthofen at the time, diving after him low over the Somme R...iver.
However, he was also coming under ground fire from the ridge above the river and the popular theory, widely accepted now, is that the fatal shot was fired by Cedric Popkin, an anti-aircraft machine gunner with the Australian Imperial Forces.
Richthofen was able to make a rough but controlled landing in a nearby field along the Bray-Corbie road, but eye witness reports at the time claim he died almost immediately.
Australian stretcher-bearer Sergeant Ted Smout was among the first to reach the downed aircraft and reported that Richthofen's final word was 'kaputt' ('finished'). He later admitted he had to resist the temptation to souvenir the famed pilot's iron cross medal and flying boots.
In 1964, four years before his own death at the age of 77, Popkin admitted to a reporter for the Brisbane Courier-Mail:
"I am fairly certain it was my fire which caused the Baron to crash, but it would be impossible to say definitely that I was responsible ... As to pinpointing without doubt the man who fired the fatal shot, the controversy will never actually be resolved."
Although Smout resisted the temptation, the Australians - soon joined by others - made short work of claiming their own small piece of the historical trophy, cutting sections of the red fabric from Richthofen's Fokker DR1 triplane, and salvaging other mementoes.
Many of these have made their way back to the Australian War Memorial over the decades, which now holds a number of fragments of the aircraft, wood from the propeller, the plane's compass, control column, and Richthofen's left flying boot.
Here, officers of No.3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, examine the Spandau machine guns from the wreckage of Richthofen's now largely destroyed triplane, the remnants visible behind them, at Bertangles the day after his downing.
Photographer: Second Lieutenant Thomas Keith Aitken
Images courtesy of the Imperial War Museum London
I am delighted to be able to write that following last month's post on two Indigenous Australian WW1 servicemen, I was able to trace the surviving daughter of one of them and arrange to have a framed colour print of her father presented to her.
Here's a beaming Aunty Lorraine Wilson, 89, with the print of her Ngarrindjeri father, Digger and later prisoner of war, Roland Carter.
Remembering his story, that of fellow Indigenous internee Douglas Grant, and all those who served t...his coming Anzac Day, 25 April.
To read the full story of the theatrical play that will shortly be performed on Carter's life, see the link in the comments below.
Photographer: Jennie Groom; The Advertiser
'Australians arrive at Singapore. Thumbs up from "Digger" Smith as he disembarks.'
Although the details aren't recorded against the image catalogue record, all the clues are right there - on his kit bag!
William Jack Smith, NX 30538, was born in Condobolin, New South Wales, on 20 February 1917.
...Working as a labourer, at the age of 23 he enlisted at Paddington, NSW, on 12 June 1940. After training, he was taken on strength of the 1st Royal Australian Regiment in September before being transferred in November to the 2/15th Field Regiment.
His service record shows a slightly colourful character. In early May 1941, he was punished for disobeying a 'lawful command' by his superior office while stationed at Holsworthy Barracks, in Sydney.
Then, two months later in July, it appears he went absent without leave. Just days before he was due to depart Sydney, he did a repeat performance - 'AWL from 23.59 hrs 26/9/41 to 9.15 hrs 27/9/41', reads his service record. That is, at midnight he hit Sydney perhaps for one last 'good time' before his imminent departure.
These incidents couldn't halt the inevitable, and Smith sailed out of Sydney for Singapore a few days alter, arriving there 5 October 1941.
This photo is presumably taken on that date. In is a poignant moment in time, of a seeming larrikin figure before the horrors of the conflict would befall him and shape his post-war life.
The bombing of Pearl Harbour in December 1941, and the repeated bombing of northern Australia beginning the following February heralded Japan's entry into the war, as their armed forces moved swiftly down the Malayan Peninsula.
Singapore fell to the Japanese on 15 February 1942. Smith is recorded the following day as having been taken a Prisoner of War in Malaya.
Red Cross files, recently acquired by the University of Melbourne Archives, show that Smith was interned for most of the subsequent years of the war in a Malayan POW Camp.
The final entry on his Red Cross card is dated 6 September 1945, as Allied forces regain their foothold in the Pacific, advising that he was now safe in Allied Hands in Sumatra.
Smith returned to Australia and was discharged from the army, but in 1961 requested new discharge papers be issued as he had by then changed his name to Francis Ernest Smith.
He was at that time a patient in the Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney, a fact which offers a small but sobering insight into his experiences as a prisoner during the war.
Photographer: Lieutenant Palmer
Images courtesy of the Imperial War Museum London
