Darwin field Australian 1943

[Wildr1]

Some photos picked up at auction 10 yrs ago. Down under in Northwest Australia. These are all I have from this location and auction.

 

[buffnut453]

Great collection. Many thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Crimea_River]

I agree.

 

[buffnut453]

I'm guessing the CW-22 is an ex-Dutch airframe that somehow got diverted to Australia?

 

[Gnomey]

Good shots!

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Great shots. The aircraft in pics 3-4 is.............

 

[Wurger]

This is a Curtiss-Wright CW-22 also known as SNC-1 Falcon.

 

[fubar57]

Much obliged. Figured it was Curtis as Mark said but I was looking at the single seat version the Dutch used. Never new about a multi-seat.

 

[Wildr1]

I beg to differ, they had both versions, I do not think they had the range to escape Java and make it to Australia. They might have been shipped to Australia the taken over by the US after the fall, but I can only speculate.

 

[buffnut453]

The Dutch used both the CW-21B "interceptor" and the 2-seat CW-22 in the Netherlands East Indies. The Dutch used the latter for reconnaissance, light ground attack and as a trainer for air gunners.

 

[Wurger]

However , the plane in question seems to belong to the US Army. If you make a focus on the undersides of the port wing you can notice the "ARMY" inscription. Also there is a small number 2778 on the rudder. The US stars can't be seen because of the slipcover IMHO..

 

[buffnut453]

However , the plane in question seems to belong to the US Army. If you make a focus on the undersides of the port wing you can notice the "ARMY" inscription. Also there is a small number 2778 on the rudder. The US stars can't be seen because of the slipcover IMHO..

Yes, this airframe does wear US Army markings but a number of ex-Dutch airframes were taken over by the US Army in Australia. The Buffalo below is one famous example:

Note how similar the markings are to the CW-22 in the OP, even down to the 4-digit white number on the rudder.

 

[Wurger]

That's true. Agree.

 

[mokyme]

I'm pretty sure that the location of these photos is not Darwin but Garbutt, Townsville. Note the large hangar with control tower in the background of the DH.89 Rapide photo. That hangar is still at Garbutt airfield today. Also, the many hills and mountains in the background is not typical of scenery around Darwin.

Darryl

 

[Wildr1]

You could be right, they were marked Darwin, so I assumed that they were. I have never been there.

 

[mokyme]

Buffnet,

That Buffalo photo is probably in Australia too. Here is a photo of one at Archerfield in Brisbane, Australia. Markings are very similar.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Hornet133]

The twin engined bi-plane in RAAF markings is a DH.84 not DH.89. Shape of the wings is very different on both types.

 

[nuuumannn]

The twin engined bi-plane in RAAF markings is a DH.84 not DH.89. Shape of the wings is very different on both types.

Correct, this is one of the RAAF's DH.84 Dragons that were used for radio training among other things, A few were initially imported but De Havilland Australia built the type under licence.