Well, I did'nt think I would have anything further to add to this build, but I was wrong!
Just recently I have been contacted by the son of the pilot at the time of 1140's accident on Labuan Island and he has filled me in on further details. I can now add a bit more background info.
Firstly, in the picture of the crashed aircraft, the person standing to the left was the pilot, Milton Furze.
A pilot on the scene, Len Bird gives this account of the accident:-
The Len Bird Story - As told by Len Bird
"A report had come in that some Japanese aircraft had been sighted on the ground at Keningau in the north-western part of Borneo. Because Labuan was much closer to Keningau than Tawi it was decided to detach a couple of Kittyhawks to Labuan. However, the usable strip at Labuan t this stage was only about six hundred yards long, which was pretty short for a Kittyhawk.
Nevertheless Peter Jones, the Commanding Officer decided to go and took Fuzzy Furze along with him. They never located the aircraft but on one of the trips Fuzzy landed back at Labuan and either put his brakes on too early or hit a soft patch, the plane did a forward somersault and finished up upside down on the strip. (The strip was just consolidated earth – not sealed).
Meanwhile he was hanging in his straps with petrol dripping onto his head from the centre section fuel tanks. It appears that it took about half an hour to get him out and Fuzzy stated that it was the longest thirty minutes he could remember".
Milton's son also provided a newspaper clipping of Milton's exploits, a picture of Milton in flight gear, and a copy of his log books for the days on Labaun, including an account of the incident. All of this he has allowed to be shared, so please find this additional information below.
As a final note, I have made a gift of the completed model to Milton's son and it will be heading his way very soon, so it's found a good home.
Cheers
Peter