Kiwi Beer and Bits

[k9kiwi]

yup, and use the BACK of your hand to tap the door handle once before opening.

Guys have been killed before where electrical wiring has dropped and come in contact with the handles.

Lots to think about, sweeping in front of yourself with your hand as you move forward to prevent hangups on ay obstruction.

Sweeping the floor with your foot or hand and banging it to ensure you don't end up downstairs.

Controlled breathing to ensure your air lasts as long as possible.

Ensuring you maintain a Mental Map of where you have been, eg start moving along left side of door as you enter, keep turning left and stay in contact with the wall.

We use short 2metre lengths clipped between two for wide search, one stays against wall the other moves in and sweeps with hands and feet.

Check cupboards, fridges, under beds etc, Children HIDE, it is natural and you can miss them if you don't check.

If you are searching for victims and come across fire, knock it down enough to continue the search quickly.

And a general tip for you all if you come across a Motor Vehicle Accident with people inside.

BEWARE OF AIRBAGS Not all airbags will be deployed with modern cars, it depends on the accident direction as to which ones deploy.

That being said, they can be in an unstable conditon while there is power (even up to 30 minutes after the battery is disconected on some) Having one of these go off while your head is inside can be fatal. An Aussie FireFighter had his neck broken and died instantly a few years back when this happened.

At the least you will be outside wondering what truck just hit you.

 

[k9kiwi]

Yup even Kiwis can be thick.

In one of our towns yesterday 5 young males and a 9kg LPG gas bottle sit in a car.

They are taking turns to crack the tap and sniff it, apparently it gives a kick.

One of the not so intelligent ones decided to light a cigarette.

Suddenly they were all Brilliant.

But just for a second.

One dead, four critical burns.

Now that is just shtupid.

 

[ndicki]

Didn't know that thing about airbags - I expect that also goes for people trying to get out of the wreck, so it's doubly worth remembering.

LPG?!!!

 

[Gnomey]

Liquid Petroleum Gas...

What idiots... They should get a Darwin award.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The only fire training I have recieved was aircraft fire egress training.

 

[ndicki]

Liquid Petroleum Gas...

What idiots... They should get a Darwin award.

I know what the stuff is - I'm just taken aback, that's all. 'Thick' doesn't even come close.

 

[k9kiwi]

Dicki

The people I feel saddest for is the Families and responders to the scene that have to pick up the pieces.

Many moons ago we were called out to a car fire near a local beach.

Two of us chucked on the Breathing Apparatus or BA as it is called ( about 3.00 pm on a Saturday) and walked the line in to start dousing it.

The car was a total when we pulled up, every thing was gone from end to end.

I am shoving the branch (nozzle) in the passengers window, with steam smoke and corruption flying everywhere to get the first knock down and allow us some space to work, when...

Partner taps me madly on the shoulder and points as he peels back.

The steam blow back was starting to clear and I suddenly realised what I was looking at.

This is when you learn the old expression for wearing BA.

NEVER eat more than your mask can hold

An Indian couple of sweathearts (We found this out later from the Police) had just found out she had been betrothed by Daddy to some old git from India.

Their solution.

5 Gallons of petrol and a cigarette at the beach.

Not a fun day at the office that bugger.

 

[ndicki]

I don't envy you that job one bit, mate.

 

[k9kiwi]

RNZAF Ventura.

Photos from all over the place.

 

[k9kiwi]

RNZAF Ventura II

 

[k9kiwi]

RNZAF Ventura III

 

[k9kiwi]

RNZAF Ventura IV

 

[k9kiwi]

75 Sqn RAF

New Zealand gave a Squadron of Planes
When Britain's need was dire
Both countries sons made up the crews
And they flew through hell and fire.

To the Pommy lads the Kiwi's made
A gesture that was grand
They gave them honorary citizenship
Of their own beloved land.

Under New Zealand's flag, they proudly flew
Comrades of the air
They lived and died, as side by side
Fate's lot they chose to share.

In Wellingtons, Stirlings, then Lancasters
To the foe, they took the flight
On wings they soared through Europe's skies
In the darkness and the light.

But a heavy price, the Squadron paid
In five long years of strife
Of those who flew with "75"
One in three, laid down their life.

On the East Coast of Old England
The crumbling airfields stand
Where aircraft once left mother earth
Tractors till the land

The era of the Bomber war
Came, paused, then passed away
But the bond between two nations sons
Unchanged, will ever stay

Ken Moore, Waterlooville. 2.3.80

 

[k9kiwi]

6 75 Stradishall Suffolk 03/09/39 Anson I, 03/39. Wellington I, 07/39.
6 75 Harwell Berkshire 04/09/39 Became No.15OTU, 08/04/40.

3 75 Feltwell Norfolk 04/04/40 Reformed. Wellington IC.
3 75 Mildenhall Suffolk 15/08/40 May have moved before 12/40.
3 75 Feltwell Norfolk 01/01/41 Wellington III, 01/42.
3 75 Mildenhall Suffolk 15/08/42 Stirling I, 10/42.
3 75 Newmarket Cambridgeshire 01/11/42 Stirling III, 03/43.
3 75 Mepal Cambridgeshire 28/06/43 Lancaster I, 03/44. Lancaster III, 03/44. To 5 Group, 21/07/45.
5 75 Spilsby Lincolnshire 21/07/45 Ex-3 Group.

The panoramic Squadron shot comprises 464 Sqn (Australia), 487 Sqn (New Zealand) and 21 squadron RAF
Sqn Ldr Len Trent VC is front row center area.

Many of the men in this photo were killed on the famous Phillips Factory Raid in Holland.

 

[k9kiwi]

Ake ake kia kaha (For ever and ever be strong) 75 Sqn

Twelve thousand New Zealanders served with the RAF between 1939 and
1945.

When the war began, around 550 were already in service in the UK - and 7000 more were sent to the Empire Air Training Scheme in Canada before being posted to RAF squadrons. Others were trained in New Zealand.

New Zealand airmen helped man seven 'New Zealand' squadrons in the RAF, and they also served in ordinary RAF squadrons. They were to be found everywhere the RAF operated, in Europe, the Middle East, and the Pacific.

In the RAF's Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain in 1940, New Zealanders were the third largest national group, after Britons and Poles. They also made a substantial contribution to Coastal Command during the vital Battle of the Atlantic. Many served in Bomber Command, enduring heavy casualties in dangerous missions over enemy territory. Most of the New Zealanders serving in the RAF played a role in operations related to D-Day and the Normandy invasion in June, 1944.

3285 killed (26% of those who served), 500 taken prisoner.


They said, - We've been losing fifty to sixty bombers a night. We're badly in need of bomber pilots. We want you fellas to be bomber pilots.

John Morris, Flight Lieutenant, 75(NZ) Squadron, RAF

 

[k9kiwi]

Sgt J Ward VC 75 sqn.

Recollection by Sgt WF "Chappie" Chapman 75 Sn pilot, Bilited in barracks with Ward.

"In those days I was supposed to live on the Station at Feltwell but I was a married man, (my wife came from Dagenham), and we wanted to be together. It was difficult to get any sort of accommodation around Feltwell but eventually a local farmer, Mr Lawrence, who had a farm on the Methwold Road took us in. We lived in the large bedroom in his house at Murials Farm. The Lawrence's did not have any children of their own and they were very kind to us. Food was a bit short in those days so I became a dab hand with a shotgun and often potted a rabbit or pheasant for our meals. My roommate at Feltwell was Sgt Jimmy Ward who was to become the first New Zealander VC winner of the war. Jimmy loved me living off the Station in that he had a great big room all to himself!

He was a quiet sort of chap and I believe he had been a schoolteacher before he joined up. He was always borrowing my old BSA Blue Star motorbike.

A lot of things have been written about Jimmy Ward winning the VC, many of them are very inaccurate. I can only tell you what he told me at the time. He had been crewed up as second pilot to Squadron leader Widdowson (this was to do his four trips before he became captain). They were flying at about 15000 feet when they were attacked by a German Me 110 over the Zuider Zee. The rear gunner returned fire on the fighter and shot it down, but the aircraft was badly damaged and a fire started in the wing behind the starboard engine. On the small fold up bed in the aircraft were a couple of old engine covers. Jimmy took the rope off these and tied it around his waist; the idea was that he would go out of the Astrodome with one of the crew hanging on to the other end of the rope. His skipper told him that he must wear his parachute in case he was swept off the wing. Jimmy said that it was pointless as it would increase the drag on his body and, as they were flying over the sea, he would die anyway! But his skipper persisted so Jimmy clipped on his chest parachute and tried to get out of the Astrodome, but he found that he could not get through with the parachute on.

This time his skipper was ahead of him in the argument and told him to push his parachute out of the astrodome and climb out and put it on. That is what he did. He used the aircraft's fire axe to cut footholds in the wing and whilst his skipper cut the airspeed down to about 80 knots he tried to smother the fire with one of the old engine covers.

After Jimmy was awarded the VC he was taken off operations for three weeks so that he could go to Buckingham Palace to collect his medal. After this we would go to the Sergeants mess at Feltwell and as soon as Jimmy walked in everyone would stand up and salute. Whenever this happened Jimmy would do a quick 180 degrees and walk out, he was very shy about the whole thing. But this meant that we were both living on sandwiches, so I had a word with the lads and they packed it in.

At the end of the three weeks Jimmy became captain of his own aircraft; on his first trip as captain they had some trouble and landed away from Feltwell.

On 15th September, when he was on his second trip, (Hamburg), he was shot down over the target and killed".

When Sgt Ward was awarded his VC he had been flying as second Pilot with Squadron Leader R.P. Widdowson (who was awarded a DFC on the same day)


Official photographs of Sgt Wards' aircraft showing where the strodome was removed and the hand/ foot holds he kicked in the fuselage and wings to get to the fire.

 

[k9kiwi]

[ London Gazette, 5 August 1941 ], Over the Netherlands, 7 July 1941, Sergeant James Allen Ward, 75 Squadron ( RAF ), Royal New Zealand Air Force.


On the night of 7th July 1941, Sergeant Ward was second pilot of a Wellington returning from an attack on Munster. When flying over the Zuider Zee at 13,000feet, the aircraft was attacked from beneath by a Messerschmitt which secured hits with cannon shell and incendiary bullets. The rear gunner was wounded in the foot but delivered a burst of fire which sent the enemy fighter down, apparently out of control. Fire then broke out near the starboard engine and, fed by petrol from a split pipe, quickly gained an alarming hold and threatened to spread to the entire wing. The crew forced a hole in the fuselage and made strenuous efforts to reduce the fire with extinguishers and even the coffee in their vacuum flasks, but without success. They were then warned to be ready to abandon the aircraft.
As a last resort, Sergeant Ward volunteered to make an attempt to smother the fire with an engine cover which happended to be in use as a cushion. At first he proposed to discard his parachute to reduce wind resistance, but was finally persuaded to take it. A rope from the dinghy was tied to him, though this was of little help and might have become a danger had he been blown off the aircraft. With the help of the navigator, he then climbed through the narrow astro-hatch and put on his parachute.

The bomber was flying at a reduced speed but the wind pressure must have been sufficient to render the operation one of extreme difficulty. Breaking the fabric to make hand and foot holds where necessary, and also taking advantage of existing holes in the fabric, Sergeant Ward succeeded in descending three feet to the wing and proceeding another three feet to a position behind the engine, despite the slipstream from the airscrew, which nearly blew him off the wing. Lying in this precarious position, he smothered the fire in the wing fabric and tried to push the cover into the hole in the wing and on to the leaking pipe from which the fire came. As soon as he removed his hand, however, the terrific wind blew the cover out and when he tried again it was lost. Tired as he was, he was able with the navigator's assistance, to make successfully the perilous journey back into the aircraft. There was now no danger of the fire spreading from the petrol pipe as there was no fabric left nearby, and in due course burnt itself out.

When the aircraft was nearly home some petrol which had collected in the wing blazed up furiously but died down quite suddenly. A safe landing was then made despite the damage sustained by the aircraft. The flight home had been made possisble by the gallant action of Sergeant Ward in extinguishing the fire on the wing, in circumstances of the greatest difficulty and at the risk of his life.

 

[ndicki]

Incredible the courage some of these people showed - not just the sudden displays, as here, but also the long-term courage which enabled them to go on, night after night, knowing that, statistically, they would not finish the tour.

I wonder whether we are of the same mettle; and I'm afraid that maybe we are not.

Fantastic collection of photos and profiles (yours?) - I downloaded the lot. I like to have pics and profiles of NZ kites to bring a bit of balance into Combat Flight Simulator! Too many Yanks, even in the Pacific!

The following show my Corsair for CFS3 - any problems with anti-aliasing (jagged edges) are due to my inadequate video card !

 

[davidnzl]

489 Squadron History Published

Recently, a comprehensive history of the above Squadron has been completed in consultation with a team of 489 personnel, their families, and several researchers. It comprises approximately 300 pages of archival material, official and personal photographs, as well as reminisces by several 489 Squadron personnel. It will be ready for distribution in February 2007.

The foreword was written by Group Captain T.A.McL. Morgan, QSO, AFC, RNZAF. Retd, a former 489 aircrew member, and later RNZAF officer:

FOREWORD

Sixty years on, the substance of this book, shows the wisdom and foresight of those who selected the motto for the Squadron as Whakatangata kia kaha - Quit ye like men, be strong. How wonderfully the intent of the words reflect the emotions of those who served so proudly as members of No. 489 Squadron. RNZAF. The values and heartbreaks of anxiety, alarm, concern, caring, mutual consideration, loyalty, pride, love, courage and devotion were adornments carried by all. The authors and compilers of this history have captured it all

For many readers, this book will revive memories, some good and some bad; for some readers the book will tell stories their loved ones have not previously shared; for others, a generation removed from the events, the book will foster an understanding of the frightful circumstances faced in order that they be free. Readers who can identify with the recorded episodes will be reminded of comrades lost in action, of those comrades who have since died, and of their own fears of the time. They will be reminded of the adrenalin runs stimulated by the daily "mayfly" sheets listing crews on duty, by the alerting sounds of the Tannoy public address system, by the grinding sound of Crew Wagon's engine as it wound around the Nissen Hut dispersals uplifting duty crews, of the final acts and actions before clambering aboard their aircraft, of the encouraging wave from a ground crew member left dispersal and of the welcoming grin when you returned, of the tot of rum at debrief, of the bacon and eggs served by cheerful WAAF who acted as mother, as sister, as counsel in time of grief, and of the uproariously happy times around the piano in the Bar.

The book's title has been prefixed by the word "unofficial" This does not degrade the authenticity of the content for it will serve future researchers with lots of facts which tie together those "official" reports covered in other records. There will be critics in terms of proofreading, of layout, and of "story" but in my view the presentation makes a valuable contribution to a history of which New Zealanders can stand tall. During it's operational life, No. 489 Squadron flew 2380 sorties totalling 9773 hours, sank 11 ships totalling 38,700 tons and damaged a further 13 vessels. During the last year of the war, No. 489 Squadron flew as a part of a Wing comprising four squadrons of Beaufighters which collectively sank 19 ships totalling 67,000 tons and 12 escort vessels, and damaged a further 18 cargo ships and 49 escort vessels. Squadron personnel earned 2 Distinguished Service Orders, 1 Bar to a Distinguished Flying Cross, 19 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 1 Distinguished Flying Medal, and 1 Conspicuous Gallantry Medal. It is a distinguished record."

There are a limited number of books being printed, with priority will be given to ex-489 Squadron personnel or their next-of-kin at a cost of $NZ35 plus postage. In addition to this small group of people, we are offering copies to a select number of museums that have a direct link with 489 Squadron at a cost of $NZ65.00 plus postage. It will not be for sale to the general public. No reprint is anticipated. If you are a former member of 489 Squadron, or their next of kin, and you wish to receive a copy, please contact 489 Squadron Association Honorary Secretary, Jean Elliott. Her email is: jeanandderekATxtra.co.nz