Noel Olliver/ Thumper

[michael rauls]

One of the images posted here of a p40 of the RAAF named Thumper brought back some memories as I had a kit when I was a kid of this plane. Did a net search and all I could find was the pilots name Noel Oliver and that he was in 80 squadron RAAF.
If anyone knows anything about this pilot or his plane it would be of much interest to me.

 

[Wildcat]

Hi Michael, I have no info on the pilot but Thumper was A29-651, 80sqnRAAF.

 

[michael rauls]

Hi Michael, I have no info on the pilot but Thumper was A29-651, 80sqnRAAF.
View attachment 544106

Cool thanks. Ya that was the picture I saw in the forum here that reminded me of the kit I built as a kid. Figured it must have been a pretty notable plane/ pilot to have a model fashioned after it but now I cant seen to find any info on them.

 

[fubar57]

I've been through my 3 RAAF books and no photo or info. I'll go through my P-40 books and Pacific Theatre books in a bit

 

[michael rauls]

I've been through my 3 RAAF books and no photo or info. I'll go through my P-40 books and Pacific Theatre books in a bit

Wow, I really apreciate that George.

 

[Simon Thomas]

I had the privilege of working with his son in Brisbane. Not long after his Dad passed away, he brought his Dad's log book and DFC to work. (Surname is Ollivier - two l's and two i's - this makes searching a bit tricky) His old man sounds like an amazing guy. He flew air sea rescue in Otters or Walrus', and also flew agents in and out of France in Lysanders. He told a story of when his dad was in charge of a squadron in Townsville, he got a phone call from the docks that the dock workers were going on strike and as he was the highest ranking officer they could find on the weekend, could he go down there and sort it out. He headed down to the docks and the workers were on the dock and the military police were standing off to the side. He walked up to the dock workers and the union boss then started talking to him. Noel told them to go back to work. They refused. Noel turned to the Military Police and told them to shoot them all. They all went back to work.

My favourite story was when he was flying P-40's out of New Guinea. His wife was back in Wollongong, and had just given birth to their first daughter. Noel asked his CO for leave to go back to Wollongong, but his CO refused. Noel was a not going to take no for an answer, so he climbed into a P-40 and flew from New Guinea down to Townsville. He was refuelled and then flew down to Sydney. In Sydney, the refueller asked for the paperwork, so Noel pulls out his pistol and the refueller decides that no paperwork is needed. He then gets on a train in Sydney and heads to Wollongong, and from there he goes to the hospital. He bursts into his wife's room and gives her the shock of her life. He spends the night with his wife and new baby, and the next morning he heads back to New Guinea. When he gets back, his CO comes over to him to tell him that his leave had been approved.

I can probably get find his son's contact info if you are interested - PM me.

 

[MiTasol]

You could try the Australian National Archives at National Archives of Australia but you would need to check under every possible spelling of Olliver and you must not pay any attention to the dates shown.
As examples multiple Wirraway files are dated opened 01-01-1800 and closed same day. The Wirraway project first started 1936 and ran to around 1956.
They spell P-40E as PEOE on at least one file and these sorts of cataloguing errors are exremely common. They have C-130 files starting in 1929, etc etc

Once you get past the errors some of the information is pure gold

 

[michael rauls]

I had the privilege of working with his son in Brisbane. Not long after his Dad passed away, he brought his Dad's log book and DFC to work. (Surname is Ollivier - two l's and two i's - this makes searching a bit tricky) His old man sounds like an amazing guy. He flew air sea rescue in Otters or Walrus', and also flew agents in and out of France in Lysanders. He told a story of when his dad was in charge of a squadron in Townsville, he got a phone call from the docks that the dock workers were going on strike and as he was the highest ranking officer they could find on the weekend, could he go down there and sort it out. He headed down to the docks and the workers were on the dock and the military police were standing off to the side. He walked up to the dock workers and the union boss then started talking to him. Noel told them to go back to work. They refused. Noel turned to the Military Police and told them to shoot them all. They all went back to work.

My favourite story was when he was flying P-40's out of New Guinea. His wife was back in Wollongong, and had just given birth to their first daughter. Noel asked his CO for leave to go back to Wollongong, but his CO refused. Noel was a not going to take no for an answer, so he climbed into a P-40 and flew from New Guinea down to Townsville. He was refuelled and then flew down to Sydney. In Sydney, the refueller asked for the paperwork, so Noel pulls out his pistol and the refueller decides that no paperwork is needed. He then gets on a train in Sydney and heads to Wollongong, and from there he goes to the hospital. He bursts into his wife's room and gives her the shock of her life. He spends the night with his wife and new baby, and the next morning he heads back to New Guinea. When he gets back, his CO comes over to him to tell him that his leave had been approved.

I can probably get find his son's contact info if you are interested - PM me.

Verry cool, thank you! As I explained earlier I had a p40 kit when I was a kid that was modeled after his plane. At least I asume so as one of the decals it came with was Thumper with the rabbit just like on his plane. I had forgotten about it over the years but when I saw a picture of him and his p40 on the forum here it jogged my memory and sparked my curiosity about who this guy was. Sounds like he was quite a guy.
And yes I would love to speek with his son if possible.
I'll PM you here in a minute. Thanks again.