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| Australian pilots flying with a RAF squadron in Central Burma inspect an ornamental lion in the grounds of their billet
at an advanced airfield on the Burma front. They are Warrant Officer Bill Clarke of Rockhampton, Queensland (left), and Flight Lieutenant Ted Marshall, D.F.C. of Kerang, Victoria |
| Many Australian aircrew took part in the fighting in the
Burma - India theatre of the war. In August 1942 there were 250 Australian aircrew in Burma-India. By November 1943 this
figure had grown to 795, reaching a peak of 1,091 in July 1944.
The RAAF men flew with RAF squadrons in many types of aircraft including Liberator, Blenheim and Wellington bombers, and in Spitfire, Thunderbolt and Hurricane fighters, as well as Vultee Vengeance dive-bombers.
The Japanese launched a major offensive in March 1944 with the aim of capturing all Burma and marching on to New Delhi. By June 1944 the enemy offensive had withered away. Australians in a total of eighteen RAF squadrons took part in the crucial battles
of 1944 in the plains of Burma.
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| The unusual markings on the wing of this RAAF Beaufort are Japanese characters announcing the news of Japan's surrender. The Beaufort, based at Bougainville, also dropped leaflets over enemy positions announcing the end of the war. Pictured reading a translation of the leaflet are, left to right: Flying Officer M. B. Casey (Watson's Bay, Sydney), Flight Lieutenant W. E. Joyce (Bellevue Hill,
Sydney Flight Lieutenant W. J. McNally (Artarmon, Sydney Flight Lieutenant C. M. Hemingway
(Mosman, Sydney), Flight Lieutenant J. Iverson (Junee, New South Wales) and Flying Officer A. A. Kirk (Double
Bay Sydney). |
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| RAAF and American commanders confer at Aitape, New Guinea, on
the operation of Australian and American aircraft from Tadji strip. Left to right: Air Commodore F. R.
W. Scherger (later Air Chief Marshal Sir Frederick, and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee); Brigadier-General Paul B.
Wurtsmith; Colonel Leif J. Sverdrup Wing Commander W. A. C. Dale; Colonel Robert Morrissey. |
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