Props & mags
MAY 2016
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN AVIATION MUSEUM
66 LIPSON STREET, PORT ADELAIDE
P.O. BOX 150, PORT ADELAIDE, SA 5015. PHONE (08) 8240 1230
http://www.saam.org.au
PRESIDENT’S REPORT – MAY 2016
There are several important issues for me to update you about this month:
CARIBOU
We have signed the Transfer Deed for the Caribou and paid our non-refundable $5,000 deposit to the
Department of Defence’s Sales and Disposals Branch. This was the last of a very heavy paper trail leading to our
acquisition of Caribou A04A-225 in Oakey. We have to be on site in Oakey on 2 June, whereupon we have until
the 30 June to have dismantled the aircraft, loaded it on three trucks and sent them on their way to us. I will be
working in Oakey with Steve Nitschke, Peter Ormsby and Neville Mason, together with some local volunteers
through Neville as needed. It is a huge job, so wish us luck!
ORION
The next big issue will be the acquisition of an APC-3 Orion through the same process. I have been to an industry
information day, where we were told what we will be up against. The paper trail has commenced with our
response to the Request for Expression of Interest, which will be submitted at the end of the month. We do not
expect to be allocated an aircraft until 2018, so we have some breathing space.
NEW HANGAR
We had hoped to have our new hangar development
approved by the council by now and construction
started but, as is usually the way with these things,
council has chosen to embark on negotiations with
Ahrens Construction about the storm water provision
in the plan. I hope to be able to report more
positively next month.
Pieter van Dyk
PRESIDENT
Right – Telemetry cabinet used at
Woomera donated by Stephen Grose.
For more information see page 3
S.A.A.M.
COMMITTEE
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY ….
SATURDAY 21st MAY
_____________
10.30am History Group Meeting
12 noon B.B.Q. Lunch – Cost $5.00
MUSEUM PATRON:
THE HON. ALEXANDER DOWNER
AC
1.00pm General Members Meeting
_______________
PRESIDENT
PIETER VAN DYK
VICE PRESIDENT
DAVID BYRNE
TREASURER
JOHN HILLIER
SECRETARY
MIKE MILLN
COLLECTION MANAGER
PAUL DAW
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING : Tuesday 7th JUNE
ALTERING SCANNED
PRICES
BE AWARE of price increases on most stock
items in the shop. If price on item is lower,
(old stock) ensure the price is changed at
POS to the lower value (Refer to Instruction
Manual).
To achieve this:
1. Press RED discount button on screen
2. Press Change Item price button
3. Change price to lower value
4. Press OK
COLLECTION
MANAGER – AIRCRAFT
WAYNNE LEE
5. Continue with sale
MEMBERSHIP OFFICER
ROD KOPP
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBER …
NOTE: DO NOT REMOVE STOCK FROM
SHELF
WORKSHOP MANAGER
GRAHAM BELL
Graham Alderman, contrary to
what our farewell piece in last
month’s newsletter said, is 91 –
not 93. And a sprightly 91 he is
too.
The Committee will sit to
decide whether Graham took
early retirement under false
pretences and should be
recalled to duty for another two
years, or whether – as Graham
claims – the error occurred as a
result of the Secretary’s
ineptitude in carrying out the
complex mathematics involved
in arriving at his age from his
birth date.
Just kidding. Graham – I’m
very sorry – enjoy your
retirement - it was all my fault!
PUBLIC RELATIONS
ROBIN De VORE
Mike Milln
Paul Divett of Tranmere.
2
ERRATUM – GRAHAM
ALDERMAN
COLLECTION MANAGER’S REPORT
This last month has seen several small changes to our collection and displays.
Reported each month recently has been the finishing
off of the Qantas stairs. Marion and his team have
completed a superb job and just a little over a week
ago this unit was put in place at our Dakota. Check it
out, it looks fabulous. Not only does it look good but
that whole section of the main hangar has such an
improved atmosphere. Congratulations to everyone
who helped out.
Last Saturday I picked up our newest display item. It is
a Telemetry cabinet formerly used at Woomera to
record data transmitted from Jindivik aircraft during
test flights. We are fortunate that a sponsor (Stephen
Grose) offered to pay for this equipment on sale at
Classic Jets Fighter Museum. I’m very grateful for the
offer of help as this item adds to the Jindivik display. Museum member Tony Harvey is excited as the equipment
was made in his home town in England!
Recently SAAM has helped two other aviation museums by donating surplus equipment and uniforms. The Nhill
Aviation Heritage Centre accepted my offer of several uniforms. We had spare khaki tropical uniform items and I
personally delivered them on a weekend visit. Meanwhile RAAFA WA have received three canisters of celluloid
star charts from us. These were used in an Astro Navigation Sextant. While RAAFA WA had a sextant they didn’t
have the rolls of charts.
As many of you appreciate one of my duties is to check the provenance of significant museum collection items.
This is sometimes very difficult for old items that come
into the collection. Recently I was asked to find out about
the pram we have that had apparently been owned by the
Smith Family when brothers Ross, Keith and Colin were
babies. The pram came from the former Railway, Signal,
Telegraph and Aviation Museum (RSTAM) that used to
operate at West Richmond. Following a very thin trail of
information I found out the Smith parents stored the
pram in the rafters of their shed after the boys no longer
needed that mode of transport. This would be over 100
years ago. When the house was later sold, the pram
remained in its place completely overlooked. Years later a
subsequent owner of the house took it down and realising
who had owned it offered it to the RSTAM. There it sat in
pride of place amongst many other artefacts from the
lives of Sir Ross & Sir Keith Smith until coming to SAAM. Following lengthy consideration and in light of our
Collection Policy and available space, the Committee has decided to donate the pram to History SA. This will mean
it will go on display in a community museum in Adelaide. With the 1919 Air Race Centenary coming up I’m sure
there will be a lot of interest in it!
Finally I’m pleased to inform you I have finished Part 3 of the F-111 Tour Guides Manual. This is a major update of
the F-111 Cockpit Guide I produced for last year’s Open Cockpit Day. While the TGM is issued to F-111 tour guides
and a few Committee members, it is available for members to see at any time. Later this month I will place a
single volume of all three parts in our library.
Cheers all,
Paul Daw
3
WING TIPS
THE BATMOBILE STORY
We‘ve published previous articles about the Batmobile restoration but this is the first time that Marion
Flak, as project leader and in his own inimitable style, has had an opportunity to tell the whole story .
It all started on 8th November 2013. I joined as
member/volunteer and started working on the
Batmobile. I was not sure what that meant after
talking to then president David Byrne and
Membership Officer Jeff Hann.
Work began by separating the two stair sections and
proceeding to the first-stage bottom stairs. The work
involved stripping down all the side panels, interior
steps, kick plates and the old existing wiring.
Then we evaluated direction for the next stage of
the restoration plan, which was to total pressure
clean and remove the rusted framework and replace
it with new metal, clean all other parts and set aside
and continue with more cleaning/replacing of rusted
bolts and parts.
It was a never ending job. We fixed areas including servicing the hydraulic rams x2, and then replaced pop rivets
after pop rivets, undercoated the frame with a sealer, then sprayed the panels and fixed the hand rails.
Then Tony and Jack came to rewire the stair lights for LED lights and install new wiring. Then came the time to
assemble all the components back into their original positions.
I had great assistance from Graham Oster with most of the restoration and also David Thompson, with Tony Fazz
doing cameo jobs such cleaning/painting/sheet metal.
Work on the Batmobile ceased for me for a while as I was
involved with engine run days and exhibitions of the
Merlin V12 engine at the Clipsal, Barossa, Mallala and
Mannum shows. It was a busy year.
Meanwhile Graham continued working on the stairs.
Having most parts completed and in place, we planned
for the lower part of the stairs to be lifted into the body
frame. My friends from Access Cranes (Matt Simcock and
Eric Shaw) completed the lift in rapid time - half an hour.
The lift was done safely and everyone was happy!
There was still a lot more to do: fitting more components
and making sure everything was in place and working;
and panel beating the body in preparation for sanding, undercoating and spray painting it to the original Qantas
red and white colours.
4
I also had assistance from a good friend, Neil Moody, on the hydraulic rams, and from Bob from Auto Marine at
Peterhead, who donated a rear tyre when it was required.
Meanwhile Jim’s knowledge of the stair lift was
great when I needed it, and the work still continued
inside the shed. Graham and I shared all the duties
inside and outside. Tony and Jack continued with
the installation of new LED light surrounds, so
finally the stairs had low voltage LED lights fitted
and working.
A new member, Peter Page, joined and came with
panel beating skills. He began the work on various
panels which involved straightening out the dents
with a filler, sanding smooth and preparing for
undercoat and primer prior to spraying the Qantas
colours. While Peter was working I was repairing
the top stair entry platform, replacing rusted panels
with new new ones and then undercoating.
The main body was then ready for the final undercoat/primer to be sprayed by Peter and Graham. David
completed the top deck ready for installation. With the Port Festival just around the corner, Peter finished the
last spraying of the primer and the Batmobile was ready for final colour. Peter sprayed the front nose section
with white inside the shed and all was good to spray the red the following week. Meanwhile work progressed
outside on the top stairs, followed by installation of the LED lights to the top section.
I had to work on the engine to replace a water pump and thermostat, then clean and flush the engine block due
to corrosion. All work was done and I moved on to the next item on the long list of things to do. The following
Saturday I drove the Bat out of the shed to spray the last colour, which Peter completed together with a last
clear coat to finish. ALL DONE - YIPPEE.
Then back to the shed to do a final fit-out before the Open Cockpit Day the following week. We wanted to
showcase the Batmobile in its Qantas colours - all
good. It was a very hot day with the numbers
down but it was good to show it off.
Work then continued on the top stairs after the
frame was painted and ready. We assembled the
side panels and steps, which involved a lot of pop
rivets - and I mean a lot.
We worked back and forth inside and outside the
shed on both stair sections, attaching all the
hardware and fittings, and by now Tony and Jack
had finished the LED lights to the top. The new
decals had been ordered for the two top sliding
doors. Graham, David and I bolted the top
platform to the top stairs and Tony Fazz made some sheet metal trim to be attached to the top deck - job done. I
hunted down some tear-drop lights to front and back as they were original items red/amber LED lights. Then to
the more fiddley jobs of completely installing the donated headlights, cleaning and painting the speedo/dash to
original condition and checking the lifting hydraulics for stair lift and raise.
Tony and his offsider Jack had installed the low voltage power box that operates the LED lights for the stairs and
front and back warning lights were done. Then the hand rails were installed and top doors finished. As we were
6.re-assembling things we noticed other parts missing, so they had to be fabricated by myself and Graham. By
then Christmas was so near that it was time to scale back from a busy year to have a well earned rest.
5
Tony and his offsider Jack had installed the low voltage power box that operates the LED lights for the stairs and
front and back warning lights were done. Then the hand rails were installed and top doors finished. As we were
re-assembling things we noticed other parts missing, so they had to be fabricated by myself and Graham. By
then Christmas was so near that it was time to scale back from a busy year to have a well earned rest.
2016
The new year arrived and the team, full of energy to complete the work, continued by trying to finish off the top
stairs in preparation for the last and final crane lift. With all the steps and top door sleds fitted and lighting
connected, Peter and Don applied the Qantas decals to the top two doors while work continued inside to
prepare for the crane lift.
Almost seven months to the day after the first
crane lift on the 4th July, the last lift was on the
9th January as planned. Matt and Eric from
Access Cranes arrived, set up and slowly lifted
the top stairs on, with all going well but for a
slight hiccup. With my 2ic Graham, the
hydraulic ram was connected and job was done
safely and easily. Thanks to Matt and Eric for
their services donated. Great job boys.
Then it was back inside the shed for more
work, still in final fit-out mode as there was lots
more to do to finish with the steps and kick
plates in position. Meanwhile Graham was
finishing off the rubbers to the doors and fitting
the headlights, of which I didn’t have a complete set but finished the job. The next weekend I drove the Bat out
again to fit the sliding doors into position with Don. We did enough miles driving in and out of the shed to earn
flyby points - I think not.
Now David Byrne has suggested to Qantas that the Batmobile should go to Adelaide Airport for a joint
promotion, with Qantas showcasing the historic mobile stair lift (the proper name for the vehicle we nicknamed
Batmobile). It’s now ready and spick and span for the Qantas boys if they take up the suggestion. The last
Qantas decal has been applied by Peter and myself and it looks great. Work is not quite complete yet, but after
cleaning the dashboard and a bit of touch up she’ll look apples. It’s been a long road getting there to the present
day.
Thanks to all the helpers who have got the Batmobile to
where it is today: to Graham, Peter, David, Tony and
Tony and young Jack; to captain Jim for his handy advice,
to Russell O’Brien and Graham Bell for supplying the
hardware and parts to work with; and finally to Paul and
Nigel Daw for all the other support I have received.
(I still hate pop rivets).
We started the project on 13 November 2013. The final
day will be when it’s in the display hanger leading to the
Dakota ...…
Marion Flak and the team.........seeya
6
7
$5 FISH OF THE DAY – and other stories
Back in the ‘70s it was not unusual for me to fly a few friends and my mother and father in law to
Kingscote, often in Cessna 210 VH-ROH. I usually lodged a flight plan ‘500ft coastal offshore’ – in
my opinion one of the best tourist flights you could make.
The entire purpose was to have lunch at the Kingscote Hotel where the faire of the day was the usual
gamut of things and “$5 FISH OF THE DAY”. Even if you asked what the fish of the day was, the
response would always be “FISH”. Now I know this sounds strange, but local fishermen would sell all
their leftovers daily to the pub, meaning a table of six could order “$5 FISH OF THE DAY” and be
served six different varieties (and plentiful serves they were to say the least) resulting in plate swaps to
ensure the whiting and garfish were suitably distributed.
The afternoon invariably saw the entourage driving a hire car or two around the Island, taking in all
the native sites, followed by a night departure back to Adelaide. This was usually Kingscote – Cape
Jervis – Port Stanvac, then descent via controlled airspace to Adelaide. On one particular night I
climbed to above 10,000 feet for the Cape Jervis – Port Stanvac sector and managed to get into a low
level Jetstream. When I reported at Port Stanvac, the air traffic controller reminded me that the
controlled airspace entry speed was supposed to be less than 200 knots, and asked me to confirm the
aircraft was a Cessna Citation. When I replied I was flying a Cessna 210 (normally about 155-160
knots True Airspeed) the controller replied he calculated my groundspeed at over 370 knots and after
I landed he had to double check I was telling the truth. It took 17 minutes that night Kingscote –
Adelaide, and I think that may still be a record.
On the same flight my mother in law piped up “what are all the flashing lights for on the other
aircraft?” My father in law Gordon (who had been with me on many of these flights and on occasion
had taken the controls once or twice under my instructions) immediately replied “They are turning
indicators so you know which way they are going”. Even today that same joke is repeated time and
time again by my kids to their grandmother, who to this day not only believes it to be so, but has
extolled her great wealth of aviation knowledge to others.
Graham Dicker
CAN YOU HELP ….
As you are aware, many of our workshop
members have been working on the cockpit
fuselage section of the Canberra bomber.
ART EXHIBITION, BLACK
DIAMOND GALLERY, PORT
ADELAIDE
However, two of these members Phil Henning
and Colin Harrison have gone about as far as
they can go without asking for help for some
tools needed to complete this project.
If anyone is interested, one of our members, Janice
Eames, has advised that she has two aviation-related
drawings for sale in an art exhibition at the Black
Diamond Gallery in Port Adelaide (“Hurricane Pilot”
and “Pacific Corsair”). There is also some work by
John Ford for sale at the exhibition.
They are asking if you could have a look in
your garages/workshops for any of your no
longer needed Imperial SAE or similar type of
spanners, sockets etc., that you might like to
donate to the museum for the above purpose.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
7
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN AVIATION MUSEUM
SIGNIFICANT AVIATOR PROFILES
SQUADRON LEADER ROBERT BARSON COWPER DFC
AND BAR, OAM, LEGION OF HONOUR (FR)
Bob Cowper was born on 24 June 1922 in Broken
Hill NSW, but his family moved when he was still
a child to Kangaroo Flat, north west of Gawler in
South Australia, where his father worked at
Roseworthy Agricultural College. After a rural
upbringing and five years at Queen’s College in
North Adelaide, he worked first as an engineering
draughtsman at Horwood Bagshaw in Adelaide,
then joined the RAAF in 1940 on his 18th
birthday.
Bob Cowper from a photograph taken after he had
returned from a mission over Europe
Courtesy Stephen Lewis
In August 1941 he was posted to 10 Operational
Training Unit at East Fortune in Scotland for
training as a night fighter pilot, after initial
training at Pearce and Cunderdin in Western
Australia and then Yorkton in Canada. He was
then posted in November 1941 to 153 Squadron
RAF at Ballyhalbert, Northern Ireland, where he
initially flew the Boulton Paul Defiant night
fighter.
The first Defiant had entered service with the
RAF in December 1939. It attempted to combine
fighter performance with the concentrated
firepower of turret-mounted guns but the weight of the turret and a two-man crew severely reduced
i t s p e r f o r m a n c e . A n o th e r
shortcoming was its inability to
fire forward, which left it with a
number of blind spots in its
defence. This caused losses to
mount until the aircraft was
wi th dr awn from daylight
operations in August 1940 and
redeployed as a night-fighter. It
performed much better thereafter,
particularly when radar equipped.
While still at Ballyhalbert Cowper
converted to Beaufighters and
Flight Sergeant Bill Watson, a
Scot, joined him as radio operator.
The Bristol Beaufighter was one of
the most successful Britishdesigned strike aircraft of the War.
8
Boulton-Paul Defiant
www,Battleofbritainblog.com
9
It was fast and robust, and able to carry a wide range of heavy armaments. It was designed originally
as a long-range fighter and was derived from the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber, with which it
shared many common components. It entered RAF service in September 1940 and was initially used in
its intended daytime role, but after being fitted with airborne interception radar it also proved a
capable night fighter from November 1940 onwards.
Cowper and Watson were posted to 89 Squadron RAF in Egypt at the end of 1942 and ordered to ferry
out a new Beaufighter. They picked it up at RAF Station Lyneham in Wiltshire and were to proceed to
Egypt via Portreath in Cornwall, then Gibralta and Malta. The flight to Gibralta was routine, but not so
to Malta when they got hopelessly lost in darkness and heavy cloud. They had been ordered to
maintain radio silence but after seven hours flying and having no idea where they were, they sought
assistance by radio only to find it inoperable – this in a brand-new aircraft equipped with state-of-theart air intercept radar. On the last of their fuel, nine hours after leaving Gibralta, they descended
below the cloud to see what they took to be the Tunisian port of Sfax, but the response to their Very
pistol ‘colour of the day’ shot was hostile so they headed inland and made a forced landing among the
dunes. Landing the aircraft in the desert in pitch darkness was no mean feat, but neither suffered a
scratch.
They decided they must be behind enemy lines so they torched the Beaufighter to prevent its radar
falling into enemy hands and headed off into the desert before dawn. They thought Tripoli was in
British hands so walked
towards it, but by midafternoon were being
trailed by apparently
hostile arabs. After an
exchange of shots it was
established that they
were not hostile after all,
and for the next few
days they sheltered in
the tent of the arabs’
leader and his household
until a British corporal of
the Hussars arrived with
an armoured car to take
them to the front line of
Bristol Beaufighter
the Eighth Army, and the
www.fighterworld.com
next day to Tripoli.
Cowper and Watson were
flown to Luqu Airfield in Malta from Castel Benito Airfield in Tripoli, and began flying Beaufighters with
a detatchment of 89 Squadron RAF. Their initial operations were raids over Sicily where they bombed
and strafed trains in the island’s north. The Beaufighters carried a 250lb bomb under each wing and
they damaged a number of trains during these sorties.
On 10 March 1943 the Beaufighter flight became part of 108 Squadron RAF and later that month
Cowper was flown to Castel Benito as a passenger in a Hudson to pick up a new Beaufighter. The
Hudson was attacked enroute by a Beaufighter, the pilot of which fortunately realised his error and
withdrew but not before one of the passengers was wounded.
Cowper and Watson had their first air combat during the night of 18-19 April when they engaged in a
long duel with a German Me 210 night fighter off Trapani on the west coast of Sicily. The Me 210 was
10
9
also radar equipped, which resulted in repeated head-on contacts when they manouevered to get on
each other’s tail. After a number of these contacts Cowper was in position to fire into the enemy’s line
of flight and observed strikes along the length of the Me 210’s fuselage. It turned into a steep dive and
disappeared so was claimed only as damaged, but unconfirmed reports of a dinghy in the area
suggested it was probably a kill.
Throughout March the Beaufighters flew secret low-level missions over Sicily carrying senior army
officers who were specialists in parachute and glider operations. These were carried out on moonlit
nights for the specialists to examine the terrain in preparation for the airborne landings that were to be
part of the forthcoming invasion. They also had to fly exercises as simulated troop carriers, flying
straight and level through enemy flak to test the defences. All the aircraft survived unscasthed.
The invasion of Sicily, operation Husky, began on the night of 9/10 July with airborne landings. The US
Seventh Army under General
George Patton went ashore the next
day in the Gulf of Gela between
Licata and Scoglitte on the south
central coast, while the British Eight
Army landed south of Syracuse on
the south east tip of the island.
Cowper, during this period, flew
with Pilot Officer Farquharson
because Watson was ill with
dysentery.
On the night of 11/12 July, they
attacked a Ju 88 at 10,000 feet that
was part of a German bomber
stream attacking allied shipping.
The Ju 88 exploded in a fireball
Bristol Beaufighter in attack
th a t ba dl y da m a ged their
Courtesy Stephen Lewis
Beaufighter. The perspex was
blown out of the front, all engine
control was lost and Cowper had pieces of molten aluminium lodged in his legs. Farquharson called
that he was bailing out, then the aircraft dropped a wing and entered a spin so tight that the ‘g’ force
made it very difficult for Cowper to do the same. He lost consciousness but came to to find himself
falling through the air, pulled his ripcord and very soon thereafter hit the sea with the aircraft
simultaneously crashing nearby. He was able to get rid of his parachute, inflate his Mae West and
dinghy and climb into it. Fortunately a hospital ship, HMS Aba was steaming in his direction and an
hour or two after dawn was close enough to see his flare.
Cowper was picked up with a deeply cut and broken nose, bruised forehead and a minor shrapnel
wound to his thigh. Farquharson was never found and may have gone in with the aircraft.
The Aba steamed to Tripoli and Cowper hitched a ride back to Malta on a Dakota five days after he
bailed out. On 19th – a week after the incident – he was flying again despite the pain of wearing an
oxygen mask over his broken nose. Two nights later, back with Watson, they destroyed another Ju 88
off Augusta on the Sicilian east coast. Again, it exploded and they had to fly through its debris with
molten aluminium coating the windscreen. This made forward vision so difficult that they were unable
to get into firing position on another Ju 88 and so an opportunity was lost.
10
Cowper’s tour ended in mid-August 1943
when he was awarded the DFC and
posted to 63 OTU at Honiley in
Warwickshire as an instructor. He had
met an Australian WAAF aircraft plotter
at Ballyhalbert named Kay McCall, and
they were married at Garelochhead near
Lach Lomond in Scotland on 9 December
1943.
From August 1943 until March 1944,
Cowper instructed in night flying on
Beaufort IIs and taught Hurricane pilots
instrument and night flying in Miles
Masters, and then was transferred to 5
TEU at Annan in Scotland.
Bill Watson (left) and Bob Cowper in their official photograph following
He was then posted as a flight the Investiture at Buckingham Palace on 2 Feb 1943 when they received
their gallantry awards (via Stephen Lewis – Chasing Shadows)
commander to 456 Squadron RAAF at
Forn in Sussex on 10 May 1944. He was
checked out in a Mosquito XVII by the
Squadron’s Commanding Officer Wing Commander Keith Hampshire and flew his first flight on 19 May.
Watson rejoined him as his radio operator after being involved in airborne radar testing at Hinton-inHedges south of Honiley.
The de Havilland DH-98 Mosquito was originally designed as an unarmed long-range fast bomber and
entered production in 1941. It was constructed almost entirely of wood and excelled as a day and
night fighter, intruder, fighter-bomber, photo-reconnaissance aircraft, dual control trainer and even as
a tranport aircraft for BOAC.
Frank Harding’s painting of the engagement with the He177
(Via Stephen Lewis – Chasing Shadows)
Operation Overlord started on 6 June
1944, for which 456 Squadron
contributed to night air cover. On the
night of 9/10 June, Cowper and Watson
saw their first combat while patrolling off
Cherbourg when they crippled a Heinkel
177, which crash landed on the
Cherbourg peninsula. During the same
night they destroyed a Dornier 217. On
the night of the 14/15 June they hit a Ju
88 in the port engine and the crew bailed
out with the engine on fire. The aircraft
spun into the sea. On the night of 4/5
July they hit and destroyed another
Heinkel 177, which was bombing allied
shipping.
456 Squadron also provided night
intercepts of V-1 flying bombs that the Germans were launching in increasing numbers against
southern England. By the end of August the Squadron was credited with destroying 24 of them.
Cowper and Watson claimed one but it was not confirmed because an anti-aircraft battery also claimed
it.
11
456 Squadron was then relocated to Church Fenton in
North Yorkshire on 30 December 1944 and equipped
with Mosquito NF XXXs. This version was powered by
Rolls Royce Merlin Mark 76 engines, and had a top
speed of 416mph and a range of 1,159 miles.
The Squadron was held in reserve while training for
night bomber support, but by then the Luftwaffe was
largely beaten and there were few operational
opportunities.
In March 1945 the squadron was ordered to Bradwell
Bay in Essex, from where it provided support for
bombing raids over southern Germany and
Czechoslovakia, and some low level attacks on ground
targets. The Squardron flew its last operational sortie
of the War on 2 May 1945, five days before Germany
surrendered. Squadron Leader Bob Cowper by then
was acting CO and it was under his direction that the
disbanding of the unit was moved forward to 15 June
1945. 456 Squadron was the only Australian night
fighter squadron formed in WWII.
Cowper was awarded his bar to his DFC and Watson a
DFC. As well as these decorations Cowper was made a
member of the Caterpillar Club (for deploying his
parachute), the Gold Fish Club (for deploying his
dinghy) and the Late Arrivals Club (for his trek across
the desert). His combat claims are summarised in the table below:
456 Squadron Mosquito over English countryside
(Via Stephen Lewis – Chasing Shadows)
_______________________________________
' Source: Aero Australia Issue 13 January-March 2007 page 84
12
Cowper then returned to Australia with his wife and the first of four daughters. His post-war carreer
included being a mechanical representative for Dunlop Australia, a service station owner and finally a
cattle farmer and racehorse owner before retiring in Adelaide. He was the first Country Legatee to
become President of the Legacy Club of Adelaide and in 2004 he was one of ten Australian WWII
veterans to be awarded France’s Legion of Honour in recognition of their contribution to the liberation of
France.
Bob Cowper also worked tirelessly after the War to achieve recognition of 456 Squadron’s contribution
to the War. He was instrumental in having the Squadron’s logo accepted as the official 456 Squadron
badge on 1 September 2006, and on 11 September 2008 the badge was laid in a slate tile in the floor of
St Clement Danes Church in the Strand, London.
Lastly, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2012 Australia Day Honours
“For service to veterans and their families through a range of ex-service organisations.”
Mike Milln²
History Group Member
South Australian Aviation Museum Inc
April 2013
Appendix
__________________________________________________________________________________
Sources :
Squadron Leader Bob Cowper DFC Night Fighter Ace, Dennis Newton, Aero Australia magazine, Issue 13 January/March 2007
pages 80-84
Chasing Shadows, Stephen Lewis with Bob Cowper, January 2007 DPA Publishing
_______________________________
² Mike Milln is author of Wing Tips – The story of the Royal Aero Club of South Australia – Book 1: 1919-1941, 2011
Avonmore Books
13 13
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