Air Power Archaeology

Another recent Australian news article about the discovery and identification of the wreck of RAAF Beaufort A9-211 on New Britain...

www.news.com.au/technology/i...

#WWII #WW2 #SWW #PNG #PapuaNewGuinea

Missing RAAF fighters found in WWII plane wreckage in PNG rainforest After more than eight decades, James Burrowes had just about given up hope of ever knowing what truly happened to his uncle Tom, an Air Force fighter who disappeared in World War II.

An 82-year mystery ends with missing RAAF fighters found in PNG plane wreckage (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12...

#WWII #WW2 #SWW #PNG #PapuaNewGuinea

Amelia Earhart disappeared almost 90 years ago. Why are so many people still looking for her? The decades-long search for Amelia Earhart, her aircraft, and her navigator Fred Noonan, has been both controversial and costly.

It’s Amelia Earhart finding season again!

Thanks to The Conversation for giving me the opportunity to explore the “Amelia cycle” and share my thoughts in this piece.

theconversation.com/amelia-earha...

Men's shed take on task of restoring former RAAF jet fighter A former RAAF jet fighter will be rebuilt by an amateur team of restorers in the second such project for a south-west New South Wales men's shed.

De Havilland Vampire Mk35A jet fighter to be restored by Dareton Men's Shed (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Australia's worst peacetime aviation disaster remembered 75 years later A memorial, including a replica of the aircraft and a plaque made out of a stone recovered from the crash site, has been unveiled in York.

Australia's worst peacetime aviation disaster memorialised on 75th anniversary (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

The Bombers in the Marsh (Full Episode) | S12 EP3 | Time Team (Warton, Lancashire) YouTube video by Time Team Classics

The Time Team episode, 'The Bombers in the Marsh' (Season 12, Episode 3), was recently uploaded to the Time Team Classics YouTube channel...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujNp...

The episode deals with the excavation of USAAF A-26 Invader wrecks in Lancashire.

#AviationArchaeology #TimeTeam #WWII #WW2

Micronesia's worst fears realised as WWII shipwrecks leak The Federated States of Micronesia's biggest tourism asset has become one of its largest threats, with as much as 22 million litres of oil from World War II shipwrecks slowly leaking into the ocean.

WWII shipwrecks a 'ticking time bomb' for Federated States of Micronesia (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

#Chuuk #Truk #Micronesia #WWII #WW2 #SWW

PNG's memories of WWII are fading — at a deadly cost for communities Trainees in Papua New Guinea will learn to remove unexploded ordnance, as fading memories of World War II expose more people to the conflict's dangerous legacy.

News from September 2025:

WWII-era bombs are killing and injuring thousands in PNG. Now trainees will learn how to remove them (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Note reference to appeal for B-17E 41-2446, aka 'Swamp Ghost', to be returned to PNG.

#PapuaNewGuinea #WWII #WW2 #SWW

Historic squadron rebooted ahead of Albanese-Trump meeting The federal government has re-established the Number 12 Squadron in SA at the same time as Australia's anti-submarine capability is expanding with the arrival of new aircraft.

Historic Number 12 Squadron returns as Australia expands anti-submarine capability (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Missing Wyoming WWII Vet’s B-17 Bomber Discovered In New Guinea Jungle After vanishing over the Pacific in 1942, Sgt. Thomas Cotner of Casper was presumed lost forever. Now eight decades later, wreckage of the B-17 Flying…

Missing Wyoming WWII Vet’s B-17 Bomber Discovered In New Guinea Jungle (via Cowboy State Daily)...

cowboystatedaily.com/2025/09/27/w...

#PapuaNewGuinea #WWII #WW2 #SWW @pacificwrecks.bsky.social

WWII anti-aircraft guns blocked off after injury sparks insurance claim A World War II anti-aircraft emplacement at Lithgow in New South Wales has been fenced off after an injury at the site led to an insurance claim against the local council.

Lithgow WWII anti-aircraft guns fenced off after injury and insurance claim (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

Three posterettes, one with two men (James (JDK) and Phil over reacting to 'Logbooks & AvDocs' in front of a bookcase, and dated 8 November 2025. Below is a man on a typewriter sitting in an aeroplane cockpit, with the title 'Print the Legend' and 27-28 February 2026. Last is the previously seen poster for the full Aviation Conferences Mk.VIII Conference with the Canadian Aviation Historical Society at the KF Centre for Excellence in Kelowna, Canada, and online, 17-20 June 2026.

It's happening! Aviation Cultures' team announce 2 Spotlight events to join the previously announced Mk.VIII Conference.

The Spotlights are free and online. With topic experts on aviation writing, you don't want to miss them! Stay tuned for details, experts, and maybe YOU can contribute too? -JDK

Iconic WWII bomber 'G for George' returns home to Canberra Lancaster bomber G for George carried 250 aircrew during World War II with no casualties. Now the iconic "lucky bomber" is returning to the Australian War Memorial.

Iconic 'lucky' bomber G for George returns to the Australian War Memorial (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

#Canberra #AvroLancaster #WWII #WW2 #BomberCommand

Exploring the Wreck of the Yorktown | Naval History - August 2025, Volume 39, Number 4 For the first time since the loss of the USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, a remote, robotic expedition has ventured inside the wreck.

For the first time since the loss of the USS Yorktown at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, a remote, robotic expedition has ventured inside the wreck. usni.org/magazines/n...

The 10th World Archaeological Congress (WAC-10) is currently taking place in Darwin. Yesterday, Dr Fiona Earl presented on the recent discovery of a Beaufort bomber...

Heritage honour for ships sunk in Battle of the Coral Sea The federal government recognises three American ships sunk by Japanese torpedoes in 1942 killing more than 600 men as having national historical significance.

Heritage honour for ships sunk in Battle of the Coral Sea (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

#Archaeology #MaritimeArchaeology #AviationArchaeology

Vale 15709 Alexander ‘Lex’ Hugh David McAulay – 1RAR 1965–66 Soldier, Gentleman, Historian

We recently learnt of the passing of historian Lex McAulay on 2 June 2025. McAulay wrote numerous volumes about Australia's military history, including the actions of the Royal Australian Air Force in the Pacific during the Second World War.

frontlineveterans.com.au/news/f/vale-...

#Obituary

Crash-landed and salvaged from the jungle, WWII bomber returns home Eight decades after it was last in the sky, and four since it was taken from the Papua New Guinean jungle, a restored World War II bomber returns to Port Moresby from Queensland.

World War II bomber Hell'n Pelican II sets sail for Port Moresby after 10-year restoration (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

The tragic reason Walter Eddison never answered his telephone The Eddison family suffered terrible loss during World War II. A plaque near a Canberra shopping centre car park offers an insight into that moment in history.

This plaque near a Canberra shopping centre car park offers a window into a family's tragic war story (via ABC News)...

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06...

#Canberra #WWII #WW2 #SWW

Our Contact page has now been updated to include links to our social media accounts and a postal address...
airpowerarchaeology.com/contact.asp

TRUSCOTT, KEITH WILLIAM, DFC & Bar | AirPowerArchaeology.com Documenting the historical archaeology of Second World War air power in Australia

28 March 1943: S/Ldr K.W. Truscott, DFC & Bar, of No. 76 Squadron, RAAF, was killed when Kittyhawk A29-150 crashed into Exmouth Gulf while conducting mock attacks on a USN PBY Catalina. #OTD
S/Ldr Truscott is now interred at the Perth War Cemetery.
www.airpowerarchaeology.com/view_person....

The wreck of Martin Baltimore FW282 of No. 454 Squadron, RAAF, has been located off the island of Antikythera in Greece...
www.defence.gov.au/news-events/...

LYON, JOHN | AirPowerArchaeology.com Documenting the historical archaeology of Second World War air power in Australia

20 March 1943: Having survived the loss of Boston A28-3 and being taken prisoner by the Japanese, F/Sgt J. Lyon of No. 22 Squadron, RAAF, was executed near Lae. #OTD
F/Sgt Lyon's remains were located in 1948 and he is now interred at the Lae War Cemetery.
www.airpowerarchaeology.com/view_person....

SIZE, JOHN ALOYSIUS | AirPowerArchaeology.com Documenting the historical archaeology of Second World War air power in Australia

19 March 1944: LAC J.A. Size of No. 10 Works Supply Unit, RAAF, died of a gunshot wound he had accidentally received while on duty at Lae. #OTD #WWII
LAC Size is now interred at the Lae War Cemetery in Papua New Guinea.
www.airpowerarchaeology.com/view_person....

Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force Roll of Honour | AirPowerArchaeology.com Documenting the historical archaeology of Second World War air power in Australia

As part of Women's History Month, we remember those members of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) who died during or as a result of the Second World War. #WWII
www.airpowerarchaeology.com/view_waaaf_r...

ALLAN, JOHN GIBSON | AirPowerArchaeology.com Documenting the historical archaeology of Second World War air power in Australia

18 March 1946: F/O J.G. Allan of No. 82 Squadron, RAAF, was flying P-51D A68-718 as part of a flight missing en route to Japan. F/O Allan was last heard of off the island of Kyushu. #OTD
F/O Allan is now commemorated on the Labuan Memorial in Malaysia.
airpowerarchaeology.com/view_person....

John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway, the last Battle of Britain pilot, dies aged 105 The pilot, whose squadron shot down 90 enemy aircraft in an 11-day period in 1940, called himself the ‘lucky Irishman’ The last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, John “Paddy” Hemingway, has died aged 105. The Royal Air Force (RAF) said Hemingway, a…

John ‘Paddy’ Hemingway, the last Battle of Britain pilot, dies aged 105

SHARLAND, DARCY ARTHUR JOHN | AirPowerArchaeology.com Documenting the historical archaeology of Second World War air power in Australia

16 March 1943: RAAF Cpl D.A.J. Sharland volunteered to fly as a photographer aboard USAAF B-24D 41-23731 'Dirty Gertie'. The aircraft failed to return. Cpl Sharland is listed as missing and is now commemorated on the Lae Memorial in Papua New Guinea. #OTD
airpowerarchaeology.com/view_person....

BRABHAM, JOHN ARTHUR, AO, OBE | AirPowerArchaeology.com Documenting the historical archaeology of Second World War air power in Australia

LAC John Arthur Brabham served with the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War. Mustered as a Flight Mechanic in February 1945, he went on to serve with No. 5 Operational Training Unit, RAAF, at Williamtown, New South Wales, from March 1945...
airpowerarchaeology.com/view_person....

'His greatest achievement': The Australian partnership that took down the F1 establishment Europe's stranglehold on F1 was broken in the mid-1960s by an Australian partnership that left a legacy of excellence.

How the Brabham-Repco team ended years of European dominance in Formula 1 (via ABC News)
#Melbourne #AustralianF1GP @f1tv.bsky.social
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...