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A9-427, a Beaufort from No. 100 Squadron that flew a record
145 missions.
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The
No. 7 Squadron crew of the Beaufort that shot down a Jake
in the Torres Strait.
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On the
eve of the unveiling of a restored Beaufort, WGCDR Geoff Willans
reflects on the wartime history of the bomber that became a workhorse
during operations in New Guinea in 1942-43.
THE Australian War Memorial in Canberra has restored and put on
display a No. 100 Squadron Beaufort used in service in New Guinea
during World War II.
Members
of the Beaufort Association and Air Force representatives will
attend the unveiling ceremony of the aircraft – A9-557 –
on Friday, March 28.
Although
the aircraft survived the war, its crew was not so lucky.
On
January 20, 1945, Flight Lieutenant Harry Fowler and his crew
landed A9-557 at Tadji, New Guinea, with battle damage and a live
bomb in the bomb-bay.
The
aircraft was badly damaged, crashing into several jeeps and a
building, but the crew was back flying next day.
A9-557
was used for spares but its former crew was killed on March 13,
1945, when a bomb prematurely exploded during a mission.
It
is fitting that the War Memorial is displaying a Beaufort because
for a large part of the south-west Pacific campaign the aircraft
replaced the Hudson as the work-horse of the Air Force’s
bomber force.
It
was operated extensively in our north-east area; less so in the
north-west.
In
March 1939, a British air mission recommended that the Beaufort
be built in Australia for both the RAAF and RAF. Aircraft would
be assembled at the Government Aircraft Factory at Fishermen’s
Bend in Melbourne and at Mascot in Sydney.
In
May 1940, the British government placed an embargo on the export
of the Taurus engine powering the Beaufort. The Pratt and Whitney
twin row Wasp engine was then being built in Australia and it
was decided to fit the Beaufort with this engine.
The
twin row Wasp was substantially more powerful, necessitating airframe
and control system modifications. There were problems with the
elevator controls that resulted in the loss of a number of personnel
and aircraft, including Wing Commander Charles Learmonth in a
crash off Rottnest Island near Perth.
The
first experimental Beaufort assembled at Fishermen’s Bend
flew to Laverton on May 5, 1941. The first production Beaufort
was completed in August 1941.
More
than 700 would eventually be built. The aircraft factories also
later began building the Beaufighter which had about 75 per cent
commonality with the Beaufort.
The
first six Beauforts were deployed to Singapore in early December
1941. Five were sent back to Australia because the crews were
untrained and the aircraft did not have turrets; one aircraft
was retained for photographic reconnaissance tasks. This Beaufort
was with No. 1 Squadron (Hudsons) at Kota Bahru when the Japanese
landed nearby on December 8, 1941.
The
first unit to introduce the Beaufort into operational service
was No. 100 Squadron that had formed at Richmond, New South Wales,
on February 25, 1942, and moved to Mareeba, Queensland, in May.
On
June 25, seven aircraft were deployed to Port Moresby to make
a low-level night strike against a Japanese ship approaching Lae,
with a concurrent diversionary attack against Salamaua. The ship
was sunk but one Beaufort was lost and another was badly damaged.
No.
100 Squadron, in conjunction with No. 30 Squadron Beaufighters
making their first operational sortie, also made the first RAAF
operational torpedo attack on September 7 on a Japanese convoy
withdrawing its forces from the failed Milne Bay operation.
Squadrons
that operated Beauforts in the south-west Pacific included Nos
1, 2 (briefly), 6, 7, 8, 13 (briefly), 14, 15, 32 and 100.
In
the north-east area, Nos 6, 7, 8, 15 and 100 Squadrons operated
Beauforts from mid-1942. On June 18, 1943, a No. 7 Squadron Beaufort
in the Torres Strait area detected on radar and attacked a Jake
floatplane, shooting it down.
For
the assaults of western New Britain, Bougainville and New Ireland
in late 1943, the neutralisation of Japanese air elements at Rabaul
was crucial. The Beauforts of No. 71 Wing made many heavy night
attacks on Rabaul through November and December 1943 and January
1944. Eventually, the Japanese withdrew their air elements from
Rabaul. The Beauforts – including the aircraft A9-557 on
display at the War Memorial – also took part in the all-out
offensive against Wewak in September 1944.
The
air campaign in the north-west area was more a holding operation
and potential targets were more distant. The limited radius-of-action
of the Beaufort restricted its value in this theatre.
Nos
1 and 2 Squadrons operated Beauforts for brief periods in 1944
from Northern Territory bases. No. 13 Squadron only held Beauforts
briefly.
In
the latter years, the cost of operating the Beaufort relative
to the latest marks of the P-40 and Beaufighter fighter-bomber,
their greater versatility, and the limited space on Allied airfields,
led to the reduction of the Beaufort’s role.
- WGCDR
Geoff Willans is a member of the Aerospace Centre.
