First post-war landing

 

Then FLGOFF Greg Weekes is congratulated by No. 2 Squadron CO WGCDR John Downing on his 271st and last mission in 1971. Two weeks after this photo was taken, WGCDR Downing was shot down.

GPCAPT Greg Weekes is flanked by SQNLDR Guy Wilson (right), the aircraft captain, and MAJ Steve Webb of the USAF (left) at Da Nang airport during the study tour.

THE 707 aircraft A20-623, known as “Clarendon”, has become the first RAAF aircraft to land in Da Nang, Vietnam, since the end of the Vietnam War.

The last continuously-serving aircrew member of No. 2 Squadron who saw action in Vietnam, Group Captain Greg Weekes, was among the group to be part of the historic landing.

GPCAPT Weekes, Director of Studies - Air Force at the Australian Command and Staff College, was on a Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies trip. The tour touched down in Da Nang on September 13.

Da Nang, which was located in the then South Vietnam, was a major US base during the war. Many RAAF personnel served at the base in support of US and ADF operations in the south.

GPCAPT Weekes was a navigator on Canberras and transited through Da Nang many times during the Vietnam War. The study tour also allowed him to visit Hanoi for the first time as the RAAF never operated in the north. During the war, aircrew referred to the city as “downtown”.

GPCAPT Weekes will retire in January after 37 years’ service.

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