Bob & Jenny’s day
One of the intriguing entries in Gerry Newey’s 1945 diary refers to him taking leave to be a witness at a friend’s wedding. On the 9th of March he writes: “Saw Bob Bawden to arrange his wedding which is …
About
Morning tea at Ron’s place
Last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a special morning tea at the Edmund Hillary Retirement Village at Remuera for a few of the remaining Bomber Command veterans in the Auckland-Hamilton area. It was organised by the New Zealand Bomber Command Association. I picked …
Air Gunners, Mepal 1945
In the last post there was a letter written to Mr & Mrs Williamson by Wing Commander C. H. “Mac” Baigent, DFC and Bar (later DSO and AFC), Officer Commanding 75 (NZ) Squadron, sending condolences for their missing son, Sgt …
Please, no more vertical drinking!
On the 30th of March 1945 Gerry wrote in his diary: All Kiwis collected in the briefing room @ 9.15 to hear a short talk by Hon Mr Holland. He spoke on rehabilitation etc. The Hon. Sidney George Holland …
The other JN-Dogs
HK601 wasn’t the only Lancaster known as “JN-Dog”. When the squadron was converting from Stirlings to Lancasters in March-April 1944, crews were sent across to Lancaster Finishing School at Feltwell, for a week or so of ground familiarisation and a …
Thanks Simon!
Simon Sommerville has very kindly given us a link and a plug on his fantastic 75(NZ) Squadron RAF website: https://75nzsquadron.wordpress.com/2019/05/02/the-jn-dog-boys-new-website/ I’ve mentioned before how much Simon’s work has helped my own research, but it’s well worth mentioning again. …
New photos of Ralph
Ralph Sparrow’s grandson David has sent through some more wonderful photos from the family, these from Ralph’s daughter Susan’s collection. She has also sent a set of documents from Ralph’s RCAF files, including his service record, discharge papers, etc. These …
Catching up with Dougie & Janet
Surely the best part of rediscovering the JN-Dog story for me was finding out that one of the crew was still alive and living here in Auckland. And then to meet Doug Williamson, and his lovely wife Janet – such …
Finding Ralph
Wings Over New Zealand (WONZ – http://rnzaf.proboards.com/) is an online NZ aviation forum and community, a great repository of information, frequented by people with a great deal of knowledge about the history of the RNZAF and Kiwis in RAF Bomber …
“Buzz” – a mystery solved?
In November 2013, Gerry’s eldest son Phil found his Dad’s 1945 Diary in his suitcase of Gerry’s photos and memorabilia. This was a very exciting addition to the ‘story’ that we were starting to put together, and Phil very generously …