ADF-SERIALS
Australian & New Zealand Military Aircraft Serials & History

RAAF Taylorcraft Auster Mk.III
451, 453 & 454 Sqns, RAAF and Odd Bods

Taylorcraft Auster Image Gallery

(See also A11 Taylorcraft Auster and RAN Auster J5/G Autocar)

454 Squadron:

As well as Baltimores, early in 1945, 454 Squadron had unofficially acquired a Fairchild Argus light observation aeroplane  which turned out to be very handy as a transport ferry, pilot check plane and general purpose Squadron Hack. With a range of over 600 miles it became a useful addition to the Squadrons aircraft inventory. But it was looked upon with envious eyes, and at a party in the Squadron Mess one evening, Wing Commander Andrew "Pete" Henderson agreed with a local fighter squadrons commander to swap it for a Spitfire. Now as everyone knows, all bomber pilots want to fly fighters at least once in their career, so the offer was accepted without hesitation. But there was a catch the Spitfire turned out to be a Mk IV photo-reconnaissance variant *, not a fighter at all. To make matters worse, there was no documentation and no flight manuals, so it was viewed upon as not such a good deal. Henderson, somewhat wiser than most, deferred the first flight to Squadron Leader Col Stinson, the Squadron Leader in charge of flying. Stinson flew the Spitfire on 11 May and again the next day where it reputedly scared him so much, that no-one else would dare try it on. So at another party in late May, the Spitfire was likewise swapped for a much more practical and controllable aircraft, an Auster Mk III, NJ923. The Auster proved to be a real bonus and very quickly, most pilots were checked out, beginning with Flight Lieutenant Geoff Bradley on 25 May. One interested bystander, Pilot Officer Bob Mitchell, who would also fly the Auster, recalled the whole affair:

" ...at last I was offered the job of Squadron Hack pilot and given a quick circuit by Flight Lieutenant Jeff Gillingham who told me to approach at 40 knots, full flap over the fence, cut throttle and full stick back for a three pointer (it worked). The war ended, we shifted to Villa Orba and kept the Auster in the campsite and used a piece of taxi strip for a runway. I mainly did trips to Venice taking a passenger and landing on a small oval on the northern end of the Lido which was being used by a group of Americans with a Blimp. The reason for [parking the Auster near] the campsite was because it was a mile walk to the paddock used by the Baltimores. Clearly the swapping of aircraft ad-hoc like this would have been frowned upon by the authorities, so their very presence was kept quiet. In fact there were a couple of Austers that the Squadron used. ... "

Auster III NJ923 and NJ793 are recorded in several Squadron pilots log books and other Squadron records.

(Text above adapted from "Alamein to the Alps : 454 Squadron, RAAF 1941-1945" by Air Commodore Mark Lax)

* Spitfire PR.IVT BP884: C/N 2561, 07/02/1942 First flight, (Merlin 46), 15/02/1942 To 8 MU, 03/05/1942 1 PRU, 30/09/1942 542 Sqn, RAF, 18/06/1943 HAL, 23/02/1944 Merlin 45 installed at RAF Benson, 10-27/05/1945 To 454 Sqn, RAAF on loan. (Exchanged for the Unit's Hack Fairchild Argus), Possibly to Russia with 10 other PRIV's (AB132, AB423, AB427, BP884, BP889, BP891, BP917, BP923, BP926, BP929, & BR658).

One of the 454 Sqn Austers low over camp, 1945. Godfrey Collection via Mark Lax.

The Authors of this page are Brendan Cowan & Mark Lax.

Source: Alamein to the Alps : 454 Squadron, RAAF 1941-1945 by Mark Lax, Australian War Memorial Website and Photographs, http://www.auster.ukf.net/, http://austerhg.org/, http://www.auster.com.au/ , https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C307224. , https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/19197 , https://rclibrary.co.uk/files_titles/2069/AirPic_AirReserve_Gazette_1956_04.pdf

Emails: Mark Lax, Gordon Birkett

Updated 09 September 2020

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