Yep, I'm the Bob A referred to in the continuing story of the crash of Lockheed 14 VH-ADY in April 1942. As an introduction I have had an ongoing and intense interest in aviation, and Australian aviation in particular for around sixty years - basically from when I was knee high to a grasshopper on a farm at Bacchus Marsh in Victoria.
I recall my father, who was involved in aviation as a flying member of the Victorian Aero Club along with Roy Goon the CFI, and who also was associated with Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm, taking me to Essendon to see the arrival of the first Qantas Constellation. I was duly impressed with the nose wheel leg which seemd to go forever into the bowels of the aircraft - we then went to Spencer St Station to see the Spirit of Progress but the Constellation was the fascination.
From there I went on to join the Geelong Gliding Club at Bacchus Marsh when I was 13, pedalled my bike out to the 'drome as soon as an aircraft was in earshot and each weekend (when we weren't trapping and selling rabbits) pedalled the 30 miles to Essendon to work in the old Ansett-ANA workshops - payment was in kind - a rdie in a DC3, Bristol Freighter, DC4, or one of Brain and Brown's Ansons.
Then to the army for two years in Intell before transferring to the RAAF and serving as an Armourer for 20 years. Three yours of Butterworth and Asia, the USA for the trials on the F-111Cs and in Red Flag exercises and then retirement in Darwin. A stint at clearing UXO at the old weapons range and then employed to locate, map and report on aircraft crash sites and military sites throughout the Northern Territory for the NT Museum - a job that wasn't really work but the enjoyment of new finds and being out bush.
I went on to become Director of the National Trust in the NT for five years before branching out as a Heritage Consultant and as Chair of the NT Heritage Council. The job saw me out bush still documenting WWII sites, providing reports for heritage assessments and undertaking a range of interpretive projects including wartime and historic sites. It was during this time that Dennis and Bill Gray made contact with a view to locating the site of VH-ADY and mounting a commemorative plaque at the site.
Despite me mentioning I hadn't been there before, miraculously the three brain cells I had remaining increased to four and I went back though my files to confirm I'd been there in 1988, but via a more direct route than we eventually took with the Grays.
This to me was one of the most memorable trips out bush as it was a family affair for Dennis and Bill. It was a trip I thoroughly enjoyed, not only in relocating the site but in knowing that some ghosts had been laid to rest - or hopefully so.
Since then my wife and I have retired to Thailand where we've been for six years, in a small village outside Lampang in the north. I still maintain my connections in the NT, family and otherwise, including continuing research into the wartime and aviation history there. I rewrote Darwin's Air War, which was launched as a much expanded edition on 19 February 2011 and more recently self published Japanese Air Forces Over the NWA 1942-1945. Another, The Japanese in the NT, with the emphasis on IN, deals with the Japanese aircraft downed over the north, fates of aircrews and the myths of kill claims by both sides. Perhaps it'll see a printing press soon - finances permitting.
And that sums me up - in mangling the words of a former prime minister and polarising force in Australia - an 'aviation tragic'. My wife has another view that casts serious doubts as to whether those three brain cells remain...
I look forward to being able to contribute to The Aussie Aviator as time permits and know I'll enjoy the company of the membership - which includes a number of luminaries with much greater knowledge than I. I know I'll learn more from them.
Cheers,
Bob Alford
Lampang Thailand
