No 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps

jcm261 · 20 March 2008, 10:50 PM

Hello all. I'm new to The Aeroplane Forum - finding it a great resource!!! I'm an Australian historian, based in New Zealand, at Massey University.

I'm hoping for help/advice/pointers with No 4 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps. The Royal Australian Air Force is reforming No 4 Squadron late 2008 and will trace its lineage back to WW1. I'm writing a history of 4 Sqn AFC (WW1) and 4 Sqn RAAF (WW2) for the 4/5 Squadrons Association to present to the new squadron, to surviving WW2 veterans of the squadron, and hopefully to sell some copies.

We're on a small budget and it's something of a race against time. I've been researching the WW2 squadron for years now, and have a good knowledge of the WW1 squadron, including books. I'm wondering if anybody knows of memoirs/diaries/photographs in private hands that might be available for research and/or illustration of the book. Also would welcome advice on articles in magazines.

The catch is, being in NZ, I'm not able to call on people ... scans, word documents of memoirs, pointers towards articles, contacts, or just advice and encouragement would all be welcome! We can promise a mention in the book's Acknowledgements, and will keep you informed of availability.

Thanks all. John

FOKKERJ · 20 March 2008, 11:10 PM

Hi John,

Welcome to the Aerodrome.
You are in the right place, hopefully someone has what you are looking for.

Best Wishes, FOKKERJ

Good Luck with your project.

'14-'18aviationcollector · 20 March 2008, 11:37 PM

G'day John,

Welcome to the Aerodrome! I am relatively new here too, and I find it to be an excellent forum to discuss relevant topics. I can help you. How many 4 Sq AFC photos would you like?

jcm261 · 21 March 2008, 12:58 AM

Hi guys - thanks for the good wishes and offer of help. Good question, 14-18ac ... not sure how many pics we'd be after, to be honest, I guess it's a matter of getting an idea of what is "out there" and taking it from there. I'm guessing about 20 to 30 pics from various sources. I know of some in organisations (like Australian War Memorial) that we can get access to. We'll also see if we can find a couple of pamphets ... say, 4 Sqn sports carnival or Xmas dinner menus that tell something of a story. What's proving a bit more difficult to find is ground staff "doing stuff" (life in barracks, maintaining aircraft, etc) although aircraft shots would also of course be good. Actually, it's the same with memoirs ... I've found only one ground staff diary/memoir, in the State Library of Victoria.
cheers, john

Ross_Moorhouse · 21 March 2008, 01:58 AM

Be welcome here.

Suggest you join The Australian Society of World War 1 Aero Historians They should be more than able to help you.

Ross_Moorhouse · 21 March 2008, 01:59 AM

Also Cam's site Australian Flying Corps He is an Aussie living in the USA.

Grinseed · 21 March 2008, 02:12 AM

John
I dont know what information you might aready have but here's a few sites you might find useful.

A good site with a lot of general information:
No.4 Squadron Australian Flying Corps

This is a useful archived site created by Cam Riley, who Ross has already mentioned.
Australian Flying Corps - The Aviation History of Australia in World War I

This site has several pages of photos of AFC ground crew and facilities :
rides.webshots.com/album/127405134qweedZ
-just copy the address straight into your http address field-

A good deal of AFC information here:
Service Personnel- Australia and New Zealand

And just to show what the other guys in your situation came up with:
3 Squadron AFC & RAAF

And try to find a copy of

High Adventure by A.H.Cobby, its the history of the squadron by one of its pilots.

Hope that will be of help.

Cheers.

'14-'18aviationcollector · 21 March 2008, 05:57 AM

Hi John,

I am sure that I have many photos of ground staff carrying out day to day activities such as life in and around barracks and maintaining aircraft. I have many aircraft photos as well. I am not sure if you are aware of this or not, but generally photograph collections are composed primarily of just that, photos of people doing things. It's just that collectors and researchers when they are purchasing or copying photos usually go straight to the photos of aeroplanes, and they are the ones that are usually published or purchased for collections. I am sure I would have many photos that you would be interested in, and I am very happy to have as many photos in my collection as possible published by people such as yourself.

Cheers, David.

22 March 2008, 12:26 AM

You need to speak to Gordon Branch. He is the guru of all things 4 AFC, and as it happens I am going to his place tomorrow. I will let him know of this thread.

I will also direct you to the book Australian Airmen the history of 4 Squadron, you also have Cobby's, Jones and McLoughrys books to reference as well.

I have a few biographies on the men of the squadron as that will be the last book in a triolgy of books I have planned.

Dont forget the Australian National Archives as all WW1 service papers are now online as well as the AWM as they hold at least 15 private records of men in 4 AFC.

I also have the unpublished biography of jack wright, but I will have to get permission first to see if I can share it.

PM me if you need anything.

Andrew Smith

'14-'18aviationcollector · 22 March 2008, 04:36 AM

Hi Andrew,

I just gave Gordon a call after seeing your post, and I would love the opportunity to bring some photos along to illustrate the inevitable discussions about AFC & RFC topics, if you would like that.

For any one else who might feel left out, please don't! I have a huge collection of photos of First World War aeroplanes, about 5,000 or so, and am always willing to have any of them published. If anyone requires photos at any time, please let me know. Generally speaking, the albums are divided into the following categories: AFC, RFC, RNAS, German Air Service and US Air Service.

Cheers, David.