Northern Territory pics

[Mike K]

After reading a little more I discovered the Coomalie creek squadron was a Photo Recon Unit flying Mosquito and at least one Lockheed Lightning which was written of after a landing accident.

This pic depicts a Mosquito fatal take off crash , the pilot killed and the other crew member survived somehow . All of that wooden airframe burning like a torch. This was during the last few months of the war.

[Mike K]

Dodge WC52 at Coomalie with the RAAF boys

Location unknown : Scene with two wireless sets , a 109 and a 101 .

[Mike K]

A 30 cwt Chev at Coomalie , the cab appears to be Nth American origin because of the single piece door glass. The reg. number is likely to be RAAF so it may not be in the ARN books.

The Coomalie strip with the PRU Mosquito parked . Any sign of the strip today ?

[Grant Bowker]

Coomalie Creek lsnding strip still appears to be in use, in private hands based on web search.
http://www.pilotnav.com/airport/YCCR
Sorry it took so long to answer, I'm being lazy today.

[Mike Cecil]

Mike,

Any six-digit Aust military registration beginning with '2' ie 2XXXXX (prior to the 1990s) was an RAAF registration.

Some nice pics there. Good find.

Mike

[motto (RIP)]

Charles 'Bud' Tingwell flew Mosquito aircraft out of Coomalie Creek with No 87 Squadron RAAF on photo recconaisance missions up into the East Indies in 1945
Bud's post service career in the entertainment industry later made his a household name but he never mentioned his war service most of which was spent on Spitfires in North Africa.

David

[Lang]

I at first thought that Chevrolet might be an American vehicle but it looks like RAAF , not USA, in small letters above the numbers. My Dodge WC53 Carryall only had those small letters for USA near the numbers on the original bonnet/hood markings not the usual large font.

Looks like Mike is spot-on as usual.

The American numbering system is close but not for this vehicle.

The first one or two numbers in the sequence determined the vehicle type.
Jeeps always had the prefix 20, which stood for ‘reconnaissance’ followed by the vehicle's registration number. For the first 99,999 jeeps this was a 5 digit number; later jeeps had 6 digits.

Registration Number Prefixes
Light Trucks 2
Reconnaissance Trucks & Jeeps 20
Medium Trucks 3
Trucks 2.5 - 5 ton 4
Trucks 5+ ton 5
Tanks 30
Tracked & Half-Tracked Vehicles (not Tanks) 40
Armored Cars & Special Command Vehicles 60

Lang

[Ken Smith]

The cab 12 Ford in post number 3 appears to be an ex anti tank portee converted to a load carrier GS with wooden body and canvas roof over the cab. A beautiful clear photograph of this conversion.
The photographer could have taken the photo a split second later when old mate was clear of the number plate on the front bumper.

I can't get a army registration number to fit the 4 or 5 digits showing, 43881 is the only Ford cab 12 and it isn't listed as a portee. If the digits showing are 38811 with a wonky 1 on the end, the only possible army number is 38811 a motorcycle or 138811 which is a MB Jeep.
I assume the registration number is a RAAF number.

Ken

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally Posted by motto

Charles 'Bud' Tingwell flew Mosquito aircraft out of Coomalie Creek with No 87 Squadron RAAF on photo recconaisance missions up into the East Indies in 1945
Bud's post service career in the entertainment industry later made his a household name but he never mentioned his war service most of which was spent on Spitfires in North Africa.

David

He also portrayed the prosecutor in "Breaker Morant."

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelly

The Coomalie strip with the PRU Mosquito parked. Any sign of the strip today?

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

Coomalie Creek lsnding strip still appears to be in use, in private hands based on web search.
http://www.pilotnav.com/airport/YCCR

..And zooming in on "Google Maps" reveals the site's PRU heritage, with some curious outlines painted on the ground to befuddle any would-be Photo Interpreters. Must be undercoat, as the Cam paint is not yet applied.