AHSA Melbourne Meeting June 2023 (Mark Lax: Tips and Tricks For Researching Our Air Force’s Stories)

28/06/202321/05/2024

The speaker for our combined Friends of Air Force History and Heritage (FAFHH) and Aviation Historical Society of Australia (AHSA) on 28 June 2023 was AIRCDRE (Ret) Dr Mark Lax.

Mark presented his paper “Tips and tricks for researching our Air Force’s stories”.

Dr Lax is a RAAF Air Commodore (retired), educator and air historian. With over 45 years of permanent and reserve service, together with a Masters and PhD in military history, he has a unique insight into the RAAF and its achievements through the decades.

Some of his publications include From Controversy to Cutting Edge: A History of the F-111 in Australian Service (2021), Alamein to the Alps: 454 Squadron RAAF 1942-1945 (2006), Talking the Lead: the Royal Australian Air Force 1942-1996 (2020), and Malayan Emergency and Indonesian Confrontation (2021). He has co-authored books including Wings Over Mesopotamia – Iraq 1914-1948 (2017), and The Gestapo Hunters: 464 Squadron RAAF 1942-1945 (1999).

Click on the link below to view an edited version of Mark’s presentation and the question-and-answer session which followed.

1932 The de Havilland D.H.50 aircraft VH-UEM, flown by H.F. Baker and carrying Norman Stuckley and Paddy Whelan of the Lasseter Reef Company, crashed during a flight from Forrest to the Livesey Ranges in Western Australia on 22 December 1932. They repaired the aircraft over the next five days and Baker and Stuckley successfully flew the damaged aircraft back to Forrest, Whelan being rescued several days later. Source: Parnell, N. and Boughton, T., Flypast, A record of aviation in Australia, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988.

1941 No. 453 Squadron RAAF suffered its heaviest losses in one day as the Squadron attacked Japanese troops and transports and provided air cover to Allied ground troops in Malaya on 22 December 1941. Five Brewster Buffalos were destroyed and another four damaged, with three pilots being killed. On 24 December, with only three working aircraft remaining, No. 453 Squadron withdrew to Singapore and merged with 21 Squadron. Source: Gillison, RAAF 1939-1942, p.280

2000 Just prior to Christmas, Ansett grounded seven of its Boeing 767 aircraft on 22 December 2000 after an employee discovered that required inspections had not occurred in March. The mandatory inspections were performed with CASA supervision. A Boeing Alert Service Bulletin was then rediscovered (but did not become public until April 2001). Hairline cracks were discovered in the horizontal tail surfaces of some aircraft. Cracks were then found in the engine pylon mounts of three aircraft along with a crack in the tail of one that remained grounded after Christmas. These were similar to those that doomed an El Al Cargo Boeing 747. CASA placed conditions on Ansett operations and maintenance procedures, although it emerged that CASA had granted Ansett an extension for inspections a year previously. CASA had adopted a new systems audit approach to apply management programs to airlines. The ATSB also investigated the groundings and compliance of CASA, Boeing and Ansett as a safety deficiency issue. Sourcs: Australian Financial Review, 17 April 2001; Sydney Morning Herald, 13 April 2001; Australia Aviation 6/01 (Ansett Chronology). via aph.gov.au website