

(Blondes, Bombs and Bunkers Part
2)
©
Roger Lambert Platoon Commander 9
Platoon, C Company, 2nd Tour |
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Readers of the earlier Magpie 31 article would
be aware that, having tracked down AIRCDR (retd)
John Whitehead, DSO, we arranged to meet when
his wife and he were in Sydney in October last
year. Having exchanged contact details, we
arranged a mutually suitable date/time and venue
for us to meet.
In preparation for the get together, I compiled
a series of photographs which I printed and
placed in a folder to give to John. Some of
these images have appeared in support of my
earlier Magpie 31 article while others were
relevant to John's career from flying Meteor
twin-jet fighters in Korea to flying the
Canberra bomber with 2 Squadron (2 Sqn) in
Vietnam while he was the Commanding Officer
(CO).
I must admit that I was like a "kid in a candy
shop" thinking about the prospect of finally
meeting the pilot of Magpie 31 (A84-236) when
John and his navigator/bomb aimer, the late
SQNLDR Bruce Hunt, provided close air support
(CAS) to my platoon on 21 September 1969. To say
that I was eagerly looking forward to the
meeting would be a gross understatement.
As the appointed rendezvous drew near, however,
I began to feel some nervous trepidation about
finally meeting the pilot of Magpie 31 some 44
years after the event. I need not have
worried...
My
wife, youngest daughter (she is an avid follower
of all things 5 RAR) and I spent a most
enjoyable evening with John, his wife Adrienne
and their second son Andrew at the apartments
where they were staying. It was rather strange
being greeted at the door by a person whom I'd
never actually met but yet feeling as though I
had known him for 40 odd years. We were afforded
a very warm welcome and made to feel very much
at home from the outset. There were some tears
from Adrienne and they were genuinely interested
in my personal account of the events of 21
September 1969. I guess it helps having been
part of the ADF 'family' but one really felt
comfortable in their company.
John is a really interesting gentleman to speak
with and some of his recollections of his time
in Korea and South Vietnam on active service
were fascinating to hear. I think what made John
relax somewhat was the fact he realised very
early on that I had a very good knowledge of
aircraft and aircraft types, and that he wasn't
just speaking with a 'dumb grunt'.
Typically military however in that John couldn't
help rub in the fact that their aircrew
lifestyle at Phan Rang was diametrically opposed
to that of the infantryman in country, He could
get up in air-conditioned comfort, have a hot
shower, breakfast of bacon and eggs, briefings,
fly on ops ― sweat like hell for a while,
debrief, shower and change, get some paperwork
out of the way back in the air-conditioned
comfort of the office. All of that five or six
times a week, every week, relentlessly. Then
there were mortar/rocket attacks on the base
almost every other week, but no mud and slush to
speak of, etc. Discussing Phan Rang/Nui Dat
lifestyles was interesting ― good natured banter
but typical inter-service rivalry.
I was amazed that John actually flew some 260
bombing missions plus some ― training, test
flights, ferry, and others during his time as CO
of 2 Sqn. He had some interesting tales to tell
including, on more than one occasion, having his
Canberra hit by AK47 fire, or shrapnel from his
own bombs on low-level missions.
Adrienne was especially interested in my
perspective of the events of the day on 21 Sep
69, starting with my 'blonde encounter' and
running through the day leading up to John in
"Magpie 31" providing the CAS for my platoon. We
even toasted "Magpie 31"
With his 77 Sqn service, John said it was pretty
uneventful. He did however prick his ears up
when I referred to the "blue note" generated by
the Meteor when 'doing a rate of knots'. John
said it was a real 'buzz' to get that sound
going during a high speed pass in the Meteor
F.8. He couldn't be sure but he thought that the
'note' was generated by the spent cartridge
ejection chutes that, as John put it, "acted
like tin whistles under the aircraft."
“John also told of the time when some ‘big wig’
at Command HQ decided that the RAAF would assist
with the Australian Gliding Championships been
held at Waikerie, South Australia. John was CO
of ARDU at the time when he was told that the
RAAF would be providing Commonwealth Aircraft
Corporation (CAC) Winjeels as tow aircraft for
the championships, the ‘big wig’ stating that
the Winjeel could easily tow a glider. John
pointed out that that was possibly not the case
because of potential cylinder head temperature
problems with the extra drag and weight of the
glider. The HQ insisted that the Winjeels would
be used and John equally insisted that they
couldn’t ― and won the day after his trials
showed serious overheating problems. Required
modifications were too costly. An insight into
the measure of the man.”
Incidentally, John did fly the Winjeel as a
flying instructor during 1961/62 and was aware
of its engine problems.
He's a
fascinating man to listen to. He pointed out
that the 77 Sqn Meteors came home from Korea on
HMAS Vengeance with wings removed late in 1954.
Vengeance docked at Garden Island, the
Meteors
were off-loaded onto barges and then towed up
the Parramatta River where they were transferred
to road transports and taken to the Aircraft
Depot at Richmond for re-erection. John was
temporarily based at Richmond and was the pilot
as each Meteor was reassembled and test flown or
as John put it "to make sure that the wings
didn't fall off." After that, unlike after
Vietnam, 77 Squadron had a welcome-home parade
down Bridge Street to Martin Place in Sydney,
with a fly-past of its Meteors. A happy ending.
All in all, it was a great evening albeit a late
one but one that 'my girls' and I thoroughly
enjoyed. From my perspective, I've closed a
small chapter in history. It's hard to describe
but I felt a sense of overwhelming relief as we
drove home ― a sense of mission accomplished.
But it's not all over yet. I've identified the 9
Sqn aircrew of the two "Bushrangers" that
supported the company that day and the quest to
track them down has commenced...
Roger Lambert
Platoon Commander
9 Platoon, C Company, 5 RAR, 1969/70
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