This site has been established as a means of digitally showcasing my military aviation collection to a broader audience than was previously possible. It has the added benefit of serving as an information platform through which I can display progress on my current and future military aviation related projects and restorations.
My collection has fast become more than I originally conceived it to be. It began as little more than an urge to scratch a personal itch to piece together a WWII flight helmet grouping. Having assembled this grouping, however, it immediately became clear that more work needed to be done, and since then I have been setting my sights ever higher. After a few helmet groupings across various theatres of conflict, I branched out into other areas of military aviation, such as instrument panels, seats, uniforms, insignias, relics and documents—to name but a few.
I became increasingly focused on acquiring enough of a collection that it could one day develop into a public display. This site represents a step in the direction of this long-term goal.
Townsville—my birthplace and hometown—was the location of one of the largest air force operations in Queensland from 1941–1945. It was the home of the 5th Air Force (USAAF) and the 4th Air Depot Group (4th ADG), along with many RAAF squadrons. Surrounding areas such as Woodstock and Charters Towers similarly housed various USAAF bombardment groups such as the 22nd BG, 38th BG and the 3rd BG.
Few realise how crucial these operations in North Queensland were in keeping Australia safe at a time when it faced the existential threat of an expansionist Japanese empire.
My view is that far too little military aviation history is being preserved and displayed properly in the city of Townsville, especially considering the extent of local involvement during the years 1941–1945. If a regional effort is not made to preserve Townsville’s history of military aviation and educate the public about it, important local stories may be lost forever.
Until such a time that I have the ability to showcase my entire collection, this online collection serves as a resource that people can search and browse, as well as providing news relating to projects that I am currently working on or have in the pipeline. I will be attending and setting up at various local and out of town events to display portions of my collection, and this site is a useful way of finding out about opportunities to see these artefacts in person. No two of these events are ever quite the same, and there is no guarantee of just what is going to be on show, so there is a little mystery to every public display I organise.
I very much appreciate your visit to my website and thank you for your support. If nothing else, I hope my efforts to do proper justice to North Queensland’s tradition of military aviation piques your interest in the preservation and promotion of Australia’s military aviation history.
Hope to see you around!
“Recover, Restore & Re-Establish”
