"RAAF FLYING BOATS AT WAR - THE WAY
IT WAS"
10 SQUADRON
113 AIR SEA RESCUE
by Joe Leach
"RAAF FLYING
BOATS AT WAR" 10 SQUADRON |
|
Joe Leach was a member of the
Militia before the war, but when the European conflict began, he applied to join the RAAF. Before long he was training as a Wireless Air Gunner and was soon on his way, via the Panama Canal and America, to join the air war over Britain. After a prolonged operational tour in 10 Squadron Sunderland Flying Boats - much of it spent tracking and attacking German U-boats off the Biscay coast of France, he eventually looked to home and the Pacific War. After converting to Catalina flying boats, Leach found himself in Morotai with the 113 Air Sea Rescue Flight, retrieving downed pilots and carrying out operations in support of the advancing allied forces. The Catalinas were used in the Borneo campaign at Balikpapan and Labuan. At war's end, he and his crew-mates became involved in the clean-up of Japanese occupied territory. This is a great story of an ordinary Australian, caught up in the war to defeat the fascists in Europe, while sharing the hardships of life in war-torn Britain. In the Pacific, he joined the campaign to push back the expanding Japanese empire to its home islands. |
STORIES
OF 10 SQUADRON RAAF |
Old 113 - Story about Mustang A68-113 |
Doctor's Gully Flying Boat Base - Darwin
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"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products
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This page first produced 3 September 2000
This page last updated 04 February 2025