Passing of Hilton J Nicholas

Hilton J Nicholas, AM OBE

Hurricane Pilot

RAAF Number 430918

With regret, I write to advise you of the death, on 25 January 2017, of Member Hilton John Nicholas AM OBE of Howlong, NSW 2643 (my husband), and to ask you to make the necessary notation in the Friends of the Odd Bods Association membership files.

Hilton enlisted on 23 April 1943, having just turned 18.  After training in Australia and qualifying as a pilot, he was posted to the UK, where he was based in the south of England, flying Hurricanes.  He was then seconded to the RAF as an instructor of naval aviators.  He was discharged on 31 January 1946 – not yet 21 years of age - upon repatriation to Australia after the War.

In civilian life, Hilton joined Nicholas Aspro, the major Australian and International pharmaceutical manufacturing enterprise established by his father, George (the inventor of Aspro), and George’s brother Alfred.  He remained with the company for whole of his business career, taking on high level responsibility both within Australia and overseas.

For more than 25 years Hilton was a member of the Board of the Corps of Commissionaires, assisting retired Veterans with civilian service opportunities and employment suited to their circumstances.

He was also a noted breeder of thoroughbreds, and served on the Committee of the Victoria Racing Club (Flemington) for 33 years.  He was Chairman of the VRC from 1982 to 1986, and Chairman of the Totalisator Agency Board (TAB) for 16 years, succeeding the inaugural Chairman Sir Chester Manifold.

Among his many other involvements in public life, he was a Board Member of the St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne for 30 years, the last five as Chairman.

I hope this short resumé may be of some interest to you as part of the Association’s records.

With kind regards

Marjorie Nicholas OAM

Digital Aviation Art

Digital art is an artistic practice that uses digital technology to create some amazing works. It has been used in many fields but the application to WW2 aviation is particularly relevant to these pages. These stunning examples are just some of those available online with a quick google search.
Thanks to Ken Broomhead for passing them on.

Homeward Bound Part 3 by Maurice Smith

Homeward Bound Episode 3 

24th Day – Hot sunny day but with a nice breeze this morning.
12.45pm – Have made our best day’s run so far – 440 miles in the past 23½hours. Tomorrow will be Christmas Eve.
9.15am – Have just had a sharp scud of rain and it looks like more to follow, so we are moving our “500” game under cover.
11.30pm – Raining steadily. To bed.

25th Day (Christmas Eve) – A nice morning after a wet night. Those who didn’t seek cover in time are still busy drying saturated clothes.
1pm – Weather hot and steamy. A good day’s run again 436 miles. We will be passing the Cocos Islands about midnight tonight.
7.30pm – Some Carol singing has been going on along the Promenade Deck, but that has now finished in favour of recordings. Bing Crosby is singing “Holy Night”. The evening is warm, clear and otherwise quiet. 

The mind wanders. How are others spending Christmas Eve? Our nearest point in the world at present is Java. There the scene must be a sorry one. Little peace and happiness instead news of starvation, looting and murder. The mind leaves this ugly scene and thoughts of Australia enter. Christmas Eve is likely to be at celebrated in a much freer and happier spirit than in the recent past years. No doubt the sun continues to beat down fiercely on Australia’s wide, sandy beaches and its rolling plains. 

The mind turns back to our Training Days in Canada where the snow lies thick on the slopes of the mighty Rocky Mountains. It lies too on the prairie country of Saskatchewan and over the Maple Forests of Ontario. In fact, everywhere from coast to coast Canada will be celebrating a “White Christmas” in peace and harmony, as few countries in the world can celebrate it. 

Let’s go down over the border now to the Colossus of the New World, New York City, where we spent a week’s final leave before embarking for the U.K. On Park Avenue, the mind sees again the Mink Coats and faultlessly groomed women of Café Society taking their silky coated pets for their daily walk. Down at Jack Dempsey’s Bar on Broadway can be heard, over the bar chatter, the filling of beer glasses and the tinkling of ice cubes as the Tom Collins and the Rum and Cokes are prepared. 

The mind now flits across the Atlantic to the first Christmas war shattered Britain and Europe have spent in peace since 1939. A raw, heavy fog is likely to be hanging over the Thames Estuary, indeed over London as a whole. It hangs too, over the Moors of Yorkshire, over the Merseyside and the Cumberland Hills. The first snow has probably fallen on the rugged highlands of Scotland while down in Cornwall the sun breaks through intermittently. Britain will be having its happiest Christmas for years. There’s no doubt about that. But there are still problems in transitioning to normality. However, mercifully the trouble no longer comes from the skies in the shape of Bombs VI’s and VII’s or from the long casualty lists in the daily newspapers. Across to the continent of Europe where the scene can only be described as grim. Destruction, death, starvation and homelessness,stalk the lands. 

The mind turns now to the Middle East – The very birthplace of Christmas. Here, too, the scene is troubled. Suspicion, hostility and unrest stalk the area. What a relief to find oneself

on the deck of the Athlone Castle listening to Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”, followed by the Boston Promenade Orchestra giving us “Meditation”. Des has requested “I’ll Get By” and luckily enough it’s the next recording up, with the “Inkspots” singing it.

26th Day – Christmas Day has arrived and incidentally Harry’s birthday as well. Celebrated with two small bottles of beer each.
12.30pm – Lunch was nothing unusual. The day’s run was only 406 miles. This brings us within 950 miles of the nearest point of Australia – the North-West Cape.
5.45pm –It has been a warm, sunny afternoon and we are ready for Tea.
7pm – The evening meal made up for the ordinary lunch. Turkey, Plum Pudding and fruit was well received by all. The wind is getting up and we look set for a rough night.
10.30pm – It has started to rain heavily and we have moved under cover.

27th Day – A rough morning with weather reminiscent of the North Atlantic – high wind, heavy grey swell and driving rain. It’s the heaviest sea we have experienced for the whole voyage. The boat is rolling quite a lot. 
1pm – The day’s run was 421 miles. We are 600 miles west of the North-West Cape and should reach Fremantle by Saturday morning. Deck sports are scheduled this afternoon. Have entered for Quoits.
4.30pm – Deck sports fell flat owing to non-attendance of most competitors due to the foul weather.

28th Day–A finer morning dawns although still very windy. At noon we were 245 miles west of Dirk Hartog Island and 517 miles short of Fremantle where we are now due to arrive by tomorrow evening. Leave passes have been given out although there is some doubt as to whether any personnel other than West Australians will be getting off.
10pm – Enjoyed a very good concert this evening given by the Ship’s Concert Party.

29th Day – A daily run of 430 miles has put us within 97 miles of Fremantle. We should pick up the coast about 3pm this afternoon.
4.30pm – A fine warm afternoon. We are cruising some miles off shore.
5.40pm – Approaching Rottnest Island at reduced speed. Will have tea early and get up on deck again to watch the pull into Port.
6.45pm – Two miles off Fremantle and the tugs are coming out. The Port looks pretty.

An unknown troop ship berths at Fremantle 1945.

7.10pm –Coming in to dock. Only a few people at the end of the breakwater. Some wit comments “both the locals are here to meet us!” But hang on – there is a real crowd up at our berthing position.
7.25pm – Abreast of our berthing position, one lady in the excited assembly on the wharf has fainted and been rescued by an Ambulance crew. The ship has developed a decided list to Starboard and a request to personnel to balance the ship falls on deaf ears.
8pm – We have finally berthed. A number of officials have come on board. Also, an entrepreneurial newspaper boy is doing a roaring trade. The Western Australians on board are first to disembark and later the rest of us can go ashore for a few hours, but we expect to sail again tomorrow morning.

9.30pm – Ashore in Australia for the first time for four years. Tried to telephone home by long distance telephone. Had no luck. Instead sent telegram reading “arrived Fremantle. Expect to reach home God willing next Wednesday.”

Continued.......

The Battle Over Dunsfold

Many Odd Bods will have wartime memories of Dunsfold airfield in the UK and the location is again in the news for different reasons. There is a proposal to build up to 5000 residences at the airfield and locals are not happy with the possible impact on this historic location.

“Between 1942 and 1945 a variety of aircraft operated from Dunsfold, including B-25 Mitchell Bombers, Typhoons, Mustangs, Mosquitoes and Spitfires.”

In 2002, Dunsfold was sold to the Rutland Group, a property development, management and investment company. It has been used as the site of car testing for the Top Gear TV show and more recently a proposal to build 2,600 eco-friendly homes was knocked by the government who wanted a minimum of 5000 homes to qualify for eco-town status.

A revised proposal by the owners for 1800 homes had many opponents and then an interim measure to expand the use of the runways was also rejected. Dunsfold’s future remains the subject of much discussion and lobbying. the local Waverley Borough Council recently rejected declaring the airfield a conservation area and now a public enquiry will be held on 18th July 2017.

Photo Of  180 Squadron B-25 from Dunsfold Historical Society website.

Link To Dunsfold Airfield Historical Society: https://dunsfoldairfield.org/tag/ww2/

More photos of Dunsfold: http://derelictmisc.org.uk/rafbhq.html

Successful Search For 464 Squadron Logo

Back in May 2016 we published an article on these pages looking for a suitable graphic of a 464 Squadron logo that could be used to engrave into a granite headstone.

Friends of the Odd Bods member, Tess Egan, wanted to have the logo engraved on her father, John Rayner’s, headstone. John passed away on 15th July 2015. Photos of old badges were available but getting a graphic good enough for engraving wasn’t easy, and although the article got good coverage, the search appeared doom to fail.

We are pleased to advise that a friend of Tess’s son managed to graphically enhance the available photos and produce a version suitable for engraving as our photos show. The result is a fine tribute to John Rayner, and to Tess’s persistence in honouring here Father's memory.