Seasons greetings for 2016

The Bailey crew boarding NE181 “The Captain’s Fancy” at dispersal, to begin pre-flight checks before flying to Krefeld, 29th of January 1945 – 99 op’s marked.
New Zealand Bomber Command Assn. archive / Alan Scott

A suitably wintery photograph of the Squadron’s most famous Lancaster NE181 “The Captains Fancy” prefaces this years Christmas message.

Another year has passed and more remarkable material has so generously been shared by relatives of those who flew with the Squadron. The blog has grown considerably over this last year, now allowing access to Operational histories for every crew that flew with the Squadron during the War period. Where necessary, these histories also have loss details which include, where they exist, gravestone inscriptions.

These crew pages will now form the main points of archive for material as it is added to the site – in this way, the crews will have their own commemorative pages and their contribution to the Squadron and Bomber Command will be recorded in memoriam.

I would encourage you all to think where appropriate, about personal additions to the crew pages – I am keen  to see these histories personalised – I know you are all so proud of the boys and I think this needs to be recorded as well.

The blog now has a full set of transcribed Combat Reports. Whilst the archiving of these records has highlighted what appears to be significant gaps in this record, we now at least know where these gaps exist and the opportunity of course, now exists to keep an eye out to add to it.

Recently, Chris submitted an update to the aircraft database and this prompted me start a more detailed presentation of the gathered research on the aircraft of the Squadron. As an equivalent record to the Crew Op histories, each aircraft will have its own operational history presented with, where it exists, a photograph of the aircraft and additional material and or information as and where it exists.

This expansion to the database is another significant undertaking – but, as with the majority of the information presented to date, has it never been presented digitally before in a format that is accessible to everybody. You can have a sneak preview of what will for sometime be a work in progress here.

The blog traffic continues impressively – recently passing 370,000 views. This translates to over 93,000 individual visitors with over 700 following the blog through WordPress, Twitter or Facebook.

We are the largest, most viewed and most followed online resource dedicated to 75(NZ) Squadron RAF and as always I have to say that this is all thanks to you guys, the relatives and readers of the blog.

My efforts to build the infrastructure for the site has meant that I have not been able to post as much as I have wanted and also to reply to what seems always now to be a significant backlog of emails – a New Years resolution is to get back on track with all this – I promise.

So, to all of you from 75nzsquadron.com, I wish you a Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year!

Ake Ake Kia Kaha!

Inia Whangataua ‘Mac’ Maaka – Air Bomber, Yates crew. Time to return home………

P/O Inia Whangataua ‘Mac’ Maaka, RNZAF NZ421741 – Air Bomber with the Yates crew, 1944.

David, Son of Harry Yates in a very generous and noble act has passed to me the above photograph of Inia ‘Mac’ Makka. Mac was Harry’s Air Bomber throughout their tour with 75(NZ) Squadron RAF during the second half of 1944.

The photograph of Mac is almost A4 in size (10 x 8 old money) and is original, still being in the card folder that it was first mounted in. On the outside cover of the mount is the name of the photographic studio – “Du Barry Studios” – this is obviously a very good quality, posed studio portrait.

David believes that the photograph was sent to his Father at the time he was researching his book ‘Luck and a Lancaster’, probably by Mac’s wife June. David discovered it in a folder of photographs that had been sent to Airlife Publishing for the book. Unused in the book, it remained in the folder with the other images, until it’s recent discovery by David.

David’s wish is that, if possible, Mac’s portrait should be returned to his descendants. As he says in the letter accompanying the portrait:

“If one of the Maaka family comes forward, having seen your post, or perhaps someone connected to the old 75 grapevine in NZ knows the whereabouts of one of Mac and June’s children, then it would be a service to Mac’s memory to have the portrait placed in their hands.

My Dad would have wanted that too…..”

So, please blog readers – put out this request and lets collectively cross our fingers that a descendant of Inia Whangataua ‘Mac’ Maaka can be found – as I soon as I hear from them, we can return this wonderful portrait to them.

I’ll finish with Harry’s memory of his dear comrade ‘Mac’ Maaka:

“As he talked, my impressions of him became ever more favourable. No Englishman I’d met was so sincere and guileless about himself. Mac was simply a stranger to the inner tensions and vanities that make liars of the rest of us. He was mightily proud of his people who, I thought, must be formidable opponents in war if they were all like this chap. I began to see in him a military paragon. He had the heart of a lion. I don’t think he was afraid of anything or any man. He had no need to be because he was built like a bunker. I felt that his loyalty would be a rich prize, if one deserved it. He was just the sort of chap one imagines walking steadfastly into the enemy’s fire for the sake of his comrades. Well, the skies over Germany were fiery enough. Mac would be an example to us all.”