Wirraway - Australia's Emblematic Aircraft

[@alaingloster4405]

CAC also had a habit of “pimping” whatever aircraft came within reach. They wrung another 200HP out of the P40 engine to the point where Curtis started putting their mods into production models. They thought the Beaufighter needed work and as the US was using Australia as a supply dump, “borrowed” some .50 calls to replace the English .303s. A fine history of make what you’ve got work.

[@markfryer9880]

I think that the people from CAC would be horrified at the thought that they were "pimping", perhaps a better term would be Hot Rodding, as Aussies always love to get that little bit more out of their cars and motorcycles, so it carries forward to aircraft.

[@3xj704]

Hahah I'm sure the IDF would take number 1 spot for pimping. Not only would they retrofit WWII shermans up to modern specs, they'd even do the same for captured gear!

[@IntrospectorGeneral]

The 20mm autocannons on the Boomerang were reverse-engineered Hispano cannon "liberated" in the Middle East, which why they are sometimes identified as 'CAC Autocannons' and somtimes as 'Hispano'.

[@BC-op7rj]

When 24 Squadron was ordered to defend Rabaul its commander John Lerew knew his equipment's limitations. Squadron strength amounted to eight Wirraway and one Hudson. In frustration he sent the signal back to HQ ""Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant"" , a Latin quote used by gladiators "we who are about to die salute you" . For this HQ demanded he stand down , but continued to lead the squadron . Then on January 20 ,1942 the four carriers of Kidō Butai despatched 85 Kate and 24 Zeke against Rabaul. Assumption was that none of the 16 RAAF crew would return. Six airmen were killed and five wounded, one bailed from a damaged aircraft without injury. Only two of the eight Wirraways and their four crew survived the hapless encounter uninjured , mostly by using cloud cover to try and stalk aircraft that were cruising faster than thy could fly They shot down no aircraft. Only one Kate was lost to AA fire . One of the Wirraways was shot down on takeoff, Flt Lt Anderson survived crash landing with laceration. On recovery he joined 75 Squadron, only to be killed on their first operation over Lae on 22 April. This squadron decimation is what it took for Air Chief Marshal Charles Burnett and staff (Bostock) to appreciate that the Wirraway could not be used as a fighter ever again. Fortunately he was replaced in May by Air Chief Marshal George Jones. The Wirraway was instrumental in training US pilots who were crashing planes in Australia faster than they could be assembled in 1942. Basically newer American pilots had been rushed through training and simply lacked experience to handle the torque a Kittyhawk produced on takeoff. Wirraways were perfect to bring green pilots up to speed in a dual training environment before moving north from Acherfield or Bankstown aerodromes. Many Australian pilots assisting in this training. Some Wirraways were later reverse lend leased to American units to check out new pilots before they were given a P-40 or P-39, and later the P-38 and P-47.

[@markfryer9880]

One thing to remember is that those American pilots would have been rushed through training, given a quick leave break before their overseas posting and then bundled onto a military transport ship for the trip to Australia. In the time between passing out from their pilots course and their arrival in Australia, several months could easily have passed and their newly acquired pilot skills would have degraded. It was a wise decision to put them into an advanced trainer like the Wirraway in order to refresh their skills knowledge and confidence and to confirm to everyone that they were ready to fly fighter aircraft.

[@BC-op7rj]

@@markfryer9880 American pilots were part of a force that more than quadrupled from 1940 to 1941. That expansion was well beyond cadets getting one on one training. They could be trained for one aircraft type but be allocated anther. So they arrived in Australia with less experience than many of the Wirraway pilots who had hundreds of hours of flight time, but lacked a plane to match the Japanese. This was the backbone of the RAAF who stayed to guard Australian shores while EATS pilots did basic training but then separated to go to SFTS before despatch overseas. Most the pilots had come to Wirraway squadrons came from EFTS to train at the squadron posted to. At the start of war with Japan Wirraways were distributed among the following active squadrons. 4 Squadron was in Canberra mostly training and army co-op, 5 Squadron was in Victoria for army co-op, 12 Squadron was patrolling out of Darwin, 14 Squadron patrolled the gap between Perth and Darwin, 21 Squadron had gone to Malaya, retaining 5 Wirraway to train EATS pilots and converted to the Brewster Buffalo. 22 Squadron was towing targets for gunnery training and flying coastal patrols off NSW. 23 Squadron was doing coastal patrols in south QLD, 24 Squadron was patrolling out of Townsville, 25 Squadron was patrolling out of Perth. Point was they had pilots who were qualified instructors among greenish pilots. In 1940 and 1941 many of these pilots were seconded to 21 Squadron in Malaya and experienced the Buffalo, then returned to Australia. Thus many had six to twelve months flying experience with few having modern fighter experience. In contrast the Americans had maybe one pre 1938 pilot graduate, a sprinkling of 1939 graduates, some 1940 graduates and mostly 1941 graduates. Those with experience would go to reinforce the Philippines or later Java and be lost there. It was like theLuftwaffe at the end of WW2 with very few experienced pilots and loads of recent graduates. All because the USA had ramped up training for war so rapidly that shortcuts were taken. The hardest thing to train was navigators, so if you sift bomber losses of 1942 many US crews were supplemented by RAAF navigators. RAAF pilots with operational hours flew as copilots to Americans fresh out of flight schools because they weren’t allowed to command the bombers. At this time many of the Americans were afraid of the Kittyhawk and could not correctly hold the torque on take off, and crashed. In the air they made all the rookie pilot mistakes, but the big problem was cross country navigation. Australia was becoming littered with broken American planes and more pilots would die in training than in air to air combat. Their training had been to land on two wheels at high speed, which took a lot of runway was fine on sealed runways. But in Australia and New Guinea the dirt runways often blew tyres at the high speeds. RAAF training was for the slower three point landing which did not cause such problems. Such retraining saved enough fighter planes from being damaged or destroyed to form 75 and 76 squadrons. Every one of their pilots had origins in Wirraways.

[@BC-op7rj]

@Col Smith It is possible that US military casualties due to friendly fire matched losses from enemy fire. The biggest killers were not the Japanese, rather disease and training accidents. Friendly could be next however their reporting dismisses these as killed in combat or other accidental. Assume their attitude was it was better for morale to tell families their son was KIA versus killed by friendly fire. Conclusive proof is unavailable as a result of this practice. Even with the best care training was dangerous for any nation. You can look up US aircraft serial numbers to see just how many planes were lost in the USA while on training exercises. Qualified pilots assigned to training squadrons were more afraid of rookie pilots mistakes than being in air combat with the enemy. Being a flying instructor was exceptionally dangerous in any airforce. Repeated American friendly fire resulted in the red dot on USAAF, USN, USMC, RAF, RAAF and RNZAF aircraft markings being deleted in the Pacific theatre from May 1942. Later tails would be painted white in NewGuinea as the insignia change was not enough alone to prevent friendly fire. At least one 20 Squadron RAAF Catalina was shot up by a US aircraft in early 1942, then repaired by US ground crew on the quiet. Many hard pressed 32 Squadron Hudson crews returning to Port Moresby from long combat patrols were bounced by rookie US pilots. RAAF crews being more experienced could usually out fly them until the American realised they were not Japanese. US pilots were very fixated on painting kill markings on the side of their planes so every Hudson, Beaufort, Catalina, etc was being flown by Japanese spies it would seem. US friendly fire was significant on day one at Pearl Harbor when they shot up many of the aircraft from USS Enterprise who’s crews who flew ahead of the carrier. They arrived just after the attack to be shot at, killed, wounded and aircraft damaged. Later that month Americans even managed to fight a major battle alone. It was called the Battle of San Francisco, popularised in the comedy movie 1942 and explored in detail in the book “Panic in the Pacific” by Bill Yenne. Not the last time Americans shot at each other in panic. Although every person of the Commonwealth is well aware that the Americans went on to win WW2 single handed, Friendly fire incidents with Americans continued after WW2, in Vietnam. As late as the Iraq war 75 squadron FA-18s upset the yanks because they declined to bomb a target allocated to them. This was done because US intelligence failed to confirm it was actually hostile (which was a RAAF requirement). In an unrelated strike Americans did kill British ground forces so that alone justifies confirming your targets first. My assumption is American military thinking accepts battle casualties as a percentage of engaging in battle just like the British generals of WW1. They have numbers, can afford the waste, thus friendly fire discipline is not high priority in their training. From there I can return to just how relatively untrained Americans were in 1942 and how Wirraway pilots bravely retrained gun-ho US pilots to go out and win the war while their navigators taught Americans to navigate at night over featureless oceans and tell the difference between a submarine and a whale, then relay accurate radio communications in the tropical air back to base.

[@neilwilson5785]

The Japanese learned that the Aussies would fight despite the odds. In that respect, the Wirraway started to make an impact.

[@douglasdarby7123]

Wirraway's impact of hitting the ground while the Japanese laughed because it couldn't catch cruising bombers while doing it's maximum speed

[@MusMasi]

@@douglasdarby7123 🤣🤣

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

The gallantry of the Australian pilots is to be commended, but I honestly doubt their sacrifice gave the IJN much pause.

[@alessandromazzini7026]

Lol what did i read😂😂 tbh Honor to the aussies but wirraway was dogshit

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

@@pavarottiaardvark3431 The two most carefully guarded secrets of all militaries, I would guess, would be keeping their own tank crews and aircraft pilots from finding out their death rates in combat. The Russians, however, approached the question frankly: they didn't bother to paint their tanks.

[@Gungho1a]

Wirraway and boomerang excelled at low level message and supply drops to isolated company sized forces. At Scarlet Beach, a screen of company sized defended locations had been deployed forward of the main beachhead, in anticipation of a japanese regimental sized attack. During the fighting, these companies were isolated for up to a week, and were supplied via low level, low speed airdrops, with drop zones being less than 100 yards diameter in thick jungle.

[@bubuluke]

Think there are many stories about this airplane that have not been told.

[@douglasdarby7123]

hahah what a joke compared to Dakota C-47 and what they did

[@bubuluke]

@@douglasdarby7123 Where were they during this conflict?

[@douglasdarby7123]

@@bubuluke RAAF Dakotas began operating in February 1943 and included nine Dakota Is (A65-1/9), 50 Dakota IIIs (A65-10/59) and 65 Dakota IVs (A65-60/124): actually A65-123/124 were C-47Ds which were revamped versions of the C-47B. In addition, No 36 Squadron operated 23 C-53s and one C-49 (impressed DC-3) on loan from the US Army Air Force during 1943-44. Wartime Dakota units included Nos 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38 Squadrons and No 1 Communication Unit.

[@bubuluke]

@@douglasdarby7123 So? What does that have to do with the defense of northern Australia,PNG and other islands? I do not understand how you are comparing what you wrote about the C-47 with the Wirraway.

[@kryts27]

Thanks at reviewing this relatively unknown aircraft. Note that the main function of the CAC Wirraway was pilot training, it was never intended to be a front line fighter, as it's overall performance was far below par for front line Allied and Axis fighter aircraft that were designed for this role. It was used because most of the Royal Australian Air Force squadrons were in North Africa or Britain until mid 1942. It was deployed also to Darwin, where on February 19th, 1942 the Japanese launched a huge carrier borne air raid against this town. Like Rabaul it was a disaster for the Wirraways, but due to warnings being unheeded by coastal observers at the mission at Bathurst and Melville Islands (North-West of Darwin) by the Australian home defence command at Darwin,all of the Wiiraways could not be scrambled and were destroyed on the ground by the attacking Japanese aircraft in this raid. Note that the raid on February 19 the Japanese attacked with 8 more aircraft than used in their attack at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, on a far smaller settlement with fewer ships and planes. Allegedly, it was "like cracking a walnut with a sledge hammer", according to the attacking comander Vice-Admiral Nagumo.

[@7thsealord888]

The Wirraway that shot down an Oscar is now on permanent display at the Australian War Memorial.

[@brettcoster4781]

Thanks for this great video about the CAC Wirraway, you've covered its history really well. Just to emphasise how ill-equipped the Royal Australian Air Force was when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour, the Philippines and Malaya on 7/8 December 1942 (due to time zones, Pearl Harbour was actually attacked after the Japanese attacked Malaya on 8 December) you are quite correct in saying that the Brewster Buffaloes in Malaya were the only fighters that the RAAF had. The best available fighter aircraft actually in Australia were some 2-man Hawker Demon biplanes from the early 30s. New Zealand was no better equipped. Apart from ocean patrolling (Catalinas) and getting the first bombing aircraft (Hudsons and locally-built Beauforts), Australia was totally dedicated to the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) supplying pilots and aircrew to Britain. Fortunately the Australian aircraft industry was being built by then but it was a very near-run thing.

[@mathewkelly9968]

10:02 CAC also produced Beauforts , Beaufighters and Mosquitoes

[@stanzahero]

As well as Mustangs (CA-17, CA-18, CA-21) and the Avon Sabre (CA-27). The Avon Sabre was better than the American version apparently.

[@boothead9495]

@@stanzahero she had a 20mm conversion kit installed and later an Aden 30mm

[@brettcoster4781]

CAC did not produce Beauforts and Beaufighters; they were produced by the Department of Aircraft Production (later known as Government Aircraft Factories) in the factory next door. Mosquitoes were produced in Sydney by de Havilland Australia, who started producing Tiger Moths for training and dH Dragon/Dragon Rapides for cargo and communication. GAF later also built Avro Lincolns and English Electric Canberras. CAC built North American Sabres (using a Rolls Royce Avon motor and armed with 30mm cannon) and also combined with GAF to build Dassault Mirages. All have now been taken over by Boeing Australia.

[@ratofvengence]

@@boothead9495 Not really. They had a British engine and had to be significantly redesigned to fit it. They were never a mere conversion kit.

[@boothead9495]

@@ratofvengence oh shit didn’t know that, I just remember reading that it was a 20mm kit somewhere, cheers

[@1936Studebaker]

If only the CAC weren't messed around with the supply of the engine they requested for the CAC Kangaroo, it would have turned out to be one of the best fighters of WW2. The Owen machine gun was also a home made special which we are very proud of, it's super rare these days to find one and has been the envy of most hosts on youtube channels that review vintage firearms. For a nation of only 7 million people in 1939 I think we did ok, we sacrificed a lot when we started out with so little, we contributed far more than most people around the world know and we were there from the start of the conflict until the very end.

[@boothead9495]

I saw a legitimate Owen gun going for $50,000US on gun broker

[@markfryer9880]

Australia's population in September 1939 was 6,7 million and change. We were spread out pretty thinly.

[@1936Studebaker]

@@markfryer9880 Sorry Mark, at 3am in the morning I was lucky to type what I did, had previously commented on another video and had that number stuck in my head so it was a typo in this comment. I've just rounded it up because you know there's always going to be someone that takes a dig at Australia for not having contributed as much to the war effort as the Americans, though people tend to forget that we, to this day are still a small populated country but back in 1939 - 1945 we gave all we had, and operated in a lot of areas in the Pacific that we get no credit for like the retaking of the Philippine's where my wife is from. The Aussies were there before McCarthur set foot on those shores. Not every countries history books are written to make them out to be hero's and sole victors. All due respect to those who served.

[@douglasdarby7123]

the 1948 Commonwealth Government Almanac lists all the costs of World War 2. An interesting read for other Australians who keep believing the non stop bullshit about all things Australian. An example would be that the Sydney Harbour Bridge cost the equivalent of 1.1 million Lee Enfield Rifles or Owen Guns.

[@douglasdarby7123]

@@1936Studebaker Casualties and losses United States American Manpower: Army: 16,233 dead and missing, 47,166 wounded[nb 1] Navy: 7,270+ dead and wounded[nb 2] Tens of thousands hospitalized due to disease[13] Material: 33+ ships sunk 95+ ships damaged 485+ aircraft[11][14] Commonwealth of the Philippines Filipino Unknown[15] Mexico Mexican ~10 (5 in non-combat)[16] Empire of Japan Japanese Manpower: 420,000 dead and missing[17] 10,000 casualties at Leyte Gulf.[18] (80% of Japanese deaths were from starvation or disease)[19] Material: 93+ ships sunk 1,300 aircraft[11][1

[@sandybarrie5526]

my father worked at CAC making wirraways. and is actualy in some film footage.

[@rodroper211]

excellent good to see the CAC and their little know but important aircraft talked about.

[@stevenhoman2253]

Thank you for this doco. You have covered all the critical history of this aircraft, and its position within the WWII response which Australia began with. I live about 30 KM from the former CAC, which has been taken over by Boeing, and now supplies sections of their aircraft to America.

[@markfryer9880]

Thanks for featuring this Australian made aircraft. I travel across the Westgate Bridge to work and can look down at the now Boeing plant that was originally built for the CAC. Fisherman's Bend has changed an awful lot since the War years and it is changing again as industry moves out and residential development moves in. Mark from Melbourne Australia

[@brettcoster4781]

The buildings you see crossing Westgate are those of Boeing (and RMIT) but they are not really those of CAC. Most, and the most prominent building. were originally Government Aircraft Factories (GAF) which were originally set up to produce Bristol Beauforts. In some stroke of genius, both factories were built side-by-side along the Yarra River in Port Melbourne (Fishermens Bend) although they did share an airfield that is now partly under Westgate Bridge. The Japanese missed the chance to nearly wipe out Australia's aircraft industry with a single kamikaze plane launched from a submarine in late 42. (Japanese subs frequently carried spotter aircraft and flew them unnoticed at least over Sydney and Newcastle). Basically, when driving from west Melbourne, the buildings marked Boeing and to the right are ex-GAF, and the buildings on the left are those remaining from CAC. People have always got GAF and CAC mixed up. I used to work at GAF, in personnel originally, and we always had people ringing us up looking for someone who actually worked at the other factory.

[@borisjohnson1944]

CAC made the original light shades for the Westgate Bridge.

[@allangibson8494]

The Wirraway didn’t carry roundels with red centres combined with camouflage for very long. Thanks to confusion with Japanese confusion the red roundel center and fin flash was deleted in 1942. The NA-16 was a unproven aircraft when CAC started building it. It predated everyone else’s adoption of the design…

[@AvarllanTelesto]

Unfortunately it never made it past the prototype stage but we did attempt to build our own almost super prop, called the CA-15 nick named the kangaroo and looked like a P51 on steroids. But alas the jet age was on us and it never made it... but something of a proud moment for us Aussie plane nuts who know about it

[@tilasole3252]

Kangaroos with jet packs... Now there's a frightening thought

[@AvarllanTelesto]

@@tilasole3252 Shhhhh, trying to keep that one secret...

[@douglasdarby7123]

The Kangaroo engine was in Spitfires in 1944. Kangaroo flew two years later. The fastest flight of the Kangaroo in a dive and a vampire was doing a run over Sydney 40mph faster the same week. Sorry what is there to be proud of?

[@ratofvengence]

@@douglasdarby7123 You sound pretty bitter there kiddo.

[@douglasdarby7123]

@@ratofvengence bitter about what? Is that standard comment you just leave in any thread on any topic?

[@overworlder]

The Rabaul squadron knew its fate, it radioed the gladiator greeting ‘we who are about to die salute you’ beforehand. According to the RAAF official history.

[@0Zolrender0]

Aussies being Aussies. o7

[@edwardfletcher7790]

"Ave imperator, morituri te salutant"

[@Thermopylae2007]

Ironically enough they might have had better chances had they been equipped with Gloster Gladiators.

[@edwardfletcher7790]

Thank you for featuring this interesting & pivotal Aussie aircraft 👍🏻😁 We suffered from far too much UK oversight & self interest during WW2 😕

[@fuzzjunky]

but on the upside we got to make mosquitos and P-51's so we hand our hands on some good planes

[@scroungasworkshop4663]

That was an excellent video with great historical photos and clear narration. Thanks.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@aloysiusjones3985]

It performed an amazing role in PNG along with the Boomerang. Supported The Diggers and kept them going. Incredibly brave pilots. A great presentation. 🇦🇺👍🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺

[@douglasdarby7123]

Even this shitbox developed from the same Texan as the Wirraway was copied was better than the Boomerang en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-64 and developed far before the Boomerag

[@LeopardIL2]

Excellent! Good to have you back my good countryman.

[@overworlder]

Great vid. The RAAF used a blue and white roundel in its home region. By removing the red dot. To avoid confusion with the Japanese roundel.

[@brettcoster4781]

It was done in part following a US fighter shooting down an Australian Catalina.

[@thefruitdealer4970]

It's amazing to see the production quality of your videos increase every time a new one is posted, great video

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@05Hogsrule]

Before you make fighter pilots, you have to train pilots! Both Wirraway and T-6 were part of that success; orientation to flight skills, performance and operational configuration. Giving the pilots time to earn and mature into their professional role earns dividends for the future battle. You can't have a Trainer become a fighter, but you can train a recruit to becoming a Pilot. Too many distractions by higher commanders always screws up the recipe. As always, a very good segment.

[@TalkingGIJoe]

good looking aircraft... you can see its lineage very well...

[@colmclaurin9452]

When I was a kid back in the 50's I had the luck going for a nice long but rather bumpy and very noisy ride in a Wirraway. A number of Wirraways were converted for civilian use to spread superphosphate fertilizer, and were called super planes. A hopper and a shute was installed between the back of the piolet's seat and back of the rear gunner seat, who sat facing towards the rear of the aircraft. The rear gunners seat was left in place because 2 piolets flew in each aircraft, one flying the aircraft the other was a reserve piolet. Each worked half a day flying. Bloody tiring yakka. Dawn first load of super filled the hopper by a tractor with a front end scoop. The reserve piolet would sit on the side of the scoop and pull a lever when the scoop was aligned perfectly over the hopper in the aircraft. Take off, dump the first load, fly back to be loaded again, take off. This sequence took place so many times, possibly over 100 times a day until dusk, with the days flying being shared between the 2 piolets. The piolets camped at the top pub in town and my Dad was the barman who got to know them well. Dad asked if it would be possible for me to go for a ride, they said yes. My Mum being a Mum was against it having visions of the history of the Wirraway's in action during WWII. So at a frosty dawn the next day and all rugged up I climbed aboard and was strapped in and given the ride of my life. When I think back about it all, my hat comes off to those rear gunners during WWII who sat there in the cold for hours on end and endured the ear shattering noise from that old, but very reliable radial engine. Yes them's were the days and long, long gone but I still feel a great honour for being allowed to have experienced it, thou thankfully in peace time. Reading this video very clearly puts me back in the rear gunner's seat as a kid with all the never forgotten emotions and excitement of riding in such a grand old Australian made aircraft.👍👍👍👍

[@borisjohnson1944]

I worked for a short time at CAC around 1972. They assembled the Mirage III, Macchi MB-326 and, Ikara (anti submarine missile).

[@clementevaldez1271]

Great historical video....thank you !!!!

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@sim.frischh9781]

Those 6 bottles of beer where well deserved and it´s a fundamentally good thing that they arrived.

[@huskergator9479]

If you like Aussie WW2 stories, look up Hypohystericalhistory ‘s channel. Good stuff! Another excellent video! Love your research, the layout and delivery, and your accent. Excellent all the way around!

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@cameronnewton7053]

Doing a separate video on the boomerang would be a good idea Believe it or not I think the wirraway shot more planes down then the boomerangs! ( The dedicated fighters!)

[@brettcoster4781]

True. Boomerangs shot down zero enemy aircraft, especially those that were Zeroes.

[@douglasdarby7123]

the lie that Boomerang was anything but garbage. Same engine minus supercharger as the Wildcat which was vastly better in every respect. The Hellcat flew a few days after Boomerang and went on to shoot down 5,200 enemy. Shitbox Buffalos were more maneuverable and the Kittyhawks gigantically better than Boomerang. The insane thing is that because the replacement for the Beaufort was delayed they actually just kept on producing the totally obsolete Boomerang when new the entire fucking war.

[@tilasole3252]

Good stuff! You have a great voice for narration. You would be good at Star Trek ships as well. =P

[@AllthingsWW2]

Ahah, thank you. I used to love Star Trek as a kid, I used to watch Voyager and Deep Space Nine. Haven't seen anything in years, though 👍

[@tilasole3252]

@@AllthingsWW2 from what I am hearing, it's best you don't... Haha! TNG, DS9 and Voyager were my favs. Regardless, perhaps one day you could get back into it and do an episode or two. A lot of parallels in fantasy and reality if only doing historical stuff is your concern.

[@capo.88]

Great video. Your narration is getting way better!

[@dallesamllhals9161]

AI-voice better? I could do danglish* if you want? *english with HEAVY Copenhagen(Sjælland)accent.

[@capo.88]

@@dallesamllhals9161 it's his actual voice

[@huskergator9479]

Excellent video as always. Love your accent brother! Much respect from the Great Plains of the USA.

[@PaulieLDP]

I never knew the Wirraway managed to shoot down a Ki-43.

[@davidmurphy3434]

Only one round hit the Ki-43, unfortunately it hit the pilot's head!

[@mpersad]

A terrific video, great research and excellent use of archive footage.

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@davidmok108]

Im glad that i came across this channel, thumbs up for the great content, never knkw WT can be such as good aid to describe a plane 👍🏽

[@reddogsaws]

Fun fact It was the last weapon system in the Australian armed forces to use synchronise belt ammunition for use in its nose guns

[@stewartdalton3298]

Being an Australian. I really appreciate you researching the fact that Old Mate got his half a dozen bottles of beer.🍺 Hopefully they got 6 N.T. stubbies of beer because the original one were 2 litres each. Lest We Forget 👍

[@daz746]

Thank you for presenting this AllthingsWW2

[@Fiftie]

Great uncle flew these throughout the war

[@lukeskywalker3329]

Cmon! 755 wirraways scored 6 bottles of beer .! That's a good deal !

[@Justwantahover]

We took off in our Wirraway and we're away!

[@gilbertoperezcarmona8871]

Make a review of the boomerang, it would be interesting to know its story PD: Great video

[@AllthingsWW2]

Will do. Thank you!

[@martryan2060]

Nice video 👍

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@michaelnaisbitt7926]

The Wirraway was slaughtered by thr Japanese Zeros and their improvement the Boomerang failed to shoot down one enemy aircraft during it's career

[@sarcasmo57]

Thank you for the video. It was nice.

[@ShaneBlack-ud8ie]

Excellent video thank you 👍 And fantastic to hear those blokes got their bottles of beer!

[@Robert-qi6mb]

This plane was shot out of the skies by the Japanese aircraft.

[@garynew9637]

Nice touch with "waltzing matilda"

[@mickmuzzmkmz1628]

Nice video! 👍 When is the follow up video on the CAC Boomerang coming? Also, the "e" in Port Moresby isn't supposed to be pronounced. It's just two syllables, not three. It's meant to be pronounced "Mors-bee".

[@IC3XR]

Video on the CAC Boomerang? Please?

[@AllthingsWW2]

Yes, it'll be a while but I'll certainly do one!

[@IC3XR]

@@AllthingsWW2 awesome!

[@1joshjosh1]

I really enjoyed this video Interesting stuff

[@lappin6482]

thanks for a great video 👍🇦🇺

[@AllthingsWW2]

Thank you!

[@benjaminrush4443]

Great Review. Thanks.

[@sueneilson896]

The CAC also made large numbers of Beaufort bombers and Beaufighters.

[@alankohn6709]

Don't forget the Kangaroo which may if circumstances had been different may have been an Australian P-51 although weather it could played any real part in the war had it been built is debatable

[@paulcateiii]

good to know they received the beer 🍻

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

I find it truly astonishing that all these supposed "reconnaissance" aircraft, which we are told were trying to find out what was going on below, have observers looking out the top. What is so difficult about the idea "Why don't we put some windows on the bottom?"? Duh. Military intelligence.

[@johnno7052]

Many years ago a woman told me her father was the only Australian pilot to shoot down a Japanese Zero in combat in a Wirraway.He must have been pretty good.

[@simonolsen9995]

Should have married her mate. She would have had strong genes for good luck and skill under pressure.

[@veritasardens6547]

...and thus the Wirraway was whirred away from the battle front.

[@DIREWOLFx75]

Lol, "neverhawks" and "tomorrowhawks", i hadn't heard those before!

[@peregrinemccauley5010]

The Boomerang . You see , not all boomerangs are designed to come back to sender .

[@robertthomas3777]

Back when we had statesmen, vision and industry. Now, we are just the world’s gravel pit.

[@TrustMeiamaD.R.]

Long covid?! Thiamine, potassium iodide and magnesium taureate supplements helped me the most. Also, gym! Good luck.

[@floriangeyer3454]

0:40 Jugo Partisans armed with WW 1 German Kar.98az served in Australia?

[@petercastles5978]

Wirraways up against the Australian designed Zero. The Zero was designed in Ipswich, Qld ,Australia, and offered to the Ausyralian Govt. They knocked it back , so it was sold to the NZD's, who then onsold it to the Japs. Miss Roberts of Ipswich was so embarrassed about her brother's plane, she could hardly talk about it. A mate of mine did talk to her about it, and he is still alive. Come and talk to him to his face if you think this is bullo! He will give it to you straight!!

[@georgepantazis141]

That's not what the books say about the zero designers.

[@petercastles5978]

@@georgepantazis141 What I said is ridgy didge. I have told my mate how no one believes the story, and he nearly takes my ears off! There is definately a tie in there with the Roberts Bros of Ipswich and their fighter design. Australia could have had it, and surely it would have been better than a trainer plane! My mate was born in Ipswich, in business there, himself and his family in business before him. Not much he doesn't know about that town. I don't worry what is in books. My dad was in Tobruk with the Australian 9th Div., and he told me many times, "Never join up, and never believe what they tell you"! Thanks for your reply, regards, Peter.

[@mystikmind2005]

There was a bit of political intrigue over which aircraft to go with... with hind sight they would have been far far better off going with British fighters produced under licence, because the Americans had no fighter at that time that could match the Japanese... but like i said, no one at the time could have known that. Besides, the older versions of British fighters did not do all that well against the Japanese either,,, but, no doubt the British fighter technology improved faster than the Americans until the P50 came out, then it was game over.

[@douglasdarby7123]

What the Wildcat matched the Japanese. The Boomerang shitbox had the same engine minus supercharger. The Hellcat flew a few days after the Boomerang and shot down 5,200 enemy.

[@daz746]

"UGH!"

[@brettcoster4781]

Yep, the Wirraway that shot down the Ki43 was named "Ugh".

[@sumdumbmick]

'an aboriginal word meaning "challenge"' this is like naming your kid 'Benito Mussolini' because that's 'an Italian name for a leader'. all actual context and meaning is stripped away, and it's supposed to just be totally fine.

[@blue_beephang-glider5417]

Australia is immensely good at starting things and pathetic in continuing them. An aviation industry built from nothing then going on to design it's own bomber and fighter aircraft with the Woomera and the Fighter CA-15 was slowly watered down to little more then a skill saving venture. We also made the Sentinel Tank from scratch with cast hull and removable engine pack both ideas copied by the Americans (Sherman Production and Hellcat) removable engine packs are now standard for all tanks. Lastly in world war two we designed built and used the Owen sub machine gun. We recently did this with the Collins class submarine lampooned by our own media as it was noisy one got through a whole US Navy escort screen and was able to take photos of a US Navy's aircraft carrier's propellers, now we plan to buy American ones. We were also in the top four countries to design and make a working computer CSIRAC. Australia would be the third country to put a satellite in space WRESAT. Our excuse has always been we are a small country so must stop, however Sweden maintained their tank and aircraft industries and exported both for decades, with less than a third Australia's population...

[@nigellawson8610]

It sure took guts to go against the Japanese Zero in this obsolete pile of junk. I take my hat off to the Aussies. Too bad they were not equipped with a machine that would prove equal to their courage.

[@stanpolchinski8956]

my ears say Another Voice narrator Is Necessary. pls & thank you.

[@junaidyaustero7807]

🤩

[@johnmoyle4195]

Wirraway is the real name of Lithgow, where I live. It was a name from the Wiradjuri language. After the people of Wirraway were massacred in 1824, it was renamed to Lithgow. It is not correct to call any word an “Aboriginal” word. There are 602 languages in Australia. Not one. It is important to identify words by the language they come from. That reference was very disrespectful from an Australian point of view.

[@jimbovoncarguy3877]

As an aussie myself and a first nations man, its not disrespectful at all. Stop the divisiveness.

[@frankroy9423]

The movie Tomorrow uses the name as the town invaded by North Korea. The teenagers defend the invasion❤.

[@derektaylor6389]

the wirraways main problem was the crap american engine

[@mikearmstrong8483]

Yeah, such crap that 35,000 of them were produced for use by many nations in the war effort. And what have the southern hillbillies contributed 35,000 of to the world, besides sheep?

[@mikearmstrong8483]

Let us know when you figure out how to design your own engines.

[@markfryer9880]

It wasn't so much as crap, but rather under powered. Then again is it a training aircraft, support aircraft or a fighter aircraft? All of those aircraft have different requirements for engine power.

[@douglasdarby7123]

The Texan's ancestry goes back to the North American NA-16 prototype which was first flown on April 1, 1935. In 1935, NAA submitted this design for the U.S. Army Air Corps Basic Trainer Competition. NAA also targeted the export market.[1] Modified as the NA-26, it was submitted as an entry for a USAAC "Basic Combat Trainer " aircraft competition in March 1937. Based on the NA-18, but with a foot longer wingspan, it was the first of the NA-16 series with retractable gear. It was similar to the BT-9, but with a larger engine, the 550 hp (410 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp, and could accommodate two .30 in (7.62 mm) guns. With minor alterations, 177 unarmed NA-36s would enter service as the BC-1 with a R-1340-47 engine from 9 June 1937. Roughly 30 were modified as BC-1-I instrument trainers. The BC-1A (NA-55-1) followed as an armed version, primarily for Air Corps Reserve and National Guard units, and the 83 built could be equipped with a .30 in (7.62 mm) machine gun on the nose, and a flexible gun in the rear cockpit. The US Navy received 40 NA-28 aircraft based on the BT-9, which it designated the NJ-1, as well as 16 NA-52s, designated the SNJ-1, 36 NA-65 as SNJ-2s, and 25 NA-79 also as SNJ-2s.[1]: 33-44, 214  In March 1937, the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation of Australia purchased an NA-32 (NA-16-1A, with fixed undercarriage) and an NA-33 (NA-16-2K with retractible undercarriage) along with a manufacturing license. The first CAC Wirraway, based on the NA-33, flew on 27 March 1939, of which 755 were built.[1]: 52-53

[@douglasdarby7123]

15,500 Texans