- Author
- Gregory, Mackenzie J.
- Subjects
- Letter to the Editor
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- HMAS Australia I
- Publication
- December 2007 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
Dear Sir
Re: Naval Historical Review Volume 28, No. 1 – Naval Wartime Hero by Alan Zammit.
With reference to Alan’s article on Jamie Armstrong and the rescue of 9 airmen from the downed Sunderland in the North Atlantic in 1940. Like Red Merson, I was serving in HMAS Australia at the time as a Midshipman and well recall this daring rescue led by Commander Armstrong.
In writing an article about this incident for the AWM Magazine Wartime, I was looking for the names of those rescued.
The Log of Australia was in the National Archives in Sydney, and one of our 1936 Jervis Year RANC Entry, John Lorimer, on my behalf, searched the log to find the names of those rescued.
They were listed by the OOW as:
- Flight Lieutenant Gidd (we now know that should read Flight Lieutenant S.R. Gibbs) who was the pilot;
- Flying Officers Neugebauer and Ennis (not Evans);
- Sergeants Gough, Taylor and Cushworthy; LAC Gay;
- Mechanics Hicks and Bond.
Mackenzie Gregory