In the background

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

So I suggest the images are of the surrender party landing at Labuan Island, Borneo rather than Lae, NG. I seem to remember that the AWM fuselage is this aircraft.

Yes, there was a query in my mind as to the location - Lae didn't make much sense to me at this late stage of the war.

As you say Mike, camouflage detail confirms this as the same a/c pictured in the AWM series, and other detail including personnel present indicates it was the same occasion.

Also, AWM descriptions confirm this to be the fuselage in the collection as you say:

"THIS AIRCRAFT, A TACHIKAWA KI-54C (HICKORY) WAS FLOWN TO AUSTRALIA AND WAS AT RAAF FAIRBAIRN FOR MANY YEARS. THE AIRCRAFT IS NOW IN THE COLLECTION OF THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL."

"This aircraft, a Tachikawa Ki-54c (Hickory) was flown to Australia and was at RAAF Fairburn for many years. It is now at the RAAF museum at Point Cook, Victoria."

If the fuselage is all that remains of this a/c today, I wonder what happened to the rest of it...? Perhaps the following may be a clue as to its fate over the years:

"While the aircraft was at Labuan 300276 Warrant Officer Leonard Anthony (Len) Pearce and his crew had the responsibility for servicing the aircraft. As a souvenir of the event he removed the engine plates from the aircraft, one of which is now in the collection of the Australian War Memorial."

AWM image below depicts a plate removed from the shock absorber. It's a shame this historic a/c wasn't preserved for display.