In the background

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Keith Webb

This one with the cab 12 portees is interesting as pictures of these seem to be fairly rare.

Yes, they're woefully under-represented in public collections, especially when you consider the role their crews played in North Africa. I'm pretty sure there was even a VC earned on a cab 12 portee (British from memory).

Somewhere amongst all my saved images I have some lesser known pics of cab 12 portees, which I shall dig up and post in due course. Not being strictly "in the background" I shall post them on Keith's cab 11/12 thread, which seems to have fallen into disuse of late (hint, hint!)

Meanwhile, speaking of rarities....you'd be hard pressed to find a more unusual CMP image than pic 1 below - a RAAF C60X aircraft refueller attending a Tachikawa KI-54 "Hickory" full of Japanese officers! (is it just me, or do I detect some hostility from the troops in pic 3....?)

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

The last pic at least looks like the Jap surrender at Borneo, from another angle see:
http://www.oldcmp.net/borneo.html

Keiths Quote "Japanese aviators looking surprisingly comfortable amongst so many Aussies!"
Rich.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

The last pic at least looks like the Jap surrender at Borneo

Apologies Richard, I forgot to include the link to these pics, which gives the location as Lae, not Borneo as in Keith's pics. Nice work on your part to make the connection - it's definitely the same a/c as can be seen in the camouflage detail on the fin (pics 1 and 2 below).

Here's the link to the Lae pics: http://www.antiaircraft.org.au/photo...new-guinea/lae

It took me a while to identify the a/c type but eventually I found pic 3 on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tachikawa_Ki-54 (aircraft recognition is even more fun than identifying CMPs!)

[Tony Wheeler]

Here's another "CMP in the background" from the same site, this time a CGT 8 at Buna. I've come across other pics of CGT 8s being landed here, and even some brief footage of a CGT 8 with short 25 pdr in tow, turning off the beach into the jungle. From memory it's on the ANZAC 3-disc series - I shall locate again and post here.

Here's the link to the image below: http://www.antiaircraft.org.au/photo.../buna/buna-657

On the same site can be found some rare pics of cab 12 FATs in Australia:
http://www.antiaircraft.org.au/photo...ure/townsville

[aj.lec]

On the same site can be found some rare pics of cab 12 FATs in Australia:
http://www.antiaircraft.org.au/photo...ure/townsville

This raises a question -Did these featured gun tractors stay in Australia or where they deployed overseas and not return ?
Where are they now I wonder?

[cliff]

There is a fully restored one here in Gympie

[Mike Cecil]

Tony,

REF: 'Apologies Richard, I forgot to include the link to these pics, which gives the location as Lae, not Borneo as in Keith's pics.

The C60X is labelled 47 OBU, ie 47 Operational Base Unit. From April to November 1945, this unit was located on Labuan Island. They had not been in New Guinea since their move to New Britain in March 1944.

There is the remains (fuselage in poor repair) of a 'Hickory' in the AWM collection. It was one of the aircraft used to ferry Japanese reps to a surrender ceremony - don't remember which one. It was marked with large green crosses over the Rising Suns. Both are visible etched into the Aluminium of the rear fuselage.

Edit update: I've just checked the AWM site, and if you type 'Hickory' into 'Collections Search' you get a seriers of images of a KI-54C Hickory on Labuan Island. One image shows the tail, left side, and it looks pretty much identical to the pattern on the image posted here. 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.

Mike C