The files on this page were researched and compiled by Phil Herdman, a resident of Gove NT, one of 13 Squadron's bases during the war. Referencing multiple sources listed below, Phil has extracted all references to Venturas operated by No. 13 Squadron RAAF. This has involved much time, effort and personal expense on Phil's part and we are most grateful to Phil for sharing his work on The Lockheed File. At the time of publication, Phil feels that he has exhausted all avenues for further research although he would particularly like to hear from anyone who has access to log books of 13 Squadron personnel. Phil can be contacted via this website. Phil's notes are presented in the following table as individual PDFs listed by aircraft serial number. It should be noted that only Venturas known to have been operated by 13 Squadron appear in this list.

 

DETAILED NOTES ON 13SQN VENTURAS
A59-001	A59-005	A59-006	A59-007	A59-008	A59-010
A59-011	A59-012	A59-013	A59-014	A59-015	A59-019
A59-051	A59-052	A59-053	A59-054	A59-055	A59-056
A59-057	A59-058	A59-059	A59-060	A59-061	A59-062
A59-063	A59-064	A59-065	A59-066	A59-067	A59-068
A59-069	A59-070	A59-071	A59-072	A59-073	A59-075
A59-076	A59-077	A59-078	A59-079	A59-080	A59-081
A59-082	A59-083	A59-084	A59-085	A59-086	A59-087
A59-088	A59-089	A59-095	A59-098	A59-099	A59-100
A59-101	A59-103	A59-104

(Note: Serial numbers are presented with leading zeroes for uniformity of layout)

 

MOVEMENT LISTS

 

Phil Herdman has also compiled listings of aircraft movements through the Ventura bases during the war years. These lists have been laboriously compiled from multiple primary sources that are listed in the documents. All files are presented in tabular form as PDFs after conversion from a spreadsheet. In some of the lists (Gove and Milingimbi) there is so much information that it has not been possible to confine the columns to one page. In these documents, the rows are numbered to facilitate location of the corresponding second page. The first three lists predominantly feature Venturas but the Milingimbi list is mostly Hudsons as well as other types.

 

	MOVEMENTS AT CAMDEN, CANBERRA, COFFS & COOKTOWN
	MOVEMENTS AT LABUAN & MOROTAI
	MOVEMENTS AT GOVE
	MOVEMENTS AT MILINGIMBI

 

 

SOURCES

13 Sqn Records & Returns NAA: A11283, 13/1/AIR, 637114.

Control Officer's Watch Log Cooktown AWM66 22/1/5

Control Officer's Watch Log (13 Squadron) - AWM66, 22/1/26, 515693.

AWM66 22/1/22 - Control Officer's Watch Log (Truscott) AWM2022.7.374

AWM66 22/1/23 - Control Officer's Watch Log (76 Wing) AWM2021.8.480

NWA AOR Control Officer's Watch Log AWM66 15/7/7.

Aircraft Repair Depots May 44 - May 46 (includes14 ARD A50) - NAA: A9186, 299, 1359952

Flying Control - Orders and Instructions (56 OBU) - NAA: A12244, 153/1/AIR PART 1, 5485549.

Ventura A59 [Accidents Part 1] NAA: A9845, 114, 6950498. 1-60

Ventura A59 [Accidents Part 2] NAA: A9845, 115, 6950499 61- 99

Aircraft Status cards - Ventura A59-1 to A59-20, A59-50 to A59-104 NAA: A10297, BLOCK 376, 3046016

72 Wing HQ A50 - NAA: A9186, 664, 1360009.

Northern Area Headquarters May 41 - January 42 and North Eastern Area Headquarters January 42 - Dec 45. NAA : A9186, 169, 1359521

RAAF Command Headquarters - North Eastern Area Headquarters - Operational record NAA: A11093, G, 3315052 (10Aug44 only)

North Eastern Area - AOR Log Book (Completed Opertions) (1944-5) AWM66, 14/2/2 515410

(79 Wing HQ) Operation Room Summary, (1 Sep - 31 Oct 1944) - AWM64 6/5C, 1968635.

79 Wing Operations Room records (1 November - 31 December 1944) - AWM64 6/5D, 695687.

79 Wing Operations Room records, (1 January - 13 May 1945) - AWM64 6/5E, 1968638.

RAAF MISC RECORDS 13 SQN WAR STAND REPORTS ; AWM66 388, 8720882.

RAAF MISC RECORDS 13 SQN WAR STAND REPORTS ; AWM66 389, 8720953.

WSR - 13 Squadron War Stand Reports 1944 - 1945 AWM66 96K & NAA AWM66, 388, 8720882.

Narrative reports - 11, 12 and 15 Squadrons - NAA A9652, BOX 13, 12050103 (Includes 13 Sqn)

1 RSU A50, NAA A9186, 372, 1359933

4 RSU A50 NAA: A9186, 372, 1359933.

(14 ARD) - Aircraft Repair Depots (12-15) May 44 - May 46, NAA: A9186, 299, 1359952

(11 Com) Communication Flights 5-13 Dec 42 - Oct 45 A9186 335 1358868

AUSTIN, JOHN R 403682 , AWM2022.6.152

CATHRO Gordon Frank 417991 : copied from original log book 1999.

FITZGERALD, Joseph Bryon NAA A12372 O21986, 5423757 (Log extract)

LAVES, John Albert 413083, NAA A9301, 413083, 5528536

PATRICK, Sydney Denis (alias Rupert Bert) Log Book AWM2020.22.224

THOMPSON, CHARLES BERNARD 411552, Copied from log book circa 1992.

TRANTER BRYAN : Service Number - 413690 - NAA: A9300, TRANTER B, 5241154.

WHITLAM, Edward Gough 423371: Faxed Log Book copy from Gough Whitlam 1991.

WILSON WM : https://archives.org.au/W.M._Wilson%27s_RAAF_log_book