RAAF

Stan Gajda 1981

Aircraft History
RAF serial JM135. Delivered to RAAF July 1943. Converted to components January 1944.

Mission History
Landed wheels-up alongside the runway at Drysdale Airfield after returning from a mission to Timor. The center fuselage was still in quite good condition until the mid 1980's.

Wreckage
Robert Greinert and Dennis Baxter recovered this airframe, and Beaufighter A19-148 and transported them 6,000-odd miles round trip back to Sydney.

Stan Gajda reports:
"Both airframes had no corrosion, all interiors were stripped but stringers, frames etc were looking quite good and everything was still heavily painted. The exteriors were white by the look of it with the RAAF roundels having a thin yellow border all around. The airframes both had the cockpit and tail assembly sections removed as well as the outer wing panels. I found the wreckage trail of one of these planes and there were undercart doors and one outer wing a bit crumpled up and a lot of other parts. The salvagers came in 1981 and took every bit they could find at Drysdale related to Beaufighters.

In 1988, I saw the best wing/center section set up in a jig at Bankstown Airport a few years after the salvage. The construction was a combination of steel box trusses and alloy sheeting and sections. Although the rivets were still ok the Australian FAA insisted on total replacement with aluminum alloy rivets."

Restoration
The Fighter Collection in the UK is currently restoring Bristol Beaufighter A19-144. To help with this restoration, parts of this fuselage Beaufighter A19-148. Pieces from the tail section of Beaufighter A19-36 were also used.

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