And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Monday, December 22, 2025
An abandoned Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien Flying Swallow, 68 Sentai, New Guinea, 1944.
Worked in neighboring Papua New Guinea in the 90s. Got our gravel from a pit in Babo, where there was a WWI Jap airstrip, some old bombed-out Zeros still sitting off the runway. Weird, seeing them, like you'd fallen off the edge of planet Earth in some time warp or something.
The camo color is probably green. My recollection (I was very young at the time) is that the location is Cape Gloucester on New Britain which was part of PNG then. There were lots of wrecks lying about on the islands after the war but scrappers got most. A New Zealander, Charles Darby, who grew up in the Islands says for many years the quiet corners like Wewak and Ballale Island lay undisturbed and you could hop into a Betty bomber and pump up hydraulic pressure to lower flaps etc... The Betty's were recovered a couple of years ago along with a P38. Many wrecks were recovered in the 1970's and some, a P40 and a P39 are now flying again. My boss was a diesel mechanic and did a stint at Buka in the Solomons many years ago. He said he was amazed to see many aircraft wrecks in the shallow water as his plane came into land.
Too far gone?
ReplyDeleteThat will buff right out
ReplyDeleteWorked in neighboring Papua New Guinea in the 90s. Got our gravel from a pit in Babo, where there was a WWI Jap airstrip, some old bombed-out Zeros still sitting off the runway. Weird, seeing them, like you'd fallen off the edge of planet Earth in some time warp or something.
ReplyDeleteSorry, WWII Jap airstrip.
DeleteCool story. I mean that.
DeleteI’d rather find an abandoned 1976 Kawasaki 750, but this is special too.
ReplyDeleteThe camo color is probably green. My recollection (I was very young at the time) is that the location is Cape Gloucester on New Britain which was part of PNG then. There were lots of wrecks lying about on the islands after the war but scrappers got most. A New Zealander, Charles Darby, who grew up in the Islands says for many years the quiet corners like Wewak and Ballale Island lay undisturbed and you could hop into a Betty bomber and pump up hydraulic pressure to lower flaps etc... The Betty's were recovered a couple of years ago along with a P38.
ReplyDeleteMany wrecks were recovered in the 1970's and some, a P40 and a P39 are now flying again. My boss was a diesel mechanic and did a stint at Buka in the Solomons many years ago. He said he was amazed to see many aircraft wrecks in the shallow water as his plane came into land.
Also a cool story. Thanks for sharing.
Delete