Amazingly, pieces of the very first Lancaster to carry the JN-D code have survived. 75 (NZ) Squadron began the long-anticipated conversion from Short Stirling bombers to Avro Lancasters in March 1944. In the first week of April, Sergeant Frank Scott…
The Nest Builders – Stories & Paintings, by Janet Williamson Last year Janet Williamson, wife of the late Dougie, our Flight Engineer, published a tribute to her and Dougie’s life of travelling and home-building together, from Canada to New Zealand,…
Philip Gerald NeweyFebruary 20, 1949 ~ April 26, 2024 Very sad to report the recent passing of Gerry Newey’s oldest son Phil, after a long illness. A larger than life personality, Phil had managed to keep his health issues from the rest…
This photo appeared in the book “Lancasters At War 3”, by Garbett & Goulding, but we have just come across a sharper version that tells a more interesting story. Flight Sergeant Tapua (Tap) Heperi was the Wireless Operator in the Doug Clement…
Kevin King, Chairman of the Friends of 75 (NZ) Squadron Association in the UK recently sent me a copy of this poem, written from the perspective of the ground crews at Mepal, working hard day and night to keep 75 (NZ) Squadron’s Lancasters…
On the Wood crew’s very first op together, the daylight Duisburg operation on the 8th of December 1944, they experienced engine problems that forced them to fall behind the main bomber stream, arriving over the target well after the others had gone. Coming…
One of the intriguing entries in Gerry Newey’s 1945 diary refers to him taking leave to be a witness at a friend’s wedding. On the 9th of March he writes: “Saw Bob Bawden to arrange his wedding which is…
Another Newey family photo album has recently been scanned and these “new” images have surfaced, taken during Gerry Newey’s Wireless Operator / Air Gunner training in Canada, in the summer and fall of 1943. Gerry had sent them home to…
Such sad news, Dougie Williamson passed away last Saturday. He had spent a few days in hospital, then was sent home about 10 days ago. I knew that he was still unwell but it was a real blow to hear…
The last of the JN-Dog Boys, Dougie Williamson, is living a very comfortable life with his wife Janet, here in Auckland, NZ. A recent issue of “Haven” lifestyle magazine featured the stylish Westmere home shared by three generations of the…
A major disappointment during the past nine years of learning more and more about the Dog Boys has been the lack of a photo of their “kite”, Avro Lancaster HK601, JN-D for Dog, aka, “Snifter”. Through my involvement in the NZ Bomber…
It’s such a privilege and such a pleasure to live in the same town as Dougie Williamson, the last of the JN-Dog Boys, and to be able to get together with him and his lovely wife Janet, pretty much any…
Recently a comment popped up on Simon Sommerville’s fantastic 75(NZ) Sqdn website, the poster identifying himself as the son of Lancaster pilot Wi Rangiuaia. Wi was one of the pilots in C Flight, the same Flight and at the same…
Emily Hooper, grand-daughter of Jim and Joyce Hooper has emailed us with the very sad news that her grandmother passed away last month. Joyce had fallen in her garden and broken her hip – a few weeks later she died…
Skipper Johnny Wood’s daughter Debbie has just sent through a beautiful photo of her parents’ wedding. Plans for the wedding were already under way on the 10th of January 1945 when Johnny asked Gerry to be his Best Man,…
The Johnny Wood crew flew 19 op’s in her, but they didn’t have exclusive use of HK601 JN-D “Dog” during their time at Mepal. One of the crews that “shared” Dog with them over the final three months of the…
Last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a special morning tea at the Edmund Hillary Retirement Village at Remuera for a few of the remaining Bomber Command veterans in the Auckland-Hamilton area. It was organised by the New Zealand Bomber Command Association. I picked…
In the last post there was a letter written to Mr & Mrs Williamson by Wing Commander C. H. “Mac” Baigent, DFC and Bar (later DSO and AFC), Officer Commanding 75 (NZ) Squadron, sending condolences for their missing son, Sgt…
Yesterday morning I called in to have coffee, cheese & crackers with Dougie and Janet, and to wish Doug a belated Happy Birthday! While we were catching up, Janet produced a folder marked “RAF”, in which she had kept…
The JN-Dog boys’ Flight Engineer and last surviving Johnny Wood crew member Doug Williamson turns 94 today. Dougie was born on the 8th of August 1925 at Seafield House in Roslin, near Edinburgh in Scotland, the son of a bookmaker…
On the 30th of March 1945 Gerry wrote in his diary: All Kiwis collected in the briefing room @ 9.15 to hear a short talk by Hon Mr Holland. He spoke on rehabilitation etc. The Hon. Sidney George Holland…
Congratulations to Doug and Janet Wiliamson, who celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary today, 31st of May. They will be partying tomorrow afternoon with family and friends to mark the significant occasion and reflect on sixty happy and productive years together….
HK601 wasn’t the only Lancaster known as “JN-Dog”. When the squadron was converting from Stirlings to Lancasters in March-April 1944, crews were sent across to Lancaster Finishing School at Feltwell, for a week or so of ground familiarisation and a…
Simon Sommerville has very kindly given us a link and a plug on his fantastic 75(NZ) Squadron RAF website: https://75nzsquadron.wordpress.com/2019/05/02/the-jn-dog-boys-new-website/ I’ve mentioned before how much Simon’s work has helped my own research, but it’s well worth mentioning again….
Ralph Sparrow’s grandson David has sent through some more wonderful photos from the family, these from Ralph’s daughter Susan’s collection. She has also sent a set of documents from Ralph’s RCAF files, including his service record, discharge papers, etc. These…
Surely the best part of rediscovering the JN-Dog story for me was finding out that one of the crew was still alive and living here in Auckland. And then to meet Doug Williamson, and his lovely wife Janet – such…
Wings Over New Zealand (WONZ – http://rnzaf.proboards.com/) is an online NZ aviation forum and community, a great repository of information, frequented by people with a great deal of knowledge about the history of the RNZAF and Kiwis in RAF Bomber…
When I first met Doug Williamson back in 2012, I had already searched and been unable to find a photo of HK601, JN-D, the crew’s regular “kite”. Contrary to my expectation, most of the 75(NZ) Sqdn Lancasters in the pics…
In November 2013, Gerry’s eldest son Phil found his Dad’s 1945 Diary in his suitcase of Gerry’s photos and memorabilia. This was a very exciting addition to the ‘story’ that we were starting to put together, and Phil very generously…
In April 2014, Gerry’s son Phil sent through another batch of photos that he had found in his Dad’s stash. Amongst them was a happy portrait of Gerry and two of his W/Op mates, with signatures and two very sad…
In July 2015 we received a very special invitation to attend Dougie’s 9oth birthday celebrations – a real ceilidh, with pipes and haggis, to be held at the Cox’s Bay Sea Scouts Hall on Saturday the 1st of August (Doug’s…
On the 1st of March 1945 Gerry’s logbook records a 20 minute “air test” in Lancaster JN-F (NG322), piloted by their Flight Commander, Sqd/Ldr Jack Bailey. John Mathers Bailey DFC* RNZAF was CO of “C” Flight, an Irishman who had…
During June and July 1944, Dennis Jones and his ground crew team looked after Lancaster HK558, JN-D, also known as “Dog” and the immediate predecessor to HK601. The aircraft’s regular crew at the time was that of F/Sgt Colin George…
After almost 70 years of shameful neglect, the RAF Bomber Command servicemen and women of WW2 were finally officially commemorated with the construction in 2012 of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, London. Controversy over the tactics…