Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Reginald Francis GRIMLEY

Auction notes 25th September 2008 DNW website 1914-15 Star (O.N.2263 Ord. Sea.); British War and Victory Medals (A.B., R.A.N.); War and Australia Service Medals (2263 R. F. Grimley); Royal Australian Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue, fixed suspension, with Second Award bar (2263 Leading Seaman, R.A.N.); H.M.A.S. Sydney - S.M.S. Emden Medal, 9 November 1914, silver Mexican Dollar dated 1895 , mounted by W. Kerr, Sydney, unnamed; Western Australia, Sydney - Emden Commemorative Medal, reverse inscribed (part engraved) ‘Presented by the People of Western Australia to R. F. Grimley, Boy 1 Class’, mounted for display, edge bruising, first three worn; others very fine (8) £1800-2200

The battered hulk of the SMS Emden after it was beached on North Keeling Island

Military Medal, G.V.R. (3958 Pte. G. H. Trew. 2Aust: Inf:); British War Medal 1914-20 (3958 Pte. G. H. Trew. 2Bn. A.I.F.) ‘3’ officially corrected; War Medal 1939-45 (N65913 G. H. Trew); Australia Service Medal (N65913 G. H. Trew), Second War Medals officially impressed, mounted for display

Consolidated Catalina Mark I, AH562 'AX-', of No, 202 Squadron RAF, anchored at Gibraltar after an anti-submarine patrol

Royal Air Force Coastal Command, 1939-1945. Air and ground crew of No. 202 Squadron RAF check equipment and ordnance issued to Consolidated Catalina Mark I, AJ159 'AX-B', on the slipway at North Front, Gibraltar, in preparation for a patrol.

AN RAF Catalina of No. 202 Squadron returns to Gibraltar after a patrol

Sunderland and Catalina flying boats of RAF Coastal Command at Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland, January 1945. The big freeze. Nearly all the aircraft on strength with three Coastal Command squadrons are visible here, drawn up out of the water at Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland as Logh Erne froze over in January 1945. More than 30 aircraft can be seen, including Sunderlands of No's 201 and 423 RCAF Squadrons and No 202 Squadron's Catalinas.

LTCOL Steve Larkins Commanding Officer 9th Combat Service Support Battalion 2000-2001

Far and away: The young Private Bill Cassidy spent five of the eight years of his marriage away at war.

Far and away: The young Private Bill Cassidy spent five of the eight years of his marriage away at war.

RAF Station Waddington Lincolnshire, England. C. 1944-05. Group portrait of members of the crew of "S" for Sugar, a Lancaster aircraft of No. 467 Squadron RAAF, prior to taking off on her ninety seventh raid over enemy territory. Left to right: Captain for the first time is Pilot Officer T. N. Scholefield of Cryon, NSW Flying Officer I. Hamilton Flight Sergeant (F Sgt) R. T. Hillas F Sgt F. E. Hughes Sergeant (Sgt) R. H. Burgess F Sgt K. E. Stewart Sgt J. D. Wells

Studio portrait of 420870 Pilot Officer (PO) William Eldred Felstead, No. 467 Squadron, RAAF, of Sydney, NSW. A clerk prior to enlisting in December 1941, PO Felstead trained as a pilot in Australia, Canada and England with the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS). On 10 May 1944, PO Felstead was piloting Lancaster LL788, radio call sign PO-G, which exploded and crashed while on operations over Lille, France. PO Felstead and the six other crew members on board were killed. PO Felstead was 22 years of age.

John Francis TUCKER's grave

This aircraft, restored to non-flying status and formerly located at the Parafield Fighting Jets Museum in South Australia is a Bell P39 Airacobra of 82 Squadron (although it is wearing 24 Squadron codes - part of a flight detached to 82 Squadron) as it was when it was written off in a forced landing near Bulli in NSW in June 1943. The aircraft has sine been sold to aviation interests in Russia, where Airacobras served with great distinction in WW2. Airacobras were operated in limited numbers (22 in all) by the RAAF as a stop-gap in defence of cities on the eastern seaboard. Some are believed to have been used as training aircraft at Mount Gambier in SA. The Airacobra had some unique features which are shown in this image via open hatches. Most notable at first glance, it had a tricycle undercarriage, the engine was centre mounted, behind the pilot, driving a transmission shaft between the pilots feet to the propellor. This gave a lot of room up front for a very heavy nose armament comprising 1 x 20mm cannon (a 37mm cannon in some variants) firing through the propeller hub and two .50 calibre guns in the nose and one in each wing. While not highly regarded in the Pacific theatre, the most prolific user was the Soviet airforce who were provided large numbers under the Lend Lease Agreements. The Russians loved them, particularly as tank attack aircraft. They were replaced in Australian service by the ubiquitous Curtiss P40 Kittyhawk.

Australian pilots of No. 453 Squadron scramble to their Brewster Buffalo aircraft. A US aircraft never adopted by US forces, the Buffaloes were no match for the Japanese 'Zeros' and 'Oscars' ranged against them

Found at last. AE1 in 300m of water off Duke of York Islands

Australia's first submarine AE1 in dry dock at Cockatoo Island in Sydney in June 1914

A QANTAS Catalina operated for the RAAF at the Nedlands base in WA before setting out on one of the longest flights of the war.

Major General Paul Cullen, AC, CBE, DSO and bar, ED

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Thomas Moody, 1941- 1945.

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Ronald Custance, RAAF, 1944-1945.

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Anthony Cameron, Navy, 1941-1946.

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Ernst Grunert, Ran,1940-1945.

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Nicholas McGovern, Army, 1942-1945.

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Alexander James Macbeth, Army, 1942-1945.

ALexander McBride Kerr's Funeral Medal set. flying helmet and Photo

Bristol Beauforts at No. 1 Operational Training Unit, Bairnsdale, Victoria. Nearer camera: A9-102, 262097, Flying Officer Peter John Gibbes, DFC; A9-66, 377, Squadron Leader Cyril Clarence Williams.

Headstone of William Atkinson 4655 at Cheltenham Memorial Park, Victoria.

Two soldiers of the Supply Depot, 1st Australian Division, with boxes of corned beef and canned meat and water cans, Anzac Cove, 1915. Image Australian War Memorial.

The sinking of troopship SS 'Ballarat' which took place on 25 April 1917 in the English Channel. A submarine torpedoed the 'Ballarat', which was carrying Australian troops from Melbourne to England. Efforts made to tow the ship to shallow water failed and she sank off The Lizard the following morning. No lives were lost of the 1752 souls on board.

The mangled ruins of part of the light railway after a direct hit on a trainload of ammunition. Amidst the debris are damaged shell cases. The light railway was used to transport casualties and supplies within the Ypres area. From Birr Cross Roads casualties were transferred to motor ambulances to be transported to the advanced dressing stations on the Menin Road. Note in the background a line of motor lorries.

9.2 inch Howitzers of the 55th Siege Battery in action near Pozieres, late summer 1916

A wrecked M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), destroyed in 6RAR's 'Operation Bribie' by enemy Recoiless Rifle (RCL) fire which killed the driver and crew commander.

In November 1967 a 9 Squadron Iroquois lands to pick up members of the 7th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment (7RAR) during operation Santa Fe, a gruelling three week-long operation through inhospitable country some 23 kilometres from the Task Force Base at Nui Dat. [AWM COL/67/1127/VN]

Nine members of 5 Platoon, B Company, 6RAR. By the end of Operation Bribie three of these young men were dead and five had been wounded. Only one emerged from the battle unscathed. Image courtesy of J. O'Halloran. [AWM P02452.002]

Unidentified radio operator of B Company 9 RAR on Operation Friendship 3. Radio communications were better and more readily available than in any previous conflict.

A 21 Squadron Liberator A72-92, lost on27 July 1945. It had perviously flown with 7 OTU, 24 and 25 Squadrons. Seven of the crew were lost

Charles Wilfred Hart

AWM caption : Fenton, NT. 1945-03. An informal group portrait of a crew of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber aircraft of No. 21 Squadron RAAF, standing beside their aircraft. Left to right: Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) P. Rousseau of Darling Point, NSW Flt Sgt D. W. Johnston of Kogarah, NSW Flying Officer (FO) H. A. Seymour of Coogee, NSW Sergeant (Sgt) F. A. Dean of Brighton, Vic Flt Sgt W. C. Randall of North Sydney FO C. L. Henry of Ivanhoe, Vic Pilot Officer R. W. Brooks of Coogee, NSW Flt Sgt R. W. McLeod of Northcote, Vic Flt Sgt W. H. Storey of Bexley, NSW Sgt R. H. Brown of Allora, Qld Flight Lieutenant R. W. Court of Collaroy, NSW

THOMAS, David John, Service No: 561, Unit: 44th Infantry Battalion STRAND MILITARY CEMETERY Grave II. D. 9.

Graham Leaver in camp at Heliopolis, Egypt in 1916

Mount Gambier's iconic Blue Lake, the caldera of an extinct volcano, filled by the plentiful aquifers in the Mount's substates.

A 38 Squadron CC-08 Caribou over the Great Australian Bight

Victor Harbor - favoured SA holiday destination

The best tunnelling conditions were in the great chalk seams running across northern France. Excavation generally had to be conducted with great care to conceal t he diggings and where in the proximity of enemy miners, to prevent detection by listening devices. Men of the 3rd Australian Company excavating a chamber in the chalk in the Hulluch subway system. The chalk was dug out with miners' picks and filled into bags. These bags were trucked along the gallery to suitable positions, hauled to the surface and emptied at night. In places where the chalk crumbled, the walls had to be revetted, as is seen on the left. Identified left to right: Captain R. J. Langton MC, Officer Commanding, No. 1 Section (holding bag); 1194 Sapper (Spr) D. C. Vecchia; 6772 Spr C. A. L. Robinson, all members of the 3rd Australian Tunnelling Company.

Dave at his home, with friend, Barry Spicer, who executed the painting they are standing by "Squadron Leader David Leicester's Lancaster Returning Home in Daylight"

RAAF 402571 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT C.R.G(GORDON DFC DFM ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE 26TH OCTOBER 1994 AGE 83 LOVED HUSBAND OF TONI. FATHER OF BARBARA, MAX AND MICHAEL

RAAF OVERSEAS HQ, LONDON, ENGLAND. 1943-03-16. 402571 PILOT OFFICER (PO) C. R. G. GRANT DFM (LEFT) WON HIS AWARD 1942-11 FOR HIS CONSISTENT SKILL AND DETERMINATION IN NIGHT OPERATIONS OVER ENEMY TERRITORY, AND 403564 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT J. K. DOUGLAS DFC WAS CITED 1943-01 AS "A MOST DETERMINED AND SUCCESSFUL CAPTAIN OF AIRCRAFT WHOSE QUIET CONFIDENCE AND KEEN SPIRIT HAVE BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO ALL."

Wellington GR.XII 221 Sqn RAF over Greece 1945