Living History

Some things you never forget

When Canberra resident, George Williams, turned 82, auspiciously on ANZAC Day, he had no idea that it would be one of those birthdays he would have cause to remember. Unknown to him, behind the scenes ‘things were being arranged’ to make it something really special.

During WWII George did his initial training for the RAAF on Tiger Moths before completing that training in Canada. He was then sent to the UK and joined Coastal Command where he spent the rest of the war flying B24s on anti-U Boat patrols in the North Atlantic.

‘We didn’t sink any submarines,’ George says, ‘but our patrols helped to force them to stay submerged for weeks at a time and that reduced their effectiveness.’

‘But I did at least get to see a U boat eventually,’ he says. On the day after the cease fire in Europe his was the first aircraft from his squadron to begin the rounding up of surrendering enemy submarines and they took over the first two to formally surrender in that part of the Atlantic Ocean. It was an operation without incident but neither the crew of the U boat nor the crew of the aircraft really trusted the other party. George’s crew kept well out of the range of enemy guns and were careful to avoid any manoeuvres likely to be regarded as hostile.

Back home at war’s end, George returned to civilian life spending most of the years before his retirement as a senior administrative officer in CSIRO though for a time he was seconded to FAO in Rome. Now he is Vice President of U3A Online and a former member of the committee of U3A ACT, Canberra’s University of the Third Age.

But talk to any returned serviceman and you soon find that their wartime experiences are deeply embedded and never forgotten even if they seldom mention them. George’s flying days were over - so he thought - but that didn’t mean he had forgotten them. When he heard about another former Canberra pilot being taken secretly by his family to the airstrip and Aviation Museum at Camden, near Sydney, and then being confronted with the news that he was about to have a flight in a Tiger Moth - at the controls - George casually passed the remark that that was ‘something I’d love to do.’

The friend he was talking to thought; ‘Why not?’ and quietly contacted George’s son in Sydney and passed on his father’s statement. ‘No commitments, but this would be a great birthday present for your Dad if you wanted to arrange it.’

A few weeks later George and his wife, Pat, flew down to Sydney to visit the family and out of the blue found a visit to the Camden aviation museum was on the agenda. And yes, a flight had secretly been organised.

The Tiger Moth was on the Tarmac with its pilot, George was presented with the necessary flying equipment and soon the two were airborne. The pilot did the take-off and then handed over the controls to George who found it was still all pleasantly familiar. All the early training came back. He did all the flying then except for the landing.

It was an exhilarating experience for the 82 year old one-time bomber pilot who on touch down said, ‘It gave me back my youth. With a bit of practice I reckon I could get to do take-offs and landings again and maybe even some aerobatics.’ As for the birthday, well it was more exciting than blowing out candles on a cake.

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