PART THREE

June’s programme called for 10 Seafire III & 40 Corsair IVs to be erected together with 5 Corsair II & 1 Corsair II TR for minor inspections. Performance figures were 0 Seafire III, 24 Corsair IVs erected, 5 Corsair II & 1 Corsair II TR inspected. No Seafires could be assembled due to there being none available for erection until late in the month. The Corsair IV figures were affected by 11 engine changes becoming necessary through sand-contamination, and also by lack of electrical spares. The minor inspections required more work than normal, the Corsair II aircraft having suffered considerable corrosion before arriving at Archerfield. On June 1st 1845 Naval Air Squadron was reformed at Archerfield as a single seat fighter squadron, equipped with 24 Corsair IVs. The squadron was to move to the newly established MONAB 65 at Maryborough no the 23rd.

Early June saw the completion of the stop butts at Archerfield undertaken by Yard resources. Later in the month three large stores were acquired at Runcorn, about 6 miles from Rocklea Camp and 4 from Kerry Road. These were to provide an airframe parts store, an engine store and a general store; this acquisition resulted in the building of a 20,000 sq. foot store at Kerry Road being cancelled. June 18th saw the first releases from Royal Naval service made under the ‘Age and Service Scheme’ although TAMY I was little affected by this. The unit was to suffer temporary manpower shortages from June 20th however, through the release of the first 100 men for long leave (10 days); Australian families offered hospitality and accommodation for RN personnel at various locations, from coastal towns to sheep ranches all across Queensland. TAMY I was visited by His Excellency the Governor of Queensland, Sir Leslie Wilson, later in the month, and an inspection tour of the various sites comprising the ‘Air Yard’ was made.

The beginning of July 1945 saw Commander ROGERS-TILLSTONE promoted to the rank of Captain on the 1st, and the Flag Officer Naval Air Pacific (F.O.N.A.P.), Rear Admiral Portal, visited the station on the 8th; Admiral’s Divisions were held, and the Admiral addressed the ships’ company, praising their efforts and predicting that TAMY I could expect to be on station for at least another year.

The production targets for July saw TAMY I attempting to recover the shortfall in Seafire production. Targets were; erections - all available Seafire III - up to 25. & 25 Corsair IV, perform minor inspections on 15 Corsair II. Performance was 9 Seafire III & 25 Corsair IV erected with 11 Corsair II inspections, 1 Engine change and 1 Avenger (major Inspection). A further hold-up in the Seafire erection line occurred when a batch of crated airframes were received with unmatched mainplanes. Uncompleted Corsairs resulted from stores being unobtainable. Early July saw the conversion of a building at Archerfield, acquired from the R.A.A.F., into a Test Flight Office, and a Maintenance Test Flight was set up as a separate entity under the Senior Test pilot. The ground crew consisted of ratings who had by now gained valuable experience of test flying snags.

A detachment of personnel from TAMY I was established at R.A.A.F Oakey, Queensland, where Seafire assembly was to untaken in a effort to increase output for this type. The detachment was to operate at Oakey until late October, and supplemented with men from MONAB 7 from early August.

The first Ships’ Company Ball was held on July 28th at Brisbane City Hall, coincidentally this was the same time that the Labour party was clinching their victory in the UK general election.

August saw the introduction of the new Seafire Mk. XV to TAMY I’s inventory, this month's programme called for 20 Seafire III, 5 Seafire XV, & 40 Corsair IV to be erected, with 10 Corsair II & 5 Corsair II (T) for minor inspections. Performance figures were 9 Seafire III, 0 Seafire XV, 23 Corsair IVs erected, and I Corsair II & 1 Seafire inspected. Delays in Seafire production continued as in previous months, and Corsair output again suffered due to all Corsair IVs being required to be fitted with Gyro Grin Sights, which held tip Corsair production; this was followed up by S.I. / P & W 2800/1, (Special Instruction from Pratt & Whitley) which necessitated a considerable amount of work on each aircraft to get at the fuel control valve.

300 ratings of MONAB 7 started work at Kerry Road on August 10th; this resulted in some disruption while they were introduced to the stage system in use for aircraft erection. These additional ratings were integrated into the TAMY I gangs, and in some areas took over from them. Victory over Japan (VJ) Day was announced on August the 15th and this was celebrated in Brisbane the following day in Australia this was referred to as VP or Victory Parade Day.

Work on engines was able to commence during September, none being possible during April to August apart from putting one or two engines through to test the lines and to practice the personnel concerned. Limited supplies of some outstanding spares became available in September enabling a few engines to be processed during the month.

With the war against Japan now over, the numbers of replacement aircraft required for the BPF had reduced considerably, work shifted towards the stripping out of surplus aircraft and disposal of surplus airframes, engines and other equipment.

On October 15th the personnel and AIRCRAFT of 721 Naval Air Squadron disembarked from HMS Unicorn, having been evacuated from RNAS Ponam (MONAB IV) in the Admiralty Islands. The squadron, a Fleet Requirements Unit, was at Archerfield to re-equip before sailing to Hong Kong for operations with MONAB VIII at Kai Tak airport. The new equipment complement was to have been 12 Vengeance Target Tugs, 6 Defiant Target Tugs, 9 Corsairs, 6 Beaufighters, 6 Mosquitoes, 2 Avengers, and 1 Harvard. The twin engine Beaufighters and Mosquitoes were not issued however, the units’ tasking having been revised. The squadron was to remain at Archerfield for the next two months preparing and testing their new aircraft.

Rear Admiral Portal flew into HMS Nabsford on October 22nd and addressed the assembled ships’ company at Kerry Road; he told the men that TAMY I would be scaling down over the next few months but still had an important role to play, announcing that the newly arrived MONAB VII would be paying off in early November to leave a much smaller ‘Air Yard’ to continue the repair and maintenance tasks which still existed. A week later the first 500 men from HMS Nabsford were embarked on the S.S. Strathenden for passage home to the UK.

On November 4th the three Sea Otters of 1701 Squadron ‘A’ flt arrived from RNAS Maryborough to prepare for embarkation in HMS Striker on the 4th, this unit was also bound for MONAB VIII at Kai Tak airport.

MONAB VII was paid off on November 5th; many of the units’ technical ratings being absorbed into HMS Nabsford, many for Mobile Repair 3, others were drafted to HMS Golden Hind to await other postings. The members of the ship’s company saw the launch of their own newspaper, the ‘Nabsford News’ during November, prior to this a newsletter ‘Nabsford Times’ was posted on the ship’s notice boards for communal consumption. The ‘Nabsford News’ was a commercially printed fortnightly newspaper of eight pages; it was sold for one penny and eight editions were produced before the ship paid off. 721 squadron embarked in HMS Speaker on December 28th, this was to be the last Fleet Air Arm flying unit to operate from Archerfield.

Christmas 1945 saw TAMY I’s own Concert Party put on its one and only public performances at Anzac House in Brisbane on December 27th & 29th, the production entitled ‘Tamy Trifles’ was well received. Performances were compeered by S/Lt. Langford and comprised of a variety of acts from singing to cutlass and club swinging performed by Master at Arms Barnes. The concert party had been regularly putting on shows for other military units in the area but this was to be their only show for a civilian audience.

At 12:45 on January 18th 1946 ‘Clear Lower Deck’ was piped, the Captain addressed the ships’ company and informed them of the future programme for TAMY I. Mid February would see the ships’ complement reduced by two thirds, approximately 1000 men being drafted either home or to RN Barracks , Sydney; HMS Nabsford was to pay off on March 31st 1946 and the ‘Air Yard’ closed, one year and four days after the main body of TAMY I arrived at Archerfield. The remaining ships company of around 500 would de-store ship and prepare the various sites for handover to local authorities, further men would be sent home during the run down to closure if they qualified under the age and service scheme.

HMS NABSFORD & RN Air Maintenance Yard Archerfield paid off March 31st 1946; the various sites comprising the ‘Air Yard’ were returned to the Australian authorities.

R.N.A.M.Y Archerfield

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