Archives

T. J. Wilson, 31 May 1918
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Friday, 31 May 1918

NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 529 is a statement by Captain T. J. Wilson, master of the SS Koolonga, a merchant vessel plying the Newcastle–Port Pirie route. At 8.15pm on 26 May 1918, Koolonga was off Cape Willoughby, Kangaroo Island, South Australia; Wilson was on the bridge when, ‘Casually looking aloft, he saw a dark square […]

C. Joyes, 22 May 1918
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Wednesday, 22 May 1918

NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 134 is a report by Constable C. Joyes, Victoria Police, about an ‘Aeroplane seen in the vicinity of Dromana‘, a seaside resort town about 70km from Melbourne. Doctor J. G. Weld of Dromana reported to me today that he saw an Aeroplane about 530 am yesterday morning (21st [May 1918]) flying

K. O. Mackenzie, 13 May 1918
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Sunday, 13 May 1917

NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, pages 325 through 327, is a report from Lieutenant K. O. Mackenzie RANB (Royal Australian Naval Brigade), though in fact the bulk of it is his rendering of a statement made by James Aitken, a ‘mail contractor’ from Waratah Bay, regarding an aeroplane he had seen at Cape Liptrap on the Gippsland

Frank Shann, 12 May 1918
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Sunday, 12 May 1918

NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 202 is a letter from Frank Shann, headmaster of Trinity Grammar School, Kew (a suburb of Melbourne), to Commander F. G. Cresswell (the Navy’s Director of Radio Service — no connection to Rear Admiral W. R. Creswell, the Navy’s senior officer). Shann is reporting ‘an extraordinary and possibly suspicious occurrence’: One

HB64, 11 May 1918
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Saturday, 11 May 1918

NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, pages 668 through 671 is a copy of Directorate of Military Intelligence report HB64, ‘Aircraft, lights and objects reported seen in the air — summary and appreciation no. 4’. It is a continuation of the last such ‘summary and appreciation’ HB56 of a week ago. But whereas HB56 was 17 pages long,

Anonymous, 9 May 1918
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Thursday, 9 May 1918

NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 457 is a copy of a telegram sent from the Navy Office to the Admiralty, London; Commander in Chief, China; Senior Naval Officer, Wellington; and Captain in Charge, Sydney. It reads: Majority of aircraft reports have proved to have no foundation. No definite proof of existence of aircraft obtained. Exhaustive enquiries

HB56, 4 May 1918
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Saturday, 4 May 1918

NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, pages 674 through 690 is a copy of Directorate of Military Intelligence report HB56, ‘Aircraft, lights and objects reported seen in the air — summary and appreciation no. 3’. It is a continuation of the first such ‘summary and appreciation’ HB53 of nearly a week ago (no. 2 was an interim update

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