NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, pages 491 and 492 is a letter from Major E. L. Piesse, Director of Military Intelligence, to the Navy Office, informing them of the progress of the Army’s aerial reconnaissance of south Gippsland. Unfortunately, The aeroplane used in this reconnaissance has been unserviceable since 24th inst. No information has yet been received […]
NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, pages 701 to 709 is a copy of Directorate of Military Intelligence report HB53, ‘Aircraft, lights and objects reported seen in the air’. Copies have been sent to various District Naval Officers and the commanders of HMA Ships Brisbane, Encounter and Protector (presumably DMI sent it to the various military district HQs,
NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 459 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: Reports are being received daily of Aeroplanes seen in Victoria and South Australia. Close investigations being made. Latest reports are
NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 212 is a telegram from Captain C. Finlayson, censor for the 3rd Military District (Victoria), to ‘Intelligence’, Navy Office. He is passing on a newspaper article which has been submitted for censorship: A man named Lewis living at the corner of Frank and Mills Streets, Ballarat West, has reported to Sub-Inspector
NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 403 is a copy of a telegram from the District Naval Officer (DNO), Fremantle, Western Australia. He is passing on information from the editor of the Bunbury Herald (by way of the military censor) that at Bunbury a girl reports having seen a balloon or zeppelin at 2200 21st April in
NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 468 is a copy of an order to the Officer Commanding, Central Flying School (i.e. Point Cook), from Major A. J. Boase on behalf of the Chief of the General Staff (i.e. Major-General J. G. Legge). It orders the detachment of two aircraft: (a) one aeroplane to TOORA, South GIPPSLAND or
NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 183 is a report from Constable G. T. Moyle of the Hamilton police station, in the Western District of Victoria. It concerns ‘an aeroplane’ seen near Macarthur in the early hours of 11 April 1918 by John Sutton, a drover. Sutton had told several people in Hamilton of his strange encounter,
NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, pages 191 and 192 are a report submitted by Constable A. E. McLean of Dartmoor police station. He is passing on information about a mystery aircraft and a ship offshore, seen or heard by multiple witnesses at Nelson, on the southwestern coast of Victoria, near the South Australian border. His informant is
Following a thread provided by John Ptak on Twitter led me to the above image of ‘The great air-liner of the future’, published in The Sphere (London), 19 September 1925, 24–25. I agree with John: it’s an unusually fabulous image of the future of aviation, and I’d add unusually optimistic for Britain (though not uniquely
NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 109 is a copy of a letter from A. M. Black to Major Hogan of the ‘Intelligence Service’. It’s undated, but NAA: MP1049/1, 1918/066, page 108 (a cover letter from military intelligence to naval intelligence) says that it was written on 10 April 1918; the incident it relates to seems to
