FLIGHTPATH|wasdifficult,Iamconfidentwehavebeen
able to positively determine the identities of
threeoftheaircraftthatremainbasedon
the available information – A9-364, formerly
of7SquadronRAAFandwrittenoffaftera
crashcausedbyabursttyreonlandingon
16 Ja nua r y 1945; A9 -535 of 100 Squad ron
RAAFwhichcrashedonlandingdueto
damagetoawheelfromenemyactionon
July1944;andA9-637of7SquadronRAAF
whichwaswrittenofffollowingawheelsup
landingon8March1945.Withtimeandad-
ditional research it is envisioned that the
other remaining aircraft will be identified.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:This image gives an idea of the variations in both the amount and condition of the individual Beaufort airframes that remain at Tadji. In the foreground
liestherearfuselageofanunidentiiedBeaufortthatappearstohavebeensubjecttoextensivesalvageworksinthepast,whilethemoresubstantialforward fuselage and wing
centre section of another unidentiied Beaufort sits to its rear[G. Rider];TheblueandwhiteRAAFroundelisclearlyvisibleonthis section of Beaufort wing at Tadji, seventy-odd years
after it was originally painted. The detached rear fuselage section of another Beaufort lies in the jungle immediately behind the wing at the top rightof the frame[A. Matic]; The centre
section of an as-yet unidentiied Beaufort airframe at Tadji[A. Matic]; Another view of A9-535[A. Matic];TheforwardfuselageofB-17F‘HarrytheHorse’liesinaswampadjacenttotheold
ighterstrip.Therearsectionshowsevidenceofrecentdamagebyire.ThelocalsregularlyuseiretokeeptheKunaigrassundercontrol[D. Oakley]; After nearly 75 years in the jungle,
Beaufort A9-364 blends almost seamlessly into the surrounding environment[G. Rider]; Still unidentiied, the rear section of this Beaufort shows evidence of being heavily damaged
sometime in the past. It is impossible to say, however, if this was the result of an accident that ended its service life or through the subsequent eforts of 12 RSU to move it[A. Matic].
At the very least an educated guess as to the
likely identity of each will be possible.
An aspect of our visit that proved particu-
larlypopulartothelocalvillagerswasour
use of a drone to capture aerial images of
thesite.Thisallowedustoobtaindifferent
perspectives of the remains of the airfield
and many of the individual wrecks, as al-
though many of those on the site had been
photographed in the past, it was considered
that this was the first time they had been
recorded in such a way. Careful and skilled
pilotingwasrequiredduetothedensityof
the jungle growing in the area, and I ampleasedtoreportwereturnedwithourrath-
erexpensivequadcopterinonepiece!The
risk was worth the result, with some spec-
tacular shots that demonstrate both the
condition of these relics of war and the ex-
tent of the former airfield complex.
Thesecondlocationwevisitedwasatone
ofthevillagesintheeastoftheformeraero-
dromecomplex,wherethesubstantialre-
mainsofBeaufortA9-606andseverallarge
components of an unidentified C-47 Dakota
lieattheedgeofthejungle.Thepresenceof
these two aircraft here seemed unusual giv-
en their distance from the other known lo-