I have at least completed this part of the project.Time for a final homage to the crew.I felt it was important to search for more information on the crew and not only on Wing Commander Birchall.
The crew is well remembered on this Website, but there are so many more who are remembered on it.
https://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/
Time to pay a final homage to the rest of the crew with a tribute to Sergeant Brian Catlin.
As always I had started my search on him with this image since I only had this information.
There was the tribute to Sergeant Brian Catlin on a webpage.
Brian Catlin was born on October 12, 1919 in Stockport, Cheshire, England. He died on March 7 2016 in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England.
You can read more about him here.
https://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/c/html/catlin-brian.htm
This was the most interesting part…
Footnote
Brian Catlin married Norma Warburton. His sister-in-law was Aileen Warburton, William Ginger Cook’s wife.
Time to pay homage to Sergeant Frederick Cecil Phillips.
As always I had started my search on him with this image.
There was a tribute to Frederick Cecil Phillips where I took this image from.
He was born on October 8, 1918 in Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. I found out that he died in September 2004 in Stoke-on-Trent.
You can read more about him here.
https://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/p/html/phillips-frederick.html
I have found little on him. He was probably married to Agnes Gilby in 1941.
I found he might have been married to Dorothy S. Windsor in 1949 and later to Susan H. Beer in 1970. Little else is known about one of the Saviours of Ceylon.
Time to pay homage to Sergeant William (Ginger) Cook.
As always I had started my search on him with this image.
There was a tribute to Sergeant William Cook where I took this image from.
Born on May 31st, 1921 in Rotherham, Yorkshire, William Cook was the son of Charles Cook and Eliza. I don’t have more information on his parents.
You can read more about him here and how he met his wife.
Updated 9 October 2021
Comment
Hi Pierre, my daughter found this post today and told me to read it. Peter Nugent Kenny was my father he died in 1988 but kept in touch with Brian Catlin and Fred Phillips until then. He stayed in the RAF first as pilot of Sunderland flying boats, anti-submarine & air-sea rescue, then as a supply officer until he retired in 1962. He was born 11th Jan 1914 and died 11th Apr 1988.Thank you for your post remembering him and the crew.Regards David
Time to pay homage to Flight Lieutenant Peter Nugent Kenny. I have not found his photo on Ancestry, but I think I found something more about him.
Flight Lieutenant Peter Nugent Kenny was in the water when the Japanese strafed the crew that had escaped from the sinking Catalina. He was lucky to have survived this ordeal as well as his internment in Japanese POW camps.
As always I had started my search on him with this image.
This is a tribute to Flight Lieutenant Peter Nugent Kenny where I took this image from.
https://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/k/html/kenny-peter-nugent.html
Being a Flight Lieutenant Peter Nugent Kenny was most likely the co-pilot of the Catalina.
Peter Nugent Kenny was born on January 11, 1914 in Ootacamund in the British India. His father was James Leonard Kenny and his mother was Minnie Kearney.
Peter Nugent Kenny married Queanie Vandervell on October 27, 1945 in Hampstead, London, England. Her paternal grandfather was Henry Eugene Vandervell, but I am sure you have looked him up yesterday…
Last week I have completed something I had started six years ago. It wasn’t a model airplane. It was about someone’s final mission on Earth. I was somewhat acting as his co-pilot on that mission.
You can read it here…
https://rcaf425alouettesiii.home.blog/2021/07/30/november-11-r220222s-final-mission-epilogue/
Time to pay homage to Sergeant Ian Nicholson Davidson. He was also a wireless air gunner. I found this photo on Ancestry. His sister Nina is on the left and his aunt Rachel on the right.
Sergeant Ian Nicholson Davidson was in the water when the Japanese strafed the crew that had escaped from the sinking Catalina.
His body was also never found.
I have started my search on him with this.
This is a tribute to Ian Nicholson Davidson.
https://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/d/html/davidson-ian-nicholson.html
I looked for his parents Mr. and Mrs. A.C.F. Davidson, of Portree, Isle of Skye.
Ian Nicholson Davidson was born in 1920 most probably in Scotland. His father was Alexander Cook Fullarton Davidson (1876–1952) born in Longtown, Cumberland. He died on February 7, 1952 in Portree, Inverness-shire, Scotland.
His mother was Margaret Nicolson.
Margaret Nicolson (1888–1928) was born in Portree, Isle Of Skye, in Scotland. She died on September 7, 1928 in Glasgow.
Ian had two brothers and one sister. James Davidson (1919-2013), Alastair MacKenzie Davidson (1922- ) and Christina (Nina) Davidson (1924-2018). All became orphans in 1928.
I don’t know if Ian was married. What I know is that a relative had remembered him on Ancestry.
Genealogy is as addictive as building model airplanes. It’s hard to stop.
August will be a month where I will look forward to complete the He 111 which I started last November.
Epilogue
I am certain Wing Commander Birchall never thought that he, alone, was the Saviour of Ceylon.
Next time all about Peter Nugent Kenny, his wife Queanie and her famous paternal grandfather…
Time to pay homage to Warrant Officer Colarossi. He was a wireless air gunner.This is the only photo I could find.
Lucien Angelo Colarossi’s body was never found.
He was married to Norah May Seed.
Lucien Angelo Colarossi was born on October 15, 1914 in England. His parents were Angelo Colarossi and Elsie Graham. Lucien had one sister Phyllis Mary Colarossi (1910-1998).
Lucien’s father is somewhat famous.
At the age of 15, he modelled for Gilbert’s most famous statue Anteros (1891) on the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus.[1] He was later employed by an English firm of aircraft manufacturers.
More about him…
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Colarossi
Next time, my homage to Iain Nicholson Richardson another wireless air gunner.
Decisions, decisions, decisions…
I have decided not to use paintbrushes to paint the PBY. I will wait after I use my airbrush first on the He 111 which will take a while.
Instead I will be paying homage to Granville Charles Onyette after my homage paid to his pilot Wing Commander Birchall.
Granville is seen here in the middle of the back row.
Granville Charles Onyette came back from the Japanese POW camps he was interned.
He probably never told about his ordeal to anyone except to his wife.
He is buried with his wife Jean Onyette nee Burt.
This is where I found them.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/193166008/granville-c-onyett
I have also learned about his uncle Granville Clifford Onyett who is buried in France.
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/179206
This is how I connected the dots.
My search for Granville Charles Onyette began with this webpage.
https://www.geni.com/people/Granville-Onyett/4113459863030047468
From there, I started building his family tree.Then more information was found.
http://www.communitydigitalarchives.com/huntsville-forester/newspapers.html#
Granville Charles Onyette was born on July 18, 1917 in Huntsville, Ontario. His parents were Montague Onyette and Lizzie Keetch. Grandville had one brother and one sister. They became orphans when their mother died in 1922. Montague Onyette remarried in 1924.
I have also found this webpage where someone had documented the Onyette family.
https://www.terrys.org.uk/charts/o/onyet402.htm
Granville Charles Onyette is not listed but his brother and his sister are. I will probably contact this person to let him know about an unsung hero.
Grandville was the navigator who told Wing Commander Birchall to continue the search to be able to get a better fix on their position. This is why the Japanese fleet was found.
Source
http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vo7/no4/stuart-eng.asp
Birchall arrived in his patrol area just as the sun rose. Hour after hour, the Catalina flew 150 mile-long east-west lines, spaced 50 miles apart, at an altitude of 2000 feet over the water. While they were flying the last assigned leg, Birchall’s navigator, Warrant Officer Onyette, the only other Canadian aboard, pointed out that if they flew an extra leg, he could confirm their actual position by using the moon, which was then rising. Since they were required to remain airborne until after dawn the next day in any case, Birchall agreed.
Two messages were sent before the radio was damaged by a swarm of Zeros. I had always thought Warrant Officer Onyette was the wireless operator who had sent those messages.
This is where I found who was the wireless operator in Wing Commander Birchall’s crew.
The wireless operator was Sergeant F.C. Phillips who I am quite sure never told anyone about his ordeal.
https://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/p/html/phillips-frederick.html
Epilogue
Building a family tree is like building a model kit, except you don’t have to use an airbrush or masked little windows.
Decisions, decisions, decisions…
How to go about it now? When frustration settles in, you hit the pause button...and take a deep breath. The painted masking tape didn’t not work out and I know why.
I made little progress since pausing and watching YouTube videos on the PBY.
I have used painted scotch tape and this is how it turned out.
They will need some touch-ups later but I don’t see any more problems.
Modelers always have to face big decisions.
I have to decide if I should use paintbrushes to finish this project as I don’t think I can use my airbrush in the near future.
Speaking of big decisions… this project is dormant right now waiting for me to mask all the windows.
This one has to get the airbrush treatment so it will probably be done before the PBY.
What should come next? Finishing my three helicopters while I procrastinate masking the He 111 windows?
Maybe reading about procrastination?
Procrastination: A Scientific Guide on How to Stop Procrastinating
More update…
The machine guns were Vickers .303 machine guns.
My Forgotten Hobby is all about learning. I will leave on the former update and also the comments.
Updated with the right machine guns.
https://www.eduard.com/eduard/brassin/aircraft/1-48/lewis-mk-iii-wwi-gun-1-48.html?cur=2
I need to pause for awhile as I am trying to get everything right with my build.
I have just noticed the PBY Catalina Mk I had twin Vickers .303 machine guns and not Browning .50 calibre machine guns which adds to my frustration.
I found the proof on YouTube.
See for yourself.
You can sing along while watching…
Lyrics
If you ever go down Trinidad
They make you feel so very glad
Calypso sing and make up rhyme
Guarantee you one real good fine time
Drinkin’ rum and Coca-Cola
Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter
Workin’ for the Yankee dollar
Oh, beat it man, beat it
Since Yankee come to Trinidad
They got the young girls all goin’ mad
Young girls say they treat ’em nice
Make Trinidad like paradise
Drinkin’ rum and Coca-Cola
Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter
Workin’ for the Yankee dollar
Oh, you vex me, you vex me
From Chicachicaree to Mona’s Isle
Native girls all dance and smile
Help soldier celebrate his leave
Make every day like New Year’s Eve
Drinkin’ rum and Coca-Cola
Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter
Workin’ for the Yankee dollar
It’s a fact, man, it’s a fact
In old Trinidad, I also fear
The situation is mighty queer
Like the Yankee girl, the native swoon
When she hears the Bingo croon
Drinkin’ rum and Coca-Cola
Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter
Workin’ for the Yankee dollar
Out on Manzanilla Beach
G.I. romance with native peach
All night long, make tropic love
Next day, sit in hot sun and cool off
Drinkin’ rum and Coca-Cola
Go down Point Koomahnah
Both mother and daughter
Workin’ for the Yankee dollar
It’s a fact, man, it’s a fact
Rum and Coca-Cola
Rum and Coca-Cola
Workin’ for the Yankee dollar
While I am pondering the next step and taking a deep breath, let’s look at how the PBY was really built.
Very instructional.
My Forgotten Hobby III 