Cairns Mariners

[cristo]

Some photos of unidentified Mariners at Cairns from the Cairns Historical Society collection. These are probably 41 Squadron aircraft as it was based in Cairns from mid 44 to late 45 but could be 40 squadron or one of the air sea rescue flights as they were all in Cairns at some stage.
The first photo is on the ramp at the seaplane base at Admiralty Island on Cairns inlet.

This post has been edited by cristo on Oct 21 2021, 08:09 PM

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[cristo]

Mariner on Cairns inlet

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[cristo]

Another one of the ramp on Admiralty Island.

This post has been edited by cristo on Oct 21 2021, 08:19 PM

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[Hornet133]

First airframe in the lineup above is Mariner A70-11 'K' 'Ah Sweet Mystery' of 41 Sqn

[cristo]

Thanks Hornet 133. Does that i.d. come from the nose art ?

[Hornet133]

Yes matches the nose art. None of the others match. The 2nd in line 'may' also have artwork but that is hard to tell.

[batman]

Yes agree about A70-11/K "Ah Sweet Mystery" (had it originally been posted here as A70-10, then changed?).

A70-10/J was "Jacquinot Bay Jane". Another good nose art was A70-6/F, shown in the adf-serials gallery, later a caravan retaining the art. Don't know if it had a name.

Often the Mariners had the last two of the serial on the inside if the access door.

[Hornet133]

I can now say that 'Not To Be Shot At Or Exported' in the RAAF Heritage series (author Leslie Sullivan) has the photo of the two Mariners on page 129, and gives the serials as being A70-11 and A70-8 (rear).

[cristo]

Brilliant thanks Hornet133. I just finished Les Sullivans book. Great read. On page 132 the first photo I posted is shown and identified as A70-11 with a US Army Landing Ship Infantry in the background.
The photo of A70-11 front and A70-8 rear on page 129 also mentions the fuselage of a US C47 to the right of A70-8 which was used for storage.
The pictorial credits on page 192 credits both photos as taken by the author.