RAAF C-47 Pilot - Korean War Albums.

[MichaelSW]

An old friend of mine, Leon Murtagh, now deceased, served three tours of duty flying RAAF C-47 Dakota aircraft during the Korean War. During 349 return flights from Iwakuni, Japan to Korea and logging 2,500 hours of operational flying, Leon was rarely without his camera. He captured a unique photographic record of the bases and places he went, the aircraft he flew and saw along the way, and the people he served with.

I had access to Leon's photo albums and produced the slideshow that is now available on Picasa Webalbums at https://picasaweb.google.com/balegang/FsgtLeonMurtaghRAAFC47DakotaPilotKo reanWarCareerPhotos19481953

There are 261 images and none were enhanced / corrected. (My telescope is of the manually push around variety for a reason).

Cheers.

[dragoncity]

Really good! Well worth a browse through.:thanx:

Cheers,
Brett

[LUCFR]

Amazing photos of history, well done in putting them together.

[iceman]

Amazing collection!

[pluto]

They're incredible, thanks for sharing.

[Larryp]

Great collection of photos, Michael. Now they are digitised, there is little chance of them being lost

[gary]

A fabulous historical record.

That collision with the P-51 looked like a close call indeed!

[FlashDrive]

I reckon that was worth every bit of time I took to look and take in the history of this guy.

Great work.....

Flash....ex RAAF.

[Dennis]

What an incredible series of images of a not too long ago era. Thanks for all your efforts in making these available to a wider audience, they are quite compelling viewing.

Cheers

Dennis

[Gem]

Thanks!
You might consider contacting the Australian War Memorial.

Grant
ex-RAAF

[frenchbluehour]

What a stunning capture of history :thanx: for sharing ... They would go well in a war memorial for all to see :)

[MichaelSW]

Thank you for all the favourable comments re Leon's photos. They have been shared with AWM, RAAF Museum(s), 36 Squadron Historical, a number of other historical aviation organisations, and even with a fellow who puts out a journal concerned solely with the KPA / Korean Peoples Army. (He had an interest in photos of the bridges crossing the Han River near Seoul).

Leon contributed to a book titled, "Korea Remembered". Chapter 30 is his including the story of the P-51 strike. http://www.kmike.com/oz/kr/chapter30.htm

[Gem]

Again - good work! Both my wife and I have worked with 36 SQN (she was their Operations Officer and I was an Avionics Technician), so it is quite heartening to see this collection of the past. :)

[multiweb]

Amazing record. Very humbling. :thumbsup:

[Jeffkop]

Really interesting collection.
Spent quite a few hours in 36 & 37 Sqn C130's in my time at 486Sqn.
Never knew NCO's were pilots .. thanks for a great post.