First published in The age on March 2, 1998
WWII Boston makes safe landing
One of two restored World War II Boston bombers found in the jungle on an island off Papua New Guinea in the 1980s arrived in Melbourne yesterday.
World War II Boston bomber arrives in Melbourne.Credit:Dennis Hersey
The last journey of the aircraft or the back of a flatbed truck began a week ago from the RAAF base at Amberley in Queensland, where it was undergoing restoration, to the RAAF Museum at Point Cook.
As the plane flew through rural towns, people lined the main streets to catch a glimpse of the warbird.
RAAF Flight Lieutenant Peter Meehan said that when the plane passed over Dubbo, some local residents had old newspaper clippings of the plane, which they compared to the real plane.
The twin-engine aircraft was one of 69 light bombers made in America in 1941 and sent to Papua New Guinea to fight the Japanese invasion.
The No. 22 Squadron Bomber was picked from a swamp on Goodenough Island in Papua New Guinea in 1982 and restored by the RAAF and Friends of the RAAF.
Lieutenant Meehan said much of the abandoned aircraft’s equipment was still in working order.
