Keith Miller's Cassowary

[comrade harps]

Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless Cassowary
19, 808 Squadron, HMAS Melbourne
September, 1945,
pilot: Lieutenant Keith Miller



Test cricket all-rounder, Aussie rules play for St. Kilda, larrikin with disciplinary problems leading to insubordination and WW2 naval aviator, Keith Miller would prove to be a thorny rival to Don Bradman in the post-war Australian XI. After joining the Royal Australian Navy in 1941, Miller was sent to England where he played cricket for the RAN's team whilst training with the Fleet Air Arm. During 1942-43, he flew Swordfish and Albacores from carriers on missions over the North Atlantic. In 1944 he sent to train on the Dauntless in the USA and entered combat with 808 Sqdn in mid-1945, flying from the decks of HMAS Melbourne (ex HMS Furious).



In September 1945, Melbourne's air group engaged in an wide-ranging series of patrols and attacks against Japanese maritime and land targets throughout the occupied Netherlands East Indies. Miller undertook many combat missions during this period in this plane, hitting targets in and around Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Sumatra.




By then, most of the SBD-5s on board were of the Australian converted Cassowary type. Given no official Douglas or US Navy designation, the Cassowary was a conversion of (carrier capable) Dauntless and (land based) Shrikes for the RAN and RAAF, respectively. The Cassowary effectively turned a specialised dive bomber into a more versatile attack plane. The ventral dive bombing equipment was removed and the central bomb recess faired over, replaced by a wet centreline hard point. Zero-length rocket stubs were attached to the outer wings and there was provision for the underwing bomb pylons to be replaced by twin .50 MG pods. ASV radar was retained, as were the navigator's guns, but these weapons were rarely mounted during this campaign as Japanese fighters were no longer prevalent in the area. In areas where there was a Japanese aerial threat, the SBD-5s were always escorted by the Hellcats deployed alongside them on Melbourne.
 


Miller returned to the area in 1946 to participate in the Allied invasion of Java and served until July 1946. He went on to become a controversial cricketing legend.

[NARSES2]

Now I do like the additions that make it a Cassowary 

[manytanks]

Nice job!