CAC Wirraway A20-103-A Fortunate Survivor

RAAF CAC CA-5 Wirraway Mk.II advanced trainer/utility aircraft A20-103 located at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra ACT may be out of plain sight in an out of the way corner and displayed in a partially dismantled state but she belies her status as the most successful operational example of the type.

The Wirraway was utilized by the RAAF in multiple operational roles in WW11, especially at the commencement of hostilities when there was a chronic shortage of Fighter aircraft. This particular Wirraway was attached to No4 Squadron from the 7th of October 1940 and served with them initially at RAAF Canberra then Camden, New South Wales (NSW), Kingaroy, Queensland (Qld), and finally at Berry (Bomana), New Guinea.

Wirraway A20-103 found itself in real action on 26th December 1942 at Buna PNG whilst flying on a reconnaissance and artillery spotting mission flown by Pilot Officer (PO) J S Archer and Sergeant Coulston as observer/ rear gunner when it was able to position itself into a suitable front quarter attack position on a Japanese aircraft (at first reported as a Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero but later confirmed to be a Nakajima Ki-43-II Hayabusa ‘Oscar’ of the 11th Sentai). Given that the Wirraway was in the right place and at the right time Archer fired a relatively long 5 second burst from the aircrafts two forward firing 0.303 in. Vickers Mk V machine guns  which proved sufficient to shoot down the Japanese fighter which crashed into the sea in flames – the “kill” confirmed by Sergeant Coulston.

This is the only known occasion when a Wirraway shot down a Japanese fighter and at the time was celebrated as a great victory when good news was hard to come by. The crew of the aircraft were issued with a supply of celebratory beer by “HQ” and decorated as heroes. Archer was even awarded the US Silver Star for ‘doing the impossible – shooting down a Zero and bringing home his observer to tell the tale’.

Not long after this unique engagement in 1943 the Wirraways of 4Sqn were replaced by CAC Boomerangs and A20-103 passed on to serve as a trainer with 5 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) at Uranquinty, NSW, and 3 Communications Unit, Mascot, and NSW. Coincidentally whilst serving at Uranquinty it was flown on several occasions by the first known Australian Aboriginal WW11 fighter pilot, Sergeant Leonard ‘Len’ Waters on training sorties.

After WW11 many Wirraways were scrapped. However A20-103 was one of the fortunate survivors selected to be part of the much smaller post War RAAF. The Wirraway was refurbished and went on to serve at RAAF Point Cook Victoria as one of the training aircraft uneventfully until 1959 when its significance was realized.  She was taken on charge by the Australian War Memorial with 3,371 hours and 25 minutes of RAAF flying time and during No4 Sqn service it had flown 42 operational missions and 49 other flights.

Over the years the Wirraway has received several “refurbishments” at the Memorial and is displayed in its No4 Squadron operational markings at the time of its sole victory and is a significant example of the RAAF Squadrons courage under fire against overwhelming odds. Later in the war with better equipment and greater numbers more success was achieved but A20-103 remains a memorial to a rare success in Australia’s darkest hour.

Wirraway A20-103 is displayed in a partially dismantled state as dictated by limited space and may be overshadowed by the more famous aircraft on display.  However with the upcoming expansion of the Australian War Memorial it is hoped that the Wirraway will be again refurbished and displayed more prominently in a complete state.

At Warbirds Online we never tire of visiting the Australian War Memorial in Canberra ACT. The collection of aircraft and exhibits is world class by any measure.

Warbirds Online acknowledges and is grateful for the use of some material in this story from the Australian War Memorial website and ADF Serials.

© John Parker 2019