The Dambusters, beyond the movie hype

hello Bob

My mate down the Gold Coast; Harry, has mentioned this page BUT it was the reference to Mac Cameron that has my interest. I knew Mac and his wife thru his son who had a flight training operation at caboolture. I was a frequent visitor to the Shorncliffe gallery where Mac ran painting classes. I had always admired the painting of the Australian Airforce Wirraway A20-403 over Buna where it had just destroyed a Japanese Zero fighter. This aircraft is in the Australian War Museum in Canberra. I mentioned that my work was taking me from Brisbane to Cape York in the late 90's and the Camerons offered the painting to me. It has pride of place in my home in Beachmere.
Noel 0427031947

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Originally Posted by bob10

Mac was larger than life. Born Brisbane 1921, Died Brisbane 2009.

The youngest member of the Royal Qld Art Society, accepted at age 16. Two famous Australian artists, William Bustard, and Percy Stanhope Hobday allowed him to paint sections of works in the dining room of Brisbane's Tattersall's Club, in 1939. Mac tried to enlist in the RAAF in 1941, but was rejected because of a heart murmur. The AIF accepted him , he served at Milne Bay, Lae, Buna, Finschaven and New Britain. After the war, he worked in the Moonie oil fields , and over 30 years became a much respected and experienced rotary driller and drilling superintendent. He designed and built a rotary drilling rig and a drilling tool to recover drill bits lost in drilling.

In 1958 cam's wife won a contract with Qld Irrigation and Water supply to drill bores on the Normanton to Croydon stock route. He took leave of absence from Condamine oil so his wife could honour the contract. In 1971 he went to Pakistan to oversee the drilling of of water bores in the north west frontier . In 1981, Frank Wooten , President of the Guild of Aviation Artists in the UK, acknowledged Mr Cameron's artistic talents claiming he was in the top 10 aviation artists in the World. Cam's Scottish heritage was important to him, he played the bagpipes very well. The National Serviceman's Pipes and Drums band traces it lineage to the 61st Battalion Qld Cameron Highlanders . The Battalion wore the Cameron of Erracht's tartan, Mac's family tartan.Mac painted in oil a painting for me of HMAS Perth firing on the gunline in Vietnam , with a bird dog spotter plane overhead. He was a good man, and a good friend.

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Originally Posted by Cessna

hello Bob

My mate down the Gold Coast; Harry, has mentioned this page BUT it was the reference to Mac Cameron that has my interest. I knew Mac and his wife thru his son who had a flight training operation at caboolture. I was a frequent visitor to the Shorncliffe gallery where Mac ran painting classes. I had always admired the painting of the Australian Airforce Wirraway A20-403 over Buna where it had just destroyed a Japanese Zero fighter. This aircraft is in the Australian War Museum in Canberra. I mentioned that my work was taking me from Brisbane to Cape York in the late 90's and the Camerons offered the painting to me. It has pride of place in my home in Beachmere.
Noel 0427031947

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While you were in his gallery did you see his version of what the National flag should be. I may have mentioned it, but Mac painted , in oil, a painting of HMAS Perth on the gunline during the Vietnam War. He couldn't help himself, he added a Cessna ' bird dog ' spotter aircraft flying overhead. The painting has pride of place on my wall. Long gone but never forgotten, Mac.

Hi there!
I grew up in Shorncliffe and spent many hours every day hanging out at Mac's studio. I have wonderful memories of playing with jars of sapphires and spinning clay on the potters wheel and watching Mac and his friends (my mum being one) paint - she worked next door at the Village Kitchen and we lived in the flat above the newsagent - that's all gone now of course. Although at the time it was a sweet little community area. I am doing some research into his paintings as I remember them so vividly and was suprised to find so little online about him. I saw your post was wondering if you would be able to talk to me about your memories of him/his paintings. I have a plan (maybe - early research days yet) to make a short podcast and would love to speak to people who might have more information/stories to add some colour to the story and the history of the works and where they ended up. Maybe you remember seeing two ratbag girls running around the studio making a nuisance of ourselves! This would have been between 1988 and 1994.
Thank you for your time.
Laurie.

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Originally Posted by lauriedodd

Hi there!
I grew up in Shorncliffe and spent many hours every day hanging out at Mac's studio. I have wonderful memories of playing with jars of sapphires and spinning clay on the potters wheel and watching Mac and his friends (my mum being one) paint - she worked next door at the Village Kitchen and we lived in the flat above the newsagent - that's all gone now of course. Although at the time it was a sweet little community area. I am doing some research into his paintings as I remember them so vividly and was suprised to find so little online about him. I saw your post was wondering if you would be able to talk to me about your memories of him/his paintings. I have a plan (maybe - early research days yet) to make a short podcast and would love to speak to people who might have more information/stories to add some colour to the story and the history of the works and where they ended up. Maybe you remember seeing two ratbag girls running around the studio making a nuisance of ourselves! This would have been between 1988 and 1994.
Thank you for your time.
Laurie.

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Sorry to disappoint you Laurie, but bob10 is long gone from the forum.

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Originally Posted by BradC

Sorry to disappoint you Laurie, but bob10 is long gone from the forum.

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He was last on in Feb 2022. What happened to Bob? Has he passed away?

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Originally Posted by p38arover

He was last on in Feb 2022. What happened to Bob? Has he passed away?

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After a number of incidents Bob was the lucky recipient of an "enforced holiday" from the forum. After his "holiday" but before he returned there was a forum glitch which rendered his account inoperative, and he never made contact to have it re-established.

Happens in the best of families, sadly.

John Hemingway: Last surviving Battle of Britain pilot dies aged 105

"The last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, John "Paddy" Hemingway, has died at the age of 105...."

The Battle of Britain aircrew of approximately 3000 were known as "The Few", a name coined by Winston Churchill, in his speech "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".
Sadly none of the Dambusters are with us.