bomb racks to carry four 20-lb. bombs, complete with release gear ;
Back in the 1961 era I had a RAAF staff job in Victoria Barracks St Kilda Rd, Melbourne. The then Command Flight Manuals officer was Sqn Ldr Basil Rachinger DFC. He won the DFC in England during WW2. He told of the time he was in England in 1944 and was sent on a Survival Course in Kent. He and a couple of others were dropped off by truck in the countryside and given 48 hours to find their way back to home base. Because of the threat of German paratroops landing in Kent, all road sign posts had been removed so the survivors had to somehow navigate their way back home. Basil was creeping along hedges and avoiding people when he saw an RAFaerodrome and noticed a Tiger Moth in a hangar. The Tiger Moth was fitted with small bombs under the wings to drop on enemy troops if needed. There was no guard to be seen. That evening Basil and another pilot stole the Tiger Moth.. They eventually landed at an airfield close to their base. As the Moth rolled to a stop, an ATC bloke followed them in his jeep firing red verey lights. The word had got around that someone had pinched a Tiger Moth and bases were alerted.
As soon as the Tiger Moth stopped on the airfield, the two occupants hopped out and ran away, leaving the Tiger Moth engine running. It started to move under its own power. The ATC was torn between chasing the fugitives or chasing the Tiger Moth before it ran into something. At the same time two RAF Mosquito fighter bombers were returning from a mission over Occupied France and had to go around because of the pilotless bombed-up Tiger Moth going in circles on the field. The two fugitives finally arrived back to their base and were arrested for stealing His Majesty's aircraft - namely the Tiger Moth.
A most unlikely senior officer turned up at their Courts Martial and gave evidence that as CO of the Tiger Moth airfield he had objected having a bombed up Tiger Moth in his care. He had lodged objections to the Air Ministry saying it would be easy for anyone to pinch the Tiger Moth and drop its bombs on anyone. The Air Ministry had overruled his objection and left the bombed up Tiger Moth with no guard.
Now that two RAF pilots on the run during a survival exercise had proved how easy it was to steal the Moth and fly away, it could have been escaped German prisoners of war that swiped the Moth and set sail for Germany.
The Court of Inquiry dropped all charges.