I regret to inform you Amos, that Keg is absolutely correct, although he doesn't quite go far enough in mentioning events and incidents Qantas was involved in during WW2.
A couple of incidents include:
QF Capt L.R. Ambrose turning a blind eye to regulations and limitations, and allowing additional evacuees to be crammed on board a QF flying boat on its last evacuation flight out of Singapore.
QF Captains W. Crowther and H. Hussey managing to get their damaged flyingboat Camilla airborne, escaping to Groote Eylandt during the big japanese air raid on Darwin in February 1942. Eight minutes after they took off, the freighter they were moored next to blew up. Incidently, Capt Aub Koch who Keg mentioned in his 1st para, was recovering from his injuries in Darwin hospital at the time of the raid.
I'm not so sure that the fate of the Circe is still a mystery. Japanese archive research by Christopher Shores and Brian Cull while writing their excellent 1993 two-book series 'Bloody Shambles' on the air war over south east asia during WW2 (strongly recommended reading for aviation buffs) indicates that the Circe was claimed shot down by Zeros returning from attacking the US aircraft carrier Langley which was heading for Tjilatjap with a cargo of assembled P40s. They also claimed a 'probable' on a Dutch Catalina, which in fact survived but had to be written off, and shot down one of the zeros. As Keg said, at least it could shoot back.
