Extracted from "The McTaggart Story" by Ruth Anderson ISBN 0 646 25534 7
Lachlan originally flew with 40 Squadron RAF as a WAG on Wellingtons. His first missions were over the Ruhr in 1942. In June 42 he went to Malta where his Wellington was destroyed in a Stuka attack. Three months later he went to Port Tufic on the Bitter Lake. Here during a night mission the aircraft caught fire at low altitude as a result of anti aircraft fire. He parachuted out and over the course of three days walked 70 miles under the cover of darkness to avoid German and Italian patrols. Four of the crew did not survive. In 1943 he remustered as a pilot, trained in Canada and returned to the UK for operational training. With the end of the war in sight he was released from the service with out completing the operational course in 1945.
Lachlan, Frank Burt and Franks wife travelled from Fremantle to England on board the HMS Orion. On arrival in London they immediately took delivery of the Miles Mercury from Shackletons and commenced flight testing, during which various troubles arose. The worst occurred when taking Winsome Burt and Janet Williams (later to be Lachlan’s wife) for a test flight to Ireland. Fifteen minutes from take off from Red Hill in Surrey, over Cambridge the engine failed and a forced landing was made in a field.
They departed Lyme airport, crossed the English Channel and upon landing at Le Touquet the tail wheel fell off. After repairs were made, thanks to Ian Forbes of Miles Aircraft from Red Hill in Surrey, they bypassed Paris to Dijon where they refuelled and continued down the Rhone Valley to Marseilles. The next hop was to Cannes, an exciting sea side resort which occupied their entire concentration for three weeks. From there they flew at low altitude along the Italian coast, passing over Nice, Monaco, San Remo, Genoa to Roma. After two days there they proceeded to Brindisi in Southern Italy and crossed over the Adriatic Sea to a small landing field called Avazos, a German fighter strip used during the second world war. Here Lachlan and Frank were greeted by an Australian of the 8th Division who, with six other soldiers, was still living in the mountains of Greece. Here they enjoyed three wonderful days with these men and their families before flying down the corridor to Athens.
Due to problems with obtaining visas through Turkey a course had to be made to Rhodes Island, Sicily to Beirut. On this leg of their journey the engine failed and they were very lucky to limp in to the airport. In due course spare parts were sent from England and after a week spent at the Sir George Hotel they were again ready to take to the air. Frank was an excellent mechanic and between the two of them a new intake manifold was fitted plus a good general overhaul made. The flight from Damascus, Bahrain, Bagdad to Basra was uneventful. After 24 hours here they departed for Karachi and crossed the Truchal States at 6,000 feet to proceed down the Gulf of Oman and then followed the coast to Karachi. Crossing the coast they ran into a dust storm which blinded them at 5,000 feet and they were forced to land the Miles Mercury in Iran at a little village near Jaska. Not having an Iranian visa Lachlan and Frank were interned by the Iranian Army and held in the army barracks. They were held there for a week before being released and were allowed to proceed thanks to Ramit Alli Khan of Burma Shell, Karachi, who was not only influential but also most generous in helping them. When they thankfully took off from Karachi they proceeded down the Indus Valley and were shown lavish hospitality in Lahore by the 6th Lancers Regiment. They then flew on to the Pakistani Airforce base at Pashawar. Leaving the plane there the airforce transported them to Gigit some 300 miles north to the army frontier base commanded by Frank’s brother in law Hissam El Efuindi who was the Colonel in Chief. They spent three weeks here being magnificently treated by Mary and Hissam and they reluctantly departed to return to their aircraft at Peshawar.
From Peshawar they made their way across India to Calcutta and to a small village called Akyab and onto Rangoon. The RAF at Penang made them welcome for two days and then they continued onto Singapore. Here extra fuel tanks were fitted for the Timor Sea crossing. The route onwards was Jakarta, Bali, Dili and across to Darwin. In all the journey took three months.
NB. Only six Mercurys were built, two of which ended their days in Australia. Photos of Frank Burts aircraft here.
http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austb/VH-BBK.html
http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac...mz/VH-PMG.html
History of the airframes.
Mercury 1 M.28 U-0232 Dismantled England 1942 U-0232 Known History: Built in 1941, and then first flown by George Miles on 11 July 1941; Dismantled and the fuselage & tail unit used for prototype M.38 Messenger in 1942; NO
Mercury 2 M.28 G-AJVX HM583 Untraced Perth Australia 1951 VH-BBK U-0237 Known History: Built at Woodley in 1942 and used by Miles Aircraft for communication duties; In 1947, civilianised as G-AJVX and fitted with 150hp Blackburn Cirrus Major III; On the 11th December 1947 CoA issued to the Hulland Gravel Co. Ltd, Burnaston; In 1950 sold to J.E. Nicholson, Croft. Flown to Perth, Australia by F. Burt in November 1950 as VH-BBK; On the 17th January 1951 it arrived in Perth after 64 days;
Mercury 3 M.28 4684 G-AISH U-0242 Scrapped England 1948 PW937 Known History: Built in 1943 and initially flown as U-0242 and later as PW937; In December 1946 the registration G-AISH was reserved, however it was scrapped in February 1948; NO
Mercury 4 M.28 4685 G-AGVX U-0243 Untraced Australia 1953 HB-EED VH-AKH VH-AKC Known History: Built at Woodley in 1944 and first flown as U-0243; In November 1945 registered to Miles Aircraft Ltd as G-AGVX; Used by Miles Aircraft Ltd for communications duties; On the 26th April 1946 the CoA was issued; In April 1947 sold to Aerotaxi AG Zurich: HB-EED; In March 1948 it was restored to H.W.H. Moore; It then had five subsequent owners before being sold in Australia in January 1953 as VH-AKH, later VH-AKC;
Mercury 5 M.28 6697 G-AJFE Crashed Denham England 1955 HB-EEF Known History: Built at Woodley in 1947; On the 28th October 1947 the CoA was issued to K. Hole, White Waltham; Sold to J.F. Schumaker, Geneva on an unknown date; In June 1951 registered as HB-EEF; In December 1954 restored to A.T.C. Carey, Denham; Dbr in a forced landing at West Hyde, Bucks on 13th March 1955; NO
Mercury 6 M.28 6268 G-AHAA Airworthy Turweston England 2000 D-EHAB OY-ALW Known History: Built at Woodley in 1946; On the 3rd May 1946 the CoA was issued; 1946-48 to BEA; In 1946 it was used as the personnel aircraft of the Chairman of BEAC until April 1948; 1947 used by Airways Aero Association?; In March 1948 to K.E. Millard & Co. Ltd, Wolverhampton; In November 1954 bought by F.G.Miles; During September 1956 to Hans Kublbeck, Augsburg, Germany as D-EHAB (Sold in Germany by Adie Aviation Ltd); Circa 1968 to H. Kirchner, Frankfurt; In 1976 to Hans Kolby Hansen, Lem; 1979-82 noted at the Dansk Veteranflysamlung, Skjern as OY-ALW; Unknown when registered as OY-ALW; Owner flew it to the UK in 1998, and it was initially based at Woodford. Now based at Turweston.