Books Uncovering Queensland's Fading World War 2 Military History and Photos
QAWW2 is the acronym for my book "Queensland Airfields WW2 – 50 Years On". This was my original book and an attempt to document the ever-fading history of Queensland's military involvement in the air war against Japan during World War 2, with hundreds of photos, maps and drawings of Australian and US Air Force airfields, bases and camps.
Background
The aim was to thoroughly address all of the WW2 airstrips of Queensland…show where they were, what they became and how, what Units were 'there', when and for how long…Recollections by veterans and others who were there, of 'what the place was like – then'.
Some of the story of the vital centres like Garbutt, Amberley, Archerfield and Eagle Farm, the frontier airfields from Iron Range to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the hastily prepared strips which in some cases were little, if ever, used by the Air Forces, as the war moved north.
Self published by my wife Jenny and I, back in 1994, the book is now sold out. But with so many enquiries, asking "when are you going to Re-Print?", we have since released the book on first CD-ROM, then a DVD and now on a USB mem stick. If you are interested, please contact us or place an order.
If you missed the book and want to find out more about it, check out about QAWW2: The Book…
– Roger Marks
The Author:
Roger Marks [Profile]
The QAWW2 name lives on with a new set of publications on WW2 history in Queensland.
– Roger Marks.
Bring Home Australia's WW2 Images Project. Can You Help?
The US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) holds thousands of print photos taken on the Australian mainland during WWII. These images are largely not digitised or easy to access. My aim is to get these collections into an online searchable database to make them more accessible to everyone. Known as Bring Home The Images Project (BHTI), about half of the major collection (the Signal Corps collection) we have digitally photographed to-date.
Do you hold copies of any of our missing photos? Browse our Near Full List RG111SC#s in BHTI to see if you may be able to contribute to our collection. Alternatively, I also have a challenge for website visitors who may be seasoned NARA website users to locate images already digitised to-date on www.nara.gov.
Are you looking for a name or location?
If you are searching for a name, place, or photographer who may have served in Australia during WW2, please search our current BHTI Name, Place & Photographer Photo Index.
NEW Publications… Available Now!
With the passing of time, my focus has now shifted towards the compilation of a series of photo publications documenting Queensland's WW2 history, featuring collections of forgotten photos held in American and Australian archive/library collections, as well as private family photo collections. These books are generally now only available in digital format.
Most of my photo-booklets are now ONLY available to purchase in 'pdf on usb stick'. Free postage within Australia.
Mareeba, Qld. 1944. CAC Boomerang Fighter Aircraft A46-126 of No. 5 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron RAAF. Photo: AWM
MY Projects
In addition to the books, I also have a number of associated projects / interests, some of these include: Bring Home The Images Project, Name / Place Search of NARA Images, and Eagle Farm Airfield Hangar 7 Restoration Project.
My Garage Sale – with a Difference!
It was on Saturday 13 June 2015…and since then
I have been scanning to digital memory all my "years of interest and research" into Queensland Airfields WW2. This included many photos from veterans and many aerial photo prints which were costly to obtain. Once scanned, I was reluctant to simply "put them in the recycle bin along with several kgs of paper".
I felt SOMEONE out there may be interested to pay some nominal price for these, as a individual FOLDER (see EXCEL file link below) or the whole 20 folders. Numbers of aerials totalled around 400 with sundry others (on-ground etc) around 550.
So I had a Garage Sale … with a Difference, on Saturday 13 June 2015. Result was YES, an interested researcher was happy to make acceptable offer for Black 1 and Blue 1, 2 & 3 folders. Another researcher has since acquired Black 3 & 4. And lately, another researcher bought Black 2 and Blue 4. A good friend and AHSA Member has since, visited and bought ALL remaining folders. So, my aim of such photos avoiding the rubbish bin, has been achieved.