Beaufort Bomber Turret

From the Collection

BY NEIL SHARKEY

An impressive embellishment to the Second World War Gallery was installed earlier this year. The Beaufort Bomber B1. Mk. IV dorsal gun turret display is a long-awaited and welcome addition that fills a gap first revealed in July 2017, when a near-identical turret on loan to the Shrine was withdrawn by its owner the RAAF Museum, Point Cook.

Mindful of the original turret’s loss—a visitor favourite since October 2014—then Chairman of Shrine Trustees, Air Vice-Marshal Chris Spence AO (Retd), requested that the Exhibitions team source a replacement. Hours of curatorial effort had, in fact, already been spent in this space but the Chairman’s suggestion that the Shrine purchase, rather than loan a turret, gave the project renewed impetus.

The Beaufort was Australia’s mainstay medium bomber in the Pacific during the Second World War. Designed in Britain and built under licence in Australia by the Department of Aircraft Production (DAP), the type eventually equipped 17 Royal Australian Air Force squadrons. Some 23,800 workers, a third of whom were women, produced 700 finished aircraft between May 1941 and August 1944 at Government Aircraft Factories, Fisherman’s Bend, Victoria.

Readers may be surprised to learn that Mk. IV turrets remain (relatively) common, even today. Unfortunately, most are derelict, incomplete, and— aesthetically speaking—more at home in landfill than museums. Far rarer than turrets are the build-teams with the skillsets required to restore them to original condition. Thankfully, two individuals—self-confessed Beaufort-obsessive Tony Clark and former Australian War Memorial curator David Crotty—were able to offer invaluable advice as to how the Shrine might source both.

Turret restoration took place at the Australian Aviation Heritage Centre (AAHC) in Caboolture, Queensland, under the direction of Ralph Cusack of the Beaufort Restoration Group. The all-volunteer workforce refurbished a turret (provided by the AAHC) in the same workshop as the group’s primary project—A9-141—a DAP Beaufort being restored to flying condition.

The Turret in the Shrine's Second World War Gallery

Assembled from componentry of several war-era turrets—each part sand-blasted, beaten, straightened, welded, rivetted, painted, oiled and hand-stitched into place—the artefact was painstakingly re-formed between June 2018 and December 2019.

Excepting the replica machineguns mounted in its sponsons (for legality’s sake); modern acrylic canopy ‘glass’, rather than the identical, period-accurate Perspex (which, unfortunately, yellows and becomes brittle with age); and two replica ammunition feed drums, the Shrine’s turret is wholly original. It is a truly magnificent achievement.

COVID-19 restrictions delayed the turret’s delivery by 10 months, but construction of a brand-new display enclosure began immediately upon its arrival. In addition to simply securing the turret (as its predecessor had done), the new enclosure aims to evoke the aircraft fuselage into which the turret was originally emplaced. Those who remember the previous display are unequivocal in their praise, agreeing that it represents a far superior visitor experience. Among them, members of the Beaufort Squadrons Association, individuals who designed, built and operated Beauforts during the war.

The Beaufort turret demonstrates to the wider public how ordinary Victorians contributed to the war effort during the Second World War. Entire industries—non-existent before 1939—arose to provide war materiel to young Australian men on the frontline. The same industries brought about the widespread integration of women into traditionally male fields of endeavour, paving the way for Australian women to ultimately participate in all aspects of Australia’s economy.

Neil Sharkey is Curator at the Shrine of Remembrance.