Air Force museum gets unique artwork
Family’s quest results in oil painting of aircraft
AONE-of-a-kind oil painting of an aircraft that crashed in the Katberg mountains 72 years ago during a military training exercise was handed over to Port Elizabeth’s Air Force Museum yesterday.
The painting stems from the crash of an Avro Anson aircraft in which five Royal Air Force crewmen were killed while on a lowlevel training mission.
The painting came about after relatives of one of those killed, Roland Songhurst, visited the museum last year.
The Avro Anson was based in Port Elizabeth during World War 2 and was tasked to fly to Queenstown and do dive-bombing training in the mountains.
The aircraft hit a tree and crashed on the golf course near the Katberg Hotel.
Songhurst, who was 23, survived for a few hours, but the others died on impact. Songhurst’s niece, Elizabeth, and her husband, retired Royal Marine infantry force Colonel Robert Ward, offered to commission a painting of the aircraft. They live in the UK. Yesterday, the Wards arrived in the Bay for the handover for a permanent exhibit in the museum.
“The story started when I was at my parents’ house and found a trunk containing letters to my grandparents from a Port Elizabeth woman, Nan McCoy, who was on holiday at Katberg,” Elizabeth Ward said.
“She spent the last few hours with [Songhurst] and was one of the people who assisted them after the plane went down.
“The letters led me to search for Nan, which was when I found her niece, Penny Silva, who had moved to Gloucestershire [in the UK].
“By this stage, my family was also intrigued by the story and we met Penny in May.
“As the story gained momentum, we tracked down the grave to Queenstown.”
Last year, the Wards visited South Africa to get some answers and be the first family members to visit Songhurst’s grave.
“It was emotional for us. For many years, the Royal British Legion has laid a poppy wreath on his grave on behalf of us,” she said. “While here, we made it to this Air Force Museum, which was actually his base [of operations] in 1944.”
There were no details of the crash at the museum, prompting the Wards to commission a painting. Port Elizabeth painter Don Bell started researching the project last year.
“This is one of the most personal paintings I have yet done,” he said.
“There was constant correspondence between me and the Wards about the aircraft.”
Museum curator and Air Force spokesman Captain Mark Kelbrick said they were proud of the display.
“This is really an honour. It is the only painting of its kind and the only museum in the world that can tell this story.”
The exhibit shows letters between McCoy and Songhurst’s parents after the crash, one from the commanding officer and another from the Queenstown cemetery secretary.
There are also photos of Songhurst and McCoy and a plaque donated by his family.
By this stage, my family was also intrigued by the story