The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
100-year-old RAF veteran visits rare war plane he helped build
A 100-year-old RAF veteran and Tayside care home resident took a trip around a Montrose museum which is restoring an aircraft he helped build during the Second World War.
James Chambers visited Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre, which is home to an Avro Anson aircraft – one of only a handful of the war planes left in the world.
Born in Dundee in 1919, James joined the war effort in 1940 when he became a mechanic in the RAF.
He was posted to Winnipeg in Canada, where he helped build fighter planes including the Avro Anson.
James was returning to the museum after Balhousie Coupar Angus care home organised for the veteran to visit the centre last summer for his 100th birthday when they realised his connection to the rare plane.
The centenarian was able to provide volunteers at the Montrose museum with details about the Avro Anson that they could never find out themselves.
James said: “I quite enjoyed working on it. They were awfully dirty things.
“Oil leaks everywhere but you had to put up with that.
“It has the reputation of being a very stable aircraft. It would fly hands off and stay like that as long as there was fuel in the tank.”
Doris Scott, Balhousie Coupar Angus activities coordinator, said: “It was lovely to bring James once again to Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre to visit the Avro Anson.
“James has a remarkable memory for someone of his age so it is wonderful for him to be able to share his knowledge at the museum. He always thoroughly enjoys his visits.”