SUNDERLANDS OVER LAUCALA BAY
A Sunderland Flying Boat of RNZAF Number 5 squadron on patrol. The Kiwis operated a flying boat base out at Suva Point and eventually handed over their complex to be used as the University of the South Pacific when they closed shop in 1968. The Sunderlands were World War 2 submarine hunters and were used in maritime surveilence and some dramatic rescues. They replaced a fleet of older flying boats that flew out of Laucala Bay, the RAF Singapore class.Many children from the airforce base attended Suva Grammar. Often after excercises out at sea, spent smoke bombs would drift ashore - some of our more astute pupils use to be ardent collectors and secretly brought them to school where at furtive gatherings they became objects of fascination just out of sight of the ever present prefects. Newspaper adverts in the Fiji Times however, did use to warn against collecting these and to report all sightings for the airforce to pick up. (Just as well those bombs were dead - whew!) This aircraft is on permanent display now at Auckland's famous MOTAT museum at Western Springs.