Flying Sergeant Laurence Charles Haines - A31576

 

Flying Sergeant Laurence (Aussie) Haines was born in London on 4 May 1904. At the time of his christening his father was a clerk in the war office. [1] Haines worked as an electrical mechanic for 18 years and for Siemens in London for most of that time.  He married in 1928 and came to Australia with his family in the 1930s and went to Wiluna to work on the gold mines. [2]  

It was while living in the isolated northern goldfields that Haines learnt that necessity really was the mother of invention. His ingenious inventions when stationed in Japan as a Non-Commissioned Office (NCO) with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) were featured in the Western Mail newspaper in Perth.

  Western Mail 31 August 1950. p.43. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39104549


Haines enlisted in the Interim RAAF as an electrical fitter after moving to Melbourne from Wiluna in 1939. He had been in partnership in an electrical store in Wiluna which was unsuccessful financially and went bankrupt in 1939. [3]    

Haines was sent overseas with the RAAF in February 1942 and spent most of the Second World War, (WWII), on airbases in the United Kingdom. He returned to Perth from his overseas service just after Christmas in 1945 as during the war his wife and family had moved back to Western Australia. [4]  

 Photo from Haine's Service Records     

Haines made the RAAF his permanent career after WWII and was sent to Japan as part of the Occupation Force in 1947. By 1950 he was the NCO in charge of the electrical section for the RAAF 77 Squadron at Iwakuni in Japan. [5] Iwakuni was the main RAAF base for the Japanese Occupation Forces and then the Korean War. Haines as an NCO at the base would have provided essential support for the 77 Squadron prior to and during their deployment in Korea.

Haines did several short stints in Korea (at Pohang and Taegu) in 1950. At the time of his death in early 1951 he was attached to the Welfare Department of Number 91 Air Wing in Japan.  On 24 April 1951 he flew to Skikoku Island as a passenger on a RAAF Auster light transport aircraft to prepare for a field trip he was organizing for his section. After taking off for their return to Iwakuni the plane climbed to 200 feet and was still climbing when it stalled and fell to the ground where it burst into flames killing all on board including Flight-Sergeant. Haines of Osborne Park. [6] Haines and the crew members, (including another West Australian, Corporal Donald Scott), are buried in the British Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery Yokohama.

 Photo of Haine's grave in 1952.   Australian War Memorial Item HOBJ2871  

After Haines’ death his widow entered into correspondence with the Department of Air about the BINGO machine Haines had made for the amenity’s section of his unit in Japan that featured in the Western Mail article and is pictured above. This BINGO machine was built in Haines’ spare time from materials he found on base and was modelled on the popular American BINGO machines. Haines had made improvements on the American BINGO machine and proudly referred to the contraption as his machine. The Department of Air did not consider this BINGO machine to be Haines’ personal property and so would not return it or reimburse his widow for its value. The Department of Air’s secretary corresponding with his widow did say “The fact he went to a great deal of trouble to make this machine was typical of his conscientious attitude, and his anxiety to do everything in his power to provide additional entertainment and recreation for his comrades. His good work in this respect will always be remembered by those who served with him.” [7]

 


[1] Advertising (1939, January 27). The Wiluna Miner (WA : 1931 - 1947), p. 5. Retrieved June 9, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article258069408

 [2] HAINES Laurence Charles: Service Number - A31576: Date of Birth - 06/05/1904 : Place of Birth - London, ENGLAND: Conflict – Korea. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=30723439. Accessed 9 June 2013

 [3] London, England. Church of England Births and Baptisms 1813 to 1923. Ancestry Library Edition. Accessed 9 June 2023. 

[4] A W.A. airman stationed in Japan has shown ingenuity as a GADGET INVENTOR (1950, August 31). Western Mail (Perth, WA: 1885 - 1954), p. 43. Retrieved June 11, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39104549

[5] HAINES Laurence Charles: Service Number - A31576 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=30723439. Accessed 9 June 2013

 [6] THREE WEST AUSTRALIAN AIRMEN DIE (1951, April 27). The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), p. 1. Retrieved June 9, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48194147

 [7] HAINES, Laurence Charles Repatriation File, p.12. https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1070209. Accessed 10 May 2023

 

 

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