Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Commanding Officer of 75 Squadron, Wing Commander Marty Parker explains the importance of Bombing of Darwin commemorations and provides details on the flyover

Transcript

Commanding Officer of 75 Squadron, Wing Commander Marty Parker explains the importance of Bombing of Darwin commemorations and provides details on the flyover · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: We know that this weekend, well February nineteen, nineteen forty two,
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  Speaker 1: it was the largest single attack ever mounted by a
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  Speaker 1: foreign power on Australia. On that day, Darwin was bombed
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  Speaker 1: by Japanese warplanes, and we know to this day this
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  Speaker 1: action remains the largest and most devastating modern attack by
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  Speaker 1: a foreign power on mainland Australia. And bombing of Darwin
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  Speaker 1: Day is a time for us to recognize and to
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  Speaker 1: remember the Allied service personnel and civilians who suffered through
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  Speaker 1: that experience. So this Sunday, thousands of people will gather
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  Speaker 1: and pay our respects and remember those that we lost.
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  Speaker 1: And joining me on the line right now is commanding
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  Speaker 1: Officer of seventy five Squadron, Wing Commander Marty Parker. Good
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  Speaker 1: morning to you, Marty.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie. Great to be on the program.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for your time. Marty. You are
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  Speaker 1: part of seventy five Squadron, a tactical fighter squadron which
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  Speaker 1: flies three five a's. I hope I've said that correctly.
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  Speaker 1: The Lightning two aircraft from THEBAF Tindall in Catherine. Now
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  Speaker 1: the squadron is going to be part of the commemorations
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  Speaker 1: on Sunday, And before I find out more about what
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  Speaker 1: you're going to be doing on Sunday, how important are
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  Speaker 1: Sunday's commemoration events?
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  Speaker 2: Thanks a Katie. Yeah, we fly the S thirty five
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  Speaker 2: Lightning otherwise known as the Joint Strike Fighter. We flight
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  Speaker 2: out of Tyndall here near Catherine in the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 2: We are nt residents and have been since the nineteen
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  Speaker 2: eighties and we're just so proud to contribute to the commemoration.
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  Speaker 2: The history of seventy five Squadron is intrinsically linked to
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  Speaker 2: the bombing and bombing of Darwin. Nineteenth of February, as
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  Speaker 2: you said, was the bombing of Darwin, and the seventy
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  Speaker 2: five Squadron birthday is March the fourth, so only a
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  Speaker 2: few weeks later, as a result of the bombing of Darwin,
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  Speaker 2: our squadron was formed and thrown into battle in the
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  Speaker 2: Battle of Port Moresby just a few weeks after that.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, that's like that'll be educative for a
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  Speaker 1: lot of people listening this morning, Marty. You know it
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  Speaker 1: must be like it must be a day tinged with
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  Speaker 1: sadness for you guys, but also a day where you
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  Speaker 1: sort of see the way that you know that Australia
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  Speaker 1: and indeed the Northern Territory rose back up.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, sadness, shocking. There's so many emotions that can
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  Speaker 2: come to mind with respect to the events of early
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  Speaker 2: nineteen forty two. Pride is another one because at very
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  Speaker 2: short notice the squadron was formed and in the famous
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  Speaker 2: Battle of forty four Days seventy five, Squadron were a
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  Speaker 2: key provided a key function in defending the Japanese advance,
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  Speaker 2: and then the momentum shifted over the months of that
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  Speaker 2: year and then subsequent years as well. So pride is
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  Speaker 2: also one pride and service and honor. But we're very
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  Speaker 2: pleased and we love being involved in the commemoration.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you must be bloody proud then when you get
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  Speaker 1: out there for those commemorations.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, we love being involved. We love getting the
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  Speaker 2: jets overhead. We understand that it provides a really good
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  Speaker 2: element to the commemorations. On Sunday, we'll be doing two
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  Speaker 2: fly pass. One overhead will come over the city low
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  Speaker 2: and out over the water, so northeast to southwest, straight
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  Speaker 2: over the Cenotaph and then up to two aircraft we'll
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  Speaker 2: do right turn over the water about a two hundred
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  Speaker 2: and seventy degree turn coming over Cullen Bay, and then
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  Speaker 2: fly down the beach for a second pass along the
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  Speaker 2: water from northwest to southeast.
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  Speaker 1: And Marty, what's the significance of doing that.
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  Speaker 2: It's to contribute to the to the day. I had
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  Speaker 2: the fortune of attending last year on the ground, which
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  Speaker 2: was my first event, and I'll be on the ground
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  Speaker 2: again on Sunday. And I was really impressed by the display,
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  Speaker 2: the recreation, if you like, not a pure recreation, but
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  Speaker 2: just to give a sense of the noise and the atmosphere,
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  Speaker 2: the eight twelfth Regiment providing their firing from the howitzers,
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  Speaker 2: the Navy patrol boats, the noise of the jets just
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  Speaker 2: gives a little bit of a little bit more atmosphere
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  Speaker 2: for the event, which I think most people really enjoy.
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  Speaker 1: And what time is like? We know that obviously the
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  Speaker 1: commemorations on Sunday, they are kicking off at about nine
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  Speaker 1: point thirty in the morning as I understand it down
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  Speaker 1: there at the Cenotaph, But what time is that flyover happening?
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  Speaker 1: The fly pass we.
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  Speaker 2: Will be overhead the Cenotaph at ten am, not a
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  Speaker 2: second earlier, not a second later for the first past.
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  Speaker 1: Mate, I understand that those those aircraft fly incredibly quickly.
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  Speaker 1: How quickly can you get there from Tyndall?
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  Speaker 2: I did an interview last year and I said fifteen
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  Speaker 2: to twenty minutes as a guest from Catherine, And after
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  Speaker 2: the interview I had to think about it and so
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  Speaker 2: I ended up flying it. Long story short, I flew
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  Speaker 2: it from Darwin back to Tindle and it took me
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  Speaker 2: twenty two minutes. So I didn't quite make the fifteen
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  Speaker 2: to twenty bracket. But maybe next time I'll sneak it in.
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  Speaker 1: Oh does it depend whether like how the winds are
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  Speaker 1: and that kind of thing.
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  Speaker 2: We don't typically get really strong winds in northern Australia,
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  Speaker 2: so that's not too much of a factor. We don't
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  Speaker 2: fly supersonic in the civil air space, so that slows
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  Speaker 2: us up a little bit. But once we get into
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  Speaker 2: the military restricted areas, then we light the engine into
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  Speaker 2: full cooker as we call it, and then we can
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  Speaker 2: go super sonic and that helps out.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, I betch well. Marty Parker, the commanding officer of
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  Speaker 1: seventy five Squadron, the wing commander is your whole crew
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  Speaker 1: going to be there on Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: Unfortunately not it will just be me on the grounds
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  Speaker 2: from seventy five Squadron. We will be joined by the
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  Speaker 2: Chief of Air Force, which is exciting, and Marshall Rob Chipman.
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  Speaker 2: And when I was a baby magpie up here in
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  Speaker 2: the territory fifteen years ago, he was my commanding officer,
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  Speaker 2: so he's a magpie as well, and it'd be great
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  Speaker 2: to enjoy the event with him.
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  Speaker 1: I love that a baby magpie. You almost need to
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  Speaker 1: be plovers though, if you're based out of the Northern Territory,
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  Speaker 1: don't you.
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that we have plovers. The flovers remind me
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  Speaker 2: that they're here when I ride around the streets with
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  Speaker 2: the kids. But we've got the little magpies up here
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  Speaker 2: as well, so we're.
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  Speaker 1: Going to mit oh legends. Well, mate, I hope that
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  Speaker 1: it is a you know, I know it's going to
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  Speaker 1: be a great weekend. I know it's a tough weekend
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  Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. I think everybody that lives
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  Speaker 1: in d and the Northern Territory understands that. But it
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  Speaker 1: is such an important thing to commemorate and that fly
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  Speaker 1: past that he's going to be happening is such an
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  Speaker 1: important part of that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks Katie. We're excited to be involvedcasionally and some
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  Speaker 2: of your listeners may have been hoping to see us
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  Speaker 2: on Australia Day. Occasionally a Darwin thunderstorm can infringe on
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  Speaker 2: our movement. Obviously, our priority is to do it safely.
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  Speaker 2: But as long as we can get in there safely
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  Speaker 2: on Sunday, then we'll be overhead and we're excited for it.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Marty Parker, Commanding Officer of seventy five Squadron, we
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  Speaker 1: really appreciate your time this morning. Thank you so very
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  Speaker 1: much for having a chat with us.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie. As a privilege to be on the program,
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.