MUSEUM
Queensland Air Museum Inc., Caloundra
DESCRIPTION
Douglas DC-3 VH-ANR
Douglas DC-3-194B VH-ANR c/n 1944
PH-ALW, PK-ALW, 1944, VH-ALW, VHCXE, VH-CXL, 44-83229, VH-ANR
Photos: see the QAM website
HISTORY – (PROVENANCE)
1937 — Built for KLM with Wright Cyclone engines and registered PH-ALW.
1940 — Transferred to KNILM in the Netherlands East Indies as PK-ALW.
1942 — Arrived in Batavia from Europe on the same day that Singapore fell to the Japanese.
1942 — Evacuated the Governor of the NEI to Australia on the last civil flight out of the NEI before the Japanese invasion.
1942 — Flown under the Sydney Harbour Bridge twice in company with a KNILM DC-2 and DC-5.
1942 — Used by General Douglas MacArthur to travel from Melbourne to Canberra and return for a meeting with Prime Minister Curtin. Subsequently used by MacArthur’s GHQ as VHCXE.
1943 — Operated by the RAAF and later Australian National Airways as VH-CXL.
1946 — Registered to ANA as VH-ANR.
1958 — Converted to “Viewmaster” configuration and operated by Butler Air Transport, subsequently Airlines of New South Wales.