The following photographs were taken during former Leading Air Mechanic (Engines) Douglas 'Shorty' Heath's visit to the former Royal Navy Air Station at Sembawang, Singapore, H.M.S. SIMBANG. His visit was made while travelling with a party of 130 RN veterans who made the trip to Singapore to mark 65 years since the end of the war with Japan. The veterans and their partners were able to make the journey thanks to the Heroes Return 2 Scheme, the second lottery funded scheme which supports veterans, spouses, widows and carers wishing to return to those places where they fought during the Second World War and mark any relevant anniversaries in 2009 and 2010.
Towards the end of the Second World War Duggie was part of the RN unit which arrived at Sembawang airfield to reopen it as a Royal Naval Air Station after the Japanese surrender of Singapore in 1945. He was part of the ship's company of HMS NABROCK, Mobile Naval Air Base No. 9 (MONAB IX) which reopened and commissioned the base as Royal Naval Air Station Sembawang,, HMS NABROCK, on October 5th 1945. The station renamed HMS SIMBANG on December 15th 1945 when it was decided to make its status permanent. For more details on MONAB IX visit the HMS NABROCK page.
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