As
the RAAF began to replace Hudsons in frontline service, surviving
aircraft became available to fill other roles. One of these roles
was that of air ambulance. Earlier, on 1 March 1942, No. 2 Air
Ambulance Unit had been formed at Canberra to operate a fleet
of five Tugan Gannets as air ambulances. With transport aircraft
in short supply early in the war, the unit also operated a motley
collection of DH.83, DH.84, DH.86, DH.94 and Ryan STM aircraft,
some of which had been impressed from civil service. In February
1943, the unit moved to Kingaroy, moving again in September 1944
to Archerfield where it disbanded in December the following year.
On 12 January 1944, the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff advised
the Directorate of Technical and Operational Requirements that
when No. 2 Sqn had been completely re-armed with Beauforts, No.
2 Air Ambulance Unit would be re-equipped with Hudsons. Later
the same month, three Hudsons, A16-177, A16-219 and A16-226, were
allotted to No. 1 Aircraft Depot at Laverton for eventual issue
to No. 2 AAU. These aircraft were received in such poor condition
that they required a 240 hourly service and various repairs before
the air ambulance conversion could be undertaken. For all of this
work, the aircraft were allotted to Australian National Airways
(ANA) at Parafield, South Australia. The conversion entailed the
removal of unnecessary equipment such as armament, auxiliary fuel
and oil tanks, radar, camera mount, pyrotechnic racks, flotation
gear and the dinghy stowage on the cabin door. Additionally, the
tunnel gun position was skinned over and a new plywood floor fitted
to the cabin.
Calculations indicated a theoretical capacity of up to nine stretchers
although No. 2 AAU planned to operate the Hudsons with six stretchers
on the port side and seating on canvas benches on the starboard
side. Similar seating was available on the port side when stretchers
were not in use, in which case up to twelve patients and attendants
could be seated. In practice, various combinations prevailed.
At some stage of the design process it would have emerged that
although loading an empty stretcher through the Hudson's cabin
door was straightforward, loading an occupied stretcher was another
matter altogether! To overcome this problem, a removable hatch
was fitted to the starboard side of the fuselage aft of the wing.
This hatch was in effect an enlargement of the existing emergency
exit hatch. This ANA drawing shows the installation looking aft.
(Click on the image for a larger view)

ANA
drawing of the stretcher hatch installation.
(Source: John Warwick Collection via David Vincent)

A
No. 2 AAU Hudson with the hatch removed.
(Photo: John Warwick Collection via David Vincent)
The
first converted Hudson received by No. 2 AAU was A16-226 which
arrived on 28 May 1944. The aircraft entered service two days
later on a trip to Townsville to evacuate patients from the over-crowded
hospital. The last Hudson operation by No. 2 AAU was on 8 September
1945 when A16-226 returned from New Guinea. Hudsons operated by
No. 2 AAU are listed in the following table:
Air
Ambulance Hudsons Operated by No. 2 AAU
Serial
|
Received
|
Disposed
|
Remarks
|
A16-226
|
28MAY44
|
07AUG45
|
Allotted
Survey Flight |
A16-177
|
10JUL44
|
04JAN45
|
Allotted
2AD |
A16-219
|
17AUG44
|
07AUG45
|
Allotted
Survey Flight. Later VH-AGG |
A16-215
|
18SEP44
|
17AUG45
|
Allotted
2AD. Later VH-AGO |
A16-229
|
26OCT44
|
17AUG45
|
Allotted
2AD |
A16-156
|
18NOV44
|
17AUG45
|
Allotted
2AD |
A16-160
|
12MAY45
|
13JUN45
|
Allotted
10RSU for repair after u/c collapse |
A16-207
|
25JUN45
|
07AUG45
|
Allotted
Survey Flight |
Source:
RAAF Form E/E.88. The date in the "Received" column
is the date on which the aircraft was received at 2AAU which
was based at Kingaroy, Qld until 7 September 1944 when it
moved to Archerfield, Qld. The date in the "Disposed"
column is the date on which the aircraft was allotted ex 2AAU. |
Former
Air Ambulance Hudsons Operated by Adastra

Hudson VH-AGG
(ex A16-219) with the hatch removed.
(Photo: Mike Wood)

Hudson
VH-AGG (ex A16-215) with the hatch fitted.
(Photo: Bob Wills)
|
For
a more in-depth examination of the air ambulance Hudsons
and all aspects of Hudsons in the RAAF, The Lockheed
File recommends David Vincent's definitive two-volume
history of Australian military and civil Hudson operations.

|
|
Issue
|
Date
|
Remarks |
2
|
11DEC14
|
Complete
revision with added images. Thanks to David Vincent. |
|