Aubrey John
Raymond Oates was born in 1922 in Newcastle, to parents Henry and Annie. His
sister Dorothy was 10 years his senior. He gained his nickname “Titus” during
his childhood, and preferred to be called Titus rather than Aubrey. Leaving his
job as an insurance officer to enlist in the RAAF in 1940 at the age of 18, he
started as an air cadet, and became chief test pilot for de Havilland, makers of
the Mosquito fighter bomber. His father died in 1941, sadly not seeing his son appointed
as a Squadron Leader in 1944, the same year that he was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross. He had accumulated over 6000 hours flying in more
than 50 types of aircraft. He married Jacqueline Sonia Lewis in 1945, with whom
I believe he had three children.
When the Mosquito building program ended in 1948, “Titus”
found himself a job flying immigrants from Europe to Australia for a private
charter company. He returned to live in Australia, and, with an unbelievable
stroke of good luck, won the Lottery! This enabled him to enter business, and
he became the licensee of the Good Intent Hotel at Campbelltown. During the 1949 coal miners' strike, he
would go on a “beer barn-storming mission” flying his Comper Swift, to ensure the beer supply at the Good Intent
was kept flowing! He would fly as far as Adelaide locating supplies for the
hotel.
In 1952, “Titus”, after a great deal of persuasion and
lobbying, was given an ex RAAF Mosquito by the government in order to compete
in the England to New Zealand Air Race (London to Christchurch). The plane was equipped with special long range
fuel tanks built into the bomb bay and new radio equipment, and with co-pilot Flight-Lieutenant
Douglas Swain, “Titus” set about training and preparing for the race. In order
to compete, they needed to fly to London, by October 8th, 1953.
Flying from Perth to Carnarvon, then to the Cocos Islands, a course was set for
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) but the intrepid pair ran into a terrible electrical
storm above the Indian Ocean, and had to crash land the plane off the coast of
Burma (now Myanmar). Landing in swampy
mud, they were rescued by natives paddling out to them in canoes. They were
taken to Mergui, and from there picked up by an RAF Valetta and taken to
Penang. After medical examination at Butterworth RAF station in Malaya, Oates
and Swain recuperated before returning to Australia. Thus ended any hope of
competing in the race. The Mosquito was un-retrievable. Oates declared after returning home, “I went
straight to my own pub, the “Good Intent” at Campbelltown and gave myself an
Australian beer”!
 |
This rare shot by Max Mead (courtesy of Ron Cuskelly
collection) shows the Mosquito at the Cocos Islands whilst en route to London.
|
In 1954 “Titus” sold the Good Intent hotel, in order to
enter television production and film making. Only sketchy information is
available after this, but the following nuggets of information were found on
the net:
- “I worked as a recruiter and then, later-on, as a line pilot
with Titus Oates for a time in the early 1970s, first in Australia, then in the
UK and in the Sudan, where he was Chief Pilot for a cotton-spraying operation. “
- “He died of a cerebral haemorrhage in Zambia in about May
1979 and was behind the wheel of his car at the time.”
- “Worldly wise, world-traveled, intelligent, impeccably
well-mannered, enjoyed a drink or two -- absolutely a delightful man and a
wonderful companion! Would walk a mile on broken glass to help a friend!”
If anyone out there has more information about Titus Oates’
later years, we would love to hear from you!
Written by Claire Lynch
Sources
Local
Studies Pamphlet Files
http://www.pprune.org
http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austcl/VH-KLG.html
As I’m moving house I only today came across these in an old album of hers I hadn’t seen for years and then googled Titus. He sounded like a hero in my mother’s eyes.
Anyway, just thought you might find this piece of interest. My mother is in the foreground of the photo. I’m not sure who is next to her friend Joan? Maybe Titus?” 
