WONZ 352 – Les Olsen: RNZAF Armourer

Guest: Warrant Officer Leslie James Olsen N74992 Host: Dave Homewood Recorded: ‎18th of March ‎2026 Released: 24th of May 2026 Duration: 1 hour 55 minutes 48 seconds Les Olsen joined the RNZAF as a Boy Entrant in January 1952. He trained as an Armourer in 1953, and ended up working on numerous units and squadrons over the next two and a half decades, working on guns, cannons, ejection seats, helicopter winches, torpedoes, turrets and more. Les serviced armament equipment on Vampires at Ohakea, Canberras and Iroquois at RAF Tengah in Singapore, and he was one of the first Armourers to work on the new Lockheed Orions when they arrived at Whenuapai in 1966. He talks about being on the duty crew when No. 75 Squadron RNZAF Canberra WF915 went missing in a storm off Malaya and F/O David Finn was killed. (Les misremembered the Canberra’s serial number.) And he talks about being the first RNZAF member to drop a torpedo since WWII. And he tells lots of other great stories. Les is also the Armourer trade’s historian, keeping records of all the RNZAF Armourers through the decades right back to the beginning of the trade. He talks about how this came about and what records he keeps, including theories about service numbers for Armourers early in WWII. Anyone who can add information, photos, memories, documents or anything else that might help Les’ research, he can be emailed at [email protected] Les Olsen’s Boy Entrants Course. Members of No. 5 Draft, Boy Entrants School, practicing drill. Boy Entrants School, RNZAF Station Woodbourne. L-R: Front rank; Joe Wipani, Murray McIvor, Kerry McKee, Gerard Brown.2nd rank; Les Olsen, Gordon Browne, Bert Sergent.3rd rank; Murray McIvor, Bruce Moonie, Dave Jowett.4th at back: John Barrow (part obscured), Keith Libline. (It’s his hat on ground at right).Air Force Museum of New Zealand photo DM233-52, 08/06/1952 Les Olsen’s Boy Entrants Course. Members of No. 5 Draft, Boy Entrants School, watching General Service Instructor, Corporal Lionel Piggott, demonstrating the correct stance for firing a rifle during Weapons Training at the Boy Entrants School, RNZAF Station Woodbourne.L-R: Brian Churcher, Kerry McKee, Murray McIvor (part obscured), Keith Libline, John Barrow, Bill Moore (at back), Murray Hutchins, Colin Carr, unknown, Milton Mathieson, Bert Sergent, Les Olsen, Keith Turnbull, Alan Powell, Gordon Browne (at back), Bruce Moonie, Joe Wipani, Phil Jones.Air Force Museum of New Zealand photo DM234-52, 09/06/1952. Trainee Armourers watching the instructor, Mr. Frank Field, describing the parts of a weapon. No. 1 Technical Training School, RNZAF Station Hobsonville. This would have been the course before Les’ one, as he was still at Woodbourne on this date, but it nicely represents his Armourer trade training. Air Force Museum of New Zealand photo DM278-52, 17/07/1952 Quick Links: • The Royal New Zealand Air Force The music at the end of this episode is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud.