Warren Bishop’s scapbook

Newspaper stories from the early Space Age

Aeromedical Flight Controller Sq. Ldr. Warren J. Bishop of the Royal Australian Air Force was based at Muchea for Project Mercury flights MA-4, MA-5, MA-6, MA-7 and MA-9. He was also stationed at Carnarvon for Gemini 3 and Gemini 5.

Dr. Bishop’s Royal Australian Air Force career spanned 1943–1945 and 1956–1969.

From September 1960 he was Commanding Officer of the RAAF School of Aviation Medicine at Point Cook in Melbourne, in which role he became involved in training for Project Mercury.

In 1964, Mike Dinn (then based at nearby RAAF Laverton) worked with Dr. Bishop in Darwin during the tropical trials of the Dassault Mirage in Darwin.

Some time after his retirement from the Air Force, he became a General Practitioner in the Canberra suburb of Farrer. Shortly before Dr. Bishop died in May 1997, he gave Hamish Lindsay his newspaper scrapbook to help Hamish’s research for the book Tracking Apollo to the Moon.

These large pages were photographed (the pages were too crinkled to scan) by Colin Mackellar in February 2022.

Copyright of source is acknowledged and these clippings are included here for their historical significance. Many come from the defunct Perth Daily News.

01. Title page outlines Dr. Warren Bishop’s qualifications and space-related career.

02. Journalist Keith Dunstan reports from the RAAF School of Aviation Medicine at Point Cook in Melbourne. 17 Sept 1960.

Continued below.

03. Journalist Keith Dunstan at the School of Aviation Medicine at Point Cook – continued from the page above.

04. Space Weekend! Preparations at Muchea for the launch of Friendship 7, 25 January 1962 – though this attempt was scrubbed.

05. Glenn will be looking for the bright lights. 27 Jan 1962.

06. Muchea Men wait for Today’s Space Bid. 27 Jan 1962.

07. Muchea set for US Space Man’s flight. 28 Jan 1962.

08. Glenn family pray as they wait for Blast-off time.
Also a humourous report about Perth leaving the lights on – published in Sydney. 28 Jan 1962.

09. A Space Jam this year! 28 Jan 1962.

10. Perth lights up … but space shot delayed. A very impressive aerial photo of Perth. 28 Jan 1962.

11. Space test likely in two days. 28 Jan 1962.

12. Weather wrecks bid to put man into orbit.
Extra detail: Caranrvon had planned to leave the lights in too. 29 Jan 1962.

13. The Man in Hangar S. 31 Jan 1962.

14. How the Space Age came to Muchea. 04 Feb 1962.

15. At Five Miles a Second he decided: I’ll go on. 21 Feb 1962.

16. Muchea gets Top Marks for Orbit-Track Data. 21 Feb 1962.

WA newsman Darcy Farrell writes,

“The Perth Daily News article by Lloyd Marshall, is most informative. Lloyd was a RAAF Lancaster navigator in WWII and was considered by many to be in the genius class. His assignments included the Monte Bellos atomic tests.”

17. Cartoon. 21 Feb 1962.

18. Americans have earned their triumph. 22 Feb 1962.

19. Down-to-Earth Hero! 22 Feb 1962.

20. Next Space Phase Begins. 22 Feb 1962.

22. Cooper says: I’m Ready. 14 May 1963.

23. Another step to the Moon. 14 May 1963.

24. They will check him. 14 May 1963.

25. Cloud may delay Astronaut. 14 May 1963.

26. Fault in Radar forces delay in Space Shot. 15 May 1963.

27. Rain due, says Man in Space. 16 May 1963.

28. US Astronaut told: Complete 22 Orbits. 17 May 1963.

29. Cooper to Carrier: Sorry I’m wrong side, sir. 17 May 1963.

30. US Astronaut near finish of his 22 orbits of Earth. 17 May 1963.

31. High Drama at The Cape. 17 May 1963.

32. He talks to a friend. 17 May 1963. (For audio, see this page.)

33. 44 min. of Silence – then “He’s Safe, Thank God”. 25 May 1963.

35. A great day for Science, US claims. (Scott Carpenter.) 26 May 1963.

36. Astronaut tells of 5hr. Space Journey. 26 May 1963.

21. Check-up in Space. Out of order in the scrapbook, the actual date must be 11 Mar 1965, as this story is about supporting Gemini 3 from Carnarvon and with Dan Hunter as Senior Flight Controller.

37. Gemini Twins prove we can reach the Moon. August 1964.

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