DH.86 and DH.89 flights March 1942

[steveb]

In March 1942 a small group of American airmen were sent from Hawaii to Fiji to collect a B-17 that had been stranded at Nadi for six weeks or so.

This little group was flown back and forth from Nadi to Suva by the RNZAF in DH.86 NZ552 and DH.89 NZ555. I think those planes would have been assigned to No. 4 GR Squadron at that time.

I’m trying to identify the Americans involved and wonder if there is any chance of finding a record of passengers flown between Suva and Nadi on March 11, 15, 19 and 20, 1942.

Any help much appreciated.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes both aircraft will have been on strength with No. 4 (GR) Squadron. The squadron operations record books will be at Archives New Zealand in Wellington. If you can find someone who can go in there, retrieve the records for that date and check, you may find the answers.

The record you need should be within this group:
www.archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewEntity.do?code=17327

[steveb]

Thanks Dave. Looks like I'll have to hope they put that stuff online sooner rather than later!

Steve Birdsall

[Dave Homewood]

I doubt they will, the ORB's have hundreds of pages per book and usually these wartime squadrons have five books covering the WWII period!

[davidd]

Steve,
Somehow I doubt that there will be very much in the 4 GR Squadron records for March 1942, primarily because these would have been NON-operational flights. From memory, ONLY operational flights were recorded in the ORBs for most of the war. They were possibly mentioned in the Flight Authorisation Books (Form 1575 from memory) but even then the recording of the names of passengers would NOT have ben uppermost in the minds of the people filling out these books. Also I doubt that these books were retained postwar, if they even existed in the first place. The DH 86s and DH 89s in Fiji quickly gave way the "real" operational aircraft such as the nine Vincents (including one Vildebeest) which arrived in August 1941 (six) and about December (other three). About six Hudsons were flown up to Fiji for 4 Squadron on about 10th December 1941, and the squadron was soon up to about 12 such aircraft; thereafter the old DH airliners were used exclusively for communications work between Nausori and Nandi.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

You make some very good points about the squadron records David. Perhaps the only records kept of the passenger names may have been in the pilots' logbooks - but finding who the pilots were on those flights will prove tricky too.

The first Hudsons were flown to Fiji on the 9th of December 1941, by the way, a day after the war in the Pacific began.

[zolteg]

I was off this week, so I pulled the two relevant files from Archives.

Although there *are* details of pax carried on ferry flights, I couldn't find any specific American names in the RNZAF 540/541 entries for that period.

it was a busy time however - a number of US bombers in transit, CAS and other dignitaries visited, along with a General Tinker of the US....

I took a few snaps of relevant pages.....

[Dave Homewood]

Great work Zolteg, this stuff is gold. I recognise most of those names, all those I recognise being members of No. 4 (GR) Squadron.

[tbf25o4]

National Archives file Air 129/1 (Suva W/T Log July 1941 - Dec 1943)
referring to air movements of B17s in early 1942
10 January 3 B17s arrived Nandi from Canton departed for Noumea the next day
22 January 3 B17s arrived from Canton two departed for Canton 24 January (perhaps the third is the one you are looking for?)
24 January 4 B17s arrived from Canton. 28 January 4 B17s left for Canton
12 February 3 B17s arrived from Canton.
13 February 5 B17s arrived from Canton.
14 February 4 B17s arrived from Canton. six B17s carried out patrols from Nandi on 15 February
17 February 6 B17s left for Noumea
19 February 5 B17s left for Noumea
20 February 1 B17 left for Noumea
21 March 1942 1 B17 left for Canton
11 April 1942 4 B17s arrived from Canton

(Would appear themovement on 21 March 1942 is perhaps your aircraft?)

[steveb]

Firstly, thanks tbf25o4 and zolteg for all the valuable information you provided. I decided to hold off responding while I checked a few things and time got away from me.

Anyway, I think I can fill in the details of most of those B-17s that passed through Fiji early in 1942.

10 January 3 B17s arrived Nandi from Canton departed for Noumea the next day
These were three Java-bound aircraft – 41-2406, 41-2417 and 41-2419 – under the command of Major Kenneth B. Hobson.

22 January 3 B17s arrived from Canton two departed for Canton 24 January (perhaps the third is the one you are looking for?)
These three – 41-2409, 41-2426, 41-2433 – were under U.S Navy command and were part of Task Group 8.9, a six-plane force commanded by the 11th Bomb Group’s Major Walter C. Sweeney.

The two that departed for Canton two days later were 41-2409 and 41-2426. The third plane is indeed the one I was looking for, 41-2433. It suffered engine problems that defied all attempts at repair.

24 January 4 B17s arrived from Canton. 28 January 4 B17s left for Canton
The four are 41-2409, 41-2426, 41-2429 and 41-2432.

12 February 3 B17s arrived from Canton.
13 February 5 B17s arrived from Canton.
14 February 4 B17s arrived from Canton. six B17s carried out patrols from Nandi on 15 February
17 February 6 B17s left for Noumea
19 February 5 B17s left for Noumea
20 February 1 B17 left for Noumea
These are the 12 planes of Major Richard H. Carmichael’s “Southern Bomber Command”, en route to Townsville - 41-2408, 41-2416, 41-2421, 41-2429, 41-2430, 41-2432, 41-2434, 41-2435, 41-2438, 41-2440, 41-2446 and 41-2447.

21 March 1942 1 B17 left for Canton
That’s 41-2433 returning to Hawaii.

11 April 1942 4 B17s arrived from Canton
I’m not 100% sure of the serial numbers of these four, but they flew on to Australia and joined the 19th Bomb Group.

If anyone has, or knows of, any photos showing these aircraft at Nandi I’d be very, very grateful for the information!

[zolteg]

I didn't realise Fiji was such a hub for transits....Flights from/To Canton must have been fairly risky at that time of the war....

[Dave Homewood]

Fiji was massively important, virtually all the shipping going from the USA to NZ or Australia and back called through there too in the first years of the Pacific war. This is why it was recognised very early on by NZ that it was a strategic base we needed to hold onto in Allied hands and we sent two squadrons of the RNZAF there, built several aerodromes, and sent an Army Division to defend it even before the Japanese came into the war. If Fiji had fallen to the Japanese, the Pacific War would have been quite different because this was a major refuelling stop for vessels and most other islands were not capable of handling the volume needed, or were in Jap hands