PV-1 Squadron Aircrew records

[clint]

Hi there

I am currently attempting to research my Great Uncle's war service as an Air Gunner with the RNZAF in the Pacific on PV-1 Ventura's. Unfortunately my Great Uncle died in 1978 (6 years before I was born) and all I have is 2 photographs of him and I believe he was a belly gunner. I don't even have a service number as it appears all that information has been lost over the years, I am currently filling out the form to request his service records with what information I have.

I am just wondering if anyone out there has a list of all the aircrew that served on the various Ventura Squadrons in the Pacific or if such a thing exists?

I own a copy of 1 Squadron's 'A Long Patrol' and his name doesn't appear in the crew lists at the rear of that book so I think I can rule that squadron out. I have a suspicion that he may have been on 4 Squadron as I own a copy of the book 'PV Ventura/Harpoon Units of World War 2' and there is a 4 Squadron photograph from June 1945 which I believe he is in.

I have plenty of information on my Grandfather who served with the 18th Armoured Regiment in Italy but I don't want my Great Uncle to go unremembered.

If anyone out there can point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated, my Great Uncle's name was Maurice Allan Whitehead.

[errolmartyn]

Clint,

Your great uncle's service number was NZ433388.

Errol

[clint]

Errol

Thanks for that quick reply! Out of interest how did you find that out?

Many thanks

[Dave Homewood]

Hi Clint, for the record there was no such thing as a belly gunner as such in the Venturas. They had two Air Gunners in the crew,and they would alternate between manning the top turret and the ventral gun position. Lying in the ventral gun position was apparently quite uncomfortable over a long period so the two gunners would swap positions for a rest.

I have the most comprehensive listing of personnel for No. 1 Squadron personnel in WWII ever compiled and Maurice Whitehead is not on it. Nor is he on my other BR Squadron lists however I have not delved too deeply into the No. 4 Squadron personnel just yet and I am sure there are many missing from my list for that unit.

Don't put too much faith in A Long Patrol either, the book is riddled with errors and many of the actual squadron members I have interviewed thought it was exceedingly disappointing. James Sanders was a newspaper journalist...

There was a WAAF on No. 2GR Squadron called Phyllis Audrey Whitehead, perhaps a relation?

Have you sought his service records? Or do you have his Flying Logbook?

[clint]

Dave I currently have pen in hand filling out the request for service records now, as mentioned above I had very little to go on apart from two wartime photographs but Errol has very kindly tracked down his service number for me so that will no doubt help things along.

I have heard that 'A Long Patrol' has some errors in it, I guess there are too many to list?

[Dave Homewood]

Lots of errors and lots of omissions. It's a bit like Norman Franks' infamous No. 75 Squadron book.

If you get the service records, I'd be happy to help decipher it, and I'd be interested in seeing a copy please.

[clint]

No problem I will be sure to get you a copy, thanks for the help.

[davidd]

Clint,
Your great uncle served with 4 Squadron, originally at Nausori (Fiji) from January 1944, then two consecutive tours in the "forward area" before he was transferred to the Reserve at the end of the war. His captain on first tour thought to have been F/O J S Knobloch (although this is unclear as the squadron Operations Record Book for this tour is very poor), but on second tour his captain was definitely F/O J H Coulam. Records for 4 Squadron can be inspected at Archives NZ in Wellington by appointment. His operational service was undertaken in rank of Sergeant, then as a Flight Sergeant from about mid-1944. A quick read of J M S Ross's official history of the RNZAF in NZ and the Pacific will give you a reasonable background of the activities and operational tours of the Hudson and Ventura squadrons. No. 4 Squadron operated Hudsons until late 1944, with PV-1 Venturas replacing them from September 1944 onwards.
David D

[clint]

David D and everyone, thank you for all this information, I certainly didn't expect so much and it has given me so much more to go on and I will keep digging. I e-mailed off the request for his service records yesterday now that I had a service number however there appears to be around a 6 month wait.

[Dave Homewood]

Six months? It never used to take that long. More NZDF staff cuts I guess...

I thought the RNZN Museum was the only defence unit that took 6 months to reply to correspondence...

[clint]

Dave, yes I was a bit surprised when I got the e-mail telling me of the wait, I know when I requested my grandfathers service records it only took a couple of weeks from memory.

[camtech]

I believe a part of the delay is because of the numbers of WW1 records being asked for and the associated transfer to digital form of these records.

[Dave Homewood]

They have already digitised all the WWI service records, they had finished that project by August 2014 - from what I read.

[clint]

Looks like Archives NZ should be my next port of all to do more research on 4 Squadron, now to find that valuable time off work!

[davidd]

Clint,
When I stated "by appointment" with regard to Archives NZ visits, what I should have said was that if you just bowl up and ask for a file, you will have to wait for some time while the staff tootle off and disappear into the dark recesses of the building for some time before re-emerging with the goods. You can probably locate the file references you want on-line, and perhaps even order them in this way so that they can have them waiting for you when you do arrive, thus saving on "down time" if your time is short. Look up their website and see what advice they have.
Dave D

[clint]

Thanks for the advice Dave. I have been surfing their site tonight and looking at what is available. I've never been there before so it should be an interesting experience when I do eventually get there.

[clint]

Alex Horn's 'Wings Over the Pacific' also has a good section on 4 Squadrons operations from Emirau. Ironically Horn was from Elstow/Te Aroha like my grandfather.

[clint]

I was surprised today to receive my Great Uncles service records in the post today, I expected a long wait after I was told by the NZDF it could take up to 6 months.

A breakdown of his operational tours with 4(BR) Squadron looks like this;

Fiji-Funafuti-Tonga 01/01/1944 till 17/11/1944: 67 Operations
Operational Hours (Day) 263.50
Operational Hours (Night) 28.50
Non-Operational Hours 77.55

Emirau 17/11/1944 till 11/02/1945- 34 Operations including 16 Strikes
Operational Hours (Day) 124.30
Operational Hours (Night) 1.20
Non-Operational Hours 5.35

Guadacanal 19/05/1945 till 23/06/1945 12 Operations including 3 Strikes
Emirau 23/06/1945 till 11/07/1945 Operational Hours (Day) 37.30
Los Negros 11/07/11945 till 04/09/1945 Operational Hours (Night) 2.40
Non-Operational Hours 24.20

All up this came to a total of 113 Operations with a grand total of 757.45 flying hours. Also appears he was recommended for a Commission but the powers that be rejected it due to "Being to young and raw" (He was 20) and "Lacks advantages of Education" (Had 1 year of High School Education).

The records are really interesting, including the pre-entry tests (I know for a fact I would struggle with most of the questions!). Thanks to those who provided me with information, it more than likely helped in getting the records quickly.

[clint]

I have added my Great Uncles information into the Auckland War Museum's Cenotaph Database

www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/96472?n=whitehead&ordinal=14&from=%2Fwar-memorial%2Fonline-cenotaph%2Fsearch

I can add further personnel records if anyone is interested.

Also added my Grandfather on there as well, he served with the 18th Armoured Regiment, looking at borrowing his wartime photo album from an uncle so I can upload them, will also be adding some biographical info.

www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/96470?n=blackford&ordinal=0&from=%2Fwar-memorial%2Fonline-cenotaph%2Fsearch