In search of RNZAF p-40 information.

[sputnik767]

After reading Chris Rudge's book on pacific air combat, it has raised a few questions...

When were the p-40k-m replaced with the n model or was there a variety in service through out this time?

Looking at the photos in other books I have, there are p-40's with squadron codes, but these do not appear on the aircraft when in service up in the islands...where they applied to the aircraft when in the training units before heading out into the pacific or were they applied when the P-40s formed became the fighter training units as the corsair replaced them on active service?


Looking closely at 16(f) squadron you can see the pilots and the time of the tours but what about between this time , were the pilots and aircraft returned to NZ or were they utilised by the squadrons replacing them?
I have found that some of the aircraft used in the work up were then taken up to the islands to replace those lost or damaged but not all....

Can anyone help or point me in the right direction on this?...

[shorty]

To start of your understanding on how it worked here is a copy of some info I prepared for a overseas contact.
A word of explanation as to why so many RNZAF aircraft do not have squadron codes applied in the Pacific..Because of the distances involved, particuarly from New Zealand, the RNZAF, in the latter half of 1943, abandoned the traditional system of more or less self contained squadrons in favour of of a system whereby land based aircraft were allotted to servicing units which remained in the forward area indefinitely,whilst squadrons consisting almost entirely of aircrew were attached to servicing units for an operational tour lasting 6 to 8 weeks. The Engineering Officer of the SU was responsible to the Squadron Commander for the provision of airworthy aircraft. The system was not popular at first as it was said to destroy the close working relationship of aircrew and groundcrew, but it worked well enough in practice. This is the reason that so few RNZAF aircraft carried individual markings or were associated with particular crews. My father served with No 10 SU which initially had Hudsons and then were re-equipped with Venturas. Unless you know the date of a photo it is not possible to say which squadron was flying the aircraft.
Toward the end of the war the RNZAF was operating over an area some 3000 miles by 2000 miles to the north of New Zealand yet in all this area (about 35% greater than Europe) there were only 36 allied airfields in 23 different places.
If in trouble it was standard practice for pilots to head for the sea where there was a chance they would be picked up by a "Dumbo" Catalina. There was vitually no chance of survival for aircrew who crashed or parachuted into the mountainous jungle islands of the Solomoms or New Guinea.

[camtech]

I agree with Shorty about knowing the date when trying to identify which aircraft was with which squadron. After going through pilots logbooks, and extracting information, it is apparent that the servicing unit provided the required aircraft from his "pool", and identifying aircraft is difficult, especially just after a squadron has been rotated and the new squadron has taken over.
Some logbooks quote serials and cowl codes, some only serials and, worse, cowl codes only. In some cases, a servicing unit had to borrow an aircraft from a neighbour to meet the days quota, creating even more confusion. I have seen cases where one aircraft was on morning patrol with one unit, then flown on noon patrol by another from the same base.

[sputnik767]

Thanks shorty for that information, it spells out what had thought,
I guess from this then some of the pictures I have seen, such as p-40's with squadron codes such as OD and XO relate more to the OTU training time, when the corsairs were coming on line but experience was required in a more 'forgiving' aircraft such as the kittyhawk...

[Dave Homewood]

Some of the codes were from the squadrons before they were split into Squadron and SU and moved to the front lines.

HQ was No. 14 Squadron

JZ was initially No. 15 Squadron and later No. 17 Squadron who took over those aircraft when No. 15 Sqn went north and No. 17 formed on their old P-40E's

XO was initially No. 16 Squadron and later No. 18 Squadron who took over those aircraft when No. 14 Sqn went north and No. 18 formed on their old P-40E's at Fairhall

OD was indeed No. 4 OTU, and FE was No. 2 OTU, both based at Ohakea.

Like the Hudsons, the P-40's lost their codes when they went north as they would have swapped round units, etc. After the first short time, the RNZAF operated two Squadrons as a Fighter Wing and they rotated round independently so one would be fresh while the other experienced, etc. Aircraft remained there in the islands and the men came home. I know that some aircraft did fly home, but mainly near the end of the P-40 era they were all pulled back and went into the training role.