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Post by davidd on Dec 1, 2023 14:05:22 GMT 12
The NZ-manufactured Bevege "High Speed Helmet" was intended for use in any open-cockpit aircraft, and was originally marketed to the civilian population. Don't know that it was ever considererd by the military, but doubt it was used by them, although I have been known to make false statements from time to time! Possible that it was also marketed in Australia, somebody should check on 1930s and 1950s Australian aviation magazines. Charles Kingsford Smith was used in one of the pre-war marketing campaigns, wonder what they paid him for his (priceless?) endorsement! I think the chrome-plated attachments for the speaking tubes (Gosport tubes) were manufactured by De Havilland in UK, seem to recall that this fact was proudly displayed somewhere on these rather smart and well-made accessories. Bevege helmets were still being marketed in NZ in the 1950s, although I imagine the gradual phasing out of "sporting" open-cockpit aircraft would have seen sales gradually die away too (apart from die-hard Tiger enthusiasts). The RNZAF Museum at Wigram has quite a nice little collection of these helmets, in various sizes and colours, and assorted accessories.
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Post by davidd on Nov 22, 2023 8:43:31 GMT 12
SU = Servicing Unit (in wartime RNZAF)
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Post by davidd on Nov 17, 2023 8:20:19 GMT 12
I think only dromes intended for B-17s and B-24s in South Pacific were Ohakea, Whenuapai, Nadi (Nandi), and Norfolk Island (latter for transitting only), plus the dispersal dromes of Rotherham, Galatea, and Te Parita. And of those, only first three mentioned were ever used by these aircraft types, all for ferrying only, although some aircraft were armed. I think Tonga, etc, also saw some heavy bomber use, as did many Australian and PNG dromes.
Note, my use of the term "South Pacific" above is rather loose, I am including mainly the south eastern portion of it, and ignore most things much north of Fiji, etc.
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Post by davidd on Nov 15, 2023 9:25:51 GMT 12
Very noticeable in many of the photographs taken inside the "ASR" building are many examples of the International maritime "distress" flag, which so far as I can remember was a red field with a central white disc. These flags became somewhat notorious in the RNZAF in Pacific, as they were standard equipment in all RAF-type aircraft dinghies. They were carried by such aircraft as our P-40s in the early days in the Solomon islands, and caused much confusion when these were encountereed by American naval personnel who thought they were some sort of inverted Japanese naval ensign. One shot-down RNZAF pilot thought he was going to be shot by trigger-happy US Naval personel, crew of a crash launch who had been sent out to rescue him (briefly mentioned in J M S Ross's official history if I recall correctly.) These flags were also delivered to the RNZAF in 1946/47 aboard our great fleet of 80 ex-RAF Mosquitos as part of the ASR dinghy equipment, one of the largest aerial delivery jobs in the post-war RNZAF.
The vast bulk of the ground-staff of 490 Squadron would have been RAF, possibly with a small sprinkling of RNZAF, and other Commonwealth air forces.
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Post by davidd on Nov 6, 2023 14:40:07 GMT 12
Looks like the standard scheme typical of RAF single-engine aircraft in Middle East in 1920s, and into early 1930s. Don't know if any Hinds were shipped out east, I think majority remained in UK to equip the newly formed squadrons during the early expansion of Bomber Command - have I got that right? It is still a very snappy scheme!
Pondering a little on the above, I soon realized that the black upper fuselaage/otherwise aluminium scheme was also used on RAF S/E aicraft "at home" (UK) in 1920s, such as on Fairey Foxes and the like, and on most Fairey IIIF's, as well as Gordons, but not on any of the Hawker or Vickers aircraft (if my memory is firing on all cylinders, which is unlikely). Don't like being caught out by my own statements, but I get humiliated frequently nevertheless.
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Post by davidd on Oct 31, 2023 14:06:07 GMT 12
For short summary of accident, see Errol Martyn's "For Your Tomorrows, Vol Two", page 235. Air Department in NZ was apparently not very pleased with the way this inquiry was handled by No. 1 (Islands) Group. (Latter comment refers to various documents in the accident report).
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Post by davidd on Oct 31, 2023 13:36:00 GMT 12
There were two periods of serious Japanese Army activity on the Torokina perimter (Bougainville) to push the Allies back into the sea; the first was March 1944 (and subject of this thread), an advance which took some beating back (at one stage all the Allied aircraft had to be flown out every night to another Allied airfield nearby (Green Island?) to protect them from the shelling, and then fly them back in again the next morning). Similar aggressive activity took place in March/April 1945 from memory, although this eventually fizzled out too; however this was also a very serious time to be on Bougainville, and a (fourth) RNZAF F4U squadron was hurridly flown into Piva to assist with the task of beating back the enemy. The new squadron's ground staff had to be flown up by C-47 from Guadalcanal, and the local RNZAF types were quite amused to see the "new chums" getting off the transport aircraft and looking wildly about in case the enemy troops were already overrunning the perimeter!
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Post by davidd on Oct 31, 2023 13:20:46 GMT 12
All part of the service (I love editing!)
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Post by davidd on Oct 31, 2023 10:57:12 GMT 12
Looks as though last sentence (?, or more?) have been accidentally nipped off this citation! To save Errol the trouble I will provide the missing words (below) from my copy!
("His efforts).... to ensure a safe and successful evacuation demonstrated devotion to duty and initiative of a very high level."
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Post by davidd on Oct 31, 2023 10:39:52 GMT 12
A slightly fuller version (mostly from 1 Squadon's ORB, Form 540, also contribution from 10 SU's ORB) of the difficulties suffered by Ventura NZ4516 which led to the award which originally triggered this thread:
24/3/44; PV-1 NZ4516 flown back from Bougainville by a 2 Squadron crew after being u/s there since the 17th January. (Note, this aircraft was damaged at Piva Uncle on 18th January when its tailwheel went into a ditch and collapsed whilst it was taxying out for take off, and was subsequently further severely damaged by the American Wrecking crew (accurately named!) when they attempted to remove the crippled aircraft from the strip.
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Post by davidd on Oct 31, 2023 10:00:47 GMT 12
Good find Dave!
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Post by davidd on Oct 31, 2023 8:40:06 GMT 12
There was a somewhat similar event, but at Torokina (Bougainville) on 16th March 1944, when a P-40 of 4 SU (fully fuelled and loaded with a 500 pound HE bomb, standing stationary at the time near the strip), was near-missed (exploded 15 yards away) by a Japanese artillery shell fired from the nearby hills to the north of the airfields. An airman (NZ401472 LAC A J Gardner, Fitter IIA) who was working on the aircraft was blown off the wing by the blast and suffered concussion. The aircraft concerned (NZ3178/E, unmanned at the time, apart from Gardner of course!) was equally unlucky, suffering severe fragmentation damage to rear fuselage and tail surfaces, and the port aileron also caught fire. Airframe was later considered to be beyond economical repair and and was subsequently written off on 15th April. This aircraft was being operated by 19 Squadron at time of the incident (pilot u/k to me) and was due to undertake a strike against Vunapope supply area, Rabaul, and would probably have called in at Green Island on return if not for the interloping shell. So this strike was flown by just 11 aircraft instead of ususal 12.
This was only RNZAF aircraft known to have been destroyed on ground by enemy fire in South Pacific during WW2, although several RNZAF PV-1s did suffer fragmentation damage at Munda the following month, caused by light aerial bombs dropped by Japanese.
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Post by davidd on Oct 31, 2023 7:42:54 GMT 12
I reckon that very few airmen eve carried out much "repairing" of their uniforms whilst on active service, probably just the occasional detached button or two! I catalogued all the "hussifs" in the RNZAF collaction many years ago, and most kits seemed to be in approximately the same state of dress as when they were issued.. There was also a tropical version of the "hussif" made for RNZAF personnel in the South Pacific theatre, possibly in khaki material with appropriate bits and pieces. This only appeared in latter part of the war. I think wartime hussifs were issued along with other equipment (particularly clothing) but it was pointed out that these items were manufactured by the unpaid (volunteer) women of Air Force Relations (a NZ-wide organization - the honorary "leader" of the Air Force Relations was traditionally the wife of the CAS. I think hussifs were even listed on the clothing issue card, but were not required to be handed back if I recall correctly (same as underclothing and socks). On second thoughts, the hussif shown in corsair5517's photos is almost certainly the tropical hussif - in red and lightish blue - they were not khaki! Looks like khaki plastic buttons in the kit, possibly also a length of cotton thread for attachment purposes.
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Post by davidd on Oct 30, 2023 9:49:44 GMT 12
Cannot agree that Cessna 310s were being considered for this role - did any military in the World chose the type for this kind of work? (apart from USAF that is!) However, as the Australian Army had ordered some Cessna 180s at about this time, I think this was probably the Cessna type in question. However it was later that the Helio Courier came to the fore, but in the end the surviving few (and very humble) Austers, purchased as long ago as 1947, sans engines, were pushed into service - a bird in hand is worth at least three in the bush!
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Post by davidd on Oct 28, 2023 10:29:32 GMT 12
Trevor Sidney FLEMING (NZ4212882) was NZ/Pacific, served with 1 Sqdn on PV-1s from August 1943, and completed second tour with same squadron (August 1944 - Jan 1945, Guadalcanal again, then Green Island), transferred to Reserve C and discharged 17/3/45. He had enlisted 24/10/42, undertook his A/G Course from 3/4/43, to Gisborne 6/8/43, to 1 Sqdn (Whenuapai) 26/8, emb for fwd area 24/10/43 (Guadalcanal and Munda, till late Feb 1944). He only served as a straight A/G, as he was remustered from WOAG to this trade early in his training. His captain on both tours was F/L F D (Frank) Bethwaite.
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Post by davidd on Oct 26, 2023 8:12:58 GMT 12
The above image has appeared on this site previously. As to the story behind the colourful DH 9 (hope the Dh9 designation does not catch on - the DH company never did it that way, and I think the colour scheme was red and yellow), this was covereed in E H (Ted) Harvie's book on early NZ aviation, the title of which escapes me for the moment (Fellow forumites - HELP! Something about "Horizons", I think).
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Post by davidd on Oct 23, 2023 11:33:22 GMT 12
Or were the rails simply left intact, and retained in case supply dropping capability was ever called for?
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Post by davidd on Oct 23, 2023 11:13:55 GMT 12
Commissioning effect date 1944, actual date of issue of commissioning parchment (as it was known) in 1949. This document is rather in the category of "tidying up" after the convulsions of WW2. Certificates of Discharge followed a similar leisurely pattern. I think it was stated in Air Force Regulations that newly commisioned officers were entitled to such certificates, but it may have been that no particular urgency was required in issuing them! (or, if it was WAS to be issued within a certain time, then it was quietly ignored for a few years.) Pity the Hon Minister of Defence having to sign all these certificates! (There may also have been other similar certificates and the like that I am not aware of.)
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Post by davidd on Oct 21, 2023 9:50:57 GMT 12
I see them too (in the South Island!)
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Post by davidd on Oct 14, 2023 11:34:34 GMT 12
With respect to SQN LDR BRIAN JAMES GRIGG, he was a member of No. 12 Pilots' Course, reported Wigram 6/1/53, graduated 21/10/53.
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