The B-17 Flying Fortress in New Zealand

[Dave Homewood]

Yes, the Hudson through the hangar was an awful tragedy. Two of those killed were meant to get married next day too.

[rone]

I know this is site is getting outdated now but as I have just found it I thought I should mention I have a couple of photos I took with my Box Brownie around about 1956 of a B17 that was personal transport for a US 3 or 4 star General. At the same time there was a B29(KC135) tanker. If shown how to I can try loading them on here

[rone]

Oops!, forgot to mention photos were taken at Whenuapai

[suthg]

Someone could load them on a personal web photo album and link them here. Pm me and I could give you an email so I could do it for you.

Sent from my GT-I9300T using proboards

[davidd]

Following is what I have in my RNZAF Chronology of the 1955 USAF Far East Air Force visit which included a B-17. Also delete reference in earlier post to the designation of the B-29 tankers being KC-135 (they were of course KB-29s). Most of the official information from an RNZAF AI (Administrative Instruction), as noted.
David D

27/5 – 1/6/55. Operation HANDCLASP II: Visit to New Zealand by Aircraft of the United States Far East Air Force. Over 100 USAF officers and enlisted men arrive at Ohakea from Japan, via Australia, claimed to be “the largest USAF party to visit NZ since the war”. This was a mobility exercise for the 5th Air Force in Japan, with four F-84G Thunderjet single-seat fighter bombers, supported by two KB-29M Super Fortress tankers, a CB-17G Flying Fortress (VIP aircraft) and two C-124A Globemasters. (Source RNZAF News?; see also Whenuapai, Ohakea, Woodbourne station histories.)
“Headquarters Air Command, U.S. Far East Air Force has arranged an operation comprising a non-stop flight from Japan to Australia by four F-84G aircraft employing air-to-air refuelling. This operation is in the nature of a goodwill flight and will be known as “Operation Handclasp”. An offer to extend this flight from Australia to New Zealand has been accepted by the New Zealand Government. The visit to New Zealand will be known as “Handclasp II”. The aircraft will arrive at Ohakea on 27th May 1955 and depart Whenuapai on 1st June 1955. The detachment will be under the command of Major General P E Ruestow (US FEAF Logistics Commander). The detachment will consist of 36 officers, 26 senior NCOs and 41 airmen. The detachment will comprise the following aircraft: four F-84Gs (Thunderjets); two C-124s (Globemaster); one C-119 (Fairchild Packet); one B-17 (Fortress); and two KB-29 tanker aircraft (Super Fortress). Weather permitting, formation flights will be made over selected centres. A demonstration of in-flight refuelling will be given. The aircraft will be available for public inspection at Ohakea and Whenuapai. One C-124 will be available for public inspection at Harewood. The itinerary for the main party is at the Appendix. A detailed itinerary covering the arrangements for the party of senior officers proceeding to Wellington will be issued separately. (The various details under following headings: Organization: (Liaison Officers, Movement details, Lectures and discussions and official visits, Inspection by Public); Administration: (Transportation and accommodation; Flight rations; Aircraft guards; Guard of Honour; Provision of FOL (Fuel and Oxygen); Entertainment; Staffing; Accounting; Currency; Publicity). (3 pages notes, plus Appendix) Appendix: Itinerary. Composition of party: One major General, 4 Colonels, 3 Lieutenant Colonels, 5 Majors, 6 Captains, 17 Lieutenants, 26 SNCOs, 41 airmen, plus one Group Captain (RAAF) and one Wing Commander (RNZAF) = 38 officers, 26 NCOs, 41 airmen. Itinerary: Friday 27th May; Sydney to Ohakea (main body remains Ohakea, senior officer party (10) travel to Wellington by car. Saturday 28th; at Ohakea, aircraft servicing, local recreation. Sunday 29th; (PM), a/c available for public inspection, one C-124 to Christchurch (HW) for public inspection, local recreation. Monday 30th: Lecture and discussion at Ohakea, then all aircraft to Whenuapai via selected centres, routes and times to be arranged locally and to include in-flight refuelling demonstration. Tuesday 31st: (at Whenuapai): (a.m.) Aircraft servicing, Lecture & discussions; (p.m.), all aircraft available for public inspections, local recreation, also VIP aircraft OH to WP. Wednesday 1st June: (All aircraft?) Whenuapai to Brisbane. (Ref. AI 26/1955 dated 20/5/55; cancelled by AI 20/1956). See also OH hist between dates 27 – 30/5/55, which added that detachment under command Major General P E Ruestow, the US FEAF’s Logisitics Commander, and consisted of 36 officers, 26 SNCOs and 41 airmen.
A short article in The Aeroplane of 17/6/55 (page 806) provides a description of a highly uncomfortable in-flight emergency suffered by one of the F-84 pilots (Lieutenant W E Miller) en route from Whenuapai to Brisbane after the failure of his cockpit pressure seal.

[steveb]

Feb 28, 2009 17:41:51 GMT 12 shamus said:

My research shows 4 B17Es and 1 B17D came to New Zealand. But this of course does not rule out more. These were; B17es, 41-2667, 41-2458, 41-24430, (4)1-2434 and the B17D already shown on the forum. Here are some photos not already posted, and these are official RNZAF photos available from the RNZAF Museum. The photo of 124430 shows another B17 behind it, so 2 must have been in the country at the same time.



The photo of 124430 was so large my scanner (A4) would not handle it, so done in 2 parts.

Can anybody add a date to the above photo of 41-2434? The aircraft was delivered to the U.S. Army on 29 November 1941 and flown to Fort Douglas, Utah. It was flown to Hawaii by 1/Lt David G. Rawls and landed at Hickam Field during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. Came to Australia in February 1942 and was in the 28th Bomb Squadron of the 19th Bomb Group when it flew its last combat mission, an attack on Lae airstrip on 8 August 1942. On 16 August 1942 it was lost while testing flares off the Australian coast.

I'd also like to know exactly why it was in New Zealand and if there are any other photos, particularly of the port side.

[Dave Homewood]

I am trying to work out where that photo was taken It looks to be Whenuapai? If it is, then you can actually see the Lucaville hut camp on the golf course side of the airfield. If it's Ohakea then the huts must be Siberia camp.

There is a P-40 in the shot so it's post-April 1942, as the first RNZAF P-40 was brought on charge on the 2nd of April 1942.

Does anyone have a date for when the PWD constructed Lucaville and Siberia?

[pjw4118]

Here are a couple of Boeing shots found in the pile

[davidd]

The first photo with the B-17 (with airborme lifeboat and nose mounted radar) and the Beech 18 (actually a C-45 of USAAF) was taken at Whenuapai - the large aircraft was sent to NZ to escort the little Beechcraft all the way to Japan, date about 1947, has appeared in an AHSNZ Journal. The C-45 was the US Air Attache to NZ aircraft, which arrived in NZ in early 1945.

Second photo circumstances unknown, but as it does not have the red flashes in insignia side bars it cannot have been too long after WW2. Appears to be a very late production aircraft by its serial number. Also appears to be at Whenuapai.

Third photo looks like one of the 1955 VIP aircraft, with C-124 behind. Fourth photo almost certainly also taken during the Far East Air Force visit.

David D

[pjw4118]

Thanks David for the info

[davidd]

Thanks to Errol Martyn, we can confirm date that the B-17 with lifeboat which escorted the C-45 to Japan was in NZ, also details of a second B-17 which visited NZ in February 1947.

BEECHCRAFT AEROPLANE LEAVES FOR TOKYO

(P.A.) AUCKLAND. October 8 (1947).

Accompanied by a Flying Fortress, a Beechcraft aircraft left today for Tokyo by easy stages. The Beechcraft, which was formerly used by the United States Air Attache in New Zealand, is piloted by Colonel J. W. Andrews, of the United States Army Air Force. The first stop will be at Norfolk Island. The Beechcraft has an extra fuel tank and
the Fortress is equipped with emergency rescue gear. (The Southland Times Thu 9 Oct 1947)


FLYING FORTRESS VISITS NEW ZEALAND

(P.A.) AUCKLAND, February 10 (1947).
One of the few Flying Fortresses to visit New Zealand since the war ended arrived at Whenuapai from New Caledonia on Sunday afternoon to pick up an engine part for a sister Fortress at present grounded at Tontouta with mechanical trouble. The two aircraft
are attached to the 5th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Corps in Manila and were engaged on a special mission inspecting the airfields between the Phillippines and New Caledonia. Under the command of Colonel H. K. Baisley the Flying Fortress carried a crew of 10. (The Southland Times, 11 Feb 1947)

Also please bear in mind that these details were all located the old fashioned way, "good honest police work" in fact, as these facts were gleaned over many years in public libraries decades before the Internet was invented. Also worth pointing out that even now it is all but impossible to find anything "on line" (in Papers Past at any rate) post-1945 as this is considered just a little too recent for comfort. Those were the days of hardy enthusiasts slogging away late into the evening, and usual mode of transport back to bed in the suburbs was by push bike. You had to be tough then (sort of) and perhaps a little mad.
David D

[dodgecm]

Jul 19, 2013 17:05:18 GMT 12 shamus said:

Dave, their is nothing in the report about their mission to NZ. The report is just the statements of the witnesses to the crews arrival at Whenuapai that night and the take-off and subsequent crash. So what is so secret? I don't know.

[dodgecm]

I lived in New Lynn and as I child of 5, was awaken by the explosion. The formal report in Archives NZ Wellington has photographs of the crash site and wreckage. I have photographed a selection of the formal photos and would upload them if I knew how!!

[Ian Warren]

Sept 7, 2015 21:15:28 GMT 12 dodgecm said:

I lived in New Lynn and as I child of 5, was awaken by the explosion. The formal report in Archives NZ Wellington has photographs of the crash site and wreckage. I have photographed a selection of the formal photos and would upload them if I knew how!!

If you cannot find someone close by , you could go to a scanning center .. or cheaper.. you could always send them/post to me to scan and edit and have them sent back to you directly - all the chaps here know pretty well, or do that to with another WONZ member close by, very sure they would be more than happy to help and very sure most would appreciate 'what you caught on camera'.

[suthg]

Perhaps dodgecm has them as digital files already and needs to know a method to upload on here. They need to be loaded to a remote site such as Flickr or Photobucket and then use a url link to place them inside a post. I am too busy at the moment to help, but hopefully someone can.

[Dave Homewood]

A step-by-step how to guide in posting photos is to be found here
rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/21596/post-photos-forum-2014-version

[Dave Homewood]

Here's an article from the Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 302, 21 December 1945, Page 4

When Exploding Flying Fortress Awoke Auckland

HUNDREDS of motorists who sweep along the ribbon of concrete highway past the Waikumete Cemetery in the direction of Henderson have noticed the Stars and Stripes waving at the head of a tall pole. Beneath the flag, amid the restful surroundings of evergreens and ornamental trees, lie the victims of one of the worst Auckland air crashes of the war.

No sensational event of the war years was associated with greater official secrecy, and yet, because of loose talk, and because the noise of the explosion following the crash woke up half Auckland, the majority of the public had a surprisingly accurate version of what took place.

There were, of course, garbled accounts and exaggerations, inevitable under any censorship ban. But in this case there was sound justification for the complete security blackout, for the machine which crashed was the first Flying Fortress ever to reach New Zealand, and the need for withholding such information from the Japs was obvious.

So from that day — June 9, 1942 — to this no details of the tragedy have been published by any New Zealand newspaper.

Originally the B-17 came from Hawaii, and later was based on New Caledonia coming down to Auckland on a secret mission. It was because the bomber was on such a mission, and not on an operational flight, that the names of those aboard were not taken before she set out from Whenuapai into the darkness of the night. It was also because of this that relatives of the dead men had the greatest difficulty in gathering information later.

Published for the first time, the names of the 11 victims are: Colonel R. E. Cobb, Captain J. Bruce, Captain J. Gilbert, Lieutenant E. H. Hoffman, Lieutenant E. W. Hurst, Technical-Sergeant C. P. Brunson, Sergeant J. F. Lopez, Sergeant H. Cohn, Corporal J. Herriotts, Corporal J. R. Clanton. and Private C. L. Childers. All were members of the United States Army Air Corps, with the exception of Captain Gilbert, of the Free French Navy, and Lieutenant Hurst, of the United States Navy.

Under sealed orders the aircraft took off about 12.30 a.m. in a southwesterly direction, facing the wind, and, so far as is known, failed to gain sufficient height and struck a low hill at the extreme end of the runway. It immediately burst into flames, and a minute or so later there was a terrific explosion when the fire reached the heavy bombload. Air rescue units were quickly on the scene but could only watch the flaming wreckage.

So great was the force of the blast that a neighbouring house was knocked out of shape and a piano was flung from one end of a room to another. A second nearby house was also structurally damaged and the occupants narrowly escaped injury. Pieces of the aircraft were found miles away, including engine parts, and the shattering roar of the explosion startled thousands of Aucklanders.

A simple funeral service took place on June 12, unattended, of course, by any publicity, though a large section of the public was able to link it up with the stories, then rife, of the crash. The late Right Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, attended on behalf of the Government, and there was a representative muster of leading American and New Zealand Service chiefs and personnel. The officiating ministers were the Rev. E. E. Bamford (Anglican), Rev. Father Kevin, 0.F.M., and Rev. W. Walker (Methodist). The remains of the victims were interred in the Waikumete Cemetery and later removed to their present resting place in the American section.

Aucklanders' Interest
For months desperate efforts to secure full details of the tragedy were made by relatives of the deceased in America, and they were eventually able to do so through the interest and co-operation of Aucklanders, and with the approval of the military authorities. In particular, one Orakei couple, who desire to remain anonymous, at the request of mutual friends in America sent all available details together with photographs to Mrs. H. Hoffman, of Cincinnati, mother of Lieutenant Hoffman, navigator of the ill-fated plane. This lady obtained the addresses of the bereaved relatives from the War Department, Washington, and forwarded copies of photographs and letters of interest from Auckland. Every scrap of information she could garner was circulated from time to time, and in only three cases were her letters unanswered or unclaimed. Through the efforts of Mrs. Hoffman and her Auckland correspondents the mourners derived much comfort.

In fact, Mrs. Hoffman herself was rewarded by receiving advice, purely by chance, how her son Edward spent his last day in Auckland. It came about this way: She had sent a photograph of the boy to her Auckland friend which was immediately recognised by Mr. Geoffrey Webster, chief reporter of the Auckland Star, who met him the night before the crash at the United States naval headquarters at Jean Batten Place in company with Lieutenant-Commander Gene Markey. U.S.N.R., chief censor, and Mr. Francis McCarthy, war correspondent for the United Press of America. Mr. Webster was able to supply a faithful description to Mrs. Hoffman of her son's doings and friends and associates in the last hours before his tragic and untimely death. Letters received periodically from Mrs. Hoffman show how deeply appreciated is the action of the New Zealanders in forwarding information and in visiting the plots at Waikumete and caring for the graves.

[starr]

I was in Auckland Hospital in 1957 with two farmers from the Whenuapai area. They talked about this accident. One farmer in the area lost a bull which was found several days later quite a distance from home. Cleared all the fences.

[Ian Warren]

Jul 14, 2008 0:15:00 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Another closer look, RNZAF and US uniforms right next to the bomber!

Doing some research on this photo, this was on last batch's off the B-17E, a 'F' model plexi-glass nose has grafted on , many 'E' models had this done to the aircraft that later were damage, the main feature pointing out it being a late 'E' is the larger cheek gun window ports that was applied to the 'F's

Edit: It hard to tell from here but engine nacelle appears to be the shape off a 'F' model , they are more streamlined compared to the 'E'
So the question is , did a B-17F arrive in the NZ at this period.

[mrjohn]

Ian, if you make it to our museum we might have some information on the B-17 reputed to have 'tested the vectors' at Te Pirita in 1942(?).

John