No. 15 Squadron's badge?

[dtmdragon]

Hi guys,
Does anyone have a picture of No. 15 Squadron's badge during WWII or know what was on it? Also why did No.14 Squadron have a kiwi on its tail fin post war instead of the Kea which is on its Squadron badge?
Cheers,
Dan.

[Dave Homewood]

I do not believe that No. 15 Squadron ever had an official Squadron Badge. Most of the wartime squadrons didn't have one officially. Although it's possible that they had an unofficial symbol, as I know that No.'s 16, 19, 22 and 23 Squadrons had unofficial emblems that were never granted official Badge status (some of the bomber squadrons did too). I think No. 14 Squadron's Kea Badge is a postwar development, was it not?

As for the Kiwi I think that was more to identify the aircraft and crews as New Zealanders in Singapore among all the RAF and other aircraft, rather than to identify the squadron specifically.

[shorty]

Dan, the markings which distinguished 14 Squadrons from the rest were the white diamond on a black background either side of the roundel. They were not applied to the Canberras as those markings are a RAF Fighter Command thing and therefore not worn on bombers. As Dave said the Kiwi was to distinguish them as NZ (don't forget this was prior to the adoption of the kiwi roundels.)

[dtmdragon]

Cheers for the info guys

[davidd]

I have spoken to several of the original pilots of No. 15 Squadron, and have never gained the impression that they ever designed or applied for approval for a unit badge. However they always seemed somewhat burned up that they had somehow been pushed into the background of history because "their" squadron number was not used postwar, with 14 being the number chosen for the one remaining fighter squadron. They insist, quite rightly, that they were the first RNZAF fighter squadron to move into the "forward area" (April 1943) but will concede that 488 was the first RNZAF figher squadron to go into action against the Japanese. And they (like I) have always been mystified by a myth put out in the 1960s/70s which maintained that 15 Squadron never had any fighters for the first eight months or so if its existence "due to a general shortage", and remained more-or-less grounded until it was shipped up to Tonga to take over some USAAF P-40s in late October 1942. All this despite ample and conclusive evidence that the squadron was equipped with some 12 P-40s and six Harvards for the period in question. All very strange.
David D

[Dave Homewood]

I had not heard that scurrilous rumour before about them not having aeroplanes. I wonder who made up that gem of nonsense.