Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 22, 2020 13:07:45 GMT 12
TOUR OF DUTY
AVENGER SQUADRON
Another squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force has left to begin a tour of duty in the Pacific after having had three months' intensive training at a North-Island station. Comprising the flying crews of Avengers, it is to replace men who have completed their tour of operations in the Islands and are due for a rest.
Most of the members of the Avenger Squadron are young pilots, navigators, and gunners who have spent the last few months since their return from Canada preparing for active operation and fitting themselves for tropical service. A few have seen action, and some are veterans.
The commanding officer is Squadron Leader M. Wilkes of Nelson, whose flying experience goes back to 1927. An Army officer previously, he was trained by Air Commodore M. W. Buckley (now Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Islands Group) in an Avro 504, and subsequently served with the No. 3 Territorial Squadron. He went to Wigram on the outbreak of war and has since served on several R.N.Z.A.F. stations, his flying experience embracing many old types of aircraft. He was for a long time on general reconnaissance, and in May of last year he went to the United States for a course on Avenger torpedo-bombers at a U.S. naval air station. He is now on his first operational tour.
Also with the squadron are two Fleet Air Arm observers who have been seconded to the Royal New Zealand Air Force for nine months. They are Lieutenants (A) J. C. Morrison, D.S.C., and J. Loftus, both of Wellington, who have had considerable experience with carrier aircraft in combat areas. Lieutenant Morrison gained his Distinguished Service Cross in Malta,, and Lieutenant Loftus, who is the squadron's gunnery leader, has been flying in U.S. and British carrier aircraft in the Pacific.
Flight commanders and senior officers of the squadron include Flight Lieutenants F. J. Adams (formerly of Wellington), M. R. Greenslade (formerly of Dunedin), C. G. G. Prior and O. P. Bayley (of Christchurch), and J..G. Hannah and A. J. Mclvor (both of Dunedin). All are well-known members of the R.N.Z.A.F. who have had a wide experience of flying.
EVENING POST, 25 MAY 1944
AVENGER SQUADRON
Another squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force has left to begin a tour of duty in the Pacific after having had three months' intensive training at a North-Island station. Comprising the flying crews of Avengers, it is to replace men who have completed their tour of operations in the Islands and are due for a rest.
Most of the members of the Avenger Squadron are young pilots, navigators, and gunners who have spent the last few months since their return from Canada preparing for active operation and fitting themselves for tropical service. A few have seen action, and some are veterans.
The commanding officer is Squadron Leader M. Wilkes of Nelson, whose flying experience goes back to 1927. An Army officer previously, he was trained by Air Commodore M. W. Buckley (now Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Islands Group) in an Avro 504, and subsequently served with the No. 3 Territorial Squadron. He went to Wigram on the outbreak of war and has since served on several R.N.Z.A.F. stations, his flying experience embracing many old types of aircraft. He was for a long time on general reconnaissance, and in May of last year he went to the United States for a course on Avenger torpedo-bombers at a U.S. naval air station. He is now on his first operational tour.
Also with the squadron are two Fleet Air Arm observers who have been seconded to the Royal New Zealand Air Force for nine months. They are Lieutenants (A) J. C. Morrison, D.S.C., and J. Loftus, both of Wellington, who have had considerable experience with carrier aircraft in combat areas. Lieutenant Morrison gained his Distinguished Service Cross in Malta,, and Lieutenant Loftus, who is the squadron's gunnery leader, has been flying in U.S. and British carrier aircraft in the Pacific.
Flight commanders and senior officers of the squadron include Flight Lieutenants F. J. Adams (formerly of Wellington), M. R. Greenslade (formerly of Dunedin), C. G. G. Prior and O. P. Bayley (of Christchurch), and J..G. Hannah and A. J. Mclvor (both of Dunedin). All are well-known members of the R.N.Z.A.F. who have had a wide experience of flying.
EVENING POST, 25 MAY 1944
