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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 28, 2023 18:07:31 GMT 12
Interesting Fairey Gordon scheme. Once more into the puzzle-box. This was picked up by Harry. Is the upperwing covered with a hastily applied camo scheme? There seems to be a lack of roundels too. Date of the image is listed as 1940. Also: What colours rudder and serial?  LINKA really interesting paint scheme on that, for sure. I'd guess the tailplane and rudder will be either blue or red, depending which of the Flights or Squadrons within No. 1 FTS it was attached. The camouflaged top wing may well be a hangover from its RAF days? |
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Post by oj on Nov 28, 2023 19:03:37 GMT 12
I love that word "gash" Dave.
It was so apt in many RNZAF scenarios.
I never heard it used in civvy street (other than by ex-servicemen).
Whenever I used it in a civilian situation it always had to be explained.
Every RNZAF workshop had a gash-box of gash parts that you sometimes had to fossick through to solve a problem outside of the stores requisitioning system.
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Post by Antonio on Dec 1, 2023 16:38:58 GMT 12
Anyone recognise the unit badge above the door of NZ7001? 
PD150-25-93 |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 10, 2023 7:30:02 GMT 12
It is pretty neat to see these photos showing de Havilland Moth Minor NZ597 as part of the Third Liberty Loan drive in Wellington in June 1943. This aircraft is still airworthy today as ZK-AKM, with Stan and Gilly Smith at North Shore Airfield. PR1147Members of the public watching the RNZAF Band during the Third Liberty Loan drive street corner display. Wellington. Aircraft on a Queen Mary trailer is Moth Minor NZ597.  PR1145High view of the crowd watching the RNZAF Band playing at the third Liberty Loan drive street corner display. Wellington. Aircraft on the Queen Mary trailer at left is Moth Minor NZ597.  PR1146RNZAF Band playing at the Third Liberty Loan drive street corner display. Wellington.  |
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Post by ErrolC on Dec 10, 2023 10:09:47 GMT 12
It is pretty neat to see these photos showing de Havilland Moth Minor NZ597 as part of the Third Liberty Loan drive in Wellington in June 1943. This aircraft is still airworthy today as ZK-AKM, with Stan and Gilly Smith at North Shore Airfield. I had a flight in it in 2013 as part of an Open Day.  ECMM_RS_5fl |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 10, 2023 11:28:01 GMT 12
The roundel on it in the wartime photos is interesting, lots of blue.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2023 7:34:31 GMT 12
The camo scheme is very cool! Thanks for sharing these Dave.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 29, 2024 15:19:07 GMT 12
I wonder if any of our No. 14 Squadron Canberra guys can recognise these faces from 10th of March 1965? 14G83-65 LINKMembers of No. 14 Squadron attending an evening with a Maori Concert party from HMNZS Otago at the Malcom Club. RAF Station Tengah.  14G85-65 LINKMembers of No. 14 Squadron attending an evening with a Maori Concert party from HMNZS Otago at the Malcom Club. RAF Station Tengah.  14G84-65 LINKMembers of No. 14 Squadron attending an evening with a Maori Concert party from HMNZS Otago at the Malcom Club. RAF Station Tengah.  14G87-65 LINKMembers of No. 14 Squadron attending an evening with a Maori Concert party from HMNZS Otago at the Malcom Club. RAF Station Tengah.  14G86-65 LINKMembers of No. 14 Squadron attending an evening with a Maori Concert party from HMNZS Otago at the Malcom Club. RAF Station Tengah.  14G88-65 LINK Members of No. 14 Squadron attending an evening with a Maori Concert party from HMNZS Otago at the Malcom Club. RAF Station Tengah.  14G89-65 LINKMembers of No. 14 Squadron attending an evening with a Maori Concert party from HMNZS Otago at the Malcom Club. RAF Station Tengah. Man playing guitar in the background while other drink beer.  |
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Post by davidd on Jan 29, 2024 15:49:58 GMT 12
To get back to the Moth Minor with the "interesting" roundel, I am fairly certain that it is wearing a perfectly normal roundel, but it is highly probable that the outer yellow and the next-inner blue ring seem to have pretty much the same "shade" when viewed in black & white!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 29, 2024 16:06:12 GMT 12
Yes I think you're right David, about the roundel.
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Post by oj on Jan 29, 2024 20:56:01 GMT 12
Photo 1
On left in floral shirt. Merv Burgess Electrical.
Photo 2
On left. Merv Burgess again.
Photo 4
Second row back in dark V neck shirt. Pat Higgins Photographer.
Photo 6
On right holding glass. Alf Hollis Electrical.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 16, 2024 14:45:46 GMT 12
Check out the streaks of grime all over this Hudson. Wow! I wonder what could have caused that. I know the aircraft did get dirty operating on coral and dusty strips, plus Hudsons operated at low level over the sea which did not help either. The groundcrews did regularly wash them down with petrol to stop the build up of filth and coral dust. But i never expected to see an aircraft this dirty. I wonder if a storm was the reason?  PR1392 No. 9 Squadron [?] Hudson in foreground, with a Kittyhawk landing in the distance. Presumed to be Pallikulo Field, Espiritu Santo. LINK |
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Post by davidd on Apr 16, 2024 17:58:45 GMT 12
Impossible to identify squadron of a Hudson in the "forward area" in 1943, as by this time their original squadron identification letters had been removed. The original letters for 3 Squadron (JV) were only worn for the first couple of months or so overseas, before being "obliterated". I don't think the Americans (or was it RNZAF HQ?) were very keen on retaining these markings, as they were not really required under American command anyway, and as the earliest aircraft started to be rotated back to NZ for major inspections, the probability was that other squadrons' aircraft were likely to be sucked into a pool of fully operational Hudsons, operating from Guadalcanal, Espiritu Santo, and to a lesser extent, Fiji. These aircaft were practically all radar equipped, with full defensive armament, including "waist" mounted VGO (Vickers) guns, and American IFF, while many had Australian radio sets replacing the earlier British, or American sets to get the correct frequencies used in South Pacific in earlier years of the Pacific war. I'm guessing the image above was exposed in about July 1943, when a large number of photograps were taken at Espiritu Santo, and Guadalcanal.
Very difficult to suggest what might be causing the interesting "patterns" on upper surfaces of this aircraft - could even be remains of a passing rain shower of course.
Don't know about using aviation fuel in such a reckless way as suggested - I realize you have been advised of such practices before Dave, but would they have raw petrol dripping off an aircraft whilst technical personnel are still working on it? Also unusual to see an aircraft parked up (admittedly whilst being serviced) with its props in fully feathered mode. The (ASV) radar antennae on rear fuselage are pretty evident too. The rather weird looking upper wing roundel visible is obviously a heavily "modified" one, probably derived form a preious effort to change the Type B roundel to a Type C, then changed the red centre to blue. There were numbers of aicraft that caught fire during WW2 in Pacific theatre, for one reason or another, in flight or on ground. Using aviation fuel inside aircraft for cleaning purposes seemed to be rather too common, and I can think of two Lockheed aircraft off top of my head, one of which caused a fatality, this being a PV-1 Ventura in the forward area, other was a Lodestar at Palmerston North in about 1947. The PV-1 was repaired, the Lodestar was a write off. The boss of a garage I used to work at was a close witness to the Ventura incident, very nasty it was too, the fellow tried to scramble out through the bow compartment lower hatch, but his burns were too severe for survival. Another Ventura was badly damaged when an airman was testing a fuel gauge inside an internal wing tank, and managed to cause an explosion, with a part of the wreckage killing another airman innocently walking along some considerable distance away. Some Corsair aircraft suffered from fires resulting from spilled petrol (during refueling) trickling down inside the forward fuselage around the main fuel tank and collecting in belly area, which could easily be ignited on starting up by the nearby exhaust outlet.
Added 17/5/24: If you study the P-40 taking off in upper half of this image, it just has to be a P-40E (and therefore probably RNZAF), judging by details of fin/rudder in relation to location of tailwheel.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 15, 2024 17:26:06 GMT 12
Does anyone recognise this blonde pilot who was a member of No. 17 Squadron during their tour in the Pacific 27/11/43 – 1/2/44?  He is also seen in this group on the left. That is Geoff Highet sitting next to him in the centre.  |
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Post by tbf2504 on May 16, 2024 11:54:11 GMT 12
I'm with David on the "wet" looking wings of the Hudson. More likely result of a rain shower than petrol. The other reason I believe is that having washed the aircraft in petrol the evaporation rate in the tropical heat would not leave streak marks like those seen
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Post by Antonio on May 16, 2024 14:32:24 GMT 12
I love the cartoon of a tunnel on the wall   2023-136.4 Image from the Cecil William Phair Carter personal collection. German publicity photo showing Prisoners of War inside a barrack room at Stalag Luft III, Sagan, Poland. CWP Carter (believed to be middle). |
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Post by davidd on May 17, 2024 14:43:04 GMT 12
Back to the "mysterious" blonde Flight Lieutenant with 17 Squadron. Should not be too hard to at least provisionally identify, as only four officers held this rank whilst serving with this squadron on their (second) operational tour, and two being killed, one other returned to NZ (sick) during the tour. A check of Chris Rudge's "Air to Air" might even have a photo of him, or he might have had his photo reproduced in the Auckland Weekly if he was killed or missing. No.17 Squadron was unique (so far as I know!) in that it was the only RNZAF fighter squadron to be removed from operations in the forward area due to the number of deaths and sickness experienced under very trying condions during December 1943/January 1944, with pilot strength sinking from about 23 to 17 during this period. This would equate to losing the equivalent of one and a half Sections (4 pilots per Section, or "Divisions" as the US Navy termed them). See J M S Ross Official History "Royal New Zealand Air Force", page 242. None of the other squadron pilots were promoted to rank of F/L during balance of the tour, so far as I can see.
They were as follows:
F/L ALister Whyte BUCHANAN (Flight Commander), killed on operations 24/12/43.
F/L Bruce Hanan THOMSON (Flight Commander), declared ill from 21/12/43, confirmed malaria, evacuated to New Zealand 27/12/43. After he was discharged from hospital, posted to 4 OTU (Ardmore) 1/3/44 (probably as staff pilot, instructional staff).
F/L John Henry MILLS. Was appointed Flight Commander for 3rd tour.
F/L Peter Southey WORSP, killed on operations 24/12/43.
Also clear from the images on this thread that the RNZAF fighter pilots often looked very scrawny in their flying overalls in the tropics.
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 17, 2024 16:56:13 GMT 12
F/L ALister Whyte BUCHANAN (Flight Commander), killed on operations 24/12/43. It is not him, as this is him from the AWM Cenotaph page  F/L Bruce Hanan THOMSON (Flight Commander) It is not him either as his son Don identified Bruce Thomson as the pilot in the centre of this group.  F/L Peter Southey WORSP, killed on operations 24/12/43. And not Peter Worsp going by this photo on his AWM Cenotaph page too  F/L John Henry MILLS. Was appointed Flight Commander for 3rd tour. So by a process of elimination, I can now confirm that it was Johnny Mills. This photo from the Air Force museum of New Zealand names him, and he is standing next to Peter Worsp, and Bruce Thomson is also in the photo.  MUS03069Group. 17 Squadron Pilots involved in the first bomber assault on Rabaul. Ondonga, New Georgia. L-R: Pat Bradley, Ian Speedy, Doug Jones, Don Williams, Peter Worsp, Johnny Mills, Guy Newton, Alex George (partly obscured), Bruce Thomson, R.H. Covic, Jack Edwards, B.A. McHardie. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 23, 2024 16:09:29 GMT 12
As always, loads of interesting photos coming out of the archives. Thanks Matthew! I found this interesting. This photo posted today is showing the Prime Minister Peter Fraser arriving for a visit to Ohakea, and being greeted by the Station Commander, Gp Capt Cyril Kay on 17/09/1943. OhG208-43 LINK Not a particularly thrilling photo. But I spotted in the distance there is a Lockheed Hudson fuselage without the outer wings. It looks to be a training aid, and I am wondering if that was part of No. 1 (Bomber) Operational Training Unit, or perhaps is was for training gunners. It seems to have a turret fitted.  |
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Post by camtech on May 23, 2024 20:05:45 GMT 12
NZ2004/Inst49? To inst (following a heavy landing at Levin) 27 September 1942, at Levin, then Ohakea, then New Plymouth. Shows at Written off at Ohakea 17 September 1943 - same date as that photo!
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