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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 12, 2020 15:24:36 GMT 12
This photo appears in the Press newspaper dated the 12th of January 1943. The caption reads:  The de Havilland Dragon Rapide behind them appeared to wear camouflage, it is dark and you can clearly see a demarcation along the bottom where the underside colour starts. This is a surprise to me as I have only ever seen photos of those Rapides in Fiji in overall silver colour schemes. By the time this was taken only three still existed, NZ555, NZ557 and NZ558. The latter did not go to Fiji so this must be either NZ555 or NZ557. They both served with Unit 20 and then No. 4 (General Reconnaissance) Squadron, before joining the Communications Flight at Nausori on 25 June 1942. So I wonder when the camouflage was applied - perhaps just after the Japanese entered the war? |
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Post by McFly on Oct 12, 2020 17:42:29 GMT 12
Some from the Air Force Museum collection - DH89 Rapides in Fiji...  Two DH89 Rapides, on board the S.S. Kaiwarra, en route to Lautoka, Fiji. See Contact magazine, November 1945, page 30. PR3983. 
Royal New Zealand Air Force de Havilland DH89 Rapides being transported by barge. Lautoka, Fiji. See Contact, November 1945, page 31. NZ556 '6' and NZ557 '7' among aircraft in view. 7 November 1940. PR3986. 
Wings for the DH89 Rapides are removed from their packing crate. Note workers are covered to avoid being stung, due to a swarm of bees that had settled in the crate. Lautoka, Fiji. See Contact magazine, November 1945, page 31. PR3985. 
Two Dh89 aircraft from Unit 20, with wings removed, under a makeshift 'hangar' at Nandi aerodrome, Fiji. Right aircraft is NZ559. MUS0800152.
 Pilot [?] standing in front of Communications Flight DH89 Dominie NZ523. Fiji. PR4275. 
DeHavilland DH89a Rapide NZ556 damaged after hurricane at Royal New Zealand Air Force Station Nausori, Fiji.
20 February 1941. MUS9408719.
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Post by McFly on Oct 12, 2020 17:50:06 GMT 12
Taken from 'DEFENCE OF FIJI' - ( Here) The RNZAF detachment formed at Rongotai in October 1940 under the command of Squadron Leader Baird. The advance party left New Zealand in the SS Kaiwarra on 1 November and arrived at Lautoka five days later. The main body left in two sections on 11 November and arrived on the 14th, one party going to Lautoka and the other to Suva.
The advance party carried with it most of the detachment's equipment: transport vehicles, timber, building materials, petrol, oil, and miscellaneous stores, as well as its aircraft. These comprised four DH89 Dragon Rapides, modified and equipped for operational flying, and one DH60 Moth for communications. Fuselages were carried on deck with engines and undercarriages attached, and the mainplanes and tail assemblies were crated and stowed between decks.
The morning after the ship arrived unloading began. The aircraft were lowered into lighters and towed the four or five miles round the coast to Nandi, where they were manhandled ashore and pushed along the road to the aerodrome. There, until the hangar was completed, they were housed in native-built shelters consisting of a thatched roof on poles. The other equipment was laboriously unloaded during the next few days, and as much as possible was put into two marquees erected at the aerodrome pending the completion of a main store building.
The men lived in tents at Namaka, two miles from the aerodrome, where the New Zealand Army had built a camp. For some months, while they were quartered there, they were attached to the Army for rations, canteen, postal and medical services, and all supplies not peculiar to the Air Force.
Progress with the building programme at Nandi was slow owing to the difficulty of obtaining material and the lack of labour, most of which was absorbed in Army works. Early in December a small headquarters building and a store were finished and a start was made on living quarters, but these were not ready for occupation until the following March.
The party which went to Suva formed RNZAF Headquarters in Fiji. The men were quartered at the Army camp at Nasese and the officers lived in the Grand Pacific Hotel. Headquarters offices were set up in the grounds of Government Buildings. The Commanding Officer was responsible for the training of all Air Force units in Fiji and for the tactical direction of air operations, and acted as Air Adviser to the Officer Commanding, Fiji Defences. He was required to co-operate with the Army in the close defence of Fiji, but his page 72 primary responsibility was the reconnaissance of the New Hebrides-Fiji-Tonga area.
The party on the west coast, consisting of six officers and forty-two other ranks, was designated the Detached Flight, Nandi, and was commanded by Squadron Leader White.1
On 17 November, eleven days after the advance party had landed, the first of the DH89s had been assembled and was flown at Nandi. The next day Squadron Leader White flew it to Nausori and was the first pilot to land on the aerodrome. A few days later flying training was started in earnest and the detachment began carrying out reconnaissance patrols. The first operational flight was made on the 21st, when the unit was ordered to intercept the Rangatira and Monowai which were bringing troops and supplies to Fiji.
Regular operations included periodic reconnaissance of outlying islands where enemy shipping might be sheltering, particularly in the Lau Group; escorts for shipping entering and leaving Suva and Lautoka; dawn and dusk perimeter patrols over the approaches to Suva; and extended ocean searches. The latter involved flying more than 400 nautical miles, with few navigational checks and frequent changes of course. In addition the unit kept up a constant programme of training in all aspects of its operational flying.
Flying activities were severely curtailed early in 1941 when two of the DH89s, which were picketed on the aerodrome at Nausori, were destroyed on 20 February by a hurricane. Three days later another aircraft was badly damaged through hitting a truck while being flown low over the aerodrome. As the unit now had only one serviceable operational aircraft, two DH86s were shipped from New Zealand, arriving at Lautoka on 13 March.
They could not easily be spared from New Zealand as there were only three others of the same type in the country, but the only other operational aircraft available were single-engined Vincents and Vildebeestes, which were not considered suitable for reconnaissance work round Fiji because of the risk of forced landings in the shark-infested waters.
It was intended that eventually the unit should be equipped with flying boats and Hudsons. As neither of these types was available it carried on as best it could with the De Havillands. In August, however, the New Zealand Government decided to reinforce Fiji and sent up a flight of six Vincents to be used on short-range reconnaissance work and army co-operation. They arrived in the middle of the month and were ready for operations early in the next month. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 12, 2020 18:33:14 GMT 12
Thanks Marty, yes as I say, all the photos I have seen shows them in silver, so the camouflaged one was quite a surprise.
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Post by davidd on Oct 13, 2020 16:45:58 GMT 12
Most of the Vincents shipped to Fiji seem to have been in silver/grey colours too, but at some point (probably early to mid-months of 1942), all operational aircraft in Fiji were finished in camouflage colours, including Vincents, DH 89s, DH 86s, and probably the one and only Moth, also the one DH 84 (Dragon) later shipped up there. The first Dominie sent to Fiji (NZ524 from memory, in about Sept 1943) would also have been in camouflage, although this was so-painted at the factory where it was built in the UK. When 524 was returned to NZ for a major inspection, another Dominie was shipped up to replace it; this aircraft was in aluminium dope overall, as camouflage was no longer a priority.
David D
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