Combat claims by RNZAF Hudson and Ventura squadrons

[phasselgren]

Hi,

In the thesis GOLIATH'S APPRENTICE THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND AIR FORCE AND THE UNITED STATES IN THE PACIFIC WAR 1941-1945 by BRIAN J. HEWSON I found surprisingly high claims by Ventura and Hudson squadrons.
“Isitt wrote to his predecessor [Goddard], now at Air Force Headquarters in New Delhi, early in February to keep him in touch and ask his advice. The RNZAF tally of enemy aircraft in the Pacific was now 96 confirmed to the fighter squadrons, four to Venturas and three to Hudsons, along with some 20 probables.” Source: Isitt to Goddard, 1 February 1944, NANZ Air 100/3.

The fighter squadrons reached 96 confirmed by on the 28th of January 1944 but the claims by Hudson and Ventura squadrons are higher than the claims found by Chris Rudge In his research for the book Air-to-Air:

-Hudson 1 destroyed, 1 probable and 1 damaged
-Ventura 2 destr plus 5 damaged all on the 24th December 1943 (3 destroyed in the official history). 1 damaged added in February 1944


The claims in the letter by Isitt seems to be too high but as Chief of Air Staff he should have the best access to correct information.

[Dave Homewood]

I think Isitt's tally is certainly closer to the truth. There were a lot of Hudsons and Venturas attacked that fought off the enemy aircraft, not just the couple of incidents that became famous. And I have seen more claims than is in Chris's book too. However I have never done a tally up.

[phasselgren]

In Burma the claims was checked by the RAF HQ Burma and this seemed to be a painstaking process. In July 1945 the Senior Air Staff Officer, RAF Burma sent out the "Enemy Aircraft Game Bag – 1944" with a summary of awarded claims both Squadron and personal claims.

Did the RNZAF have any similar process in the Pacific?

[Dave Homewood]

I am not sure of the process for the RNZAF in the Pacific, but I am sure it would have been difficult to prove a claim if you're in a lone Hudson or Ventura over the ocean, as there is only the crew's word for it. There is usually no-one on the ground/sea that independently witnessed the air battle and they did not have gun cameras fitted. And of course it's almost certain that if they did hit or destroy an enemy aircraft, not every crew member will have seen and confirmed the kill in the heat of battle and the attempt to escape into cloud.

[davidd]

Have you seen the (1943) action photos of a Japanese "Pete" floatplane apparently involved in a scrap with a NZ Hudson, Dave? Rather a rare thing, also I think there was a suspected patch of oil/fuel on ocean surface that marked the probable grave of the (presume two) Japanese involved. As the only floatplane credited to a NZ Hudson was a "Dave" (a more primitive model), it seems more likely that the people involved in identifying the aircraft type, either in the air at time, or by people poring over the photographs, were not so hot in this art, and made a mistake. I have never really followed this one up - did Chris Rudge include any of these photos in his book "Air to Air"? Perhaps the incident was the one where a pair of NZ P-40s were flying escort to the lone Hudson on patrol, as a number of interceptions by Petes had taken place over previous weeks, and it may have been more likely that this Pete was shot-down by the P-40s than the Hudson.

Incidentally the photos mentioned above are held by the RNZAF Museum (Wigram).

[Dave Homewood]

I have seen at least one or two of the photos your mention, but I had not realised that the type in the shots was different from what the claim reported it as.

[Dave Homewood]

Here is an extract from a memoir that Ces Saul wrote of his days as a WOp/AG in No.3 Squadron. I have this quote in my manuscript for my 3GR book.

“On one sortie I was in the turret on the way down Manning Strait when four Zeros came at us from behind. I thought I would not wait for them to get too close so aimed high at one of them and gave him a burst. There was a flash of flame and he disappeared. I reported the fact, and tried the same with the next Zero, and the same thing happened. The other two pulled out. I thought this was good, I had two Zeros to my credit. The Yanks were happy to give them to me, but our own people only listed them as possibles, because nobody else saw what happened.”