Post by Dave Homewood on May 5, 2024 17:02:22 GMT 12
From The Press, 18th of July 1964
PROUD ARM — PROUD RECORD
THE 50th anniversary of the Fleet Air Arm this month is an event for hundreds of New Zealand airmen and ratings who served in the Royal Navy’s 50 or more aircraft carriers during the war.
More than 1000 New Zealanders joined the air branch of the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve, and 738 of them were commissioned by the war’s end. New Zealand naval airmen numbered more than 10 per cent of the officers of the Fleet Air Arm, and the proportion was even higher in the big aircraft carriers of the British Pacific Fleet.
The official history of the Royal New Zealand Navy records that they served with distinction in every one of the more than 50 carriers commissioned during the war and in all the Royal Navy air stations, including those in the West Indies.
Decorations
Many New Zealand ratings served in the carriers as seamen, telegraphists, radar operators and radar mechanics.
New Zealanders in the Fleet Air Arm suffered heavy losses, with 152 deaths and many wounded. Their awards for gallantry and outstanding performance included one D.S.O, 39 Distinguished Service Crosses and two bars, one D.F.C., three M.B.E’s, 48 mentions in despatches, and two letters of commendation.
Admiral Sir Philip Vian, who commanded the aircraft carriers of the British Pacific Fleet, told the New Zealand Naval Board; “I consider the pilots from New Zealand second to none and to have ever excelled in the offensive spirit."
Desert Action
As well as taking part in convoy defence early in the war, a number of New Zealanders served in squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm which shared with the Royal Air Force in the hazardous defence of Malta, as well as making attacks on enemy shipping and airfields.
Other New Zealanders were in the Fleet Air Arm squadrons which patrolled and fought over the Western Desert and the Mediterranean during the North African campaigns. The squadrons were attached to H.M.S. Grebe, the naval air station at Dekheila, near Alexandria.
New Zealand airmen and ratings on the fleet carriers Indomitable and Illustrious took part in the capture of Diego Suaraz in Madagascar in May, 1942.
After 1942, many New Zealanders served in escort carriers with Atlantic and Russian convoys. Because of the large number of surface escort vessels, the support groups were able to seek out U-boats and destroy them.
Other New Zealand pilots served on merchant aircraft carriers, which were bulk grain or oil tankers fitted with flight decks to carry four Swordfish aircraft They carried their own cargoes as well as helping in the defence of the rest of the convoy.
New Zealanders who served in naval air stations on the coast of Britain flew on antisubmarine patrols and attacked E-boats on the east coast and in the channel.
More than 60 Fleet Air Arm pilots from New Zealand were on the seven aircraft carriers engaged on the Allied landings at Salerno, in September, 1943. A similar number of New Zealanders were in the aircrews of six carriers from which they bombed the German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord in April 1944.
New Zealand pilots on three carriers took part in a second attack on the Tirpitz on July 17, 1944, and in a third attack at the end of August. The Fleet Air Arm strikes did not finally sink the Tirpitz, but they softened her up for the R.A.F’s 12,000lb bombs which sank her at Tromso in November, 1944.
At Normandy
Right to the end of the war with Germany, New Zealand pilots took part in frequent attacks on shipping on the Norwegian coast, and others served in the naval air squadrons lent to Coastal Command for convoy protection and anti-submarine warfare.
Some were in the 6500 combat aircraft that played a decisive part in the invasion of Normandy, and from D-day onwards they gave close cover to the troop and supply convoys on the cross Channel routes and in the assault areas and laid smokescreens and spotted for naval bombardments.
Some 50 New Zealand airmen were in the seven escort carriers which provided fighter cover for the landings of American and French troops in the South of France on August 15, 1944. They were also in a special force formed to hamper the German withdrawal from the Aegean Islands, Crete and Greece the following month.
In 1945, the escort carriers moved into the Indian Ocean for air strikes on Sumatra and the Andoman and Nicobar Islands, the capture of Rangoon and the sinking of the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro in Malacca Strait.
The Fleet Air Arm traces its origin to July 1, 1914, when the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps became the Royal Naval Air Service with 91 aircraft, seven airships and 800 men. After the First World War is was absorbed into the Royal Air Force, and did not get its present title until 1936, when it was returned to the Royal Navy.
By 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service had grown to 3000 aircraft and 55,000 men. Its first aircraft carrier was H.M.S. Furious, which was a cruiser built with a wooden flight deck. The first pilot to land on her was Squadron Leader E. H. Dunning, who flew a Sopwith Pup on to the deck. Next day he tried to land without anyone to grab the aircraft, but plunged over the side and was drowned.
By the end of the Second World War the Fleet Air Arm had 1400 front line aircraft and 70,000 men.
PROUD ARM — PROUD RECORD
THE 50th anniversary of the Fleet Air Arm this month is an event for hundreds of New Zealand airmen and ratings who served in the Royal Navy’s 50 or more aircraft carriers during the war.
More than 1000 New Zealanders joined the air branch of the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve, and 738 of them were commissioned by the war’s end. New Zealand naval airmen numbered more than 10 per cent of the officers of the Fleet Air Arm, and the proportion was even higher in the big aircraft carriers of the British Pacific Fleet.
The official history of the Royal New Zealand Navy records that they served with distinction in every one of the more than 50 carriers commissioned during the war and in all the Royal Navy air stations, including those in the West Indies.
Decorations
Many New Zealand ratings served in the carriers as seamen, telegraphists, radar operators and radar mechanics.
New Zealanders in the Fleet Air Arm suffered heavy losses, with 152 deaths and many wounded. Their awards for gallantry and outstanding performance included one D.S.O, 39 Distinguished Service Crosses and two bars, one D.F.C., three M.B.E’s, 48 mentions in despatches, and two letters of commendation.
Admiral Sir Philip Vian, who commanded the aircraft carriers of the British Pacific Fleet, told the New Zealand Naval Board; “I consider the pilots from New Zealand second to none and to have ever excelled in the offensive spirit."
Desert Action
As well as taking part in convoy defence early in the war, a number of New Zealanders served in squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm which shared with the Royal Air Force in the hazardous defence of Malta, as well as making attacks on enemy shipping and airfields.
Other New Zealanders were in the Fleet Air Arm squadrons which patrolled and fought over the Western Desert and the Mediterranean during the North African campaigns. The squadrons were attached to H.M.S. Grebe, the naval air station at Dekheila, near Alexandria.
New Zealand airmen and ratings on the fleet carriers Indomitable and Illustrious took part in the capture of Diego Suaraz in Madagascar in May, 1942.
After 1942, many New Zealanders served in escort carriers with Atlantic and Russian convoys. Because of the large number of surface escort vessels, the support groups were able to seek out U-boats and destroy them.
Other New Zealand pilots served on merchant aircraft carriers, which were bulk grain or oil tankers fitted with flight decks to carry four Swordfish aircraft They carried their own cargoes as well as helping in the defence of the rest of the convoy.
New Zealanders who served in naval air stations on the coast of Britain flew on antisubmarine patrols and attacked E-boats on the east coast and in the channel.
More than 60 Fleet Air Arm pilots from New Zealand were on the seven aircraft carriers engaged on the Allied landings at Salerno, in September, 1943. A similar number of New Zealanders were in the aircrews of six carriers from which they bombed the German battleship Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord in April 1944.
New Zealand pilots on three carriers took part in a second attack on the Tirpitz on July 17, 1944, and in a third attack at the end of August. The Fleet Air Arm strikes did not finally sink the Tirpitz, but they softened her up for the R.A.F’s 12,000lb bombs which sank her at Tromso in November, 1944.
At Normandy
Right to the end of the war with Germany, New Zealand pilots took part in frequent attacks on shipping on the Norwegian coast, and others served in the naval air squadrons lent to Coastal Command for convoy protection and anti-submarine warfare.
Some were in the 6500 combat aircraft that played a decisive part in the invasion of Normandy, and from D-day onwards they gave close cover to the troop and supply convoys on the cross Channel routes and in the assault areas and laid smokescreens and spotted for naval bombardments.
Some 50 New Zealand airmen were in the seven escort carriers which provided fighter cover for the landings of American and French troops in the South of France on August 15, 1944. They were also in a special force formed to hamper the German withdrawal from the Aegean Islands, Crete and Greece the following month.
In 1945, the escort carriers moved into the Indian Ocean for air strikes on Sumatra and the Andoman and Nicobar Islands, the capture of Rangoon and the sinking of the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro in Malacca Strait.
The Fleet Air Arm traces its origin to July 1, 1914, when the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps became the Royal Naval Air Service with 91 aircraft, seven airships and 800 men. After the First World War is was absorbed into the Royal Air Force, and did not get its present title until 1936, when it was returned to the Royal Navy.
By 1918 the Royal Naval Air Service had grown to 3000 aircraft and 55,000 men. Its first aircraft carrier was H.M.S. Furious, which was a cruiser built with a wooden flight deck. The first pilot to land on her was Squadron Leader E. H. Dunning, who flew a Sopwith Pup on to the deck. Next day he tried to land without anyone to grab the aircraft, but plunged over the side and was drowned.
By the end of the Second World War the Fleet Air Arm had 1400 front line aircraft and 70,000 men.
