RAAF Boomerangs and RNZAF Corsairs

[Dave Homewood]

I've read often of how the RAAF Boomerangs woked alongside RNZAF Corsairs in the Pacific, but I have not found any specifics.

As the Boomerangs were marking jungle targets with flares so the Corsairs could divebomb them, how many Boomerangs would have gone along on such a raid? Would it be just one? Or did a lot of them go along?

Has anyone got or even seen photos of the two aircraft types flying together? I have seen a few of Corsairs on the ground with Boomerangs nearby, so they were obviously based together too.

Did the RAAF work so closely ith the RNZAF in any other work in the Pacific. (I know the two had squadrons working together in Europe). If so, which squadrons and aircraft types?

[turboNZ]

Interesting question, Dave

Stormbird Phil should know all of this info.
We'll try and entice him here.

TNZ

[Stormbird262]

Booma's and Bent wing's, as you say dave pic's are a bit rare .

I have not got much on hand right here at the moment.

But I am in Email contact with 2 different Matt's here in Oz, One has built and fly's our only flying Booma, and the other is building a Wirraway, and is a CAC nut.

Most of what I can find here right now is Booma's and Wirra's marking for B-24 Lib's and Kittyhawk's bombed up in PNG. 44/45.
let me dig a bit more and send a few email's off, and I'll get back to ya's ok .

Cheer's all, Tally Ho! Ho! Phil in Oz(baaa )

[corsair67]

I believe that only one Boomerang was sent as a target maker with the Corsairs at any one time. In his book "Wings Over The Pacific" Alex Horn makes mention of a target marking Boomerang crashing (most probably hit by enemy fire) into the target while attempting to mark it for the Kiwi Corsairs.
Target marking was pretty important by late-1944, as the RNZAF Corsairs were often flying close support for AIF troops, who were fighting the Japanese at very close qauters most of the time.
I think there may be a photo of a RAAF Boomerang and RNZAF Corsairs flying together on the AWM website (www.awm.gov.au).

[AJ]

I have a pic on my computer of a Boomerang inflight with some Corsairs, not very good quilty but better then nothing. If only I knew how to post pics....

[AJ]

Here we go..

[Dave Homewood]

Hey, that's a cool photo, thanks Andy.

[AJ]

No probs mate.

[phasselgren]

You can find some information about these operations in the Official History:
www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/histories/27/chapters/19.pdf

After I while the Corsair-units learned how to co-operate direct with the Australian army units and didn´t need so much help from the Boomerangs. They even used Corsairs "smokeys" to mark targets.

Peter