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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 26, 2005 19:59:09 GMT 12
I thought it was time for a quiz. Post as many answerrs and guesses as you can. The topic is the RNZAF in WWII.
1) In which country was the majority of RNZAF aircrew gunnery training undertaken?
2) Which particular Lockheed Hudson was the first to fly in New Zealand, and on which date?
3) Cobber Kain was the first WWII NZ ace. But who was the second New Zealander to achieve such an achievement?
4) Who were the four New Zealanders that were awarded the DFC three times (ie DFC and two Bars)?
5) Which RNZAF flying squadron or unit was the first deployed into the Pacific Theatre of Operations?
6) Which was the first RNZAF Squadron to operate from Guadalcanal?
7) What type of aircraft did No. 6 Squadron first fly?
8) Who was the first wartime Chief of Air Staff for the RNZAF?
9) What was the RNZAF's most northern permanent station called?
10) Name the two aircraft types owned and operated by the RNZAF that never actually came to New Zealand?
11) What was the lowest rank in the RNZAF in WWII?
12) What was the highest rank in the RNZAF in WWII? Who occupied it? And who occupies that rank now?
13) No. 485 (NZ) Sqn officially became the first RNZAF fighter squadron in the RAF in Europe, but which quadron had unnoficially called itself the NZ Fighter Squadron before 485's formation?
14) Name the RNZAF's only night fighter squadron.
15) Who was the first commander of No. 40 (Transport) Squadron?
That'll do for now. Let me know if you'd like more quizes like this later on...
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Post by Bruce on Sept 26, 2005 23:01:09 GMT 12
How do you want us to post our answers? a question at a time or do we have to finish our research and dump the whole lot on?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 26, 2005 23:05:15 GMT 12
a question at a time is cool - answer those you now now and then try to find other answers.
That allows other memberss to come in and try to answer the unanswered ones too I guess if they can. Then maybe you and others can add more info to other's answers and we all learn.
Good luck
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Post by Bruce on Sept 27, 2005 10:05:48 GMT 12
O.K, heres some to get the ball rolling - may or may not be correct, but that'll give everyone a chance.....
#2 NZ2003
#6 3BR Squadron
#7 Short Singapore
#9 Lauthala Bay
#10 Vickers Wellington, Short Singapore
#14 488(NZ) Sqn
#15 Popeye Lucas
Smite me or Exalt me......
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 27, 2005 10:16:51 GMT 12
No Smiting Necessary...
#2 NZ2003 - correct, but do you know the date?
#6 3BR Squadron - correct - although it was then designated 3GR Squadron
#7 Short Singapore - wrong, the Singapore never flew with No. 6 Squadron
#9 Lauthala Bay - ah, damn, I meant in NZ, but because the wording of my question is ambiguous, you are most probably correct. Though we had longterm stations much further north in the Pacific, I guess Lauthala was the northernmost properly built station that wasn't just huts and tents and Marston Matting or coral strips? Anyone know the northern-most station in NZ?
#10 Vickers Wellington, Short Singapore - correct
#14 488(NZ) Sqn - correct
#15 Popeye Lucas - correct - Fred "Popeye" Lucas
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Post by corsair67 on Sept 27, 2005 19:00:21 GMT 12
Well, I don't care if I look more of a fool than I normally do! Here goes.......
1. New Zealand?
3. Alan Deere?
4. Colin Gray.....?
5. Unit 20 - Fiji?
7. Hawker Hind?
8. Group Capt Hugh Saunders?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 27, 2005 19:50:46 GMT 12
1. New Zealand? - incorrect based on the data I have
3. Alan Deere? - incorrect based on the data I have
4. Colin Gray.....? - Colin Gray was indeed one of the four - HINT - the others are mentioned on a certain website not far from here
5. Unit 20 - Fiji? - Correct
7. Hawker Hind? - Correct
8. Group Capt Hugh Saunders? - Correct
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 27, 2005 19:57:21 GMT 12
So to sum up, we still have the following questions to answer:
1) In which country was the majority of RNZAF aircrew gunnery training undertaken?
2) When did Hudson NZ2003 first fly in NZ?
3) Cobber Kain was the first WWII NZ ace. But who was the second New Zealander to achieve such an achievement?
4) Who were the three New Zealanders that were awarded the DFC three times (ie DFC and two Bars) other than Colin Grey?
9) What was the RNZAF's most northern permanent station in NZ called?
11) What was the lowest rank in the RNZAF in WWII?
12) What was the highest rank in the RNZAF in WWII? Who occupied it? And who occupies that rank now?
13) No. 485 (NZ) Sqn officially became the first RNZAF fighter squadron in the RAF in Europe, but which quadron had unnoficially called itself the NZ Fighter Squadron before 485's formation?
_______________________________
Overall so far I'm impressed by the good efforts being put in. Cool
Do you chaps want further hints? Or just the answers and then move onto a new quiz? (feel free to make one up yourselves - civil aviation would stump me, that's for sure!
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Post by corsair67 on Sept 27, 2005 20:14:26 GMT 12
Well, I did better than I thought, although the book "Portrait of an Air Force" did come in handy for questions 5 and 8! Alan Deere was a wild stab in the dark, so I don't really know who was the No. 2 Kiwi Ace.
Dave, maybe you should leave it open for a few days, so we can see if some of the other guys can try their hand out? C'mon lads, have a bash!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 27, 2005 20:27:00 GMT 12
Alan Deere was a very close go, but there were a couple more before him, by mere days!
OK, I'll leave it open a wee bit longer.
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Post by Bruce on Sept 27, 2005 22:31:39 GMT 12
O.K, I'll try a couple more, and try and give you the extra detail you asked for.... (Is that in the rules?)
#1 Canada
#2 Flew 14 May 1941, NZ2002 flew a few hours later (ADF Serials page)
#5 I would have thought 485 NZ Sqn in Singapore who actually entered combat on December 8th 1941 - Cant get much earlier than that in the pacific war....:-) (Smite me if wrong......)
#9 NZ stations would be my old favourite Waipapakauri
#11 Aircraftsman Cadet under training?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 27, 2005 22:46:45 GMT 12
#1 Canada - correct
#2 Flew 14 May 1941, NZ2002 flew a few hours later (ADF Serials page) - correct
#5 I would have thought 485 NZ Sqn in Singapore who actually entered combat on December 8th 1941 - Cant get much earlier than that in the pacific war....:-) (Smite me if wrong......) If you are referring to No. 488 Sqn, I think that it was an RAF squadron, not RNZAF, made up from New Zealanders under the EATS system wasn't it? Like other Singapore squadrons that had our men sent when the RAF requested them. The first RNZAF squadron to be attached to the RAF was 485, or so I've been told. I find it all very confusing so if I'm wrong, I'm happy to be corrected.
#9 NZ stations would be my old favourite Waipapakauri
- correct
#11 Aircraftsman Cadet under training? - not quite correct
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stephen
Leading Aircraftman
Posts: 0
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Post by stephen on Sept 27, 2005 23:10:53 GMT 12
Interesting quiz....some tricky questions took some researching some RNZAF books ....While doing this I noticed that in aircraft numbers that post war we had 57 vampires or there abouts...i thought we had only one squadron....or not more than 20 at one time ...I do recall seeing 12 flying in formation ...what was the max number we had in service at one one time?
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Post by Bruce on Sept 28, 2005 8:19:45 GMT 12
These quizzes are quite interesting as they require a bit of research to complete, and in doing that you pick up all sorts of interesting trivia. In response to AVM Homewoods challenge / suggestion I'm working on a NZ Civil aviation Quiz - stay tuned......
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 28, 2005 18:31:22 GMT 12
Righto, time for the answers to those not yet answered:
3) Cobber Kain was the first WWII NZ ace. But who was the second New Zealander to achieve such an achievement?
According to my calculations it was Antonio Dini, becoming an ace on the 17th of May 1940 - very soon after Kain did. Ten days later Wilfred Clouston became an ace, and Al Deere reached the achievement two days after that on the 29th of May 1940.
4) Who were the four New Zealanders that were awarded the DFC three times (ie DFC and two Bars)?
Sqn Leader Roy Olfield Calvert (of Cambridge)
Sqn Ldr Colin Falkland Gray
Sqn Ldr Alfred William Gordon Cochrane
Sqn Ldr Keith Frederick Thiele
11) What was the lowest rank in the RNZAF in WWII?
Aircraftman 2nd Class, abbreviated to AC2
Note under training is a designation, not a rank, and the word cadet was noit used then
12) What was the highest rank in the RNZAF in WWII? Who occupied it? And who occupies that rank now?
Marshall of the RAF
King George the VI
Prince Phillip (though I think I read that he retired from the post and it's passed to Prince Charles - can anyone confirm?)
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 23, 2005 22:29:08 GMT 12
OK - a confession. I have just discovered I lied by saying that No. 488 (NZ) Squadron was the RNZAF's only night fighter squadron (no-one else picked up on this either so I'm not the only one).
It turns out that No. 486 Sqn was formed as a Nigth Fighter Sqn, on Hurricanes at Kirton-on-Lindsey. They moved to Wittering, where they co-operated with the Turbinlite equipped Havocs on No 1453 Flight. This was all between March and June of 1942. They then changed to the day fighter role.
So, that's an amazing thing. I have never seen any photos of 486 niht fighter Hurricanes. I'll have to check up this in the 486 Sqn book by Paul Sortehaug, Beware The Wild Winds, next time I'm at the library. There amy be some nice black paint schemes for modellers in this.
ALSO - when searching out this thread I realised I hadn't answered question 13. The unofficial RNZAF fighter squadron was No. 258 Sqn. More than half its members were Kiwis from the RNZAF, and the rest were most foreign too. They flew Hurricane day fighters which had a silver fern emblem on them. When money was being raised in NZ to buy Spitfires to form the first RNZAF fighetr squadron in the UK, the 258 chaps hoped they'd get the new Spitfires and be made the 'official' New Zealand Fighter Squadron (as it had been much billed in the press). However they were disappointed when the RAF decided to create a new squadron all together. Then, most of the Kiwis in 258 were ellated to find they'd been selected to become 485's founding members anyway, along with other Kiwi pilots. One of them was Hal Thomas, who was born in Cambridge.
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