1/2-106422 (Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand) A flight of RNZAF P-40 Kittyhawks taxying on to an island airstrip (possibly Guadacanal), 1943. After Pearl Harbour the New Zealand government had initially sought to obtain Hurricane fighters from Britain. However British fighter production could barely keep up with the demands of the RAF so the British government instead offered New Zealand a share of the American-built Kittyhawks allocated to the RAF under lend-lease. This was accepted and the first delivery of Kittyhawks from the United States to New Zealand took place in March 1942. By the end of July a total of 44 Kittyhawks had been received allowing the RNZAF to form its first three operational fighter squadrons. 1/2-106384 (Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand) Pilots of No. 14 (Fighter) Squadron RNZAF, Bougainville, 1944. This unit was the senior fighter squadron of the RNZAF in the Pacific having been formed in April 1942 with the arrival of the first Kittyhawks in New Zealand. The Squadron first saw combat in June 1943 when it was sent to Guadacanal. For the next two years and three months No. 14 Squadron carried out numerous tours of duty that, in addition to Guadacanal, saw it deployed to New Georgia, Bougainville, Green Island, Emirau and Santo (in the New Hebrides) before returning to New Zealand in October 1945. AWM P00448.185 (Australian War Memorial) A Vought F4U-1D Corsair of No. 14 (Fighter) Squadron RNZAF being towed to its revetment, Piva, Bougainville, May 1945. Readily recognised by its distinctive gull-shaped wings, the Corsair was one of the most powerful and successful US Navy fighters produced during the Second World War. First flown in combat by US Marine fighter squadrons over Guadalcanal in February 1943, the Corsair began to replace the battle-worn Kittyhawk in RNZAF fighter squadrons in early 1944. The F4U-1D model used by the RNZAF was the first fighter-bomber version of the aircraft and was equipped with bomb racks capable of carrying 500 or 1,000 pound bombs. AWM 077587 (Australian War Memorial) Lockheed PV-1 Ventura bombers of No. 1 (Bomber-Reconnaissance) Squadron RNZAF about to undergo routine maintenance on Green Island, December 1944. The Ventura had replaced the Hudson bomber in New Zealand service by the end of 1943. Of American design and manufacture, the Ventura was a twin-engined medium bomber with a speed of 300 mph, a range of 2,000 miles and an official bomb-load capacity of 4,000 pounds (which was often exceeded in RNZAF squadrons). Its five-man crew consisted of a pilot, navigator, wireless operator/air gunner and two air gunners. AWM OG2067 (Australian War Memorial) Six Corsairs of No. 23 (Fighter) Squadron RNZAF in formation off the coast of Bougainville, as seen from the cockpit of an accompanying Wirraway of No. 5 (Army Cooperation) Squadron RAAF, January 1945. In all 12 RNZAF fighter squadrons saw active service on Bougainville in support of the 3rd Australian Division’s advance across the island from September 1944 to August 1945. Between January and August 1945 alone a total of 10,592 sorties were made and 4,256 tons of bombs were dropped by the New Zealand Corsairs in their ground-attack role. AWM 093982 (Australian War Memorial) RNZAF planning staff at ZEAIRTAF Headquarters put together a photographic map of the Gazelle Peninsula, New Ireland, to update their target list, July 1945. Located at Piva airstrip on Bougainville, ZEAIRTAF Headquarters was established in September 1944 to co-ordinate and control all RNZAF units in the South-West Pacific Area. Under the command of Group Captain (later Air Commodore) G.N. Roberts RNZAF, ZEAIRTAF Headquarters had a staff of 16 officers and 195 airmen. AWM P00001.171 (Australian War Memorial) A Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina of No. 6 (Flying Boat) Squadron RNZAF anchored in shallow water off Bougainville, 1945. Based at Halavo Bay, Florida Island, from December 1943 to September 1945 No. 6 Squadron was responsible for the search and rescue, or “Dumbo”, missions that saved the lives of many downed Allied aircrew. The Catalinas and their crews also carried out long-range anti-submarine patrols and occasional transport flights between the islands, but it was the Dumbo missions that endeared them most to their counterparts in the fighter and bomber squadrons. AWM 077593 (Australian War Memorial) An F4U-1D Corsair of No. 16 (Fighter) Squadron RNZAF being overhauled by ground crew of No. 30 Servicing Unit on Green Island, December 1944. The service units were responsible for the maintenance and repair of all New Zealand aircraft in the area. The tropical climate made for particularly gruelling working conditions, exacerbated by long tours of duty – the limited availability of air transport to New Zealand, and the large numbers of ground crew stationed in the Solomons, meant it was impossible to rotate them out of the forward area as often as aircrew. AWM P00001.415 (Australian War Memorial) A Japanese Type 88 75 mm medium anti-aircraft gun and two prisoners of war who have revealed its presence to Allied troops, New Ireland, October 1945. The Type 88 was used throughout the Pacific War and could fire approximately 20 rounds per minute to a maximum height of 30,000 feet. Japanese anti-aircraft defences on New Britain and New Ireland remained a danger to RNZAF and other Allied pilots through to the very end of the war. AWM P00001.340 (Australian War Memorial) Three former ground crew of the Japanese Army Air Force stand next to a partially cannibalised Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar single-seat fighter near Rabaul, September 1945. All remaining airworthy Japanese aircraft in the area had been ordered to withdraw to Truk in February 1944. However a few aircraft were subsequently salvaged and restored by Japanese ground crew and this led to occasional Allied sightings and reports of “unidentified” aircraft after that date. Nevertheless Allied air supremacy in the region was effectively absolute and the RNZAF fighter squadrons were never given another opportunity to add to the 99 enemy aircraft they had shot down prior to February 1944. AWM P00001.063 (Australian War Memorial) A New Zealand airman (left) and an Australian soldier (right) share a cigarette in a rear area on Bougainville, February 1945. The presence of the New Zealand Air Task Force (ZEAIRTAF) in the northern Solomons and the Bismarck Archipelago in 1944-45 represented the only occasion of significant close co-operation between Australian and New Zealand forces during the entire Pacific War. The necessities of complying with the American Pacific command structure in 1942 had effectively forced the governments of both nations to abandon any plans for a formal ANZAC-type approach to military operations against the Japanese. AWM 091012 (Australian War Memorial) Australians from the nearby Headquarters of the 3rd Australian Division take a closer look at the burnt-out wreck of an RNZAF Corsair that caught fire after a crash landing at Piva airstrip, Bougainville, on 13 April 1945. Although in this instance the pilot managed to jump clear and survive, the Japanese air defences and the often torrid flying conditions combined to take a steady toll of New Zealand aircraft and aircrew throughout the campaign. AWM P00001.308 (Australian War Memorial) Two RNZAF officers and an Australian Army officer confer with two Japanese liaison officers on New Britain after the surrender, September 1945. Within a few weeks of the Japanese capitulation the RNZAF had dispatched a Missing Personnel Investigation Unit (MPIU) to comb New Britain and New Ireland for aircraft and crews officially listed as missing over the area. Information from members of the former Japanese garrison helped the MPIU to quickly locate many crash sites and identify the graves or remains of aircrew found.

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