Royal New Zealand Air Force: Encyclopedia II - Royal New Zealand Air Force - History of the RNZAF

Royal New Zealand Air Force - History of the RNZAF

Royal New Zealand Air Force - Pre-War

New Zealand's military aviation began in 1913 when the New Zealand Army was presented with two Bleriot monoplanes by the United Kingdom. These machines were grounded after a young woman was given a joyride; on the outbreak of hostilities, the Bleriots were sent to support British forces in Mesopotamia.

Royal New Zealand Air Force - World War I

In the Great War, New Zealand aircrew flew as part of the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service.

The government assisted two private schools training pilots for the conflict. The Walsh brothers flying school at Auckland was founded by Vivian and Leo Walsh - pioneers who had made the first controlled flight in New Zealand. From 1915, they used Curtiss flying boats and later machines of their own design and the first two aircraft made by Boeing. The later Canterbury Aviation Company used Caudron landplanes based at Christchurch.

New Zealand pilots serving with British forces saw service in all theatres. Fifteen became aces, the top scorer being Keith Caldwell, with at least 24 victories. Several stayed with the new Royal Air Force after the war, and had attained high rank by the outbreak of World War II. Others returned to New Zealand and, serving part time, provided the nucleus of the NZPAF.

Royal New Zealand Air Force - The New Zealand Permanent Air Force

At the close of hostilities, Great Britain offered each of the Dominions a hundred war surplus combat aircraft. The New Zealand was last to respond, and least enthusiastic. When the Avro 504s, Bristol F.2 Fighters, and De Havilland Airco DH.4s and Airco DH.9s did reach New Zealand, they were either placed in storage or loaned to the flying schools, barnstormers and nascent commercial operations. Several of the military aircraft were heavily modified; at least one 504 becoming 3 seat floatplanes, a DH-9 acquired enclosed passenger cabin.

The importance of aviation in war was belatedly recognised, largely thanks to the efforts of visionary parliamentarian Sir Henry Wigram. In 1923 the New Zealand Permanent Air Force was formed: a part of the Army staffed by 72 pilots with Great War experience. It was equipped initially with the surviving Avro 504K, DH4s DH9s and Bristol Fighters. These operated from an airfield outside Christchurch at Sockburn. In 1926, Wigram donated £2,500 for the purchase of modern fighters, and Gloster Grebes were acquired. Sockburn was later renamed Wigram, a name adopted by the suburb which grew up around the airbase. It is the site of the present New Zealand Air Force Museum.

A trickle of new build Bristol Fighters and other new types joined the NZPAF in the late 1920s and early 1930s. A Lewis gun equipped De Havilland Gipsy Moth float plane took part in naval operations against rebels in Samoa. The NZPAFs first action came in 1930 when the Moth dropped an improvised bomb made out of a treacle tin on to a ship suspected of gun running. The bomb did no damage, fortuitously, as the target turned out to be a local missionary vessel. More creditably, Fairey IIIFs made a dramatic maritime rescue and in the aftermath of the Napier earthquake, the NZPAF flew in urgently needed supplies and medical equipment.

Like other western air arms, a major expansion began from the mid 1930s. The NZPAF acquiring more modern British types including significant numbers of Airspeed Oxford, Avro 626, Fairey Gordon, Vickers Vildebeest and Blackburn Baffin, and small numbers of other types. The NZPAF was renamed the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1934, and became an independent service in 1937.

Royal New Zealand Air Force - World War II

On the outbreak of World War II, the primary equipment of the RNZAF was 30 Vickers Wellington bombers, which the New Zealand government had offered to the United Kingdom in August 1939, together with the crews to fly them. Many other New Zealanders were serving in the RAF. The primary role of the RNZAF was to take advantage of New Zealand's distance from the conflict by training aircrew, as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, alongside the other major former British colonies, Canada, Australia, and South Africa. For this task large numbers of De Havilland Tiger Moth, Airspeed Oxford and North American Harvard were manufactured or assembled locally, and second hand biplanes acquired such as Hawker Hind and Vickers Vincents, as well as other types for specialised training such as Avro Anson and Supermarine Walrus. Only when German surface raiders became active was it realised a combat force would be needed in New Zealand in addition to the trainers.

Once trained the majority of RNZAF aircrew served with ordinary units of the RAF, or Fleet Air Arm. As with World War I they served in all theatres. At least 78 became aces. Amongst the New Zealanders in the RNZAF were pilots such as the first allied ace, Flying Officer Cobber Kain and leaders such as World War I ace, Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, who commanded 11 Group in the Battle of Britain, the air defence of Malta and in the closing stages of the war, the RAF in South East Asia. Through accident or design, several of these RAF units came to be mostly manned by RNZAF pilots(for example 243 squadron in Singapore, 258 Squadron in the UK and several Wildcat and Hellcat units of the FAA - leading several texts to claim these types of aircraft were used by the RNZAF).

Some squadrons within the Royal Air Force were deliberately set aside for pilots from a particular country.

The first of these was 75 Squadron, formed by the Wellingtons and pilots lent by New Zealand in August 1939, and later Short Stirlings, Avro Lancasters and Avro Lincolns. Later New Zealand squadrons were 485, Supermarine Spitfires 486, Hawker Hurricanes, Hawker Typhoons and Hawker Tempests, 487, Lockheed Venturas and De Havilland Mosquitoes 488, Brewster Buffaloes, Hawker Hurricanes, Bristol Beaufighters and De Havilland Mosquitoes 489, Bristol Blenheims, Bristol Beauforts, Handley Page Hampdens, Bristol Beaufighters, and De Havilland Mosquitoes and 490, Consolidated Catalinas and Short Sunderlands.

The presence of German raiders lead to the formation of New Zealand based combat units - initially rearming types like the Vildebeest, and hurridely converting impressed airliners such as the DH86 to carry bombs. Lockheed Hudsons were obtained early in 1941 to take over this role.

In December 1941 Japan attacked and rapidly conquered much of the area to the north of New Zealand, and it became imperative that New Zealand start building up its own defence rather than simply help the "mother country". Trainers in New Zealand such as the North American Harvard and Hawker Hind were camouflaged and armed. The Hudsons moved forward to Fiji and together with 5 Squadron with its obsolete Short Singapore flying boats commenced operations against the Japanese. A submarine launched Japanese float plane overflew Wellington and Auckland - where it was chased ineffectually by a Tiger Moth. As few combat capable aircraft were available at home, and Britain was unable to help, so New Zealand turned to the United States and signed a lend-lease agreement. Gradually at first, America was able to supply New Zealand with aircraft for use in the Pacific Theatre.

The early lend-lease aircraft were obsolete and incapable of holding their own against the highly skilled and well-equipped Japanese air forces, but nothing else was available and the RNZAF flew with the tools they had to hand, notably at Guadalcanal where No 15 and No 14 squadrons equipped with Kittyhawks, fought with distinction in mid-1943. Other squadrons flew the elderly but effective Douglas Dauntless and later, the big, modern Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber.

The RNZAF took on a major part of the maritime reconnaissance task too, with Catalina (and later Sunderland) flying boats and Lockheed Hudson bombers.

The role of the RNZAF changed as the allies moved off the defensive. The Americans, leaders of the Allied nations in the Pacific, planned to bypass major Japanese strongholds, but instead captured a handful of island bases to provide a supply chain for an eventual attack on Japan itself. The Allied advance started from the South Pacific. The RNZAF was part of the force tasked with securing the line of advance by incapacitating the bypassed Japanese strongholds.

As the war progressed, the older types were replaced with more powerful modern aircraft: the Kittyhawks gave way to Corsairs and the Hudsons to Venturas. At its peak in the Pacific, the RNZAF had 13 squadrons of Corsair fighters, six of Venturas, two each of Catalinas and Avengers, No 25 Dauntless dive bombers, two of C-47 Dakotas, as well as mixed transport and communications squadrons, a flight of Short Sunderlands and nearly 1000 training machines. Worldwide the RNZAF had over 41,000 personnel.

Royal New Zealand Air Force - Postwar RNZAF

Following (WWII), 14 Squadron was sent to Japan as part of the occupation J-Force. The rest of the air force rapidly divested itself of aircraft and manpower and settled mainly into training and transport mode before the advent of rejuvenated 14 and 75 squadrons. Internal communications/transport was maintained by 42 Squadron, as an operation if not always in name, which still operates today. The first Gloster Meteor arrived in 1945, introducing the jet age. The force was equipped from 1946 with De Havilland Mosquito before the arrival of De Havilland Vampire which were used in peacekeeping in Cyprus, De Havilland Venoms and English Electric Canberras which saw action in the Malayan Emergency and subsequent confrontation with Indonesia, and BAC Strikemasters.

De Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver, De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter and Auster types helped explore Antarctica. Numbers 5 and 6 squadrons traded their Catalinas for Short Sunderland MR5s, operating in maritime patrol and search and rescue roles from Hobsonville and Fiji before receiving Lockheed Orion P3Ks in 1965. Transport aircraft such as the Bristol Freighter, De Havilland Devon, Handley Page Hastings, Douglas DC-6, C-130 Hercules, Hawker Siddeley Andover, Boeing 727 and Boeing 757 operated by 1, 40, 41 and 42 Squadrons flew in support of the New Zealand Army in the Vietnam War, Afghanistan war, the Gulf Wars, as well as several UN missions such as UNTAET. Bell 47 introduced the helicopter to the RNZAF, and the Bell UH-1 Iroquois of 3 Squadron went to the Sinai and East Timor, while Westland Wasp and Kaman SH-2 Seasprite helicopters were also operated by the squadron. The Naval Support Flight was separated from 3 Squadron to re-form 6 Squadron in October 2005.

Royal New Zealand Air Force - 21st century

In 2001 the Labour Government, citing a benign security environment, cancelled the purchase of 28 F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters, and disbanded the existing A-4 Skyhawk and Aermacchi MB-339 squadrons. One of the units disbanded included the famous No. 75 Squadron, an ex New Zealand squadron unit in the Royal Air Force that transferred to the RNZAF due to that unit's meritorious service during World War II and last flew A-4 Skyhawk fighter bombers. The other disbanded squadrons were No. 2 Squadron flying A-4 Skyhawks and No. 14 Squadron flying Aermacchi MB-339CB aircraft.

By 2003, the RNZAF was reduced to a total of 50 aircraft and 2,523 personnel (including civilian employees). The RNZAF no longer has any strike capability. Current duties include maritime patrol, search and rescue, and transport.

In 2005 The New Zealand Ministry of Defence selected the NH90 helicopter to replace the RNZAF's ageing fleet of 14 UH-1H Iroquois helicopters. The NZ government allocated NZ$550 million for the replacement of the Iroquois and the RNZAF's small fleet of Bell 47 Sioux training helicopters. In late 2005, the NZ government announced the surviving A4K and MB339Cs, (17 aircraft of each type each, not counting A4s in museums), were to be sold to an American company, Tactical Air Systems, for use in jet training, subject to the usual US governmental approvals. Tactical Air Systems announced RNZAF colour schemes would be preserved, "out of respect for the history and traditions of the RNZAF".

Adapted from the Wikipedia article " History of the RNZAF", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki