Introduction
The RNZAF was formed after the end of World War I in 1919 as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force. Up until 1937 the NZPAF was under the control of the NZ Army. With the passing of the 1937 Air Force Act, the Royal New Zealand Airforce was created on 1 April 1937.
At the outbreak of war in 1939 the RNZAF consisted of 91 officers and 665 other ranks with 400 reserves. By the end of the war over 14,000 men had served with the RNZAF in the Pacific.
The RNZAF had lots of squadrons in service both in the European theatre (under the RAF) and the Pacific theatre by the end of the war, I'm interested in mainly two of them, the so-called Unit 20 assigned to Fiji 1940 - 1941 and the No.14 (Fighter) Occupational Squadron which was posted to Iwakuni in Japan 1946 to 1947.