A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RNZAF


Military aviation had been developing in New Zealand for a number of years before the Royal New Zealand Air Force was formed. As early as 1911, the New Zealand Army considered the value of aviation in defence of New Zealand but it wasn't until 1913 when a Bleriot-type monoplane, the "Britannia", was presented to the New Zealand Government by the Imperial Air Fleet committee in Great Britain that military aviation in New Zealand came to life.
Many young men were trained in the Government sponsored flying schools at Sockburn, Christchurch, and at Kohimarama, Auckland, during the 1914-18 war for service with the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service.
In 1921 the Government approved refresher courses for ex-Service pilots, but it wasn't until 1923 that New Zealand organised an air arm within the New Zealand Army. In the same year an Air Force Reserve of 72 ex-Service pilots was formed and in June 1923 this Air Arm became the New Zealand Permanent Air Force (NZPAF).
In 1934 the King granted permission for the name of the NZPAF to be changed to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). By the end of 1936 the worsening international situation forced the N.Z. Government to consider a proper air defence scheme and on April 1, 1937 the RNZAF was divorced from the Army and became a single service in its own right.

RNZAF DURING WORLD WAR II


The New Zealand Government purchased 30 Wellington bombers, and shortly before the declaration of World War II these aircraft and their crews were offered to the Royal Air Force.
This offer that was promptly accepted, and the famous No. 75 (N.Z.) Squadron was born and remained in Britain until World War II ended.
More than 120 New Zealanders flew with the RAF and the RNZAF during the Battle of Britain in 1940, becoming some of the famous few who shared in the Allies first victory over Nazi Germany.
During the early war years the RNZAF's primary task was to train aircrew for the RAF under the Empire Air Training Scheme, however when Japan entered the War the RNZAF turned its attentions to the protection of the Pacific and its own shores. Initially very few aircraft were available in New Zealand until late in 1942 when a steady trickle of bombers and fighters began arriving.
Equipped first with Hudson bombers, Kittyhawk fighters, Singapore III flying boats and various other obsolete types, then later with Ventura bombers, Corsair fighters, Dauntless dive bombers, Avenger torpedo bombers and Catalina flying boats, and supported by Dakota and Lodestar transport aircraft, the RNZAF Squadrons operated successfully from bases in Fiji, Vanuatu (the New Hebrides), the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea (New Britain and Admiralty Islands.)
In the height of war a total of 41,595 RNZAF personnel in seven New Zealand Squadrons were based in Europe, the Pacific and at air force bases around New Zealand.
War's end saw the demobilisation of large numbers of RNZAF personnel, the closure of many air force bases and, most importantly, the reshaping of the Air Force into a compact, efficient service.
A number of Squadrons were kept overseas- No. 14 Squadron with its Corsair aircraft was sent as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces to Japan in 1946, where it remained for two-and-a-half years. No. 14 Squadron's next overseas tour began in 1952 when, equipped with Vampire jets hired from the RAF, it was sent to Cyprus to operate with the RAF's Middle East Air Force.
RNZAF IN SOUTH EAST ASIA


In 1955, following a change in New Zealand's foreign policy which shifted the focus from the Middle East to South East Asia, the Squadron was moved to Singapore to form part of the Commonwealth Strategic Reserve (CSR).
There, it became the first squadron to use Venom jets, again hired from the RAF, against terrorists in the Malayan jungles. The Squadron returned to New Zealand in 1958 when No. 75 Squadron RNZAF, equipped with hired Canberra light bombers replaced it.
No. 75 Squadron was withdrawn from the area four years later and replaced, once again, by No. 14 Squadron which, equipped with Canberra B(I) 12 aircraft, took over the role as the RNZAF's contribution to the CSR.
Meanwhile, No. 41 Squadron RNZAF equipped with Dakota aircraft, had been based for the three years from 1949-1951, at Changi, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In 1955 No. 41 Squadron was re-equipped with Bristol Freighters and returned to South-East Asia. Later, between 1961-4, No. 41 Squadron operated a detachment from Korat in Thailand as part of the SEATO plan.
The RNZAF was to face hostilities again when in 1964, following the start of the Malayan/Indonesian Confrontation, the Canberras were permanently shifted to Singapore and took part in anti-confrontation operations.
Two years later they returned to New Zealand. In 1971, equipped with both its Bristol Freighters and Iroquols utility helicopters, No. 41 Squadron moved to Tengah and became a unit of the combined Australia-New Zealand-United Kingdom (ANZUK) force based in Singapore and, in 1974, formed part of the New Zealand Force South-East Asia (NZFORSEA).
Three years later No. 41 Squadron was disbanded and the Bristol Freighters were withdrawn to New Zealand. The Squadron was replaced by the RNZAF Support Unit Singapore (RNZAF SUS), and equipped with the remaining No. 41 Squadron Iroquols.
In 1985 the RNZAF SUS was renamed No. 141 Flight in recognition of its origins with No. 41 Sqn. Supporting the New Zealand Army and RNZAF operations in Singapore and Malaysia, No. 141 Flight continued operations until June1989 when it was disbanded and its helicopters withdrawn to No. 3 Squadron in New Zealand.
The RNZAF also featured in South-East Asia during the Vietnam War and February 1972 saw the end of four-and-a half years of operations in South Vietnam for RNZAF forward air controllers, helicopter pilots and medics. No. 41 Squadron continued to operate to Vietnam until the fall of Saigon in 1975.

RNZAF IN THE PACIFIC


Although most of the RNZAF's active operations were based in South-East Asia the Pacific had not been over looked. From as early as 1941 the RNZAF's maritime unit, No. 5 Squadron, equipped with Vincents, Singapores, Catalinas and later Sunderland flying-boats, was permanently based at Lauthala Bay, Fiji.
In 1967 the Lauthala Bay Base was closed and No. 5 Squadron was withdrawn to New Zealand where its Sunderlands were replaced with land-based P-3 Orion long-range maritime patrol aircraft.

RNZAF PEACE-KEEPING


The RNZAF's history is one of assisting in defence of other nations or the maintenance of peace. In this peacekeeping role 29 RNZAF personnel combined with NZ Army personnel and their Australian counterparts, and for four years, between 1982-1986 formed the Rotary Wing Aviation Unit of the Multinational Force of Observers in the Sinai.
In 1988 RNZAF personnel were once again to play the peace-keeping role in the United Nations Iran Iraq Military Observers Group (UNIIMOG). The RNZAF provided UNIIMOG's only flying support unit with 17 No. 42 Squadron personnel based at Tehran in Iran. This detachment withdrew from Iran in December 1990, just prior to the Gulf War.
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Page created by Flight Lieutenant Rhys Akers
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