No 15 Squadron, RNZAF

Motto,

History,

Formed, June 1942
Disbanded, October 1945

COs

S/L, A. Crichton. RNZAF, KIA, June 1942 to 25 March 1943

A S/L, M. J. Herrick. RNZAF, 25 March 1943 to 12 December 1943
DFC & Bar, Air Medal [US]

S/L, J. A. A. Gibson. RAF, 15 December 1943 to July 1944
DSO, DFC,

S/L, D. P. Winstone. RNZAF, August 1944 to December 1944
DFC,

S/L, M. R. Clarke. RNZAF, January 1945 to October 1945

Bases,

Whenuapai, Auckland, June 1942 to October 1942
Funamotu, Tonga, October 1942 to 3 January 1943
Palikulo, Espritu Santo, New Hebrides, 3 January 1943 to 20 March 1943
Nadi, Viti Levu. Fiji, 20 March 1943 to April 1943
Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 26 April 1943 to 22 June 1943
NZ June 1943 to September 1943
Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 8 September 1943 to October 1943
Ondonga Field, New Georgia, Solomon Islands, 15 October 1943 to 14 November 1943
Fairhall, Blenheim, NZ, November 1943 to December 1943
Ondonga Field, New Georgia, Solomon Islands, December 1943 to January 1944
Torokina Field, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, 17 January 1944 to 11 February 1944
NZ 16 February 1944 to May 1944
Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, May 1944 to June 1944
Torokina Field, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, June 1944 to July 1944
NZ July 1944 to September 1944
Palikulo Bay, Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, September 1944 to October 1944
Piva Y Field, Bougainville Solomon Islands, November 1944 to December 1944
Palikulo Bay, Espritu Santo, New Hebrides, January 1945 to February 1945
Nissan Island, Green Islands, Solomon Islands, February 1945 to April 1945
NZ April 1945 to June 1945
Piva Y Field Bougainville, Solomon Islands, June 1945 to September1945

AIRCRAFT TYPES

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Harvards June 1942 to October 1942

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Kittyhawk June 1942 to 1944

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Corsairs 1944 to September 1945

ROLES

Fighter/Ground Attack June 1942 to September 1945

CODE

Whenuapai 1942 Harvard JZ
P 40 E JL

EFFORTS
Sorties
Hours
Destroyed 12
Probable
Damaged
Boats / Barges 1
Tanks

ROLE OF HONOUR

S/L, A, Crichton, 25 March 1943

DECORATIONS

The Sqn was transported to Tonga on the USS President Jackson 23 October 1942

F/L C R Busch Flt/Cdr Oct 1943 16 Feb 1944
F/L J A N Gibson Flt/Cdr Jun 1942 Dec 1942
A S/L M J Herrick CO 25 Mar 1943 15 Dec 1943
S/L J A A Gibson CO 15 Dec 1943 Jul 1944
All were “One Of The Few” Battle of Britain pilots

The Squadron flew more sorties than any other NZ Fighter Squadron in the Pacific Theatre,

The Squadron, under the leadership of S/L Crichton, was shipped to Tonga on board the US Naval Transport “President Jackson”, on 23rd October 1942, arriving 4 days later. The ship was a large converted passenger liner.

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The Squadron took over the 23 Curtis P-40 Kittyhawk aircraft and equipment of No 68 Squadron, USAAF, that had been stationed at Fuamotu Airfield.

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The aircraft were in poor condition with neglected engines and airframes, and corroded gun barrels, all requiring a lot of work to bring them up to a serviceable standard.

The Squtoolkits taken their own mechanical transport, camp and mess equipment, spare clothing and tool kits for the servicing teams, flying equipment for the pilots and other general gear.

S/L Crichton took over the command of the Station, which also had detachments from USAAF companies for stores, signaling, telephone communications and interceptor control. All included there were 255 personnel, of which 116 lived on the Station.

The Squadron spent their time in Tonga being responsible for the air defense, and managed to fit in a lot of operational training

In January 1943 the Squadron left Tonga in two flights and moved to Palikulo Bay, Espiritu Santo, to assist the local air defense

When intelligence found that the Japanese ere building an airfield in the Solomon islands, a rapid, high level response by the US was to the formation of a large task force to throw them out, and nullify the threat to US Bases in the New Hebrides and New Caledonia, which, had they fallen, would have left NZ and Australia wide open to future occupation.

The US !st Marine Division [11,000 strong] sailed from Wellington on 22nd July 1942, heading for the New Hebrides for rehearsals before landing on the 7th July 1942 at Tulagi and Santa Cruz. Their main target was the unfinished airfield on Guadalcanal.

Upon these landings 2,500 Japanese melted into the jungle and awaited reinforcements. For the next 6 months the right to possess the 2,500 square miles of the humid, disease ridden jungle was savage, as was the naval battles around the Island, which resolved into 5 major engagements.
The Battle of Savo Island on 7 - 9th August 1942.
The Battle of Eastern Solomons on 23 - 25th August 1942.
The Battle of Cape Esperance on 11-12th October 1942
The Battle of Santa Cruz on 25th October 1942
The Battle of Guadalcanal on 12 - 15th November 1942
Also the Battle of Tassafaronga, also known as the 4th Battle of Savo Island on 30th November 1942

Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese Supreme Commander, required Guadalcanal as a bargaining chip for peace feelers which he thought might bear fruit after the massive losses and failure to take Midway Island, this confirmed, to him, that the war was lost.

The US has an absolute requirement of the Island to progress northward from a strategic base to attack the large Japanese Base at Rabaul in New Britain.

After these battles the Japanese went on the defensive and it was the turning point in the war against them.

NZ and Australian servicemen from all services took part in the assault and defending Guadalcanal.

The airfield, when completed, was named Henderson Field, after an US pilot killed at the Battle for Midway.

The Squadron was moved to Nadi, Viti Levu, Fiji, on 20th March 1943 to continue operational training with the US Carrier Air Group No 11,
It was intended that the Squadron be operated in the Forward Area, the next back from the combat zone, with the carrier group, but this didn’t happen and the Carrier Group left for Guadalcanal in April without them.

On 26th April 1943, the Squadron was moved to Henderson Field Guadalcanal and exchanged its aircraft with the more modern P-40 K and M, that had been flown from NZ by No 14 [F] Squadron.

Around this time the tour for aircrew was 6 to 7 weeks as their efficiency tended to decline after that period, the ground crew’s tour was much longer, they were assembled into Maintenance Units, either Fighter, Bomber or Maritime,

While there the main roles of the NZ fighter Squadrons were, to provide fighter patrols over Guadalcanal and the Russell Islands, to intercept any Japanese raids on those bases, to escort US Convoys and to provide escorts for US bombers, to attack suitable ground targets and carry out sweeps over Japanese bases to tempt them into battles the Japanese couldn’t really afford.

After a series of uneventful patrols and escort missions, on 6th May 1943, two fighters escorting a Hudson shot down a float plane.

On the 8th May, the Squadron took part in an attack on Japanese Destroyers that had hit mines in Blackett Strait, near Kolombangara, they strafed the ships before the US bombers hit them with 1,000 lb bombs.

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On 7th June 1943, the Squadron took part in the defensive fight against a large Japanese raid, that was untended to hit the invasion fleet being prepared for the invasion of New Georgia, known as Operation Toenails.

12 aircraft from the Squadron took part, shooting down 4 Japanese aircraft for the damage of 4 P-40’s, two of which crash landed at Russell Islands.

By the end of June they had been relieved, and returned to NZ for rest and recuperation.

In September 1943 they returned to Guadalcanal and joined No 17 [F] Squadron, this ended up as a longer than usual deployment by NZ standards.

On 1st October the Squadron helped defend a convoy carrying part of the 3rd NZ Army Division when it was attacked off Vella Lavella, claiming 7 dive bombers in this clash.

Aichi D3A Val Dive Bomber Image Source

On 24th October 1943, No 15 and 18 [F] Squadrons moved to Ondonga, New Georgia, and were reminded, by a raid on 27th, that the airfields on Bougainville were only 120 miles away.

On 27th October No 15 and 18 [F] Squadrons provided fighter cover for the US and NZ troops invading the Treasury Islands [Operation Goodtime], the two squadrons flew 10 patrols during the day, claiming 4 fighters destroyed.

On the 30th October 1943, both Squadrons provided part of the fighter escort for an US strike on Choiseul Island, part of “Operation Blissful”, a diversionary raid that was hoped to draw the Japanese attention to the wrong part of Bougainville.

On 1st November 1943, the US landed at Empress Augusta Bay on the West Coast of Bougainville Island [Operation Cherry blossom], at the same time the naval forces bombarded Japanese bases in the North if the Island.

No 15 and 18 [F] Squadrons were part of the fighter screen but saw no action.

Early in November No 15 [F] Squadron was relieved by No 14 [F] Squadron, and later in the month No 18 [F] Squadron was relieved by No 16 [F] Squadron.

No 15 [F] Squadron returned to the front in the second half of December 1943, and on the 17th January moved to Torokina Field, Bougainville, the station was completed by the 23rd January 1944. this was a welcome move as it cut 3 hours flying time from most operations.

As the main focus of fighting moved away from the Solomon’s most RNZAF squadrons were left behind [partly because of political reasons, and that land based aircraft weren’t so useful as the US Navy advanced across the Pacific Islands.]

The Squadron continued their war in and around the Solomons, and for a short period in November 1944, they were the only RNZAF Fighter Squadron on Bougainville, during this period the Australian began their offensive on Bougainville.

Om 7th December 1944, 8 aircraft were called to support the Australian Infantry at Piaterapaia on the Numa Numa trail [part of their central advance across the central spine of the Island].

The Squadron dropped 325 lb depth charges from 800 ft, destroying the Japanese position. A week later they performed another similar attack at Retsiopaia.

325 lb Depth Charge Image Source

After a break in NZ, the Squadron relieved No 16 Squadron on Green Island, between Bougainville and Rabaul, flying dusk and dawn patrols, escorting “Dumbo” air-sea rescue Catalina aircraft, and maintaining a standing patrol over Rabaul.

In April 1945, the Squadron returned to NZ for another break. After which, they returned to Bougainville, replacing No 14 [F] Squadron, they were mainly used to attack tactical targets near to the Australian lines, the four NZ Squadrons involved during this period averaged over 60 sorties a day, peaking over 100 sorties per day.

The Squadron was still at Bougainville when the Japanese surrendered in August, they returned to NZ in September and the Squadron was disbanded in October 1945

with thanks to son-of-satire for the banner