75 squadron RAAF, and the fight for Port Moresby.

[bob10]

An incredible story , most Aussies would not know about. Young pilots, some with only 8 hours flying time in their kittyhawks, taking on the experienced japanese air force, in their zeros. Let down by their senior officers, who had never met a japanese air craft in action. All of our experienced pilots were fighting in England, or the middle East . When the Aus. government demanded more modern aircraft than the Wirraway, the defence of England came first, Australia a distant last.We only got the Wirraways when the convoy taking them to java, for the US air force, was diverted to Sydney after Java fell to the Japanese. But for that, New Guinea could have been lost.

https://youtu.be/biDuIzs8CYg

[bob10]

https://youtu.be/epcnVfi2xAc

[JDNSW]

My brother in law told me a possibly apocryphal (or hushed up) story years ago. When the first allied aircraft arrived in Port Moresby, he was one of those manning anti-aircraft emplacements on the hills above the port. Nobody had told them that the aircraft were due, and as far as they were concerned, anything in the air was Jap, so if possible they shot down everything in the air that came in range. These were easier, since they did not dodge.

John

[austastar]

Hi,
Known, I believe, as Tomorrowhawks, or Neverhawks, with all the delays of their arrival.
Cheers