No 75 RAAF squadron's defence of Port Moresby

[bob10]

It was a close run thing, At a time when Australia didn't have any front line fighters , Hitler came first, and Curtin demanded Kittyhawk fighter aircraft. "Do you have any pilots to fly them ? " asked the Americans. Did they ever. This is their story.


Video from the Past [13] - No. 75 Squadron's Defence of Port Moresby - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biDuIzs8CYg)

[JDNSW]

Reminds me of one of the very few war stories told by my late brother in law. When he was first in Port Moresby, they had no fighter defence, and the Japs came over just about every day. He was one of the crew an antiaircraft emplacement on one of the hills surrounding Moresby. One day a flight of fighter aircraft appeared that did not take evasive action, and they got the lot. Nobody told them to expect a flight of Yank aircraft..... I have no idea how accurate this is, but he said it was hushed up at the time. (He signed up as soon as he was eighteen, and rose to WO1 then back to private before rising to sergeant again by the end of the war. I'm not sure what did - he said it was for refusing to salute an officer he reckoned did not deserve it.)

[austastar]

Hi,
I believe some of the first neverhawks got shot at on arrival as they were not expected.
Cheers

[3toes]

Refusing to salute an officer they did not believe deserved it may have been a thing at the time. An uncle of mine had trouble for the same

Said they would also target them by figuring out where they were going then spacing themselves out so the officer had an arm going up and down like a windmill

[bob10]

Warrant Officer Saburo Sakai, Samurai of the air, the man behind the legend, and and an example of what the raw Australian pilots were up against. Even so, they destroyed over 80 Japanese aurcraft, to their 22 lost.


Saburo Sakai: Samurai of the Air (historynet.com) (https://www.historynet.com/samurai-of-the-air.htm)

[bob10]

After being nearly destroyed whilst in Port Moresby, 75 Squadron was reformed and re-equipped, and sent to Milne Bay, where, under the Command of Les Jackson, [ brother of John, KIA] they played a major part in the first land defeat of the Japanese in WW2. A remarkable story of a remarkable squadron.

The Battle of Milne Bay - The Unknown Turning Point of the Pacific War - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pToxEa30KdU)