RAAF OOB august 1942

[Wildcat]

G'day Max, I can only help out on the RAAF side of things, Maybe Evan (A4K) could contibute with the RNZAF side of things.
HTH

Again about South West Pacific...
I'm trying to find out the disposition of Allied air forces before tha battle of Coral Sea (may 1942).
this is what I've found. Corrections are welcome.

RAAF:

Western Australia (Perth)
No. 77 P-40E
Guildford
No. 14 Hudson
Pearce
No. 25 Wirraway
Pearce
No. 35 transports
Marylands, WA
USN VP-101 PBY
USAAF Det. 28th BS LB-30

South East
No. 4 Wirraway (Canberra)
Transferred to Camden NSW late May
No. 5 Wirraway (Melbourne)
On the 11th the sqn transferred from Laverton to Toowoomba QLD
No. 6 Hudson (Sydney)
Richmond NSW with a/c also operating from Coffs Harbour, Nabiac, Moruya and Amberley on ASW work.
No. 7 Hudson (Melbourne)
Bairnsdale
No 18 NEI [B-25]
Canberra
No. 22 Boston (Sydney)
Richmond. Sqn started to convert from Wirraway to Boston's on the 10th
No. 23 Wirraway, Hudson (Brisbane)
Only Wirraway. Transferred from Archerfield to Amberley QLD on the 6th.
No. 30 [Beaufighter]
Richmond
No. 100 Beaufort (Sydney)
Transferred from Richmond to Mareeba QLD mid May
No 33 and No. 36 transports
33 at Townsville, 36 at Laverton

Darwin and NT
No. 2 and No. 13 Hudson
2 at Darwin, 13 at Hughes
No. 12 Wirraway
Batchelor
No. 34 trasnports
Transferred from Darwin to Batchelor

Townsville and North East (near the battle area)
No. 76 P-40E
Townsville
No. 11 and No. 20 Catalina
No.11 at Port Moresby. No. 20 transferred from port Moresby to Bowen, QLD on the 7th of May
No. 32 Hudson
Horn Island
No. 75 P-40E? (refitting after the Port Moresby battles)
Port Moresby upto the 9th. Last surviving P40 landed Townsville on the 10th. Sqn transferred to Kingaroy QLD on the 17th

No. 9 Walrus Rathmines with a/c attached to HMAS Manoora, HMAS Canberra, HMAS Westralia, HMAS Australia,

No 24 Wirraway at Townsville

No 73 Anson formed in May 42 though not operational

 

[Wildcat]

Max, after a bit of looking I came up with the following...

5th USAAF:

Port Moresby:
8th FG (35th, 36th FS) P-39
correct
8th BS (3d BG) A-24
correct

Charters Towers:
3d BG:
89th BS [A-20A]
13th and 90th BS B-25C

Townsville:
Flt A, 8th PhRs F-4
Transferred from Camp Doomben, Brisbane to townsville on May the 2nd
435th BS (19th BG) B-17
correct
22d BG (2d, 19th, 33d, 408th BS) B-26A
Correct, 2nd - Reid River, 19th - Townsville, 33rd -Antil Plains, 408th - Reid River

Cloncurry (West of Townsville)
19th BG (28th, 30th 93d BS) B-17 (dets at Perth with LB-30)

Darwin:
49th FG (7th, 8th, 9th FS) P-40E

Near Brisbane or Sydney????? operational from june or july:
80th FS (35th FG) P-39
Transferred from Lowood to Petrie airfield (near Brisbane) on the 10th of May
8th FG (39th, 40th, 41st FS) P-400 and P-39

67th FS P-39/P-400 New Caledonia
68th FS P-39/P-400 Brisbane (to Tonga, P-40E)
Transferred from Amberley to Tongatabu, Tonga Islands mid May

38th BG in USA, training with B-25/B-26

 

[maxs75]

Wildcat,
thank you.

It seems that my list was quite correct.
I have some more questions:

Was No. 75 RAAF squadron still in Port Moresby during the battle of Coral sea that ended on the 8th? Was it reduced to a few P-40?

Wasn't No. 24 RAAF squadron destroyed in Rabaul in january?

A better look at the USAAF unit led to the following corrections:

35th FG (39th, 40th) P-400 at Woodstock (near Townsville)
41st FS (35th FG) P-400 at Bankstown (near Sydney)

Strength:
8th FG: 89 P-39
35th FG: 70 P-400
49th FG: 70 P-40
RAAF: 81 P-40

Total on hand (USAAF):
45 B-17(E) and 3 other models (LB-30??) 19th BG(H)
51 B-26A 22d BG(M)
31 B-25C 3d BG(D), 13th and 90th BS(D)
14 A-20A 3d BG(D), 89th BS(D)
26? A-24 3d BG(D), 8th BS(D)
4 F-4 8th PhRS, Flt.A

Max

 

[Wildcat]

Wildcat,
thank you.

Always a pleasure mate.

Was No. 75 RAAF squadron still in Port Moresby during the battle of Coral sea that ended on the 8th? Was it reduced to a few P-40?

Correct. On the 7th the majority of the squadron embarked on the SS Taroona to make their way to Townsville. A rear party consisting of the CO, 3 pilots and 27 ground crew stayed behind. On the 9th the 3 remaining Kittyhawks assembled with some A-24's for the flight to Cairns, however before they took off, Zero's made a strafing attack which damaged 2 of the Kittyhawks. The single surviving Kittyhawk was then flown to Cairns by the CO, F/Lt Jackson.

Wasn't No. 24 RAAF squadron destroyed in Rabaul in january?

It was however the vast majority of the squadron were evacuated before the garrison was captured thanks to the pre planning from its CO, W/c Lerew. IIRC 2 Wirraways and 1 Hudson survived the onslaught and were flown out to New Guinea. By May 1942 the squadron was operational again in Townsville with 13 Wirraways conducting anti-sub/seaward patrols.

 

[maxs75]

The pleasure is mine.

So No. 75 squadron wasn't an effective combat unit anymore.

Do you have an idea about the aircrafts assigned to each RAAF squadron for earky may 1942. You wrote that No. 24 had 13 Wirraways...
BTW, reading one of the USAAF studies online, I found the strength of RAAF squadron in New Guinea in jan. 1944. Are you interested in that?

Max

 

[Wildcat]

The pleasure is mine.

So No. 75 squadron wasn't an effective combat unit anymore.

Basically, it was still flying interceptions upto the 7th, but usually by only 1 or 2 P-40's.

Do you have an idea about the aircrafts assigned to each RAAF squadron for earky may 1942. You wrote that No. 24 had 13 Wirraways...

I will look into that for you mate.

BTW, reading one of the USAAF studies online, I found the strength of RAAF squadron in New Guinea in jan. 1944. Are you interested in that?

Max

Sure am, post away

 

[Heinz]

Great stuff Wildcat

 

[maxs75]

Basically, it was still flying interceptions upto the 7th, but usually by only 1 or 2 P-40's.


I will look into that for you mate.

Thank you.

Sure am, post away

OK, this is from "the fifth air force in the conquest of Bismark archipelago.

The day is nearly unreadable, but it is probably 8 january 1944, anyway it is the first week of january.
5th USAAf had 354 bombers and 432 fighters assigned to squadrons. RAAF had 84 bombers, 142 fighters and 25 observation a/c in New Guinea.

At Vivigani:
No. 6 16 Beaufort
No. 8 23 Beaufort
No. 100 15 Beaufort

At Kiriwina:
No. 22 12 Boston
No. 24 15 Vengeance
No. 30 19 Beaufighters
No. 76 24 Kittyhawk
No. 78 22 Kittyhawk
No. 79 24 Spitfire

Split between Vivigani and Kiriwina:
No. 75 25 Kittyhawk and 2 F-4
No. 77 26 Kittyhawk


Port Moresby:
No. 7 det. 3 Beaufort
No. 4 6 Wirraway (at Nadzab also)

At Gusap:
No. 4 19 Boomerang


Does it fit with the informations you already have?

I'll post the USAAF strength in a later post.

Best
Max

 

[maxs75]

5th USAAF 8 january 1944:

No. of A/c assigned to squadrons:

122 P-38
26 P-39
184 P-47
8 P-70
92 P-40
44 A-20
155 B-25
136 B-24
19 B-26

I believe that they were assigned to the following squadrons:
475th FG (431, 432 and 433 FS) P-38
348th FG (340, 341 and 342 FS) P-47
8th FG
--- 35th FS P-40
--- 36th FS P-47
--- 80th FS P-38
35th FG
--- 39th and 41st FS P-47
--- 40th FS P-39
49th FG
--- 7th and 8st FS P-47 and some P-40
--- 9th FS P-47
418th NFS P-70 and P-38

312th BG(L) (386, 387, 388 and 389 BS) P-40

43d, 90th and 380th BG(H) B-24
38th BG(M) (71, 405, 822 and 823 BS) B-25
345th BG(M) (498, 499, 500 and 501 BS) B-25
22d BG(M)
--- 2, 33 and 408 BS B-25
--- 19th BS B-26
3d BG(L)
--- 8, 89 and 90 BS A-20
--- 13th BS B-25

This would be (No. of a/c per squadron)
B-24 11 or 12
B-25 13
A-20 14 or 15

P-38 about 29 (that seems too high)
P-47 24 or 25
P-40 difficult to say, but seems too low, even if 312th BG did not have its definitive aircraft, and P-40 was only temporarly on hand.

Max

 

[Wildcat]

Thank you.

OK, this is from "the fifth air force in the conquest of Bismark archipelago.

The day is nearly unreadable, but it is probably 8 january 1944, anyway it is the first week of january.
5th USAAf had 354 bombers and 432 fighters assigned to squadrons. RAAF had 84 bombers, 142 fighters and 25 observation a/c in New Guinea.

At Vivigani:
No. 6 16 Beaufort
No. 8 23 Beaufort
No. 100 15 Beaufort

At Kiriwina:
No. 22 12 Boston
No. 24 15 Vengeance
No. 30 19 Beaufighters
No. 76 24 Kittyhawk
No. 78 22 Kittyhawk
No. 79 24 Spitfire

Split between Vivigani and Kiriwina:
No. 75 25 Kittyhawk and 2 F-4
No. 77 26 Kittyhawk


Port Moresby:
No. 7 det. 3 Beaufort
No. 4 6 Wirraway (at Nadzab also)

At Gusap:
No. 4 19 Boomerang


Does it fit with the informations you already have?

I'll post the USAAF strength in a later post.

Best
Max

That looks pretty good to me Max for bomber and fighter units in the New Guinea region. All I can add is -
At Merauke
No. 12 15 Vengeance
No. 86 15 or more Kittyhawks (I can't find an exact no.)

Thanks for posting this info, I was surprised to see the the 19BS was still operating B-26's, as I thought they weren't in use in this theatre at this time. very interesting.

 

[Wildcat]

Max, I didn't have much luck sorry mate, however aircraft strengths for May 1942 I came up with...

No. 2 at least 12 Hudsons
No. 4 18 Wirraways
No. 5 18 Wirraways
No. 6 5 Hudsons
No. 7 6 Hudsons
No. 9 at least 5 Walrus's
No. 11 9 PBY-5's
No. 12 18 Wirraways
No. 13 18 Hudsons
No. 14 8 Hudsons
No. 18 unknown
No. 20 unknown
No. 22 unknown
No. 23 18 Wirraways
No. 24 13 Wirraways
No. 25 18 Wirraways
No. 30 unknown
No. 32 unknown
No. 33 unknown
No. 34 unknown
No. 35 unknown
No. 36 4 DC-2's
No. 75 8 P-40's when re-equipped
No. 76 unknown - 24 in June
No. 100 unknown

 

[maxs75]

Thanks very much.

The planes listed were only the operational ones, or the total assigned to squadrons?

Best
Max

 

[maxs75]

That looks pretty good to me Max for bomber and fighter units in the New Guinea region. All I can add is -
At Merauke
No. 12 15 Vengeance
No. 86 15 or more Kittyhawks (I can't find an exact no.)

Thanks for posting this info, I was surprised to see the the 19BS was still operating B-26's, as I thought they weren't in use in this theatre at this time. very interesting.

It's a pleasure.

In addition to the USAAF squadrons listed for 8 january, should be added 88 recce planes and 288 transports.

The transports were nearly all C-47, divided between 18 squadrons of 54th Troop carrier Wing:

317th TCG (Port Moresby)
--- 39, 40, 41, 46 TCS
374th TCG (Townsville)
--- 6, 21, 22, 33 TCS
375th TCG (Port Moresby)
--- 55, 56, 57 58 TCS
433d TCG (Nadzab)
--- 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70 TCS

The recce units were:
6th Photographic Reconnaissance Group (Sydney/Brisbane)
--- 20 Combat Mapping Squadron B-24 (op. from april 44)
--- 25, 26 Photo Recce Sqn. F-5 (op. from feb.)
--- 8 Photo Recce Sqn. F-5 (op. since 1942)

71st Reconnaissance Group (Dobodura/Port Moresby)
--- 17 Rec. Sqn. (Bomber) B-25
--- 82, 110 Rec. Sqn. (Fighter) P-39 (probably from FS that got P-47s)

I hope I didn't miss anything.

Max