Grandfather's old photo

That ‘Darwin’ shot was taken at Piva, Bougainville.

The same photo appears on Pacific Wrecks here
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/png/piva_yoke/1945/rnzaf-f4u-piva.html

I reckon the other shot in post #1 is also likely to be Piva.

I know my Grandfather was on Bougainville , so that may very well be where the corsair and Ventura where photographed 🙂

That ‘Darwin’ shot was taken at Piva, Bougainville.

The same photo appears on Pacific Wrecks here
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/airfields/png/piva_yoke/1945/rnzaf-f4u-piva.html

I reckon the other shot in post #1 is also likely to be Piva.

Grizzly, I have never heard of RNZAF Corsairs at Darwin or anywhere else in Australia, I’d really be interested in seeing that photo. They’re not Royal Navy British Pacific Fleet Corsairs, are they?

here you go ,

http://members.optusnet.com.au/~deanfi/nzf4ucorsair.jpg

I came across this pic also , so maybe they transited through Darwin ?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raizernz/4936753391/

Grizzly, I have never heard of RNZAF Corsairs at Darwin or anywhere else in Australia, I’d really be interested in seeing that photo. They’re not Royal Navy British Pacific Fleet Corsairs, are they?

That puzzled me also – the scrub in the background looks more like the islands than Darwin. I know they can be similar but looks more islands to me.

Grizzly, I have never heard of RNZAF Corsairs at Darwin or anywhere else in Australia, I’d really be interested in seeing that photo. They’re not Royal Navy British Pacific Fleet Corsairs, are they?

That Corsair has been on its face or the ground. Check out the prop blades lying on the ground..

Those aren’t propeller blades on the ground. The one on the left looks more like a piece of cowling. Not sure about that on the right.

The interesting thing is that the wings have had both the gun and the casing/link ejection ports sealed over with tape. This would have been done to protect the wings during shipment to the combat zone. There’s no way it would have flown into a combat area with its weapons taped up, so it stands to reason that this aircraft has only just arrived in theatre, and is being reassembled prior to first flight. Of course, it is always possible that it’s just the wings that are newly arrived, being attached to another airframe that required them following damage. However, I don’t think that’s the case here. I can’t tell which service the Corsair belongs too, but I am leaning towards it being an RNZAF example. Interesting photo!

Cheers,
Richard

thanks Guys , very interesting 🙂

just reading a old Flightpath magazine (Vol17 number 3 page 59) it has a picture of 8 NZ corsairs at Darwin , the background looks simlar so possibly it was taken there ,

fittingly another corsair is getting close to flight at Darwin
http://www.warbirdz.net/forum/showthread.php?t=1481&page=2

That Corsair has been on its face or the ground. Check out the prop blades lying on the ground..

Definitely both RNZAF, and definitely a Lockheed PV-1 Ventura.

Ventura NZ4579 was flown by at least No. 1 (BR) Squadron and No. 8 (BR) Squadron. It survived the war and was sold by the Government Stores Board to Jack Larsen on 2nd of March 1948, and it ended its days at the Rukuhia graveyard, being scrapped there.

How fast was that…sensational effort.

Methinks that Hudson is a Ventura.

Let’s assume the ’79’ is the last two of the serial (which is a fairly safe bet but not absolutely certain). According to Air Britain’s Lockheed Twins, the RNZAF only seem to have had one Ventura with a serial ending in ’79’, NZ4579, constructor’s number 237-6211, built for the US Navy as 49395, delivered instead to the RNZAF but otherwise ‘fate unknown’.

Your second picture shows a RNZAF VENTURA, not a Hudson, I believe.
Note the low-drag Martin Turret, and underwing long range tanks.

The Corsair may also be a RNZAF version.