NZFF

hi Guys,

like most families we had several family members in the wars, my great grandfather was a Gurkha in WWI, and i know a little bit about his history, but my grandfather is a different story, i am wondering if anyone out there can help me,

i know my grandfather signed up in 1939, was posted to CHCH for training then served several years as a trainer, teaching mechanics i guess, he then went to the pacific, with, my father thinks, a squadron with 3 in it, not sure which, i do know for a fact the he worked on kitty hawks and corsairs in the islands, there is a photo that my aunty has that shows a boat built by the men with an inline a/c engine, i am presuming a kitty hawk engine. my grandfather, like so many, didn't talk to me much about the war, he would tell me about going up in a tiger moth on met obs but that was about it. anyone able to shed some light on possible squadrons in the islands? i am trying to get some info about the aircraft so i might be able to build a kitty hawk and corsair in tribute to all the airmen that went to the pacific and particularly my grand father who helped keep those machines in the air

thanks in advance for any help

Jason

Cripes , I knew a chap many years ago , Stan and his wife Mary .. very certain hes - both gone now , was an engine mechanic in the Pacific , weird thing is he was well 'now' was only just down the road from me , 1996 would have been the last time i met him .

My Fathers Brother was in the Navy , Killed during the Battle of Kula Gulf 1943, HMNZS Leander , guess this is were i keep asking and want to learn more about the war and areas , come Airforce or Navy - its just a gobbling interest .

jastheace wrote:

QUOTE (jastheace @ May 9 2012,11:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

hi Guys,

like most families we had several family members in the wars, my great grandfather was a Gurkha in WWI, and i know a little bit about his history, but my grandfather is a different story, i am wondering if anyone out there can help me,

i know my grandfather signed up in 1939, was posted to CHCH for training then served several years as a trainer, teaching mechanics i guess, he then went to the pacific, with, my father thinks, a squadron with 3 in it, not sure which, i do know for a fact the he worked on kitty hawks and corsairs in the islands, there is a photo that my aunty has that shows a boat built by the men with an inline a/c engine, i am presuming a kitty hawk engine. my grandfather, like so many, didn't talk to me much about the war, he would tell me about going up in a tiger moth on met obs but that was about it. anyone able to shed some light on possible squadrons in the islands? i am trying to get some info about the aircraft so i might be able to build a kitty hawk and corsair in tribute to all the airmen that went to the pacific and particularly my grand father who helped keep those machines in the air

thanks in advance for any help

Jason

Jason,
I dont think it will be too hard to track some details down.
I can put you in touch (or you can do it yourself) with the archives people at the Air Force museum.
If you know what your Grandfathers service number was, thats a great place to start.....its amazing how much information they have .

It would be nice to find out more about guys like him , we tend to think of the pacific air war as pilots only .....which it certainly was not.

If i can help just let me know , as Im doing a similar thing at the moment.

Hi,

if you could give em the details of the archive people i would be grateful, i am pretty sure i have his service number here somewhere or i can track it down. yes everyone tends to think of the front line boys or the pilots as the heroes, which don't get me wrong, they are, but it it wasn't for the back line staff working on the machines and in the factories, they would be out of a job, from what i understand some of the conditions that they worked in, especially on precision engines and such would make an engineer crawl, properly explains why the big rugged American engines worked better with less maintanence, not so critical to tolerances like the Japanese/German engines.

Jason

Try here: http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/personnel-records/n...ice-records.htm

I need to find about more about my Grandfather who was also an aircraft mechanic in the Pacific. Apparently he wanted to be a pilot, but being only 17 he needed his parents' permission and didn't get it, so he served as a mechanic. I have heard he eventually did get to fly.

funny my grandfather wanted to fly too, but he was color blind, he too got to fly, only a tiger moth every now and again when no one was looking!!! thanks for the link, i will get the info from them sent to me

Jason

hi guy, got my grandfathers service records but there a couple of things my dad and i cannot figure out. he was transfered from bouganville to BDTP, then from BDTP to PRP. can any one tell me what BDTP and PRP stand for. thanks jason

Ive seen this before PRP - program review proposal , the BDTP was a Base personal transfer program or something along those lines , detachment ? i'd have to go through the books .