They were RAF aircraft crewed by Kiwis, the RNZAF didn’t operate in the ETO.
No they wern’t.
No. 487 (NZ) Squadron was a Royal New Zealand Air Force light-bomber squadron, formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme during World War II. Established in mid-1942, the squadron served in the European theatre, under the operational command of the Royal Air Force.
EG-T (HX982) piloted by P/O Maxwell Sparks RNZAF. Navigator was P/O A. C. Dunlop. Was hit by FlaK on the raid and its wheel collapsed on landing at base.
These facts are easily verifiable.
Sorry but you’re confusing aircrew with squadrons. The RNZAF did not operate any Sqns in the ETO. The RAF had several sqns in the 400 series, and No. 75Sqn, that were crewed by New Zealanders but were in the RAF order of battle. Those aircraft all had RAF serials. The crews were mainly Kiwis but also had other nationalities mixed in as well, most of the ground crews were also RAF personnel. The No. 75 Sqn RAF number was gifted to the RNZAF after the war in appreciation of New Zealand aircrew’s sacrifice. The RNZAF operated all their Sqns in the Pacific order of battle and all those aircraft had RNZAF serials. I served in the RNZAF for 22 years and have studied our wartime efforts then and afterwards, I also served on No 75Sqn so am more than familiar with the wartime record.
Every single website I visit must be lying…
Source from The RAF’s own history:
No.487 Squadron, RNZAF, began as a day bomber squadron but spent most of the war flying night intruder missions.
Aircraft
August-September 1943: Lockheed Ventura I and Ventura II
August 1943-September 1945: de Havilland Mosquito VI
Location
August 1942-April 1943: Feltwell
April-July 1943: Methwold
July-December 1943: Sculthorpe
December 1943-April 1944: Hunsdon
April 1944: Gravesend
April 1944: Swanton Morley
April-June 1944: Gravesend
June 1944-February 1945: Thorney Island
February-April 945: B.87 Rosieres-en-Santerre
April-July 1945: B.58 Melsbroek
July-September 1945: A.75 Cambrai/ Epinoy
Squadron Codes : EG
Duty
December 1942-June 1943: Daylight bomber squadron
October 1943 onwards: Mosquito-equipped night intruder squadron.
The squadron was formed on 15 August 1942 and was equipped with the Lockheed Ventura (the same aircraft was later used with great success by the RNZAF in the Pacific). In Europe the Ventura was obsolescent. The squadron flew a number of daylight raids against targets in France and the Low Countries, beginning on 6 December 1942. The squadron suffered heavy losses on some of these raids, and the last Ventura raid was flown on 24 June.
In August 1943 the squadron began to convert to the Mosquito. Operations resumed on 3 October 1943 and night intruder missions began in February 1944. The squadron focused on these intruder missions for the rest of the war, ranging across German occupied Europe.
During the battle of Normandy the squadron was used to make night attacks on German transport links as part of the campaign to isolate the battlefield. It moved to France in February 1945 and continued to fly a mix of day and night raids for the rest of the war.
The squadron was also used on some of the most famous daylight Mosquito raids, including the attack on Amiens Prison on 18 February 1944, the Gestapo headquarters in Aarhus and Copenhagen and V-1 launch sites.
No.487 Squadron became part of the post-war RAF as No.268 Squadron, RAF, after a brief spell when it was incorrectly numbered as No.16Squadron.
All sorts of new goodies here since I last looked in on this thread!
Well I’ve been slowly adding to the flyboys section of my stash over the past few weeks, so now it’s time to share…
first up, some decals for the Hind in my stash that I had been wondering how to mark
I took a chance and ordered them from Ukraine in early April, and they actually arrived within a few weeks.
Next up is this gorgeous set for late career USMC Skyhawks. I can make at least two Scooters off this sheet, and possibly might acquire one more, as they have an F in the TPS grays!
then I picked up this old decal set since I’m feeling the urge to model some Yellow Wings stuff… I haven’t done that since I was a kid
and lastly this just arrived in todays mail, purchased off eBay for a fine price. It’s the old Hobbycraft molds, which arent bad at all, but it has a fabulous Cartograph decal sheet with about eight markings options.
That’s all for now 
6 Likes
It’s a common mistake and many internet sources just copy and paste. There were other RAF sqns crewed by NZ airmen, 485,486 and 75 sqns also fall into this category. They started out as fully crewed by NZ personnel, but as losses mounted, they realised the same effect on towns back in NZ would suffer the same as the WW1 Pals battalions so they mixed in British, Australian, Canadian and others so the loses would be more spread out- NZ at the time only had a population of just over 1m. None of these Sqns appear on the RNZAF order of battle in WW2 but they do for the RAF.
Common? I’d say it was universal.
Fact is, that whilst the majority of RNZAF personnel served with RAF units, six RNZAF Article XV squadrons, which were RNZAF units attached to RAF formations, of which 487 was definately one, served under the command of the RAF in the ETO in WWII.
No such thing as too many hinomarus on the shelf.
2 Likes
Look what came today!
I know what you are thinking, “Did Fred fall down and hit his head again? That ain’t no wingy-thingy!” Well, sometimes you’re the window, sometimes the bug. For years I’ve been coveting Wingnut Wing’s Hansa-Brandenburg W.29:
“Released in December 2010 - SOLD OUT on 19 May 2012.”
Have you ever had one of those days when your wife runs off with your best friend and the dog and you are really upset because you really miss that dog?? These puppies go for over 500 smackaroos on Evilbay so I knew I’d never get one. Well, the stars aligned and the other day, I found one for less than that - much less - so I jumped on it like a chimp on 100 yards of grapevine. Well, it came today, or so I thought. Ripped open the parcel and found…recall the tank box? It was as if the ex came back without the dog. With sunken heart I opened the box and found…
What’s that scratching at the door? Lassie came home!
Guess I’ve been a good boy. The seller put this in a tank box because he bought it in the dual set with the Felixstone. No WNW box. But this Hansa-Brandenburg is complete and all parts still sealed.
And for the record, my wife is awesome.
9 Likes
This amazing reference book arrived today from Japan. I have both the Great Wall Hobby SU-27 kits which will be made into Ukrainian versions.
6 Likes
I’m considering doing a Su-27 in Ukrainian colors at some point too! Looks like a great reference.
I was wondering if you knew which variant the Ukrainians use and which kit would be a good match?
2 Likes
Took a while, but my decals and masks arrived today.
Some interesting choices for the Alphajet and Mig-23.
4 Likes
I love the camo scheme on the Ukrainian SU-27’s. Now I am far from an expert and depends what scale you want to build, but I bought the Great Wall Hobby SU-27 Flanker B (L4824) and the SU-27UB Flanker C (L4827). The Flanker B is a single seat and the Flanker C is a twin seat. The Great Wall Hobby kits are very detailed and look well molded.
If I’m going to build a jet it needs to be in a scale I can see so I went the 1/48 scale haha. I also bought the LP MODELS ladder and chock set for them both. They are 3D printed and look amazing.
2 Likes
I just bought a Great Wall hobby, my first Great Wall kit, an F-15E and it looks gorgeous in the box! I too like 1/48. I’ll look into the SU-27B from them. Cheers!
The SU-27 happens to be one of the few Russian aircraft I find the interesting. The others look like hunchback Quasimodo to me
3 Likes
Not what the Postman delivered, but what I found in my parents attic today. Do we need a separate thread for that?
A couple of oldies, one which might be a bit cr*p and a real gem.
I could’ve sworn that I had built that Fujimi MIG, but obviously not.
A couple will go straight into the pending pile I think.
6 Likes
Not arrived yet, but next monday
One of the consequences of watching Top Gun, despite she’s not featured in the movie. I’ve been waiting to get one for a while.
3 Likes
Bought on a whim direct from the manufacturers eBay store. Arrived very quickly from Croatia too.
Everything about this little package of decals oozes class. Nicely presented, full details on colours and local modifications, even a diagram of the HAS’s to build a diorama. Just very nicely put together and researched.
Quite looking forward to doing one of the Migs in the near future.
4 Likes
Nice collection of hornets! Take advantage of the meng sale?