No. 2 Squadron RNZAF was a
squadron
Squadron may refer to:
* Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies
* Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, de ...
of the
Royal New Zealand Air Force
The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) ( mi, Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa, "The Warriors of the Sky of New Zealand"; previously ', "War Party of the Blue") is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed from New Zeala ...
(RNZAF). It was formed in 1930 as part of the
Territorial Air Force with the main headquarters at Wellington and shadow flights at New Plymouth and Wanganui. Squadron personnel conducted their annual flying at RNZAF Base Wigram. In 1937 the Territorial Squadrons were re-organised and No. 2 Squadron became the Wellington Territorial Squadron.
History
World War II
The squadron received its first aircraft, 12
Blackburn Baffins, in 1938 and at the outbreak of
World War II the squadron moved to Blenheim to undertake its general reconnaissance role of protecting
Cook Strait. A year later, in 1940, all Territorial Squadrons were merged to become the New Zealand General Reconnaissance Squadron, based at Whenuapai, Auckland. Within 12 months, No. 2 Squadron was reformed. Based at Nelson with
Vickers Vildebeests and
Vickers Vincent aircraft, it resumed its protection of Cook Strait providing air cover for troop ship convoys entering and leaving Wellington. Later in 1941, the squadron was re-equipped with the new
Lockheed Hudson Bomber and in 1943 re-equipped once more, this time with
Lockheed Ventura
The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II.
The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in 1 ...
aircraft.
In November 1943, the squadron moved to
Palikulo Bay Airfield
Palikulo Bay Airfield or Bomber Field #1 is a former World War II airfield on the island of Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides Islands at the Espiritu Santo Naval Base.
History
World War II
The 7th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Santo ...
on
Espiritu Santo, where it carried out reconnaissance, anti-submarine, supply dropping and general flight patrols. No. 2 Squadron returned to New Zealand in 1944, but this was short-lived as it returned to operational status in the Pacific, replacing No.1 Squadron on dawn and dusk patrols and anti-submarine patrols. It was during this tour that the squadron made the heaviest raid by a New Zealand formation in the South Pacific; eight aircraft dropped 40,000 lb of bombs in southwest
Bougainville. This second tour finished in March 1945, and three months later the squadron began its third and last operational tour, consisting of mainly bombing land targets. The squadron returned to RNZAF Base
Ohakea in October 1945.
During the operational tours of the South West Pacific the squadron was based at
Espiritu Santo,
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
,
New Georgia,
Bougainville,
Green Island and
Jacquinot Bay
Jacquinot Bay is a bay in East New Britain Province, south-eastern New Britain, Papua New Guinea, at . It is near the mountain where twenty-eight people died when a Royal Australian Air Force plane crashed in November 1945. To its west is the Gasm ...
. On return to New Zealand in October 1945, No. 2 Squadron operated a variety of aircraft, including Hudsons (maintaining air/sea rescue detachments at Whenuapai and Norfolk Island) and Venturas (twin-engine pilot conversion and meteorological flights). Early in 1946, No. 2 Squadron also began training crews for the new
Mosquito aircraft to be ferried from the United Kingdom to New Zealand.
Post-war
On 11 October 1946 No. 2 Squadron ceased to exist when its name changed to
No.75 Squadron RNZAF, in commemoration of the New Zealand Bomber Squadron which served throughout the war in the British Royal Air Force.
The Territorial Squadrons were reformed and in December 1948 No. 2 (TAF) Squadron was raised. This squadron operated in a similar manner to its 1930s predecessor with annual flying carried out at Ohakea and Wigram on
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
s and
Mustangs. The Territorial Squadrons were eventually disbanded in 1957.
Reformed in December 1984 at Ohakea, No. 2 Squadron was equipped with the
McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk
The McDonnell Douglas A-4G Skyhawk is a variant of the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft developed for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The model was based on the A-4F variant of the Skyhawk, and was fitted with slightly different avionics as ...
when it took delivery of 10 ex-RAN Skyhawks (8 A-4G and 2 TA-4G) aircraft. While stationed at Ohakea (alongside No.
75 Squadron), the squadron provided pilot conversion and operational training, and was tasked for reconnaissance, systems evaluation, and procedures development.
In the middle of 1988 the Squadron received delivery of the first
Project KAHU updated Skyhawks for test flight trials. In February 1991 No. 2 Squadron was relocated to in Australia with the updated Kahu Skyhawks to provide the
Australian Defence Force
The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...
(ADF), particularly the
Royal Australian Navy (RAN), with Air Defence Support, participating in exercises with RAN warships. The squadron was equipped with two A-4K and four TA-4K aircraft supported by 50 to 60 personnel. The highlight of the RAN exercises was the successful sinking of the decommissioned
HMAS ''Adroit'' in August 1994 by No. 2 Squadron Skyhawks. No. 2 Squadron continued to provide air defence training to the ADF until November 2001.
In a highly controversial move, the RNZAF Air Combat Force comprising Number 2, 14, and 75 Squadrons was disbanded on 13 December 2001 by the
Labour Government under
Helen Clark.
References
External links
*New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
Territorial Air Force 1930
*'Supersonic life' is a video produced by 2 Squadron personnel soon before disbanding in 2001; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGlAbo5ko6g
{{List of RNZAF Squadrons
02
Squadrons of the RNZAF in World War II
Air force reconnaissance units and formations
Military units and formations established in 1930
Military units and formations disestablished in 2001
1930 establishments in New Zealand