No. 7 Squadron Royal New Zealand Air Force was a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

based reconnaissance squadron of the

RNZAF 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 ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Number 7 Squadron formed under Squadron Leader A. J. Turner at RNZAF Station Waipapakauri in February 1942, in reaction to the outbreak of war with

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. It was initially a renamed detached flight of

No. 1 Squadron RNZAF No. 1 Squadron RNZAF was a New Zealand reconnaissance and patrol bomber squadron operating in the Pacific War, Pacific Theatre during World War II. After the war the squadron served in the transport and VIP role. History It was formed as the New ...

, but rapidly increased in strength to 18 obsolescent

Vickers Vincent The Vickers Vildebeest and the similar Vickers Vincent were two very large two- to three-seat single-engined British biplanes designed and built by Vickers and used as light bombers, torpedo bombers and in army cooperation roles. First flown i ...

s. The squadron was responsible for patrols of Northland and the northern approaches. Squadron Leader Ron A. Kirkup took over the squadron in December 1942. It seems to have been planned to re-equip 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 ...

s, but as the immediate threat of invasion and surface raiders passed, the squadron was disbanded in May 1943.
/ref> Squadron code letters were "UW".

References

{{List of RNZAF Squadrons Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons, 07 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1943 Squadrons of the RNZAF in World War II