Warplanes of Australia: Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Tomahawk, and Kittyhawk
Curtiss P-40 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Tomahawk, and Kittyhawk in RAAF service
(Australian War Memorial Photo ID Number 010926)
Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk from No. 3 Squadron, RAAF being serviced by armourers in North Africa, 23 December 1941.
Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks were operated by the RAAF in 1941. No examples survive in Australia.
(Australian War Museum Photo)
Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks were flown by the RAAF from 1942-1947, and Curtiss P-40 Warhawk Models were flown from 1943–1946.
(Bidgee Photos)
(Chris Finney Photo)
Curtiss P-40F Warhawk (Serial No. 41-14112), Reg. No. VH-HWK, Judy Pay, Tayak, Victoria. Airworthy.
(Chris Finney Photo)
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Serial No. 41-25109), Reg. No. VH-KTY, Pay's Air Service PTY LTD, Scone, New South Wales. Previously RNZAF (Serial No. NZ3094). Airworthy.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Serial No. 41-35974), Reg. No. VH-AJY), Reevers Pastoral PTY LTD, Mylor, South Australia.
(Chris Phutully Photo)
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Serial No. 41-5336), AQ, Royal Australian Air Force Museum, Point Cook, Victoria.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Serial No. 41-5632), being restored by Ben Saunders , Melbourne, Victoria.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Serial No. 41-13522), being restored by Moorabbin Air Museum, Melbourne, Victoria.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Serial No. 41-35984), being restored by the P-40E Syndicate in Queensland.
(Fir0002/Flagstaffoto)
(Simon sees Photo)
(Nick-D Photo)
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Serial No. 41-36084), (Serial No. ET730), "Polly", Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Serial No. 41-36843), being restored by Murray Griffiths, Deniliquin, New South Wales.
(Jeff Gilbert Photo)
(Chris Finney Photos)
(Robert Friola Photos)
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk (Serial No. 42-104687), Reg. No. VH-ZOC, Arthur Pipe & Steel Australia PTY LTD, East Albury, New South Wales. Previously Reg. No. NZ3125 in RNZAF service. Airworthy.
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk (Serial No. 42-104977), Reg. No. VH-MIK, Cairns Airport Hangars PTY LTD, Cairns, Queensland.
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk (Serial No. 42-104947), Precision Aerospace/Pacific Fighters Museum in Victoria, Australia.
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk (Serial No. 42-104954), being restored by Edwin Sedgman in Melbourne, Victoria.
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk (Serial No. 42-105051), being restored by Keith W. Hopper in Townsville, Queensland.
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk (Serial No. 42-105472), being restored by Bruno Carnival in Melbourne, Victoria.
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk (Serial No. 42-105513), being restored by Ian Whitney Romsey, Victoria.
(Wiki Commons Photos)
(Jeff Gilbert Photo)
Curtiss P-40N-5-CU Warhawk (Serial No. 42-105915), "Little Jeanne".
The Kittyhawk was the main fighter used by the RAAF in the Second World War, in greater numbers than the Spitfire. Two RAAF squadrons serving with the Desert Air Force, No. 3 and No. 450 Squadrons, were the first Australian units to be assigned P-40s. Other RAAF pilots served with RAF or SAAF P-40 squadrons in the theater.
Many RAAF pilots achieved high scores in the P-40. At least five reached “double ace” status: Clive Caldwell, Nicky Barr, John Waddy, Bob Whittle (11 kills each) and Bobby Gibbes (10 kills) in the Middle East, North African and/or New Guinea campaigns. In all, 18 RAAF pilots became aces while flying P-40s.
Nicky Barr, like many Australian pilots, considered the P-40 a reliable mount: “The Kittyhawk became, to me, a friend. It was quite capable of getting you out of trouble more often than not. It was a real warhorse.”
At the same time as the heaviest fighting in North Africa, the Pacific War was also in its early stages, and RAAF units in Australia were completely lacking in suitable fighter aircraft. Spitfire production was being absorbed by the war in Europe; P-38s were trialled, but were difficult to obtain; Mustangs had not yet reached squadrons anywhere, and Australia's tiny and inexperienced aircraft industry was geared towards larger aircraft. USAAF P-40s and their pilots originally intended for the U.S. Far East Air Force in the Philippines, but diverted to Australia as a result of Japanese naval activity were the first suitable fighter aircraft to arrive in substantial numbers. By mid-1942, the RAAF was able to obtain some USAAF replacement shipments; the P-40 was given the RAAF designation A-29.
RAAF Kittyhawks played a crucial role in the South West Pacific Theater. They fought on the front line as fighters during the critical early years of the Pacific War, and the durability and bomb-carrying abilities (1,000 lb/454 kg) of the P-40 also made it ideal for the ground attack role. For example, 75, and 76 Squadrons played a critical role during the Battle of Milne Bay, fending off Japanese aircraft and providing effective close air support for the Australian infantry, negating the initial Japanese advantage in light tanks and sea power.
The RAAF units that most used Kittyhawks in the South West Pacific were 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 82, 84 and 86 Squadrons. These squadrons saw action mostly in the New Guinea and Borneo campaigns.
Late in 1945, RAAF fighter squadrons in the South West Pacific began converting to P-51Ds. However, Kittyhawks were in use with the RAAF until the end of the war, in Borneo. In all, the RAAF acquired 841 Kittyhawks (not counting the British-ordered examples used in North Africa), including 163 P-40E, 42 P-40K, 90 P-40 M and 553 P-40N models. In addition, the RAAF ordered 67 Kittyhawks for use by No. 120 (Netherlands East Indies) Squadron (a joint Australian-Dutch unit in the South West Pacific). The P-40 was retired by the RAAF in 1947. (Wikipedia)
(Oren Rozen Photos)
(Bernarad Spragg Photo)
(Paul Nelhams Photo)
(Jeff Gilbert Photo)
Curtis P 40E Kittyhawk, USAAF (Serial No. 41-25158), RAF (Serial No. ET482). Allocated to USAAC 68th PG, Tonga after Pearl Harbor Attack. Transferred to RNZAF (Serial No. NZ3009), No. 14 Squadron, April 1942. Reg. No. ZK-RMH. Previously with The Old Stick and Rudder Company, Whenuapai AB. Airworthy, this aircraft is now with Warbird Adventure Flights, Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia, Reg. No. VH-AK4.
