Post #739731 by Club Nouméa on Fri, Mar 20, 2015 12:39 AM

Below is the other photo of a fighter aircraft I saw some time ago....

Thousands of New Zealand pilots fought in the RAF in World War II. One of them was Pilot Officer WH "Hugh" Dean of the
RNZAF, who was posted to No. 135 Squadron RAF, which was stationed in India. He was shot down in a dogfight with Japanese fighters on 31 March 1943 during the first Arakan campaign, the first attempt by the Indian Army and British Army at invading Japanese-occupied Burma.

Here he is with his Hawker Hurricane fighter, the nose art of which he painted himself:

The "lemon squeezer" hat is an iconic symbol of the New Zealand armed forces and has been placed atop the tiki for added effect. :)

Another photo of him with a fellow member of his unit named Charlie Beale:

(Source: Classic Warbirds: "The ANZACs" by Malcolm Laird & Steve Mackenzie)

I will keep fossicking around and see what else I can turn up about these flying kiwi tikis that went to war in WWII....

Toto, j'ai l'impression que nous ne sommes plus au Kansas !

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2015-03-23 17:00 ]