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On the outbreak of World War II, the primary equipment of the RNZAF was 30 Vickers Wellington bombers, which the New Zealand government promptly offered to the United Kingdom, together with the crews to fly them. Many other New Zealanders served in the RAF. The primary role of the RNZAF, however, was to take advantage of New Zealand's distance from the conflict by training aircrew, as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, alongside the other major former British colonies, CanadaCanada historically the Dominion of Canada is the second-largest, and northernmost, country in the world. It is a decentralized federation of 10 provinces and 3 territories, governed as a constitutional monarchy, and formed in 1867 through an act of Confe, AustraliaAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring count, and South AfricaSouth Africa is a republic at the southern tip of Africa. It is bordered to the north by Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the north-east by Mozambique and Swaziland. Lesotho is contained entirely inside the borders of South Africa. South Africa is one o.
In December 19411941 is also the title of a Steven Spielberg movie made in 1979 see 1941 (film). Events January January 6 Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Four Freedoms Speech in the State of the Union Address. January 10 Lend-Lease is introduced into the United St JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh attacked and rapidly conquered much of the area to the north of New Zealand, and it became imperative that New Zealand start building up its own defence rather than simply help the "mother country". Very few combat capable aircraft were available at home, and Britain was unable to help, so (just as Australia did at the same time) New Zealand turned to the United States and signed a lend-leaseThe Lend-lease Act of March 11, 1941 permitted the President of the United States to "sell, transfer title to, exchange, lease, lend, or otherwise dispose of, to any such government [whose defense the President deems vital to the defense of the United Sta agreement. Gradually at first, America was able to supply New Zealand with aircraft for use in the Pacific Theatre.
The early lend-lease aircraft were obsolete and incapable of holding their own against the highly skilled and well-equipped Japanese air forces, but nothing else was available and the RNZAF flew with the tools they had to hand, notably at GuadalcanalGuadalcanal a 2,510 square mile (6,500 kmē) island in the Pacific Ocean and a province of the Solomon Islands, is largely a jungle. The island became the scene of the important Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. The island contains the national ca where No 15 and 14 Sqns equipped with Kittyhawks fought with distinction in mid 1943. Other squadrons flew the elderly but effective Douglas Dauntless and later, the big, modern Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber.
The RNZAF took on a major part of the maritime reconnaissance task too, with Catalina (and later Sunderland) flying boats and Lockheed Hudson bombers.
As the war progressed, the older types were replaced with powerful modern aircraft: the Kittyhawks gave way to Corsairs and the Hudsons to Venturas. At its peak, in the Pacific the RNZAF had 13 squadrons of Corsair fighters, six of Venturas, two each of Catalinas and Avengers, 25 Sqn's Dauntless dive bombers, and supporting transport aircraft. Worldwide the RNZAF had over 41,000 personnel.