Strana 57
AK772, Sqn. Ldr. Clive Caldwell, F/Sgt Henry G. Burney, No. 112 Squadron (RAF),
LG152 Gambut, Libya, March-May 1942
NZ3097, F/O Aitken M. Davis, No. 15 Squadron RNZAF, Espiritu Santo, 1943
Clive Robertson Caldwell became the most
successful Australian fighter pilot of WWII.
He shot down 27 enemy aircraft individually and
three shared. Also six probably destroyed and
15 damaged enemy aircraft are part of his
success during over 300 operational sorties.
Only eight of his aerial victories were achieved
with Spitfire, the aircraft he was flying during
his operational tour in South West Pacific
Theatre. The rest made him the highest-scoring
P-40 pilot of any air force and also the highest-
scoring Allied pilot in North Africa. He became
CO of the famous No. 112 Squadron RAF on
January 6, 1942. After his return to Australia, he
took command of the No. 1 Fighter Wing of RAAF.
Later he was posted to Mildura to command
No. 2 Operatrional Training Unit and then was
given command of No. 80 Fighter Wing. With this
unit he played lead role in the so called Morotai
Scrutiny and was also court martialed for his
involvement in an alcohol racket, where the
liquor was flown in by RAAF aircraft and then
sold to US forces contingent on Morotai. Caldwell
was reduced to the rank of Flight Lieutenant
in January 1946 and left service next month.
He became successful in clothing business in
the post war era and died on August 5, 1994, at
the age of 83. He flew this Kittyhawk named
London Pride as the CO of No. 112 Sqn, sharing it
with Sgt. Henry Burney.
Aitken Maxwell Davis was born on January 8,
1922. He joined No. 15 Squadron in October 1942
in Tonga, and there he flew this P-40E-1 number
7 from November 1942 to February 1943. When
the squadron moved to Nadi, Fiji, in March 1943,
he flew this aircraft again. In April he ferried it
from Nadi to Port Villa in New Caledonia, and
then onto Espiritu Santo on April 12, 1943. Davis
carried out two tours of duty in the Solomons
area and completed 173 hours of operational
flying. He was severely wounded in the left
shoulder and leg and while suffering from these
wounds, he managed to fly his crippled aircraft
back to base where he made a successful belly
landing. This did not stop him to return for
a second tour of duty during which he destroyed
three Japanese aircraft. One of them was
a Zero fighter and the two other victims were
unspecified Japanese dive bombers. Aitken
M. Davies died on June 19, 1986.
KITS 02/2026
INFO Eduard
57
February 2026