Strana 38
P-40E, Capt. William J. Hennon, 7th FS, 49th FG, Darwin, Australia, 1942
P-40E, A29-78, No. 76 Squadron RAAF, Gurney Airfield, New Guinea, August 1942
William Joseph Hennon was born on Jun 13, 1919,
in Hennepin County, Minnesota. He received his
pilot wings at Kelly Field, Texas, in 1941 and had
been in the Philippines with the 21st Fighter
Squadron when the war started. Over Java he
shot down five Japanese aircraft. Escaping to
Australia from the Java campaign he was allo-
cated to the 7th FS, 49th FG, where he added two
more victories. On the rudder of his Warhawk,
there was a cartoonish Bunyip applied by ground
crews in recognition of the support that the lo-
cal Aboriginal community had given in rescuing
pilots from crash sites all around the Northern
Territory. The Bunyip is a mythological water
dwelling fearsome beast that lives in creeks,
rivers and billabongs. Later in 1942 the 7th Figh-
ter Squadron adopted the “screaming demon” as
their unit emblem and they applied it to the tails
of their Warhawks and later P-38 Lightnings for
the remainder of the War. It is not known what
color vas the front of the propeller cone. We
tend to the Insignia Blue, but a red color is also
a possible option. “Bill” Hennon returned to the
USA with other veterans of Philippines and Java
campaigns at the end of 1942 and joined 326th
FG but transferred to 21st FS of 352nd FG as
its CO on December 28, 1942. On March 31, 1943,
he was on a routine flight with a BT-14 trai-
ner from Farmington to Groton, Connecticut
(a distance of a mere 75 miles), to pick up fellow
pilot Frank Greene, who had just been released
from the hospital. Hennon disappeared enroute
and was never found. He was 23 at the time.
No. 76 Squadron was formed at Archerfield Ai-
rport, Queensland, on March 14, 1942, as the se-
cond RAAF’s unit operating P-40s. The squadron
completed its training in June, when it received
its full complement of 24 fighters for 38 pilots.
The squadron deployed to the front lines of the
New Guinea Campaign during July 1942 and pi-
lots flew their first combat mission on July 22
under the leadership of Squadron Leader Peter
Turnbull (who died in a crash on August 27 that
year). The portrayed aircraft was obtained from
USAAF in standard Olive Drab/Neutral Gray ca-
mouflage. To mimic the British camouflage, the
upper surfaces received additional fields of
Earth Brown, and the nose was adorned with the
name “Bloody Mary”. The insignias, originally US
ones, were replaced by British cockades, these
were changed on the upper surfaces for the
Australian ones at the time the aircraft was sent
to New Guinea. The flash on the vertical fin was
at the same time lowered by fresh camouflage
paint on the upper part. The aircraft was destro-
yed in a ground collision with Hudson (A16-218)
on No. 1 Strip on August 15, 1942.
KITS 03/2025
INFO Eduard38
March 2025