Strana 45
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 06/2025
INFO Eduard
45
June 2025