Strana 54
41-36243, 1/Lt. John Landers, 9th FS, 49th FG, Port Moresby, New Guinea, 1942
AK653, F/O Neville Duke, No. 112 Squadron (RAF), El Adem, Libya, January 1942
A set of photographs from the deployment
in New Guinea is available for the Warhawk
named Texas Longhorn. However, not a single
photograph shows the tactical number on the
tail or the British registration number. According
to the author of the publication about the
49th FG named Protect and Avenge, this aircraft
was never used for combat missions. In January
1943, the Longhorn was transferred from the
9th FS to the 8th FS, where it served until March 2,
1943, when Lt. Cyrus Lynd took off from Port
Moresby and crashed fatally northeast of Kokoda.
The wreckage of the aircraft was found after the
war, and in addition to parts of the nose bearing
the name of the aircraft, the tail surfaces also
preserved the number 81 and the serial number
ET889. These clues support the assumption that
during his service with the 9th FS in the second
half of 1942, John Landers used Longhorn as his
personal aircraft. He posed for a photographer
in front of the decorated nose of the fighter,
although according to one opinion, this was
only for promotional purposes. Before moving
to New Guinea, Landers was assigned Warhawk
No. 81, nicknamed Skeeter, which he flew until
September 1942. He later fought successfully
in Europe and named his P-51 Mustangs Big
Beautiful Doll. According to some sources, Texas
Longhorn bore the number 82 at one time.
The later famous test pilot Neville Frederick
Duke flew with No. 112 Squadron during 1942
with eleven different Kittyhawk Mk. I and Mk.IA
aircraft. He used this one in January 1942, but
it was not his personal mount. The aircraft was
severely damaged on February 15, 1942, during
a dogfight near Gazala. Sgt. Donald Neil
McQueen was in the cockpit at the time and,
despite being injured, escaped a clash with
Ofw. Otto Schulz. Before that, Schulz had
managed to shoot down four other Kittyhawks
from No. 94 Squadron, including its CO Ernest
Mason, bringing his tally to 44 kills. The aircraft
was repaired and continued to see combat. Duke
no longer used it (at that time he was flying
AK707, GA
-
Y and AK900, GA
-
A), but it was flown
by Sgt. Simonsen and Sgt. Drew, who shot down
two Macchi MC 200s while flying it on April 12
and 14, 1942. The photo shows a repair to the
fuselage behind the cockpit, done in a lighter
color than Middle Stone. The repair covered the
upper part of the fuselage cockade on the port
side.
KITS 10/2025
INFO Eduard54
October 2025