Stories
Remembering the Kiwis of the Great Escape
On the night of 24 March 1944, the largest prisoner of war (POW) breakout ever attempted occurred at Stalag Luft III, a German camp for captured Allied airmen. Having taken over 750 men more than a year to prepare, this ‘Great Escape’ was unprecedented in its organisation and scale, but also in its tragedy. Artwork…
Read MoreThe Last Great Air Race: London to Christchurch 1953
65 years ago, the RNZAF took part in what would be the last of the world’s great air races – and narrowly averted disaster. Cover of the RNZAF’s Contact magazine from October 1953, featuring an illustration of the Harewood Gold Cup – the first place prize for the 1953 International Air Race. Image: Air Force…
Read MoreThe arrival of the Southern Cross at Wigram
Until 1928, only two overseas flights had arrived in Australia and none at all in New Zealand. That changed when Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew of the aircraft Southern Cross landed at Wigram on 10 September 1928. Our guest blogger, Brian Lockstone of the Aviation Historical Society of New Zealand, explores the story behind…
Read MoreRNZAF Stories: Mogadishu Memories
In January 1993 three RNZAF Andover transport aircraft and their crews from No. 42 Squadron were deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia. During the 1990s, the RNZAF was deployed to several war-torn regions of the world as peacekeepers and sources of humanitarian relief, a role they still fulfil today. Torn apart by civil war between local warlords and…
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