NO. 14 SQUADRON BEST EQUIPPED IN JAPAN

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5301, 14 January 1947, Page 6

NO. 14 SQUADRON BEST EQUIPPED IN JAPAN

. l - Most Prepared To Meet j Immediate Action i WELLINGTON, last night. By about the end of March, the j members of 14 Fighter Squadron in Japan will have been almost com- I pletely replaced, ground crew and air crew. These replacements Avill take over a reputation as the bestequipped, most nearly operational j squadron in Japan, not excluding the Americans Aften nine months occupation d/uties, it is still regarded by senior officers as the squadron best prepared to go into action, should a call come. ! Right from last March, when it arrived in Japan on H.M.' aircraft carrier, Glory, equipped to the last detail, with three months' supplies, it has stayed in front. The R.A.F. Spitfire squadrons came across from India and Burma rather as if it was merely a move to another strip, remaining dependent on supplies from the other end of a long, feebly pulsing line. I Many of the men were just about due home to Britain after three or four years overseas, and regarded the move to Japan as an extremely poor alternative to a move back to Britain. They couldn't have cared less for anything east of Manston, Kent. Spirit of Enthusiasm The New Zealanders, straig'ht from home, with all the stimulus of a march through Auckland and a lot of publicity to spur them on, were bubbling with enthusiasm. The Australian Mustang squadrons were not so well hlessed by their supply people before they left, and certainly had not had the public enthusiasm accorded 14 Squadron. Since that head start, both on the flying side and among the ground staff, 44 Bquadron has been shot through with a spirit other squadrons have yet to capture. The New Zealanders went over on the specific task of occupying Japan. By now isome of them have had Japan, and all that therein is, in a big* way, but they have not let up on their enthusiasm for their squadron, and their conviction that it is away ahead of everything else in sight. They will expect their replacement to keep up the good work. This may b© a stout task, for someone in Britain seems at last to have heard there are isquadrons in Japan, and has set ! out to supply them adequately with men and materials