Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum  

Go Back   Luftwaffe and Allied Air Forces Discussion Forum > Discussion > Japanese and Allied Air Forces in the Far East

Japanese and Allied Air Forces in the Far East Please use this forum to discuss the Air War in the Far East.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 13th July 2017, 14:27
dvas16 dvas16 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 53
dvas16 is on a distinguished road
Research Help

Hello to all of you.
Is there anyway were i can find the individual aircraft number of a USN Squadron as the only data i find in after action reports is the Bu.Nu.
Any help will be deeply appreciated.

Kind regards
Dimitris
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 13th July 2017, 15:39
Frank Olynyk Frank Olynyk is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ohio
Posts: 1,406
Frank Olynyk is on a distinguished road
Re: Research Help

Squadron numbers can sometimes be found in the ship's deck log. And sometimes you can find a match with photographs. If you can tell me the date, squadron, and pilot I can check my files.

Enjoy!

Frank.
__________________
Civilization is the most fragile ecology of all.
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 13th July 2017, 16:37
dvas16 dvas16 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 53
dvas16 is on a distinguished road
Re: Research Help

Thank you Mr Frank I ll do my list and send it over. It's about four pilots. Could you send me your email? Otherwise I'll send a pm.

Thanks again.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 14th July 2017, 11:31
Frank Olynyk Frank Olynyk is offline
Alter Hase
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ohio
Posts: 1,406
Frank Olynyk is on a distinguished road
Re: Research Help

I should perhaps have been more explicit. To the best of my knowledge there are no surviving USN/USMC records which list the BuNo and/or squadron code, and pilot for each mission flown. For a given pilot, if you can locate his flight log it should have all his flights with BuNo and length, and possible indication of target and claims. These were supposed to be filled out by a yeoman aboard ship, and typically returned to a pilot at the end of a cruise/tour. Flight logs were not considered government property and would be kept by a pilot after leaving service. Any held by the USN/USMC at the end of the war would be returned to the pilot, or to his family, or most likely discarded if no beneficiary could be located. They may be in museums at this point, but they are not in any archive, like NARA.

BuNos and sometimes squadron codes, will only appear in a deck log as a result of an accident or loss (combat or operational). And not every carrier did this consistently. There is a set of four folders at NARA II in RG 24 which lists most aircraft losses outside the US, with the BuNo, squadron, date, and usually the pilot (but not any other crew members). They are coded as to cause.

So, unless you have someone's flight log, or you know the aircraft was lost and/or a crew member killed, you are not going to have much luck trying to track down a BuNo or squadron code. In case of an accident photographs might help with the squadron code. In which case you can investigate RG 80 in the Still Pictures section at NARA II. However photographs of pilots sitting in the cockpit are usually worthless in establishing a squadron code, since they frequently just lined the pilots up in "score order" starting at zero, and took pictures; added a meatball decal to the side of the plane, and continued shooting pictures until they finished with the highest scorer.

A pilot in combat, afloat or ashore, rarely had an assigned aircraft they he flew regularly. The exceptions would be the Group commander (CAG) or a squadron commander (rare).

Enjoy!

Frank.
__________________
Civilization is the most fragile ecology of all.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Status Update for the "Eagles Over Europe" Research and Publication Project Larry Hickey Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 6 29th June 2013 13:41
Seeking help with research about JG-52 and JG-51 during Zitadelle cj mohr Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 17 25th May 2010 01:23
Flak/AA - Why do we not research it ? Martin Gleeson Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 17 13th January 2009 09:28
Making available an archive of NVMs and research materials wanted on the Polish Campaign. Larry Hickey Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 12 20th June 2008 18:42
Recommended literature for research, Please ThreeGreens Luftwaffe and Axis Air Forces 6 21st November 2006 00:31


All times are GMT +2. The time now is 04:35.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004 - 2018, 12oclockhigh.net