44 REASONS TO BE CONFUSED

 

This is 41-2156 while in service with the 8th PRS USAAF. The data block under the name Limping Lizzie confirms its identity as 41-2156. In the complete image, the aircraft also carries the number "56" on the engine cowlings. Note that the aircraft carries the number "44" on the nose. Usually, aircraft of the 8th PRS carried the last two digits of the serial number in this location. Under these circumstances one would not expect to find the number "44" on 41-2156. (Photo: Bill Fairbank via Bob Rocker)

Problem #1:
What is the connection between 41-2156 and "44"?

This Australian War Memorial image (OG0566) by John Harrison is said to depict a Lockheed Lightning attached to No 75 Sqn at Milne Bay on 31 July 1943. This aircraft carries the number "44" on the nose. It is known that 75 Sqn received two F-4s on loan from the 8th PRS and that these aircraft, 41-2156 and 41-2220, were ferried from Port Moresby to Milne Bay on 16 August 1943 after RAAF pilots had completed their training on the aircraft. The presence of the number "44" suggests that this aircraft is 41-2156 as it can't be the other 75 Sqn F-4 as it carried the number "220" in this location.

Problem #2:
This aircraft (41-2156) could not have been photographed at Milne Bay on 31 July 1943 because it didn't arrive in Milne Bay until 16 August 1943. (Source: Geoff Atherton's Log Book)

Alternative Theory:

If the above photo was taken at Milne Bay on 31 July 1943 and if 41-2156 and 41-2220 did not arrive in Milne Bay until 16 August 1943, this raises the possibility that 75 Sqn may have had another F-4 (and pilot) on loan from the 8th PRS as a stop-gap until their "own" aircraft arrived. This presupposes that the 8th PRS could have spared another aircraft but it would have enabled 75 Sqn, particularly their photographic personnel, to familiarise themselves with the new aircraft, even if it were not used on operations. If this is what happened, it raises the possibility that the aircraft depicted above is 41-2144. However, it does not explain the presence of the number "44" on the nose of 41-2156.

This Australian War Memorial image (P00727.004) is said to depict a Lockheed Lightning of No 1 PRU at Coomalie Creek in 1943. Note that this aircraft also carries the number "44" on the nose. Given that this aircraft has been repainted in RAAF camouflage (dark earth, dark green with sky blue undersurfaces) it has to be one of three aircraft that were assigned to 1PRU, A55-1, A55-2 or A55-3. The previous USAAF serial numbers of these three aircraft are usually quoted as 41-2158, 41-2159 and 41-2122 respectively. However, there is one reference (see Note 1) which indicates that the RAAF received 41-2144 and not 41-2122.

Problem #3:
The presence of the number "44" on an RAAF F-4 raises the possibility that if the aircraft depicted above is indeed A55-3, its previous identity was probably 41-2144 and not 41-2122 as stated in most references. While A55-1 and A55-2 were repainted in RAAF camouflage at 1AD Laverton before delivery to 1PRU, it is known that A55-3 was delivered to 1PRU directly from the 5th Air Force in Brisbane so it is likely that they also painted the aircraft in RAAF camouflage. If the aircraft's future identity (A55-3) was not known to the 5th AF at the time of the repaint, it is likely that the aircraft would have retained its USAAF serial as an interim identification, albeit in a low key manner.
This F-4 is 41-2220 while in service with the 8th PRS USAAF. This aircraft, along with 41-2156, was later loaned to 75 Sqn RAAF. Note the three digit number "220" on the nose which was retained during its RAAF service. (Photo: Bill Fairbank via Bob Rocker)

Problem #4:
Why did this aircraft carry a three digit number instead of the usual two? It can't have been to avoid duplication as neither 41-2120 nor 41-2320 were allocated to F-4s.
This F-4 is almost certainly 41-2144. Note that it carries the number "44" on the nose. Close examination of markings on the tail (see below) reveals a "2" and a "44". Lightning 41-2144 was one of the aircraft assigned to the 8th PRS and it is pictured here at Townsville in 1942. (Photo: Neville Rourke Collection via Gordon Birkett)
This is an enlargement of the tail of the aircraft depicted above. The only markings discernible with any certainty are a "2" on the rudder and a "44" on the fin.

See also: Serials

 

NOTES
1

A document dated 4 August 1943 from Air Member for Supply and Equipment to No 5 Maintenence Group, RAAF listing aircraft received in Australia from the USA and the NEI states that three F-4s were delivered to the RAAF (see below). They are identified as 41-2144, 41-2158 and 41-2159. As the latter two almost certainly became A55-1 and A55-2 respectively, this document implies that A55-3 could have been formerly 21-2144. Nevertheless, the status card for A55-3 is clearly endorsed as 41-2122. Given that 41-2122 is reported to have been lost in action by the 8th PRS, this increases the likelihood that A55-3 was actually 41-2144.

 

 

Issue Date Remarks
1 21MAY14
Original issue.


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