After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was decided that all B-17 Flying Fortress bombers stationed in Hawaii need better camouflage than the USAAC olive drab scheme
From December 1941 through the beginning of March 1942, both sides engaged in daily aerial combat in the South Pacific. A few understrength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) put up a spirited fight as Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) flying boats and land-based bombers penetrated over huge distances.
The greatest impact, nevertheless, came from the aircraft carriers’ superior power.
Ships from the US Navy (USN), including a carrier task force, were traveling to the Fiji region in February 1942. According to Michael Claringbould and Peter Ingman in South Pacific Air War Volume 1, the USN was given 12 US Army Air Corps (USAAC) B-17E Flying Fortresses for the purpose of keeping an eye on them. These heavy bombers would be perfect for service in the Pacific because of their long range. Six aircraft from the 88th Reconnaissance Squadron (RS), one from the 38th RS, and five from the Bombardment Squadron were among the aircraft allotted, which were all stolen from Hawaii’s 7th Air Force (BS). The 14th RS, a composite squadron that had been redrawn, was assigned as its primary mission the defense of supply lines to Australia.
The Hawaiian Air Depot scheme, the most peculiar B-17 livery of the conflict, was worn by about half of these bombers. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, it was decided that all fortresses stationed in Hawaii required camouflage that was more effective than the USAAC olive drab scheme that was applied at the factory. As a result, all Fortresses then stationed at Hickam Field and others that traveled through the Hawaiian Air Depot (HAD) throughout December 1941 were quickly outfitted with an unofficial camouflage scheme. The design, which used the topside hues olive drab, dark sand, rust brown, light sand, and blue-grey, lacks official orders or technical requirements due to its ad hoc nature.
The simple availability of paint stocks at the depot at the time led to the selection of the colors. All HAD aircraft, unusually, also had the distinctive USAAC red and white striped rudder, without the prewar dark blue leading edge, and with “US ARMY” painted in bold, dark blue lettering on the undersides of the wings. A few weeks after arriving in Australia, the unusual rudder marking on all of 14’s RS Fortresses would be painted over in olive drab because it was felt that the marking made the aircraft stand out too much.
Major Richard “Dick” Carmichael, a 28-year-old University of Texas graduate and “ring knocker” (a Westpointer), headed the young, colorful squadron. Carmichael had a somber memory from his time as the 11’s BS deputy commander when he and his commanding officer had drowned while in a boating accident in Lake Yellowstone. Carmichael held onto the hull for hours before being rescued, barely making it to tell the tale. Afterward, he was given the position of leader.
The colorful Fortresses took off from Hickam Field and staged their way to Nadi airfield on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. A wide runway appreciated the characteristic colonial ambiance and the attractive, rising, green karst escarpment in the distance. The Fortresses would launch a series of prolonged searches and reconnaissance missions to a 700-mile range from this New Zealand-managed area. The B-17s completed 16 missions in five days in the middle of February.
South Pacific Air War Volume 1 is published by Casemate Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by Casemate and War Thunder