Formation and work-up

No. 1843 squadron officially formed in the United States at US Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine on May 1st 1944 as a single seat fighter -squadron under the command of Lt. Cdr (A) D. K. Evans, RNZNVR. The initial equipment was 18 Corsair IIIs. After familiarisation with the aircraft and equipment, the squadron began training in earnest to prepare for active service.

U.S. Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine.

Night Flying and Carrier Deck Landings

Training included navigation exercises, low flying, formation flying and combat tactics; the squadron briefly moved to US Naval Auxiliary Airfield Bar Harbour, Maine, on June 5th for four days of Aerodrome Dummy Deck Landing (ADDL) training. There were very few accidents during the three months at Brunswick; the first occurred on May 6th when Sub-Lt. B Willman RNVR taxing with folded wings in Corsair JS715 his tailplane struck the mainplane stub of an adjacent aircraft. Four days later the same pilot retracted the undercarriage of Corsair JS667 while taxing. On May 15th Sub-Lt. H Colgate RNVR scraped his Port wing tip on the ground while landing on in Corsair JS665. Sub-Lt. MJ Rouse RNVR narrowly avoided a serious incident on June 1st while on a low-flying exercise in Corsair JS665. The Starboard intercooler hit a tree, but the aircraft managed to land safely. Finally, on June 26th, Corsair JS657 flown by Sub-Lt. H Colgate was tipped on its nose by the prop wash from another aircraft while taxying for take-off, causing the prop to peck the ground.
 

Passage to the UK

On completion of working up at USNAS Brunswick, the squadron was re-equipped with 18 Corsair IIs in late July 1944. The squadron was to be embarked in the escort carrier TROUNCER for passage to the UK. The departure from Brunswick was made in two stages: the maintenance and supply personnel were to join the carrier at Norfolk, Virginia, while the aircrew flew their new machines north to Newark Army Airfield, Newark, New Jersey, from where they were to be embarked by lighter. The journey to Norfolk was made by train, travelling south to alight at Kiptopeke on the north shore of Chesapeake Bay, then by ferry to Norfolk Naval base to join the carrier. TROUNCER arrived at Norfolk late on July 28th. After receiving minimal voyage repairs and embarking the squadron personnel she sailed for New York around 15:20 on July 31st, arriving there around 14:50 on August 1st and was secured alongside at the 35th Street Pier Brooklyn. The squadron aircraft were hoisted aboard onto the flight deck from lighters and squadron aircrew boarded. On completion of repair work and loading a ferry load of lend-lease aircraft, stores and some civilian passengers TROUNCER sailed from the 35th Street Pier on August 11th. She formed up with the eastbound convoy TCU.35, which was assembling off the coast; this comprised 50 ships. 6 of them were troop ships. Once assembled the convoy sailed later that day. After an uneventful crossing, TROUNCER parted company with the Irish Sea section of the convoy around 06:45 on the 21st to proceed to Liverpool ahead of the main convoy escorted by the USS PETTITT. After being disembarked to RAF Speke 1843squadron proceeded to RNAS Eglinton, Northern Ireland on August 24th.

RNAS Eglinton and the 10th Naval Fighter Wing

Training intensified once the squadron was established at Eglinton. On September 20th Lt. Cdr D. F. V. Davis RCNVR temporarily assumed command. This training was to have a heavy toll on the squadron pilots, with two killed in air crashes during October. On October 2nd, while on local section formation drill, Sub-Lt U. Baker RNVR, in Corsair JT471, dove out of the cloud into Lough Foyle 10 miles Northeast of Eglinton and was killed on impact. On the 9th, Sub-Lt C. H. Schweager RCNVR, flying in Corsair JT693, suffered an engine failure and had to make a forced landing at Baliykelly; the aircraft was written off, but the pilot was OK. The following day, the second fatality occurred when Sub-Lt RJ McHaffie in Corsair JT479 dove out of the cloud into the sea 5½ miles offshore. .
 

On October 14th 1944, No. 1843 and 1845 squadrons formed the 10th Naval Fighter Wing at Eglinton; 1845 had arrived on the station on September 18th, and each squadron was earmarked to join an escort carrier for service with the British Pacific Fleet 1843 was allocated to HMS ARBITER and 1845 to HMS SLINGER. Major P. P. Nelson-Gracie Royal Marines was appointed as the Wing Leader and new commanding Officer of 1843.
 

The squadron moved to RNAS Ayr on October 23rd and remained there until returning to Eglinton on December 15th; there are no recorded accidents during this period. At the end of November the squadron strength was increased to 24 aircraft when it absorbed part of 1848 squadron which was disbanded on November 21st, its aircraft and pilots being shared equally between Nos.1843, 1845 and 1846 Squadrons bringing them up to 24 aircraft each. A detachment of 8 aircraft undertook Deck Landing Training on PATROLLER between December 21st & 23rd before Christmas and embarkation leave was granted.

On return from leave flying training resumed in preparation for joining the escort carrier ARBITER. There were five more flying incidents, including one fatality; on January 2nd Corsair JT629, piloted by Sub-Lt W. Noble RNVR, flew into a flock of crows on low level Tactical interception exercise, pilot and aircraft landed safely. On the 14th Sub-Lt E. Barker RNVR, taxiing for take-off in Corsair JT651 was involved in a ground collision when a wing hit a lorry waiting to cross the runway. Corsair JT692 crashed while on a test flight on January 18th, the aircraft came down 3 miles East of Ballymoney, 10 miles North-East of RAF Muilagbmore, the pilot, Sub-Lt P.S. Ross RNVR, was killed. On the 28th Corsair JT602 experienced engine problems and eventually it failed; Sub-Lt L J. R. Ferguson RCNVR, managed to glide it to earth and landed wheels down but failed to brake and ran off the end of the runway at Eglinton into a cow shed. Finally, on January 30th the drop-tank fell off JT669 while Sub-Lt C. H. Sehweager RCNVR was taxying on the runway, damaging the aircraft fuselage.

At the start of February 1945 the squadron received mew equipment again, this time the Mk. IV variant was received. Two of these new aircraft were slightly damaged on February 13th when the squadron prepared to depart for RNAS Belfast, KD578 (Sub-Lt G. V. Thomnas RNVR) was taxied into by KD602 (pilot un-named).

Joining HMS ARBITER

HMS ARBITER underway.

ARBITER had just completed a post-refit shakedown after being modified for operation in tropical climates by Harland & Wolf ship Yard in Belfast. On completion, she sailed for Greenock on January 30th, anchoring at B5 berth; she was now allocated to the British Pacific Fleet for operations as a ferry carrier. The ship was now to undertake a short flying training period in the Clyde training areas to work up both the ship and her new squadron which flew out from RNAS Belfast to embark  on Valentine’s Day 1945.  

The two-week flying program started well, but it was the first of three flying accidents that happened on Sunday, February 18th, while the ship was steaming off Cumbrae light in the Firth of Clyde. Sub-Lt Scarrott was killed when his Corsair, KD582, turned sharply and dove into the sea on take-off; an elevator was damaged by the prop of another aircraft while running up on the flight deck. This was spotted prior to take off but too late to abort the launch. The same prop damage was inflicted on KD599 piloted by Sub Lt Ingram, but he was able to abort his launch. The third incident involved Sub Lt. Rouse, who caught the last arrestor wire and put his Corsair, KD594, into the number 3 barrier.

On Passage: Greenock to Sydney March 1st – May 1st 1945

HMS ARBITER sailed from the Clyde on March 1st bound for Australia. The ship’s first port of call was Gibraltar on the 9th, here fuel and stores were embarked before entering the Mediterranean for passage to Port Said.
 

Flying training continued, and on March 13th Sub Lt W. Noble RNVR had a spectacular crash in Corsair KD578 when it hit the rounddown on landing, ripping off the tail oleo the aircraft crashed through Nos.2 & 3 barriers before coming to rest on its nose, facing aft, feet away from the forward deck park which was full of aircraft. ARBITER arrived at Port Said on March 18th, securing an E3 berth at 13:36; after taking on fuel and water, she remained there overnight. The next morning, ARBITER weighed anchor at 06:10 and proceeded through the Suez Canal. She arrived at Port Suez on the southern end of the canal at 16:46 and dropped anchor. The next day, the ship sailed for Bombay, calling at Aden to take on more fuel. On March 22nd, Sub-Lt. Appleton lost sight of the Deck Landing Control Officer and flew KD607 into the starboard walkway. The aircraft fell overboard, removing an anti-aircraft gun mounting as it went; the pilot was OK. From Bombay ARBITER proceeded to Colombo on the west coast of Ceylon; she entered Colombo harbour on Sunday, April 1st.

Two aircraft written off by Sub Lt W. Noble RNVR on passage to Australia: Left, March 13th 1945 - KD578a awaits recovery after it hit the rounddown on landing, ripping off the tail oleo. The aircraft crashed through Nos. 2 & 3 barriers before coming to rest on its nose, facing aft. Another Corsair was in the forward deck park, had its tail fin damaged. Right - March 21st 1945: The stripped carcass of Corsair KD577  ('C') is about to be jettisoned overboard in the Red Sea after a bad barrier crash left it beyond local repair.

ARBITER weighed anchor on April 3rd and disembarked the aircraft of 1943 to the RN Air Station at Colombo Racecourse the next day before taking passage for a round trip to Cochin, S. India to collect replacement airframes, and stores not available in Australia, the ship arrived back in Ceylon on the 8th, this time anchoring in Trincomalee harbour on the east side of the island [* ]. The squadron remained ashore at Colombo until April 13th before re-joining the ship at Trincomalee.

From Trincomalee, the ship made a nonstop voyage to Sydney, Australia; the traditional ‘Crossing the line’ ceremony was observed in the Indian Ocean as they crossed the equator. On May 2nd, 1945, the 1843 squadron was flown off to RNAS Schofields, on the outskirts of Sydney, before ARBITER entered Sydney Harbour and secured alongside number 4 berth at Woolloomooloo. During the launch of the squadron, Corsair KD598 (Sub-Lt G. V. Thomas) rolled backwards, and one wing was struck by the prop of another aircraft on deck. The personnel and stores of 1843 squadron were then off-loaded and transported to RNAS Schofields as the ship prepared for its first operational voyage as part of the British Pacific Fleet.

Operations with the BPF, a voyage to the Admiralty Islands: May - June 1945

Once established at Schofields flying training continued; on May 12th Sub-Lt E. Barker had a lucky escape when his aircraft, KD588 suffered an explosion caused by the residue of patrol after being refuelled, and on the 14th Sub-Lt M. J. Rouse in Corsair KD601 wrote of his aircraft when he selected the dive brake instead of the undercarriage [*]. The majority of the squadron was to re-embark in the carrier for a voyage to the Admiralty Islands; of those remaining at Schofields, Sub-Lt K. E. Vogan was killed on May 30th when his aircraft failed to pull out of a vertical dive and crashed into a hillside near RAAF Menangle.

On the morning of May 20th, a detachment of 1843 squadron re-joined ARBITER as she finalised loading before sailing for the Admiralty Islands. Squadron maintenance personnel and equipment were embarked while their aircraft were hoisted aboard and stowed in the hanger; there was to be no flying on the outward voyage because all available space was filled with stores and equipment for ferrying north.

ARBITER was to operate as a ferry and replenishment carrier, but she also embarked half of Maintenance, Storage & Reserve Unit No.5 (M.S.R.5) in order to service and maintain a stock of spare aircraft afloat as part of the Forward Aircraft Poll ((F.A.P.) afloat. The other half was embarked in the escort carrier CHASER  with the same purpose. M.S.R.5 was embarked on May 15th, along with spare aircraft that were loaded for transport to the forward base at Ponam in the Admiralty Islands. Also embarked for ferrying to the RNAS Ponam were the personnel and equipment of M.S.R. 6, which embarked on the 18th: this unit was to be attached to HMS NABARON, Mobile Naval Air Base (MONAB) No. 4,which had been installed on the US Naval Airstrip on Ponam.

The US Naval Airstrip on Ponam Island, which lies 5 miles off the N. coast of Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands. Loaned to the RN it was home to Mobile Naval Air Base IV, HMS NABARON. The island was only one and a half miles long, 400 yards wide with a single runway of crushed and rolled coral

A single Corsair from 1843 was ranged on deck ready to be catapulted; had the need arisen to launch this aircraft to intercept a Japanese threat, it could not have returned to ARBITER because the flight deck was covered in crates, vehicles and other deck cargo. Nearing New Guinea, ARBITER hit bad weather; huge waves broke over the flight deck and, despite being securely lashed down, several crates were washed overboard. During the height of the storm, ARBITER began to roll quite alarmingly. Without her full tanks of aviation fuel and oil acting as ballast, she would have been in danger of turning turtle. Once the storm was over, the Corsair lashed down on the catapult was checked over; it had not suffered any damage during the storm.

On reaching the Island of Manus in the Admiralties, ARBITER moored in Seeadler Harbour and began unloading stores and equipment for the BPF forward base ((HMS PYPES)); on completion she weighed anchor and proceeded to Ponam Island, 22 miles up the coast to off load M.S.R. 6 and the aircraft of 1843 squadron. The squadron aircraft were the last items to be disembarked to RNAS Ponam on May 31st; unloading was a long slow progress since Ponam was surrounded by a coral ringed lagoon, all stores, vehicles and aircraft that could not be flown ashore had to be hoisted outboard using the ship’s derricks and ferried ashore on motorized lighters.

 

The squadron spent three weeks ashore conducting flying training. It is not clear what ARBITER’s tasking was during this period, presumably conducting flying training, as 1843 was a ‘spare’ squadron and ARBITER had not yet been assigned to replenishment duties. However, she appears to have been experiencing engine trouble while at Manus, sufficiently serious to require full-speed trials early on June 22nd prior to proceeding to Ponam to embark the squadron and other aircraft on June 25th. ARBITER sailed for Brisbane later that day.

 

Ashore in Australia- formation of No. 3 Carrier Air Group

Arriving off the Brisbane coast on July 4th, the squadron was flown to RNAS Maryborough, (HMS NABSTOCK MONAB VI) Queensland; this was the end of the squadron's association with ARBITER.

Some of the Senior ratings of 1843 squadron pose outside the squadron office at RNAS Nowra.

The squadron was to rejoin the admin & maintenance personnel who had arrived on the station the day before, having travelled up from RNAS Schofields.. This was to be a short stay; however, the entire squadron moved again on the 15th, back down to New South Wales to RNAS Jervis Bay. The stores and equipment were flown down by the Dakotas of the newly formed RAAF Transport Command, the remainder of the personnel travelling by train. The squadron spent one week on RNAS Jervis Bay, (HMS NABSWICK MONAB V) living under canvas in quagmire-like conditions before moving for the final time to their new home at RNAS Nowra, (HMS NABBINGTON MONAB I)only a few miles up the road.

 

On August 2nd 1843 became a part of No. 3 Carrier Air Group with 1845 (Corsair) & 854 (Avenger) Squadrons. This was a spare Air Group led by Commander N. S. Luard RN, which formed at Nowra. The end of the war came before the Air Group could be deployed. Commander J C. N. Shrubsole RN took over as a leader on September 8th, but the Group was disbanded on October 20th 1945. All personnel not assigned to other units and duties embarked in the troop ship S.S. STRATEDEN on October 24th for passage to the UK. The squadron aircraft were retained at Nowra. The squadron was officially disbanded on December 10th 1945, on reaching the U.K.

 

 

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Content revised: 10 March 2025

 

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