Anzac Day 2012 marks the 75th anniversary of the formation of the RNZAF. The Daily Post reporter Matthew Martin spoke to two Rotorua-based World War II RNZAF veterans with two very different stories of their wartime experiences.
The boys from Bomber Command could be said to have been the unsung heroes of World War II, even though they suffered horrendous casualties and flew thousands of missions.
Tasked mainly with the bombing of industrial sites such as factories, rail yards, ammunition dumps, ports and oil reserves, their hand was forced early in the war to the bombing of civilian sites and major German cities.
This week I had the pleasure of meeting two Rotorua men who flew for Bomber Command in World War II, Baden Clare and Don Curtis.
Mr Clare moved to Rotorua about six years ago. He was born in Manaia, South Taranaki.
During the war he rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant and was a bomb aimer in Britain's most famous bomber of the war - the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber.
He flew with one of New Zealand's and Britain's most famous bomber squadrons - No75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF - after joining the RNZAF in 1942.
He received his initial training in Rotorua and in Montreal, Canada, before being sent to England to join his squadron, and the war.
Don Curtis was born in Wanganui. He also trained in Rotorua and in Canada and was shipped off near the end of the war to Europe, but most of his operational time was spent patrolling the North Sea, also in a Lancaster.
Mr Clare was reticent in the telling of wartime stories - he told me his memories of that time were hard to put into words and with humility said he did not like to talk about the more grisly side of war.
However, near the end of 1944 the Lancaster he was flying in was hit by enemy flak and went down over enemy lines.
"The first I knew of it was when our gunner said our outer starboard engine was on fire ... I was right up the front but got out as soon as I could. Some of the crew were not so lucky."
When he landed he was eventually captured and spent the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp near Sagan in modern-day Poland. "I was there for seven months when the war started to close down.
"We all wanted to escape the Russians. So did our German guards.
"We didn't take any chances and we walked out and kept going."
Mr Clare said he flew "enough" missions and every Anzac Day remembered the crew he flew with.
"If I think about it at all, there were hundreds of thousands dying all over the world. I was only 21 and I didn't really think about it at the time," he said.
After the war ended in Europe Mr Clare was instructed to put together the official history of New Zealand's part in Bomber Command.
"I didn't really know what I was doing so it took me about two years. But it made me realise how highly regarded New Zealanders were when they were in England," he said.
Mr Curtis said he joined the Air Force about a month after the famous "Dam Busters" had carried out their daring raids against German dams in the Ruhr Valley with their famous "bouncing bombs" in May of 1943.
"We had a lot to live up to ... I was grounded as a pilot but it worked out well and I went to Canada as part of the Empire Training Scheme."
Mr Curtis formed part of a seven-man Lancaster crew as wireless (radio) operator and tail gunner. He said he got to see a lot of ocean when patrolling the North Sea.
"It really was an adventure for me at that stage as the war was coming to a close. Then they dropped that bomb (the first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945) - it was the best bomb they ever dropped - it meant I didn't have to go to the Pacific to fight the Japanese."
Mr Curtis said he spent his 21st birthday on a ship on its way from Bombay (now Mumbai), India, to Perth in Australia.
"I was only a boy ... I got to see a lot of the world on my travels," he said.
In recognition of their wartime efforts the RAF (Royal Air Force) officially handed over the 75 Squadron title and badge to the RNZAF in October 1946. This is the only time the RAF "gifted" a squadron title and badge to another Commonwealth Air Force. It was seen as a tribute to the sacrifices and contribution made by all New Zealanders in the RAF during World War II.