FLIGHTPATH | 69Courtesy of a variety of factors that contributed to its loss, a Japanese ‘Zero’ with
an oblique red fuselage stripe became the most photographed, and then the most
souvenired, of its type in the New Guinea war. South Paciic Correspondent
Michael John Claringbould follows its journey, from its inal April
1942 take of to Allied intelligence asset, and the pilot’s
enduring quest to be forgotten.
M
ore than a year later, in July 1943, the air-
frame was paraded through Sydney’s streets
on a flatbed truck accompanied by a sign that
proclaimed it was a ‘Jap Zero Fighter shot
down by U.S. Air Force’. This was not the case, how-
ever, and the truth behind how ‘Zero’ (tail code V-110)
fell into Allied hands is extraordinary. Three key fac-
tors were behind its loss: a Mitchell bomber with an
unusual nickname, the unpredictable New Guinea
weather, and a faulty Japanese oxygen regulator.
Meagre Allied air power was still defending Austral-
ia in April 1942. Curtailing and monitoring Japanese
shipping remained a priority, for it was shipping that
maintained enemy supply lines and facilitated inva-
sions. Port Moresby was clearly next on the list after
Lae and Salamaua so, as part of monitoring shipping
movements, on 28 April 1942, the 3rd Bombardment
Group dispatched three B-25C Mitchell bombers from
Charters Towers, Queensland. These would reconnoi-
tre New Guinea waters as far north as the Trobriand
Islands, staging through Seven-Mile aerodrome, Port
Moresby, in separate patrols. The Trobriand island
chain lay well to the north and was barely within the
limit of the Mitchell’s maximum range from Port
Moresby. The first aircraft aborted its patrol due to en-
gine trouble. The second completed its assignment
with no enemy sightings, while the last, named ‘DER
SCHPY’ and flown by First Lieutenant Ralph Schmidt,
ventured over Lae, a verified ‘Zero’ hot spot. The self-MAIN: An impression of ‘DER SCHPY’
as it banks away from Lae to return
to 14-Mile Drome outside Port
Moresby. [[email protected]]INSET: Maeda’s A6M2 as it appeared
shortly after he put it down in a
kunai grass ield behind the coastal
village of Abau. [[email protected]]