| Accession Number | 012629 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | 3x4", Nitrate, Silver Gelatin |
| Physical description | 3x4", Nitrate, Silver Gelatin |
| Maker |
McNeil, John Earl (Earl) |
| Place made | Australia, Australia: Northern Territory, Darwin |
| Date made | 19 June 1942 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
CAPTAIN WILLIAM J. HENNON, UNITED STATES AIR ACE FROM MINNESOTA, NOW WITH AN AMERICAN KITTYHAWK ...
Description
CAPTAIN WILLIAM J. HENNON, UNITED STATES AIR ACE FROM MINNESOTA, NOW WITH AN AMERICAN KITTYHAWK SQUADRON OPERATING AGAINST THE JAPANESE FROM AN AUSTRALIAN BASE. (NEGATIVE BY MCNEIL).
Immediately prior to arriving in Australia Hennon had flown P-40E Warhawks (also known as the Kittyhawk in British Commonwealth service) over Java where he had shot down five Japanese aircraft. Escaping to Australia from the debacle that was the short and bloody Java campaign he was allocated to the 7th Fighter Squadron of the 49th Fighter Group of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF). With this Squadron he took part in many actions over the Northern Territory against Japanese air raids flying the tough and heavily armed Warhawk.
William 'Bill' Hennon survived his time as a fighter pilot over Australia during 1942 and returned to the USA. In March 1943 he was on a solo routine flight near Long Island, New York in a BT-14 training aircraft when he disappeared. No crashed aircraft nor body was ever recovered.
On the rudder of his Warhawk #36, shown in this photograph, was a stylised cartoon bunyip applied by ground crews in recognition of the support that the local Aboriginal community had given to rescuing their Squadron mates from crash sites all around the Northern Territory. The bunyip (also known to the Americans as the 'bunyap' or 'screamin demon' at the time) is a mythological water dwelling fearsome beast that lived in creeks, rivers and billabongs.
Later in 1942 the 7th Fighter Squadron adopted the 'screamin demon' as their unit emblem and they applied it to tails of their Warhawks and later P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft for the remainder of the Second World War. The emblem was retained by the unit into the post-war period up until the early 2000's when the unit, then flying the F-22A Raptor 5th generation stealth fighter aircraft was made inactive in 2014. In 2021 the unit was re-activated as the 7th Fighter Training Squadron flying the T-38 Talon.