The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
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 fearsome mythological water-dwelling 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.
A line up of four Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (aka Kittyhawk in British Commonwealth service) fighter aircraft of the 7th Squadron, United States Army Air Force (USAAF) 49th Fighter Group. The aircraft clos
A line up of four Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (aka Kittyhawk in British Commonwealth service) fighter aircraft of the 7th Squadron, United States Army Air Force (USAAF) 49th Fighter Group. The aircraft clos
United States Silver Star. Bronze coloured five pointed star with a silver five pointed star in the centre surrounded by a wreath. Awarded to United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Captain J A Kelting
Informal portrait of 407330 Flying Officer (FO) Peter A Masters, a member of 75 Squadron RAAF, standing in front of his Kittyhawk aircraft named 'Poison P'at Cairns. This simple name was applied as t
Darwin, NT. February 1942. A Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (known as the Kittyhawk in British Commonwealth service) fighter aircraft of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron (Provisional) of the United States Army Air Fo
A P40 Warhawk (known as Kittyhawk in the RAF and RAAF), number 41. The Kittyhawk entered mainstream service in the RAAF in March 1942, and was employed as both a fighter and a ground attack aircraft.
An American P-40E Warhawk (known as Kittyhawk in the RAF and RAAF) of the 33rd (Provisional) Pursuit Squadron, United States Army Air Force (USAAF). This aircraft may be the only American P-40E Warhaw
