Other Forces

Wairanapa Wildcat - Geoffrey Fisken.

Pilot Officer Geoffrey (Geoff) Fisken DFC, RAF and Royal New Zealand Air Force (various squadrons). Shown here with his Curtis P-40 Kittyhawk "Wairanapa Wildcat", marked with 11 kills against Japanese opposition. With a final total of 11 confirmed kills and two possibles, Fisken is generally regarded as the top scoring British Commonwealth fighter ace in the Pacific theatre. He rather specialised in downing Mitsubishi Zeroes - not a case of doing it the easy way. In fact, the easy way does not appear to have been one that often came Fisken's way. He attempted to join the RNZAF in 1939, on the outbreak of war in Europe but was turned down because his occupation - farm worker - was a reserved occupation in his native New Zealand at that time. With the help of his employer, and based on the fact that he had trained privately as a pilot before the war, he was later accepted. Later, he spent some time flying Catalinas on low-level escort duties - a very hazardous occupation. His early kills were achieved in Brewster Buffalos - useful early war fighters up to a point, but by no means the equal of the Zeroes he was tangling with. Serving as he did in Malaya and various Pacific disease-traps (Espirity Sancto, Guadalcanal) in a period in which the Allies were far from enjoying air superiority, it is not particularly surprising that suffered a number of nasty wounds, as well as contracting dengue fever more than once. Although Fisken was almost proverbial for his toughness, all of this took its toll. He was discharged from the RNZAF in December, 1943. Geoff Fisken was fortunate enough to recover his health and return to farming. He died in his long-time home at Rotorua, New Zealand, in 2011, aged 95. Best regards, JR.