50 Cents - Elizabeth II 6th Portrait - 100 Years RAAF - P-40 Kittyhawk

The Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk entered RAAF service in 1942 and became the backbone of Australian air defence in the Pacific and North African theatres simultaneously — an unusual operational split for a single type. No. 3 Squadron flew them over the Western Desert while No. 75 Squadron used them in a desperate rearguard action over Port Moresby, where a handful of pilots and aircraft were the only thing between Japanese air power and the Australian mainland for several critical weeks in early 1942.