Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand and Growers, who were calling the berries "melonettes", because the local name for the fruit, "Chinese gooseberry", had political connotations due to the Cold War, and to further distinguish it from real gooseberries, which are prone to a fungus called anthracnose. An American importer, Norman Sondag of San Francisco, complained that "melonettes" was as bad as "Chinese gooseberry" because melons and berries were both subject to high import tariffs, and instead asked for a short Maori name that quickly connoted New Zealand. In June 1959, during a meeting of Turners and Growers management in Auckland, Jack Turner suggested the name
The New Zealand Squadron MBE as Commanding Officer. The crews were to fly the aircraft to New Zealand in batches of six, to their new airbase, RNZAF Base Ohakea in the country's North Island, that was being built to receive them. RAF official records name this group of airmen as "The New Zealand Squadron", and shared RAF Marham with No. 38 and No. 115 Squadrons. They moved to RAF Harwell, and then to RAF Feltwell on 12 February 1940. Those aircraft initially delivered and being used by the New Zealand crews had their RNZAF serial numbers painted under the wings, "NZ301" to "NZ305". As