For the remainder of the war, 14 Squadron rotated between forward and rear bases in the Pacific and 6-week periods of home leave in New Zealand. On 11 June 1943, 14 Squadron moved to the forward base of Kukum Field on Guadalcanal—on its first contact with the enemy, the following day, six Japanese aircraft were destroyed. The five RNZAF P-40 squadrons went on to claim 99 Japanese aircraft (subsequent, possibly partisan, research raised the figure to a round 100). No.14 Squadron claimed more than its share of the total, and one of its pilots, Geoff Fisken, became the top scoring Commonwealth ace in the Pacific (although half his victories were acquired with 243 Squadron).