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The commander-in-chief takes to the air. Dame Catherine Tizard's inspection of Ohakea Air Force Base included a flight in an Aermacchi MB 339C jet trainer.
New Zealanders in the air - D-Day
New Zealanders in the Royal Air Force
Notes and questions, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force - war oral history programme
New Zealanders in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force
As it got lighter and lighter you could see more ships and more ships, behind you and ahead of you – and the French coast was covered in smoke, but you knew it was there.
Jack Ingham, lieutenant, DSC, Royal Navy
They said, – We've been losing fifty to sixty bombers a night. We're badly in need of bomber pilots. We want you fellas to be bomber pilots.
John Morris, flight lieutenant, 75(NZ) Squadron, RAF
Trafford Leigh-Mallory
Air Vice-Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, commander of No. 12 Group during the Battle of Britain. Leigh-Mallory supported the ‘Big Wing’ air fighting tactic of grouping fighter squadrons which had been proposed by Acting Squadron Leader Douglas Bader.
One of ‘the Few’, Alan Deere, comments on the ‘Big Wing’ issue:
NZ pilot saves Scottish village
In May 2007 the residents of the Scottish village of Cowie gathered to unveil a memorial to Pilot Officer Carlyle Everiss – a New Zealand fighter pilot whose heroic actions saved the lives of countless villagers during the Second World War.
James Stellin memorial in France
This memorial to New Zealand Pilot Officer James Stellin was erected at Saint-Maclou-la-Brière, a small village in the Seine-Maritime region of Normandy, in 1964. It was here, on 19 August 1944, that Stellin gave his own life to save the village's inhabitants.
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Top image: Leigh Parker; middle image: John Bickerton; bottom image: Living Heritage
Kiwi pilot's sacrifice saves French village
As his damaged Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber rapidly lost height, Pilot Officer James Stellin struggled to avoid crashing into Saint-Maclou-la-Brière, a village of 370 people in the Seine-Maritime region. He succeeded, but at the cost of his own life. The villagers gave him a hero’s funeral and have honoured his memory ever since.
Lancaster bomber between sorties
Royal Air Force ground crew clean a Lancaster bomber between sorties. Many of the thousands of New Zealanders serving in Bomber Command flew these planes.
Imperial War Museum, TR 188
This image may not be reproduced or used in any way without the permission of the Imperial War Museum. Further information and copies of this image may be obtained from the Imperial War Museum Collections website.
