RIP Johnny Checketts

[turboNZ]

Just heard Johnny Checketts died last night. My Grandmother is good friends with Natalie Checketts.

He was 94. He had been suffering ill health for a long time.

RIP to a great man.....

[turboNZ]

Sorry, for those who didn't know who he was...

He was born in Invercargill in 1912.

Joined the RNZAF in 1940, he flew Spitfires and Typhoons.

Shot down 14 1/2 aircraft and 3 probables.

Got shot down himself over France and escaped back with the aid of the French Resistance.

Left the Air Force after the war to take up topdressing.

Rest in Peace Mr Checketts.

[Dave Homewood]

Oh this is very sad news indeed. He was a superb man, and a great commander of No. 485 Squadron. His biography "The Road To Biggin Hill" by Vincent Orange is a must read by the way.

Johnny was also a driving force at the RNZAF Museum, where he was one of the Moth Doctors that rebuilt the Tiger Moths for the Museum and Historic Flight. He continued to work with the museum till recently.

I'm very sad to hear of his death. He was one of the last greats.
Rest in Peace Johnny.

[turboNZ]

Good post, Dave.

Here's a couple of pics of him.





TNZ

[Dave Homewood]

Here is the New Zealand Press Association tribute to Johnny

[April 23, 2006]


FAMOUS NZ WW2 AIR ACE JOHNNY CHECKETTS DIES AGED???

(New Zealand Press Association) Wellington, April 24 NZPA - Johnny Checketts, one of New Zealand's greatest fighter pilots of World War 2, died at his home in Christchurch on Friday.

He was 94.

During the war he flew at least 418 sorties, many of them over Nazi occupied Europe.

He shot down 14-1/2 German aircraft (one victim shared), two V1 flying bombs, and destroyed two German E boats.

On top of this tally were four probable ``kills'' and at least 11 damaged German aircraft.

Twice he was shot down in hair-raising brushes with the Luftwaffe fighters, both times bailing out.

John Milne Checketts, Distinguished Service Order (DSO) Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), US Silver Star and Polish Cross of Valour, was born at Invercargill on February 20, 1912.

A motor mechanic by trade, he was educated at Invercargill South School and Southland Technical College.

``I love Southland. I am a Southlander and Southland will never leave me,'' he once told a reporter.

His interests included rowing and sailing, but both were overshadowed by his love of motorcycles.

To those who knew him in later life he was an unassuming man who never considered his war service anything special.

``We were just ordinary people just doing a job,'' he told NZPA in February 2002.

Yet Mr Checketts never forgot the horror of shooting down and killing his first German during a patrol over France in early 1943.

On the tail of the German Focke Wulf 190 fighter he ``blew the backside off him'' with his Spitfire's 20mm canon and .303 Browning machine guns.

The pilot didn't bail out. ``It upset me quite considerably,'' he said.

``He was somebody's boy with a mother and father. But I also thought it could easily have been me.

``After that I didn't let it worry me because it was him or me.''

He joined the air force as a 28-year-old in mid-1940 but a broken leg while training at Wigram, Christchurch, meant he was later into action than could have been the case.

The Battle of Britain was long over by the time he reached England.

After the war Mr Checketts returned to New Zealand and served with the air force at Wigram, then Taieri near Dunedin, and in Fiji.

He was aide-de-camp to two governors-general, Bernard Freyberg and Charles Norrie.

In 1955 he retired from the military to operate his own top-dressing business in Dunedin, but sold it in 1958.

He also took a great interest in conservation and received a citation from the Nature Conservation Council for bringing public awareness to effects of water pollution.

Mr Checketts was appointed manager of the Otago Acclimatisation Society in 1961 before joining the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society in Christchurch about 1970 and retiring five or six years later.

He lived in the Christchurch suburb of Bryndwr for many years.

But it was for his distinguished war sevice the he was best known.

Mr Checketts who flew Spitfires for 611 Squadron, Royal Air Force, and 485 (NZ) Squadron, emerged as one of New Zealand's best fighter pilots of the war.

``I had very good eyesight. I could see an enemy aircraft at a great distance and it gave me the opportunity to put myself in a position to win a victory or shoot him down.''

His favourite plane: a Spitfire mark IXb which ``...had the legs on the Hun''.

Twice Mr Checketts was forced to bail out of stricken Spitfires.

The first time he landed in the English Channel in 1942 -- the attack had come without warning while Mr Checketts stalked another German fighter.

``The channel was bloody cold. I was wounded in the leg but I was picked up after an hour in the water by His Majesty's naval air sea rescue launch number 139.

``I couldn't have lasted the night. I was very lucky to have been rescued.''

In July and August 1943 Mr Checketts bagged eight enemy fighters, including three Messerschmit Bf109s on August 9 near St Pol in France for which he won the DFC.

He was a Squadron Leader of Biggin Hill-based 485 Squadron the second time he was shot down, this time after a dogfight over France on September 6, 1943, involving some 20 Focke-Wulf 190s.

With no ammunition left, Mr Checketts had no chance and his Spitfire was soon belching flames through the cockpit.

Badly burned, he parachuted to safety and was looked after and hidden by the French for several weeks until he and 12 other escaping servicemen were crammed into a small fishing boat and smuggled across the channel back to England.

His experience as an injured Allied pilot shot down over France, led to a deep affection for the French.

``The French are lovely, lovely people. They saved my life, they nursed me and cared for me.''

He had burns to his face, legs and arms and was wounded in both legs, knees and arms.

``My injuries weren't terminal but were painful and took a long time to heal.''

Mr Checketts said he had no regrets about serving even though war was unpleasant.

``It is destructive. Everything about it is to destroy and I don't think human beings are brought into this world to destroy things. They are brought into the world to preserve.''

After Mr Checketts got back to England he was promoted Wing Commander, leading a wing of three squadrons for the D Day invasion of France.

Today a mark XVI Spitfire in the Alpine Fighter Collection carries his wartime markings, ``J MC''.

Mr Checketts is survived by two sons and a daughter.

His funeral will be held at St Matthews Anglican Church in Christchurch on Wednesday.

A World War 2 Mustang fighter aircraft will make a flypast at the funeral.

NZPA WGT AKL CHP adm mel

[turboNZ]

Thanks Dave.

[Dave Homewood]

From Stuff.co.nz
www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3646174a11,00.html


Mustang fighter plane to salute WWII ace
24 April 2006
By MIKE CREAN

A World War 2 Mustang fighter plane will fly over the funeral of air ace Johnny Checketts on Wednesday.


The Christchurch pilot, who was one of the most highly decorated New Zealand airmen of the war, died last Friday. He was 94.

Checketts shot down 13 German planes, plus others unconfirmed, to rate eighth among Allied "ace" fighter pilots. Operating mostly over France and Belgium, he recorded the most "kills" of any Allied airman over enemy territory.

Born in Invercargill, Checketts worked before the war as a motor mechanic. He joined the air force at the start of World War 2, trained as a fighter pilot and was posted to Britain. A broken leg prevented him taking part in the Battle of Britain. However, he quickly made his mark in Hurricanes and then Spitfires. He rose to the rank of wing commander.

Checketts was twice shot down in the war. He bailed out of his blazing plane over France and was smuggled by French Resistance fighters back to Britain. He was also shot down over the English Channel, from which he was rescued.

His courage and dedication to duty brought him the Distinguished Service Order, Distinguished Flying Cross, Polish Cross of Valour and American Silver Star.

After the war, Checketts held command positions and was a test pilot for the Royal NZ Air Force in the new Vampire jet planes. He served as aide-de-camp to Governors-General Sir Bernard Freyberg and Sir Willoughby Norrie.

AdvertisementAdvertisementHe retired from the air force in 1955 and started an aerial topdressing firm. He later worked for the Otago and Canterbury acclimatisation societies. He was a volunteer guide at Wigram's Air Force Museum.

Checketts described the Spitfire as the best plane for its purpose. He was also fond of the Mustang – once its American Allison engine was replaced with the British Rolls-Royce Merlin. The last fighter plane he flew, from Taieri, was a Mustang. It is appropriate that his last salute will be from such a plane.
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