Captain Val Moore

[archer]

Would anyone know of a photo that shows Captain Val Moore, or know of a place where I could find a photo of him? The information I have about the gentleman is as follows:
Full name is Valentine Stuart Moore, DSO, DFC, DFM (NZ 404924). He flew with 57 Squadron, 83 Squadron and with 692 Squadron on Mosquitos during WWII. He joined BOAC towards the end of the War and flew Haltons, Yorks, Hermes, Argonauts, Comet IVs and VC10s. He then moved to Nigeria Airways to fly its single VC10 and was operating 5N-ABD on its final, fateful flight in November 1969. He was born in New Zealand, most likely in 1913 as he was 56 at the time of the VC10's crash.

Any additional info is of course also welcome. I hope that this is the correct place to post this request, please let me know if I should ask elsewhere.

[errolmartyn]

From Colin Hanson’s By Such Deeds – Honours and awards in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1923 – 1999 :

MOORE, Flight Lieutenant Valentine Stuart, DSO, DFC, DFM, (pff). NZ404924; Born New Plymouth, 15 Dec 1912; RNZAF 1 Dec 1940 to 29 Apr 1946; Pilot.
Citation Distinguished Flying Medal (4 Aug 1942): [57 Sqn RAF (Wellington)] One night in June, 1942, Flight Sergeant Moore captained an aircraft which successfully attacked Bremen in bad weather.[*] During the return journey to avoid the heavy clouds, he descended to about 300 feet and whilst at this height he enabled his gunners to machine-gun towns and factories en-route. Shortly after crossing the enemy coast, considerable anti-aircraft fire was encountered from three armed ships. The starboard main-plane was hit and set on fire but Flight Sergeant Moore turned and attacked the three E-boats. The fire had now spread considerably and as the aircraft would not maintain height, he was compelled to land on the water. On impact, the nose of the aircraft dived steeply into the water but Flight Sergeant Moore and two members of his crew were able to scramble out and board the dinghy, from which they were rescued some 37 hours later. In the face of harassing circumstances this airman displayed great courage and fortitude. [*] On the night of 29/30 Jun 1942.
Citation Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (8 Jun 1943): [83(PFF)Sqn RAF (Lancaster)] This officer, since the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal has completed a large number of missions, always attacking the target with skill and determination. His courage has invariably been of the highest order and he has not spared himself any effort to make his attacks successful. Nearly all the missions in which he has participated have been against heavily defended targets and have included three attacks on Berlin. Enemy opposition, even when heaviest, has never deterred this officer from the conscientious completion of his duties.
Citation Distinguished Flying Cross (15 Aug 1944): [35(PFF)Sqn RAF (Lancaster)], attached 692 Sqn RAF (Mosquito) - LNSF] This officer has completed a very large number of operational sorties since the award of the DSO. Throughout a long career of operational flying he has proved himself a fearless and resolute captain of aircraft. His ability and courage have won the highest respect of all with whom he has served.
On the night of 18 Jul 1944 while attacking Berlin in a Mosquito Flt Lt Moore was coned by searchlights and repeatedly attacked by German night-fighters. To escape both the searchlights and night-fighters he dived at almost 500 mph. The next day engineers examined the aircraft but could find nothing wrong even though it had been flown far beyond the recommended speed limit. Flt Lt Moore flew at least 120 sorties with the RAF - 36 with 57 Sqn; 24 with 83 Sqn; one with 139 Sqn; eight with 1409 Met Flt and 51 with 692 Sqn. Late in the war he was attached to BOAC flying Dakotas.

The author was not aware at the time of publication of Moore being killed in the 1969 VC-10 crash.

You can request a free photocopy of Moore's RNZAF service record from Personnel Recrods, New Zealand Defence Force. See here for details:

www.nzdf.mil.nz/personnel-records/nzdf-archives/

A photo of Moore appears on page 24 of the illustrated pages of The Weekly News for 13 Sep 1944. The Air Force Museum of New Zealand hold a near-complete set of the wartime issues and can supply you with a copy of the image for a small fee. They may, however, be able to provide a much better quality image from their other sources. You can contact them at [e-mail]

Out of curiosity, what is your particular interest in Moore?

Errol

[errolmartyn]

Moore is also mentioned in Volumes One (page 266) and Two (page 51) of H. L. Thompson's 'New Zealanders with the RAF'.

Errol

[archer]

Some great leads and information there Errol, thank you for that! My interest stems from his involvement with 5N-ABD's crash, I run a website about VC10s and was only recently made aware that I had a small error related to this airman on my site. Based on another source I had him labeled as South African but I was contacted by an author who is writing about wartime Mosquito pilots and he corrected me on that. This prompted me to look up a bit more about Val Moore and the question about a photo is also on behalf of this author.

I will forward your suggestions to him and will follow up these leads. Again, thank you!

[Antonio]

Some incorrect entries in his cenotaph entry:

www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/94357


MILITARY SERVICE
Royal Air Force, No. 488 (NZ) Squadron AWMM
Royal Air Force, No. 35 Squadron AWMM
Royal Air Force, No. 83 Squadron AWMM
Royal Air Force, No. 692 Squadron AWMM
Royal Air Force, No. 139 Squadron AWMM
1409 Meteorological Flight AWMM

MEDALS AND AWARDS
Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) AWMM
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) AWMM
Distinguished Flying Medal and bar (DFM*) AWMM
War Medal 1939-1945 AWMM
New Zealand War Service Medal AWMM
Air Force Cross (AFC) AWMM