New Zealand Airmen who fought in The Battle of France

[angelsonefive]

F/O KR Sutton, born Wellington 18/5/19.
Joined Civil Reserve of Pilots in October 1937. Began training at Rongotai on 1/4/38, and went to Wigram on 6/6/38.
Sailed for the UK on 1/2/39.

In early April 1940 KR Sutton joined 98 Sqdn (Fairey Battles) at Finningley and went to France on the 19th of that month.
On the first day of the Blitzkeig, 10/5/40, he was posted to 142 Sqdn at Berry-au-Bac. On the 13th of June his Battle was chased at treetop level by enemy aircraft. His gunner shot down one of them, damaged another, and F/O Sutton succeeded in crash-landing his shot-up aircraft near Dreux. For this action he received a Mention in Despatches and the gunner was awarded the DFM.
On the 15th of June 1940 the Squadron was withdrawn to Waddington.

KR Sutton went on to fly Defiants in the night fighter role and Douglas Havocs on night intruder ops.
On 2/4/43 he was returning from a daylight operation in a Mosquito when the aircraft was shot down in error, by Canadian gunners, over Hove. The navigator, F/O SR Streeter DFM was trapped in the aircraft when attempting to bail out and was killed. KR Sutton was able to get out at a low level, but was struck by propeller blades resulting in the loss of his left arm and lower left leg.
In August 1943 he became Station Commander at RAF Llanbedr.
KR Sutton's awards were two Mentions in Despatches and the DFC.

He embarked for NZ in April 1947 and was released from RNZAF service on the 1st of August.
KR Sutton joined NZ National Airways Corp. in 1950, retiring in 1980.
He passed away on the Kapiti Coast on 6/7/2003.

[angelsonefive]

F/Lt KW Tait. Born Wellington 19/11/18.
Provisionally accepted for a Short Service Commission in the RAF he sailed for the UK on 22/11/37.

To France on 9/11/39 with 87 Squadron (Hurricanes).
On 6/5/40 he was flying with another officer in a Miles Master when they were forced down by bad weather near Lille-Seclin.
The Master overturned on landing and both men were injured and taken to hospital.
Back in action on 12/5/40 F/Lt Tait damaged a Heinkel 111 and then, on the 18th, damaged a Stuka east of Brussels. On the 20th he claimed a Me.109 destroyed near Arras.
87 Sqdn was withdrawn to Debden on the 22nd of May.

KW Tait was posted to 257 Squadron at Coltishall on the 6th of July 1941 and failed to return from a convoy patrol on the 4th of August. His Hurricane was hit by return fire from a Junkers 88 in a clash over the North Sea 40 miles off the coast of Norfolk. F/Lt Tait DFC, MiD baled out of his stricken aircraft but did not survive. He is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial.

[angelsonefive]

P/O RM Trousdale, born Waimate North, 23/1/21.
Received provisional approval for the granting of a Short Service Commission in the RAF and sailed for England on 1/2/39.

Posted to 266 Squadron (Spitfires) at Sutton Bridge on 6/11/39.

Late in May 1940 the Squadron began flying patrols over the Dunkirk area.
On the 2nd of June RM Trousdale was credited with destroying a Me.110 in combat and probably destroying a Me.109.

Wing Commander Trousdale RAF returned to NZ in January 1946, and was granted a permanent commission in the RNZAF in April 1946.
In May 1947 he returned to the UK in order to ferry to New Zealand a DH Mosquito that had been purchased for the RNZAF. On the 16th of June, 1947 he took off from Pershore in a Mosquito T. Mark 3, accompanied by a Royal Air Force instructor, F/Lt AC White DFC, to carry out a check flight. During a single-engine flight exercise control was lost and the plane spun into the ground near Throckmorton, Worcestershire. Both men were killed.
Wing Commander RM Trousdale DFC and Bar RNZAF is buried at Haycombe Cemetery, Bath.

[Dave Homewood]

You're doing great work finding all these names, thanks AOF.

[angelsonefive]

F/Lt DH Ward, RAF. Born Whangarei, 31/7/17. Applied for a Short Service Commission in the RNZAF in March 1937 and reported to Wigram on the 23rd of May. He began his flying training a month later and was awarded his Flying Badge on the 10th of December 1937, completing his Course in the 1st of April 1938.

He embarked for England on the 23rd of April and transferred to the RAF on the 1st of June 1938 with a 5-year SSC.

In May 1940 he was serving with 151 Squadron in England. On the 16th of the month, in the company of five other pilots, he delivered new Hurricanes to 87 Squadron which had suffered severe losses. With no definite orders the six pilots decided to stay with 87 Sqdn at Lille-Seclin.

On the 18th of May DH Ward destroyed a Henschel 26 and the next day damaged a Dornier 17. 87 Sqdn was withdrawn to Debden on the 20th of May. Ward flew a badly damaged Hurricane back across the Channel and remained with 87 Sqdn, flying with them in the Battle of Britain.

DH Ward was posted to Egypt on the 20th of September, 1941, and at the end of the month joined 73 Sqdn as a supernumerary leader, taking full command in early October.
On the 17th of June, 1942, DH Ward led his Squadron from their airfield at Gambut as part of an escort mission covering Douglas Bostons. On the return to base, short of fuel and preparing to land, the Hurricanes were bounced by four Me109's led by the ace Oberleutnant Marseille who shot down two Hurricanes in his first pass. The two pilots parachuted out and DH Ward went back to cover them, whereupon he too was attacked by Marseille. Ward's Hurricane crashed and he was killed.

S/Ldr DH Ward DFC and Bar is buried at Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery.

[angelsonefive]

S/Ldr EW Whitley RAF. Born Auckland on 17/8/1908.

EW Whitley travelled to the UK in May, 1930 to join the RAF and entered the Service in December of that year on a Short Service Commission.
After flying training in Egypt he saw squadron service in Iraq. In November, 1939 he returned to the UK and went to Leconfield to form and command No. 245 Sqdn, operating Hurricanes. The Squadron became operational on the 25th of April, 1940 and moved to Drem, Scotland in May, with a Squadron Detachment at Hawkinge to take part in air ops over Dunkirk.

On the 20th of June 1940 S/Ldr Whitley led a successful low level raid on the Rouen-Boos aerodrome, an attack that destroyed or damaged a large number of Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. For this action he was awarded the DFC.

In mid-July, 1941 EW Whitley took command of 259 Wing in Palestine and planned the air defence of Cyprus and the Syrian Coast. On the 19th of October, 1941 he was attached to Air HQ Libya and given command of a diversionary force consisting of a Hurricane squadron, a Blenheim one, and a unit of armoured cars, the purpose of the latter being to protect the airstrips that 'Whitforce' would operate from deep in the Cyrenaican desert. The task of 'Whitforce' was to disrupt the Afrika Korps supply lines south of Benghazi. Although isolated and frequently bombed 'Whitforce' was a success, destroying several hundred enemy vehicles and over thirty aircraft on the ground and in the air.
'Whitforce' was disbanded in January, 1942, and EW Whitley became Wing Leader of 234 Wing in the Western Desert. Commanding the Wing as an Acting Group Captain he received a Mention in Despatches and the DSO.

After other appointments in the Middle East EW Whitley returned to the UK in April, 1944.

He retired from the RAF on the 9th of September, 1952, as a Group Captain.
Group Captain EW Whitley DSO DFC and MiD RAF died in NZ on the 25th of October, 1973.

[angelsonefive]

F/O RG Wigg RAF. Born Auckland 20th October, 1914.
He travelled to the UK in April, 1938 and was accepted by the RAF for a Short Service Commission.
On the 4th of August, 1939, having completed training, he was posted to No.65 Squadron (Spitfires) at Hornchurch.

In late May 1940 he flew on operations over Dunkirk with the Squadron.

RG Wigg fought in the Battle of Britain, and later saw service in the Middle East.
On the 1st of August, 1945 he transferred to the RNZAF and sailed for NZ on the 30th of November, 1945. He was released from the Service on the 14th of April, 1946 as a Squadron Leader, RNZAF.

RG Wigg died in Kawakawa on the 4th of August, 1976.

[angelsonefive]

P/O WS Williams RAF. Born in Dunedin on the 28th of September, 1920.

Applied for a Short Service Commission in the RAF, and on being provisionally accepted embarked for England on the 1st of February, 1939.
He was awarded a Flying Badge the 29th of August, 1939 and posted on the 6th of November to No. 266 Squadron (Spitfires) being formed at Sutton Bridge at the time.

The 266 Sqdn ORB Form 541 includes the following entry for the 2nd of June, 1940. :

"N.3175, P/O Williams 0615* (time up) 0815 (time down) Squadron ordered to patrol Dunkirk between 0745 hours and 0830 hours."

* The Squadron took off at dawn and flew to Martlesham Heath where they refueled before carrying on to Dunkirk where they patrolled at 22,000 feet.

The Form 540 gives additional information:

" Warm. Almost cloudless. Visibility good. Flying 37 hrs 5 mins. Squadron in action over Dunkirk. This is the first occasion the Squadron has been in action.
Pilot Officer JWB STEVENSON and Sergeant RT KIDMAN reported missing..."

On the 21st of October, 1940 P/O Williams took off in Spitfire Mk Ia X4265 to intercept a raid on Portsmouth. He landed at Stradishall to refuel, and on taking off appeared to be failing to gain height. The engine cut out and the Spitfire then stalled and dived into the ground. P/O WS Williams was killed in the crash.
He had been awarded a Mention in Despatches.

He is buried at St Margaret's Churchyard, Stradishall.

[angelsonefive]

P/O RD Yule RAF. Born Invercargill, 2nd of January, 1920. (Some sources give the 29th of January as his DOB,)

Early in 1938 RD Yule won a scholarship to attend the RAF College at Cranwell. He sailed from NZ on the 10th of March,1938 and was enrolled as a Flight Cadet at Cranwell on the 28th of April, 1938.
His training course was shortened by the outbreak of war on the 3rd of September, 1939, and on the 7th he was posted to the RAF with the rank of LAC, Airman under training-Pilot. On the 23rd of October, 1939 he was appointed to a Permanent Commission in the Royal Air Force. The next day he was sent to RAF St Athan where he converted to the Bristol Blenheim light bomber aircraft. His next posting was to 145 Squadron being re-formed at Croydon and operating Blenheims.
The Squadron was soon re-equipped with Hawker Hurricane fighters and was operational with them by May 1940. 145 Squadron was involved with ferrying replacement
Hurricanes to France and in making patrols over France and Belgium.

On the 18th of May, 1940 P/O Yule shot down a Heinkel 111 over Brussels, a Stuka on the 22nd, and a Me.109 over Dunkirk on the 1st of June.

RD Yule flew in the Battle of Britain, and went on to become a very successful fighter pilot and leader. By the end of the War he had attained the rank of Wing Commander and had been decorated with the DFC and Bar and the DSO.

On the 11th of September, 1953 Wing Commander Yule was leading a formation of Gloster Meteor jets in a rehearsal of the Battle of Britain flypast over London, due to be held in a few days time.
As the formation approached the city Yule sighted a Hawker Hurricane ahead, and realised that he was closing with it rapidly. He took avoiding action which brought him into collision with the Meteor of his wingman. Wing Commander Yule's aircraft lost its tail section in the impact and went out of control crashing between two buildings at the Woolwich Arsenal and catching fire. RD Yule died in the crash. The were no fatalities on the ground. The pilot of the other Meteor suffered a slight injury when his canopy took some of the impact, but he was able to make a safe emergency landing.

[bae]

May be help in finding airfields in France.

forgottenairfields.com/country-france-832.html

[fwx]

Two more from 75(NZ) Sqdn:

Roy John Alexander “Jack” Leslie (? Sqdn, Fairey Battles)

Roy Douglas Max (103 Sqdn, Fairey Battles)

[smithy]

Here's one who to my knowledge hasn't been included yet.

P/O Howard Perry Hill. Flew with 92 Sqn's Green section during the Battle of France.

[angelsonefive]

Oct 5, 2018 20:32:30 GMT 12 smithy said:

Here's one who to my knowledge hasn't been included yet.

P/O Howard Perry Hill. Flew with 92 Sqn's Green section during the Battle of France.

As far as I can tell P/O Hill did not take part in air operations over France although he was, as you say, with 92 Sqdn during some of that period.

The 92 Squadron Operations Record Book, Form 541 entry for the 12th of June, 1940 has him making his " 1st Solo on Type " on that day, time up 1135, time down 1220. Spitfire s/n N3285.
Thereafter until the 30th of June he is shown as doing a lot of local flying, practice aerobatics, formation flying and air drills, even a convoy escort, but nothing over France. 92 Squadron was " resting " at Pembrey in Wales for most of the time.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks for that, I'll remove him from the list again.

[smithy]

Oct 9, 2018 17:30:21 GMT 12 angelsonefive said:

Oct 5, 2018 20:32:30 GMT 12 smithy said:

Here's one who to my knowledge hasn't been included yet.

P/O Howard Perry Hill. Flew with 92 Sqn's Green section during the Battle of France.

As far as I can tell P/O Hill did not take part in air operations over France although he was, as you say, with 92 Sqdn during some of that period.

The 92 Squadron Operations Record Book, Form 541 entry for the 12th of June, 1940 has him making his " 1st Solo on Type " on that day, time up 1135, time down 1220. Spitfire s/n N3285.
Thereafter until the 30th of June he is shown as doing a lot of local flying, practice aerobatics, formation flying and air drills, even a convoy escort, but nothing over France. 92 Squadron was " resting " at Pembrey in Wales for most of the time.

Thanks for that, I'll remove him from the list again.

I wouldn't be too quick to remove Howard from the list.

The 92 ORB is notoriously full of errors and omissions and especially once Tom Wiese became IO (Tom was Norwegian and his English was poor at best. Added to this seems to have been a laxness in recording all details). Brian Cull and I earlier this year were discussing an entire op with a claim which was completely missing from the ORB.

Howard soloed on a Spitfire for the first time on Sunday 12th May after returning from the Palace Hotel in Torquay after convalescing from pneumonia. He first flew over the French coast and the fighting on the morning of Thursday 23rd May flying a patrol line between Boulogne and Dunkirk.

[Dave Homewood]

OK, he's back on the list.

[angelsonefive]

Further research shows that Howard Hill made his first Spitfire flight on 12/5/40, as Smithy says. The Form 540 (Summary of events) confirms the May date. The 12/6/40 Form 541 entry is out of place, or maybe the date at the top of the page is wrong.

P/O Weise joined 92 Sqdn on 1/6/40. The ORB duties were handed over from the Adjutant to Tom Weise on that same day.
I get a picture of an overworked Adjutant getting behind with the ORB entries, and the newly appointed IO struggling to catch up and making mistakes in the process.

I  have not been able to find ORB confirmation of P/O Hill's participation in the Calais-Boulogne-Dunkirk patrols of 23/5/40, but considering that he was an experienced pilot when he came to the Sqdn I think he may well have done so, just eleven days after his first flight in a Spitfire.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, so I think it  may be right to include his name on the list.

[smithy]

Oct 10, 2018 14:15:33 GMT 12 angelsonefive said:

I get a picture of an overworked Adjutant getting behind with the ORB entries, and the newly appointed IO struggling to catch up and making mistakes in the process.

Probably a fair assessment. It's also worth noting that 92 was Mac's first posting on acceptance to the admin branch of the RAFVR and also his first as adjutant. He had no prior experience in the position and so he was a "new" adjutant and he was also having to undertake IO duties and when at the time in question, 92 was also being moved south sometimes on a day by day basis. Tom coming onboard compounded the problem with his language deficiency and also the hectic situation of the time. These circumstances all added to understandably affect the quality of the ORB at this time.

Oct 10, 2018 14:15:33 GMT 12 angelsonefive said:

I have not been able to find ORB confirmation of P/O Hill's participation in the Calais-Boulogne-Dunkirk patrols of 23/5/40, but considering that he was an experienced pilot when he came to the Sqdn I think he may well have done so, just eleven days after his first flight in a Spitfire.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, so I think it  may be right to include his name on the list.

Except that there is not a total absence of evidence.

To rely solely on an ORB (and especially 92's at this time) is too narrow an approach. Some ORB's are very detailed with rare errors, others such as 92's at this time should not be taken as being the be all and end all. Michael Robinson in his seminal work on 92 at this time "Best of the Few" had logbook and correspondence access for Howard and chronicles Howard's involvement in the Battle of France, and even includes a letter from Howard to his family dated 10th June 1940 specifically talking about two of these patrols and describing conditions over Calais, Ostende and Dunkirk.

Not trying to be combative but just wanting to show that whilst ORBs are a good place to start they shouldn't be regarded as the final word or always completely accurate or exhaustive. It would also be a shame if a Kiwi who risked his life over the beaches of France at this time had his involvement forgotten.

[errolmartyn]

Hill flew a 2hr 25min sortie on 28 May 40, this being a patrol over Dunkirk-Ostend protecting the BEF's withdrawal.

Errol

[smithy]

Oct 11, 2018 13:56:38 GMT 12 errolmartyn said:

Hill flew a 2hr 25min sortie on 28 May 40, this being a patrol over Dunkirk-Ostend protecting the BEF's withdrawal.

Errol

Thanks Errol. That was the squadron show where they flew down to Martlesham Heath to join up with another couple of squadrons for a big show but were delayed initially due to mist over the airfield.