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Post by kiwi on Jun 11, 2008 14:49:28 GMT 12
I have been ask to find out what I can about these three brothers . Ron has been a fairly easy search as he was with 485 Sqn , KIA 20 10 1943 . Eric died a few months ago I believe his war was in Europe and possibly flying Spitfires , while Tony's war was in the Pacific I am told . There was at least one other brother John who is still alive though not well . Does anyone have any info or tips on leads .
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2008 21:27:57 GMT 12
You could try Max Collett who is the unofficial 485 Squadron historian. There is a write up about Ron in shores book - Those Other Eagles - (detailing pilots with more than 1 combat victory). You could ask Arthur Arculus to help you find out info - he is a great man and a gifted researcher and always up for a challenge. The people he has located is impressive. A couple of years ago he managed to find the U-Boat captain who shot Trigg VC down an recommended him for the VC.
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Post by kiwi on Jul 17, 2008 22:15:53 GMT 12
Just in case anyone else is interested . I have learnt that Ron had joined the New Zealand Civil Air Guard and then become a Sergant Pilot in the RNZAF. He trained on Vildebeest and was posted to the UK where by July 1940 he was flying Hurricanes . Eric was in the UK prior to the outbreak of war and joined the RAF , training initially on Tiger Moths then on the first course to use the new North American Harvard Mk1 . He moved on to the Lysander with Army Cooperations . This led to action in France with 2 Sqn , during the retreat he returned to England and continued to fly over Dunkirk from Tangmere . Following this was a boring spell of coastal flying on the look out for the expected invasion fleet .In January 1941 he moved to 419 Flight at Stradishall flying for the SOE and in Februay crashed in Belgium in a Whitley to spend the rest of the war as a POW.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 17, 2008 22:58:39 GMT 12
Just in case anyone else is interested . I have learnt that Ron had joined the New Zealand Civil Air Guard and then become a Sergant Pilot in the RNZAF. He trained on Vildebeest and was posted to the UK where by July 1940 he was flying Hurricanes. What do you mean by he was in the Civil Air Guard? I've never heard of such a body. There was the Civil Reserve before the war (aero club and military trained pilots on a list who were prepared to be called up when war broke out). And there was the Territorial Air Force. Only one TAF squadron had Vildebeests, that being the Auckland Territorial Squadron. Is that what you mean? The other guy had an interesting career early in the war. |
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Post by kiwi on Jul 18, 2008 9:47:33 GMT 12
The information given to me reads "who had joined the New Zealand Civil Air Guard before the war and then been accepted as a Sergeant Pilot RNZAF and trained Wildebeaste biplanes , was posted to England " That was written about Ron . I believe this information came from Eric and was probably written down by a younger family relative in Erics later years as part of collcting and preserving family history . I believe there were civil aeroclubs in the UK immediately pre war that were doing the preliminary flying training with government sponsorship to boost recruitment for the RAF . Was there a similar set up here , and has this been misnamed in this family history ?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 18, 2008 10:21:34 GMT 12
Regarding Civil aeroclubs training pilots with a government sponsored subsidy and the Civil Reserve of Pilots see here: www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2AirF-c3-5.htmlCivil Air Guard sounds like an Americanism and surely thye must mean he was in the TAF. Where did he live in NZ? Did you manage to track down Max Collett or Arthur Arculus, Richard? I can supply their emails. |
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Post by smithy on Jul 18, 2008 11:02:07 GMT 12
As a sad aside Ron's operational service with 485 is believed to have been the shortest in the squadron's history as he was killed on only his third op.
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Post by kiwi on Jul 18, 2008 12:43:08 GMT 12
I did not follow up on Max Collett and Arthur Arculus and would appriciate their Email addresses . I have just found a mention of Eric in a Lysander in France having a strut shot away but made it back to base , and on another occasion he crashed and proved to be very difficult to extricate from the wreck as he was rather fat .
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 18, 2008 23:00:35 GMT 12
I'll send you a PM Richard.
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