No. 488 Squadron RNZAF

No. 488 (NZ) Squadron RAF
Active 1 September 1941 – 26 April 1945
Country United Kingdom United Kingdom
Allegiance  New Zealand
Branch Royal Air Force
Role Fighter squadron
Motto(s) Māori: Ka ngarue ratau
(Translation: "We shake them")[1][2]
Anniversaries 1 September 1941
Insignia
Squadron Badge In front of a taiaha and tewhatewha in saltire, a morepork[1][2]
Squadron Codes NF (Oct 1941 – Jan 1942)[3][4]
ME (Jun 1942 – Apr 1945)[5][6]
Aircraft flown
Fighter Brewster Buffalo
Hawker Hurricane
Bristol Beaufighter
de Havilland Mosquito

488 Squadron was the name given to two distinct Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons during the Second World War. Both were formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Scheme and served under the operational command of the Royal Air Force.

History

Day Fighter Unit

Buffalo pilots of No. 488 Squadron RNZAF based at Kallang display the tail fin of a Japanese Ki-46 aircraft of 81st Sentai which they shot down over Johore, Malaya, January 1942.

488 (NZ) Squadron was formed on 1 September 1941[2] at Rongotai, New Zealand under Squadron Leader W.G.(Wilf) Clouston, a veteran of the Battle of France and Battle of Britain with nine victories to his credit. The squadron was one of several Commonwealth squadrons equipped with Brewster Buffaloes, and arrived at Kallang Airfield Singapore in November 1941, where it took over the Brewsters of No. 67 Squadron RAF. Kallang was shared with a Brewster detachment of the 2-VLG-V of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Air Force, and No. 243 Squadron RAF, in which most of the aircrew were Kiwis.[7]

When the Japanese attacked, the squadron was still in training and sorting out difficulties with its machines, including dysfunctional oxygen which prevented high altitude flying, weight difficulties which resulted in armour and machine guns being deleted and high maintenance requirements resulting from Brewster's use of worn out ex-airline engines in manufacturing the aircraft (which had been supplied to No. 67 Squadron in March). There were also problems getting spares and with the peacetime red tape and restricted flying hours laid down by the British High Command in Singapore.

Frequent air battles over Singapore occurred from 12 January 1942, the Japanese pilots being better trained and outnumbering the defenders, but (despite widespread claims of Mitsubishi Zeros being present), with the exception of a few Nakajima Ki-43 Hayabusa "Oscars" most Japanese fighters and many bombers were in no better condition than those of the Royal Air Force's.[8] As the Buffalo squadrons (many manned by New Zealanders and Australians) lost men and machines, several were amalgamated into 488 Squadron. Clouston had presented a plan "Get Mobile" to provide daylight air cover off the coast to Admiral Phillip's Force Z, but this was rejected by the Navy.[9]

The squadron received nine Hawker Hurricanes at the end of January to partially replace the Buffaloes, but by 31 January, losses and the ground situation forced a withdrawal to Palembang, Sumatra and a few days later to Tjililitan airfield, near Batavia, Java, where Dutch East Indies Buffalo squadrons were facing a similarly unequal fight. Clouston handed over command to Squadron Leader MacKenzie and stayed with remaining staff to become a prisoner when Singapore fell.

On 23 February, the squadron evacuated Tjililitan, to Fremantle in Australia where it disbanded on 2 March, the New Zealand pilots returning home to form the nucleus of No. 14 Squadron RNZAF. Figures for the squadron's achievements in the Far East are difficult to determine, but one notable pilot, Pilot Officer Noel Sharp, who flew a Brewster Buffalo in Singapore, is credited with three victories.

Night Fighter Unit

488 Squadron reformed on 25 June 1942 at RAF Church Fenton, Yorkshire, as a night fighter 'intruder' unit equipped with Beaufighters. The squadron aircraft carried the code letters ME.

When it switched to a defensive role in August 1943 it re-equipped with de Havilland Mosquitoes. In November 1944 the squadron moved to France, and was based in Belgium and Holland in the closing stages of the war. It disbanded on 26 April 1945.

Possibly the top scoring 488 Squadron Mosquito of the war was NF.Mk.XII MM466, ME-R, which shot down seven enemy aircraft between July 1944 and November 1944, after which the aircraft was passed on to 409 Sqn., with which it shot down another four.[10] In its night fighter incarnation, 488 Squadron flew 2899 sorties, shot down 67 aircraft and, in its intruder role, destroyed 40 trains. Pilots were awarded 5 DFCs, a DSO and an AFC.

488 Squadron was unique in that it was the only "Article XV" New Zealand unit to have two distinct and separate roles, in different theatres, during World War Two.

In December 2010, the new headquarters formed to command the RNZAF units stationed at RNZAF Base Ohakea was named No. 488 Wing RNZAF in honour of No. 488 Squadron.[11] This unit was disbanded in early 2015.[12]

Aircraft operated

Aircraft Operated by no. 488 Squadron RNZAF, data from[13][14][15]
FromToAircraftVersion
October 1941January 1942Brewster BuffaloMk.I
January 1942February 1942Hawker HurricaneMk.IIb
June 1942March 1943Bristol BeaufighterMk.IIf
March 1943September 1943Bristol BeaufighterMk.VIf
August 1943May 1944de Havilland MosquitoMk.XII
October 1943September 1944de Havilland MosquitoMk.XIII
September 1944April 1945de Havilland MosquitoMk.XXX

Squadron bases

Bases and airfields used by no. 488 Squadron RNZAF, data from[13][14][15]
FromToBaseRemark
1 September 19412 September 1941Rongotai, New ZealandFormed here
2 September 194110 October 1941en route to Singapore
10 October 19412 February 1942RAF Kallang, SingaporeDet. at Kluang, Malaysia
2 February 19429 February 1942Palembang, Sumatra, Dutch East Indies
9 February 194223 February 1942Tjililitan, Java, Dutch East Indies
23 February 19421 March 1942en route to Australia
1 March 19422 March 1942Fremantle, AustraliaDisbanded here
25 June 19421 September 1942RAF Church Fenton, YorkshireReformed here
1 September 19423 August 1943RAF Ayr, Ayrshire, ScotlandDets at RAF Drem, East Lothian, Scotland and RAF Coltishall, Norfolk
3 August 19433 September 1943RAF Drem, East Lothian, Scotland
3 September 19433 May 1944RAF Bradwell Bay, Essex
3 May 194411 May 1944RAF Colerne, Wiltshire
11 May 194428 July 1944RAF Zeals, Wiltshire
28 July 19449 October 1944RAF Colerne, Wiltshire
9 October 194415 November 1944RAF Hunsdon, Hertfordshire
15 November 19445 April 1945B.48/Amiens-Glisy, France
5 April 194526 April 1945B.77/Gilze-Rijen, NetherlandsDisbanded here

Commanding Officers

Officers commanding no. 488 Squadron RNZAF, data from[16][17][18]
FromToName
September 1941January 1942S/Ldr. W.G. Clouston
January 1942March 1942S/Ldr. J.N. McKenzie
June 1942February 1943W/Cdr. R.M. Trousdale, DFC
February 1943July 1943W/Cdr. J. Nesbitt-Dufort, DSO
July 1943September 1943W/Cdr. A.R. Burton-Giles
September 1943January 1944W/Cdr. P.H. Hamley
January 1944October 1944W/Cdr. R.C. Haine, DFC
October 1944April 1945W/Cdr. R.G. Watts

See also

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Rawlings 1978, p. 452.
  2. 1 2 3 Halley 1988, p. 531.
  3. ↑ Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 91.
  4. ↑ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, p. 76.
  5. ↑ Flintham & Thomas 2003, p. 89.
  6. ↑ Bowyer & Rawlings 1979, pp. 71–72.
  7. ↑ Clayton 2008, p. 52.
  8. ↑ A kill ratio of 2:1 was claimed by the Buffalo squadrons
  9. ↑ Clayton 2008, p. 83.
  10. ↑ Sharp & Bowyer 1995, p. 449.
  11. ↑ Blaikie, Bill (December 2010). "New Wing Established at Ohakea" (PDF). Air Force News. p. 26. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "Spitfire display marks Air Force changes". Stuff.co.nz. 3 March 2015. Retrieved 9 September 2017.
  13. 1 2 Rawlings 1978, pp. 452–453.
  14. 1 2 Jefford 2001, p. 95.
  15. 1 2 Halley 1988, p. 532.
  16. ↑ Rawlings 1978, p. 453.
  17. ↑ Ross 1955, p. 325.
  18. ↑ Thompson 1956, p. 461.

Bibliography

  • Bowyer, Michael J.F.; Rawlings, John D.R. (1979). Squadron Codes, 1937–56. Bar Hill, Cambridge, UK: Patrick Stephens. ISBN 0-85059-364-6.
  • Clayton, Graham (2008). Last Stand in Singapore: The Story of 488 Squadron RNZAF. Auckland, New Zealand: Random House. ISBN 978-1-86979-033-2.
  • Flintham, Vic; Thomas, Andrew (2003). Combat Codes: A Full Explanation and Listing of British, Commonwealth and Allied Air Force Unit Codes Since 1938. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-84037-281-8.
  • Halley, James J. (1988). The Squadrons of the Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, 1918–1988. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 0-85130-164-9.
  • Jefford, C.G. (2001). RAF Squadrons: A Comprehensive Record of the Movement and Equipment of all RAF Squadrons and their Antecedents Since 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife Publishing. ISBN 1-84037-141-2.
  • Rawlings, John D.R. (1978) [1969]. Fighter Squadrons of the RAF and their Aircraft (Reprinted ed.). London: Macdonald and Jane's (Publishers). ISBN 0-354-01028-X.
  • Ross, John (1955). Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. Wellington, New Zealand: Historical Publications Branch.
  • Sharp, Martin; Bowyer, Michael J.F. (1995) [1967]. Mosquito. Bristol, UK: Crécy Books. ISBN 0-947554-41-6.
  • Thompson, H.L. (1956). New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force (Vol II): European Theatre January 1943 – December 1945. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs.

Further reading

  • Bowyer, Chaz (1984). Mosquito Squadrons of the Royal Air Force. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1425-6.
  • Cull, Brian; Sortehaug, Paul; Haselden, Mark (2003). Buffaloes Over Singapore: RAF, RAAF, RNZAF and Dutch Brewster Fighters in Action Over Malaya and the East Indies 1941–1942. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 1-904010-32-6.
  • Cull, Brian; Sortehaug, Paul (2004). Hurricanes Over Singapore: RAF, RNZAF and NEI Fighters in Action Over the Island and the Netherlands East Indies 1942. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 1-904010-80-6.
  • Frances, Neil (2005). Ketchil: A New Zealand Pilot’s War in Asia and the Pacific. Wairarapa Archive. ISBN 0-9582617-0-9.
  • Hunt, Leslie (1949). Defence until Dawn: The Story of 488 N.Z. Squadron, Church Fenton 25 June 1942 – Gilze Rijen Holland 26 April 1945. Southend-on-Sea, UK: Washbourne & Sons.
  • Morris, Gerard S. (2000). Spitfire: The New Zealand Story. Auckland, New Zealand: Reed Books. ISBN 0-7900-0696-0.
  • Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian; Izawa, Yasuho (1992). Bloody Shambles, Vol 1: The Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-50-X.
  • Shores, Christopher; Cull, Brian; Izawa, Yasuho (1993). Bloody Shambles, Vol 2: The Defence of Sumatra to the Fall of Burma. London, UK: Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-67-4.
  • Thompson, H.L. (1953). New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force (Vol I): European Theatre September 1939 – December 1942. Wellington, New Zealand: War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs.

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