75 (NZ) Squadron

75 (NZ) Squadron
Author: Chris Newey
Publisher: Mention the War Limited
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2023-03-16
Genre:
ISBN: 9781915335173

This expanded and updated edition of Chris Ward's Profile of 75(NZ) Squadron is the definitive and comprehensive wartime account of this well-known and highly-regarded Bomber Command outfit. Produced with the full support and assistance of squadron veterans, the Royal New Zealand Air Force Association and the New Zealand Bomber Command Association, it is a testament to the duty and sacrifice of all those who served with this famous unit throughout the Second World War. Chris Ward's detailed narrative, based on the squadron's Second World War Operations Record Book, is complemented by several hundred photographs, many published for the first time.In 1938, the New Zealand government had ordered thirty Vickers Wellington Mk1 bombers. RNZAF aircrew were despatched to train on the new aircraft at RAF Marham, and then take them to their new home in the Southern Hemisphere. When war broke out, the New Zealand Government placed the aircraft and their crews at the disposal of the RAF to help fight the new enemy. Already known as 'The New Zealand Squadron', the unit was given the number 75 on 4 April 1940, the previous unit so numbered having been disbanded. This meant that the original nucleus of personnel remained together as an operational unit of the RAF.On 4 April 1940, The New Zealand Squadron was renamed 75(NZ) Squadron. Although often referred to as an RNZAF unit, it was wholly equipped and controlled by the RAF until the end of the conflict. It was a key component of No. 3 Group, Bomber Command, and was based initially at RAF Feltwell, then RAF Mildenhall, RAF Newmarket and RAF Mepal, in Cambridgeshire. The unit saw action over France, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Sweden and Germany, distinguishing itself in the process.The squadron operated with a strength of three Flights after receiving Short Stirling bombers. In line with the rest of No. 3 Group, the squadron re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster in 1944, the type seeing the unit through to August 1945. 75(NZ) Sqn operated against the Germans from 1940 to VE Day, flying more sorties than any other allied heavy bomber squadron, suffering the second highest number of casualties. A Victoria Cross was awarded to Sgt J A Ward for climbing out onto the wing of his Wellington on an operation over Europe, in an attempt to put out an engine fire. Although badly damaged by enemy fighters' cannon shells, the aircraft managed to return to its base.

75(NZ) Squadron

75(NZ) Squadron
Author: Chris Ward
Publisher: Mention the War Limited
Total Pages: 475
Release: 2018
Genre: World War, 1939-1945
ISBN: 9781911255345

Chris Ward's Profile of 75(NZ) Squadron is the long-awaited, definitive and comprehensive wartime account of this well-known and highly-regarded Bomber Command outfit. Produced with the full support and assistance of squadron veterans, the Royal New Zealand Air Force Association and the New Zealand Bomber Command Association, it is a testament to the duty and sacrifice of all those who served with this famous unit throughout the Second World War. Chris Ward's detailed narrative, based on the squadron's Second World War Operations Record Book, is complemented by several hundred photographs, many published for the first time. In 1938, the New Zealand government had ordered thirty Vickers Wellington Mk1 bombers. RNZAF aircrew were despatched to train on the new aircraft at RAF Marham, and then take them to their new home in the Southern Hemisphere. When war broke out, the New Zealand Government placed the aircraft and their crews at the disposal of the RAF to help fight the new enemy. Already known as 'The New Zealand Squadron', the unit was given the number 75 on 4 April 1940, the previous unit so numbered having been disbanded. This meant that the original nucleus of personnel remained together as an operational unit of the RAF. On 4 April 1940, The New Zealand Squadron was renamed 75(NZ) Squadron. Although often referred to as an RNZAF unit, it was wholly equipped and controlled by the RAF until the end of the conflict. It was a key component of No. 3 Group, Bomber Command, and was based initially at RAF Feltwell, then RAF Mildenhall, RAF Newmarket and RAF Mepal, in Cambridgeshire. The unit saw action over France, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Sweden and Germany, distinguishing itself in the process. The squadron operated with a strength of three Flights after receiving Short Stirling bombers. In line with the rest of No. 3 Group, the squadron re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster in 1944, the type seeing the unit through to August 1945. 75(NZ) Sqn operated against the Germans from 1940 to VE Day, flying more sorties than any other allied heavy bomber squadron, suffering the second highest number of casualties. A Victoria Cross was awarded to Sgt J A Ward for climbing out onto the wing of his Wellington on an operation over Europe, in an attempt to put out an engine fire. Although badly damaged by enemy fighters' cannon shells, the aircraft managed to return to its base.

Luck and a Lancaster

Luck and a Lancaster
Author: Harry Yates
Publisher: Crowood Press UK
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005-04-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781840372915

This book takes you, raid by raid, through the author's tour of operational duty over the last five months of 1944. It is a bomber pilot's story, but it is also about the grinding operational pressure, the brotherhood of the crew and fears of injury and death. It is about a squadron of Bomber Command that bore a barely-equaled burden in operational effort and losses. It is about young airmen the author knew, who lived and too often died amid the turmoil in enemy skies.

Courage Aflame

Courage Aflame
Author: Bob Moore
Publisher:
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2019
Genre: Air pilots, Military
ISBN: 9780473479503

This story has been compiled from individual recollections as well as letters and other documents, both official and private. The personal recollections and contributions of the Ward family, as well as interviews with surviving members of Jimmy's crew, provided a sound basis for the manuscript enabling the inclusion of quotes and first-hand impressions from those who knew him well. The inclusion of Jimmy's own words (and those of his immediate family) was vital. Original documents and quotes have been included wherever possible.

My Name Is Henry Fanshaw

My Name Is Henry Fanshaw
Author: Gillian Torckler
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-03-15
Genre: Mascots
ISBN: 9781988538631

Henry Fanshaw is no ordinary teddy bear. In fact, he travelled the world with the Royal New Zealand Air Force's No. 75 Squadron - one of New Zealand's most famous air force squadrons - which served around the world, in places like Malaysia, Singapore and Australia. Before that, they had fought in the Second World War. Join Henry as he remembers the brave airmen who risked their lives for their country, including the famous Kiwi pilot Jimmy Ward who received the Victoria Cross for climbing out on the wing of a plane in mid-flight to put out a fire. Today Henry resides at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand.

Forever Strong

Forever Strong
Author: Norman Franks
Publisher: Random House (UK)
Total Pages: 256
Release: 1992-01
Genre:
ISBN: 9780091752729

Details the complete history of 75 Squadron, from its beginnings in 1916 right up to the present day. It is full of personal accounts from squadron members who survived the war and from current members, including the daring Kiwi Red aerobatic display team.

Escape

Escape
Author: Frank Gatland
Publisher:
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2017
Genre: Bomber pilots
ISBN: 9780473404338

Arthur Gatland is a pilot. His father Frank Gatland DFM mid was also a pilot. Frank joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1941 and following his flying training he became a Short Stirling captain with No. 214 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command . Following several operations with the squadron, including a very low level attack he made on Genoa, Italy, in October 1942 that earned him the Distinguished Flying Medal, his luck ran out. He and his crew were shot down/collided with a fighter over France on the night of 28/29 November 1942. Frank survived the parachute jump and he set off on foot in an attempt to evade capture. After covering many miles he was eventually taken prisoner and placed into Stalag VIIIB POW camp. He was not there long before he was planning an escape, the first of many to come. Including the initial evasion, Frank would be officially credited with five escapes by war's end. He was a genuine thorn in the side to the Germans, continually planning and scheming ways to get away and try to get back to Britain and safety. He loved every minute of it! In later years Frank wrote his memoirs of his wartime experiences, both as a bomber pilot and as an evader, escaper and a POW. Now, ten years after Frank's death, his son Arthur has published those memoirs as a book.

The Mallon Crew

The Mallon Crew
Author: Vic Jay
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016-10-04
Genre: Bomber pilots
ISBN: 9781523252893

'The Mallon crew' is the extraordinary result of four years of research. My decision in 2012 to write a blog about my father's war-time experiences as the Flight Engineer of a Lancaster bomber, took me on an incredible voyage of discovery, and unearthed some remarkable stories of courage, sacrifice and betrayal. As a child growing up in the 1950s, I never tired of asking my dad about what he did in the war. I wanted to know all about his role, what flak was like, and even how aircraft were able to fly. By the time I left primary school, my interest had started to wane and, when he died in 1974 at the age of just 55, I thought I had lost any chance of discovering more about his life. I couldn't have been more mistaken. Nearly forty years later, with just a handful of photographs, his flying log book and the name of his New Zealand pilot, Bill Mallon, my modest research project into 'Bob Jay's war' uncovered more tragedies than I could have imagined possible, and connected me with the families of all but one of my dad's crew. It even gave me the opportunity to talk to a man of 94 who had flown with my dad, and to find a photograph of my dad's aircraft flying to his last target. This book is not about a squadron, nor is it about individual acts of heroism, it is about the Mallon crew, a small group of unremarkable men thrown together briefly during the last few months of the war, and the amazing way in which their stories have unfolded seventy years later. I defy anyone not to be moved by their experiences, nor to marvel at the power of the internet to bring people together.