News

Veterans, family and friends are invited to the annual RAF Bomber Command memorial service will be held on Sunday August 20th at 10.30am in the Hall of Memories at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Warbirds fans were thrilled to see the newly restored ex-RNZAF Mosquito NZ2308 display at Warbirds over Wanaka. This was particularly poignant for NZBCA. Not only did many New Zealanders fly Mosquitos in the war, including pathfinders and in two of our British-based squadrons, Nos. 487 and 488, but John Beeching, one of the very few remaining pilots who flew these wonderful aircraft in WWII, resides in Nelson.

John Beeching celebrated his 100th birthday with a party recently in Nelson with his family flying in from around the world. John flew Mosquitos in 100 group Bomber Command, a secretive group tasked with countermeasures against German radar, radio communications and flying offensive sorties against Luftwaffe night fighters and radar sites.

With sadness we record the passing of veteran Lewis (Lew) Day DFC aged one hundred. Day joined the RNZAF in 1942 for initial pilot training at Harewood, Christchurch, going on to complete his flying course in Manitoba, Canada and also specialist navigational training from Prince Edward Island as part of the EATS.

Former RNZAF Air Commodore Mal Gunton, a long-time honorary member of NZBCA, is one of the very few surviving RNZAF fighter pilots from WWII still with us. He was recently reunited with Vought F4UCorsair ZK-COR, the fighter type he flew in the Pacific.

Sitting in a cramped, curtained-off compartment, navigators worked by the light of a simple lamp, the pilot relying on him to find the target before guiding the aircraft and its crew safely home. Amongst a small set of tools to plot his route was a set of dividers. These have flown to Berlin and back.