New Zealand - Our Way

New Zealand Fighter Pilots Museum

NZ Fighter Pilots Museum

	This museum was opened by Group Captain Colin Gray DSO DFC & 2 bars during Easter 1993. Its main purpose is to honour and record the history of New Zealand Fighter Pilots and their crew and to educate the public about their history.
	The average age of a fighter pilot during WWII was 22 and if you look at the memorial roll upstairs in the museum you will see the names of 780 fighter pilots killed during the two wars. 80% of them never saw their 25th birthday. During World War II over 11,000 New Zealanders flew with the Royal Air Force (this is all types of aircraft) and over 3000 did not return. We guess that there were about 5,000 New Zealand fighter pilots in all theatres during WWII. Again, a marvellous achievement from a population of just over 1 million.
	The photos and biographies of the pilots around the walls in the main hangar area are those of all New Zealand's fighter aces -- that is a pilot who shot down 5 or more aircraft in air-to-air combat. When we started the museum we had no idea how many aces there were - maybe 10 to 15. We were astounded that there were 95. That is the highest number, per capita, of any country in the world.
	The Alpine Fighter Collection began in 1984 with the purchase of a rebuilt P-51D Mustang from the USA. Two years later the Mustang was sold to the NZ Historic Aircraft Trust to help achieve the purchase of Supermarine Mk XVI Spitfire (TB863, FU-P). Since then the AFC has continued to grow, with further aircraft under restoration. It's aim is to continue restoring and flying WWII fighter aircraft involved in all sides of the battle. The collection has been formed to preserve a record of a very significant part of New Zealand history.

Mural on hangar doors of a Hawker Typhoon

The Hawker Typhoon was developed as a replacement to the Hawker Hurricane. Although it was used as a fighter it was found to be excellent as a ground attack aircraft and was used to great advantage in this role in the last years of the war. This type of aircraft was flown by No. 486 NZ squadron during WWII.

Although over 4500 were produced there is only one example left -- and that is on display in the RAF Museum in England. So, this is one aircraft that will never be on display here. It is shown during a ground attack mission on a V-1 site (these were the small pilotless bombs that attacked England during 1944). It is being flown by a young pilot from Alexandra named Keith Taylor-Cannon whilst he was with 486 Squadron in 1943. In 1945 he became that squadron's leader and during an attack on barges in April 1945 in a Hawker Tempest he was hit by flak. He was seen to bale out but his parachute failed to open properly. His body was never found. How sad that he should fly right through the war only to be killed when it was almost over. This mural stands as a memorial to all pilots who never returned.