No. 488 Squadron RNZAF
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[edit] 488(NZ) Squadron, Royal Air Force
488 Squadron formed in September 1941 at Rongotai, New Zealand under squadron leader W.G. Clouston, a veteran of the Battles of France and Britain with 9 victories to his credit. It arrived in Kallang Singapore in November 1941 where it was one of several Commonwealth squadrons equipped with Brewster Buffaloes.
When the Japaneses attacked, the squadron was still in training and sorting out difficulties with its machines, including dysfunctional oxygen, preventing 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.
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 ("Oscar")s most Japanese fighters and many bombers were in no better condition than the Royal Air Force's, (it is worth noting a kill ratio of 2:1 was claimed by the Buffalo squadrons). As the Buffalo squadrons, (many manned by New Zealanders and Australians) lost men and machines, several were amalgamated into 488 Squadron. The squadron received Hawker Hurricanes at the end of January, but by the 31 January, losses and the ground situation forced a withdrawal to Batavia, where Dutch East Indies Buffalo squadrons were facing a similarly unequal fight. Coulston handed over command to Squadron leader Mackenzie and stayed with remaining staff to become a prisoner when Singapore fell. On the 23 February the squadron evacuated Batavia, to Fremantle in Australia where it disbanded on the 2 March, the New Zealand pilots returning home to form the nucleus of No. 14 Squadron RNZAF. Figures for the squadrons achievements in the far east are difficult to determine.
488 Squadron reformed on 25 June 1942 at Church Fenton, Yorkshire, as a night fighter 'intruder' unit equipped with Bristol Beaufighters. When it switched to a defensive role in August 1943 it reequipped 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. 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. The squadron motto is Ka ngarue ratau ("We shake them").
[edit] A note on New Zealand Squadrons in the RAF
It is now largely accepted that World War II squadron of the Royal Air Force manned by pilots of the Royal New Zealand Air Force are recorded by the formulation 488(NZ) squadron RAF, however some authors (e.g. Bill Gunston), have used the formulation 488 squadron RNZAF. At the time, New Zealand still considered itself part of the British Empire, and it's citizens simultaneously New Zealanders and British. Contemporaneous documents therefore refer to the squadron as an RAF squadron, and as an RNZAF squadron sometimes within the same document, not only because no contradiction was perceived, but because there WAS no contradiction. This is particularly the case with 488 - based in the Pacific theatre, closer to New Zealand than Britain - than African or European based New Zealand. Between 1939 and 1941 the RNZAF could be argued to have seen it's role as training pilots for the New Zealand squadrons of the RNZAF, just as New Zealanders prior to the onset of war served not with the Royal New Zealand Navy but the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. This of course changed when the RNZAF developed a large combat arm actively fighting in the southern Pacific, and controlled by the New Zealand Government and when Britain stopped creating 'bracket' squadrons and instead created Royal Air Force Squadrons only squadrons of airmen mixed from Commonwealth and other allied nations.
