No. 487 Squadron RNZAF
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| 487 Squadron (RNZAF) | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1942 |
| Role | Bomber |
| Garrison/HQ | ? |
| Motto | Ki te mutunga (Māori: "Staying until it ends" |
| Equipment | Ventura, Mosquito(WW2) |
| Battle honours | ? |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |
A tekoteko holding a bomb |
No. 487 Squadron was formed as a day bomber unit on Lockheed Venturas, with Royal New Zealand Air Force pilots, at Feltwell, Norfolk on 15 August 1942. The Ventura, an update of the Lockheed Hudson, acquired a poor reputation in Europe, as its performance was not really in the same league as British and German aircraft of the period.
Operations began in December, over the Netherlands. They included a raid on the Phillips factory at Eindhoven, and a power station in which the squadron suffered losses. A Ramroad raid (one to be continued regardless of losses), against Amsterdam on 3 May 1943 resulted in the loss of all but one Ventura, (the survivor having turned back with mechanical problems before crossing the coast). Squadron Leader Leonard Trent won the Victoria Cross for his leadership in this raid. He later took part in The Great Escape.
Following this disaster, 487 Squadron was reequipped with De Havilland Mosquito bombers in August 1943. No 487 was transferred to the 2nd TAF on 1 June 1943 and in August it began to receive Mosquito FB VIs. On 18 February 1944 the squadron took part in the raid on the Amiens prison (Operation Jericho), destroying a wall and enabling over a hundred Resistance prisoners, scheduled for execution, to escape. On 31 October 1944 the squadron destroyed the Gestapo headquarters at Aarhus resulting in the loss of German intelligence records about Resistance activities. In February 1945 the Squadron shifted to liberated Europe. The Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen received the same treatment on 21 March.
No. 487 Squadron was disbanded in September 1945 (its aircraft and those of its New Zealand aircrew who wished to remain became No. 16 Squadron RAF and No. 268 Squadron RAF).
The Squadron's Māori motto is "Ki te mutunga", which can be translated as 'Staying till it ends'. The Squadron code was 'EG'.
[edit] Surviving Aircraft
One largely complete 487 Squadron aircraft is known to survive, DeHavilland Mosquito FB. VI HR339, (later NZ2382) flew with 487 Squadron in the latter part of 1944 and early 1945. The wings and fuselage aft of the leading edge are with the Ferrymead Aeronautical Society, Christchurch, who are making a composite reconstruction with NZ2328. Some mementos can be seen at the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum.
Operation Jericho is described by Jack Fishman's book "And the Walls Came Tumbling Down" MacMillan 1983. A Biography of Leonard Trent is "Venturer Corageous" by James Saunders.
[edit] A note about New Zealand Squadrons of the Royal Air Force
It is now largely accepted that World War II squadrons 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 its 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. Between 1939 and 1941 the RNZAF could be argued to have seen its role as training pilots for the New Zealand squadrons of the RAF, 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 changed from 1942 when the RNZAF developed a large combat arm controlled by the New Zealand Government actively fighting in the southern Pacific, and when Britain stopped segregating airmen by nationality in 'bracket' squadrons and instead formed squadrons which mixed airmen from all Commonwealth and Allied nations.
