No. 485 (NZ) Squadron was a fighter squadron established for service during the Second World War. It was the first New Zealand squadron formed under Article XV of the Empire Air Training Plan. Although many of its flying personnel were largely drawn from the Royal New Zealand Air Force, the squadron served in Europe under the operational and administrative command of the Royal Air Force.
Formed in March 1941 and equipped with Supermarine Spitfires, No. 485 Squadron became operational the following month, initially flying patrols protecting convoys making their way through the North Sea. It was soon doing bomber escort duties and carrying out sweeps designed to draw out the Luftwaffe from their airfields in France. In February 1942, it was involved in the Channel Dash, attempting to disrupt the aerial cover provided by the Luftwaffe for the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Later in the year it helped cover the Dieppe Raid. From mid- to late-1943 it flew extensively as part of the Biggin Hill fighter wing. Early the following year it became part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force and switched to a fighter-bomber role. In the run up to D-Day, it attacked numerous military targets in Normandy. On the day of the invasion, it provided aerial cover for some of the landing beaches. For much of the rest of the year it carried out operations supporting the advance of the First Canadian Army in Northwest Europe. In the final months of the war, it was often engaged in attacking ground targets, rarely encountering the Luftwaffe. It was disbanded in August 1945.
Background In the mid-1930s, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was in the process of expanding and required an increasing number of suitable flying personnel. A number of schemes were implemented for New Zealanders to obtain short-service commissions in the RAF with the intention of then transferring to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) in the future. This led to over 500 New Zealanders serving in the RAF by the time of the outbreak of the Second World War.
At around the same time there was discussion between the governments of Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to facilitate the co-ordination of training of air crew in the event of hostilities. This led to the implementation of the Empire Air Training Scheme (ETAS) in December 1939. Under this agreement, the RNZAF was to initially supply 880 full trained pilots for attachment to the RAF, with another 520 pilots being trained to an elementary standard annually. As each of the Dominion governments desired its personnel to serve together, the ETAS also had a clause, Article XV, that required the British Air Ministry to establish, pay and equip new squadrons belonging officially to the three Dominion air forces, for service within RAF formations. In theory, the Dominions would supply the ground crew as well as flying personnel for these "Article XV squadrons". However, in New Zealand's case, there was a reluctance to maintain fully-fledged RNZAF squadrons in Britain, so the decision was made to allow for the formation of squadrons within the RAF designated as being New Zealand. The New Zealand Article XV squadrons were formed around a cadre of New Zealand flying personnel already serving in the RAF, supplemented by newly trained pilots from the RNZAF, while their administrative and ground crew were predominantly British.
Formation
No. 485 (NZ) Squadron was the first of the New Zealand Article XV squadrons, formed on 1 March 1941 at RAF Driffield, in Yorkshire. Its first commander was Squadron Leader Marcus Knight, a pilot from Dannevirke who had joined the RAF in 1935. Following the outbreak of the war, he had spent several months as a flying instructor before taking a fighter pilots course at No. 57 Operational Training Unit in December 1940. He then flew Hawker Hurricanes with No. 257 Squadron and No. 310 Squadron prior to being appointed commander of No. 485 Squadron. The two flight commanders, Frank Brinsden, who was a veteran of the Battle of Britain, and John Martin, were experienced pilots, and among the other personnel were Pilot Officers Edwards Wells and Bill Crawford-Compton. While the majority of the pilots that flew with the squadron during the war were New Zealanders, at times its flying personnel included Britons, Canadians and Australians, and even briefly, an American of the United States Army Air Force. There were some ground crew from New Zealand as well, although the majority were British.
Allocated the code letters OU, the squadron was equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mk Is for its working up period. Although there was an experienced cadre of pilots, the rest were novice pilots of the RNZAF who had trained in New Zealand on old biplanes, such as the Vickers Vildebeest, and needed time to become acquainted with the modern Spitfire. These novices accounted for nearly half of the 25 flying personnel that made up the squadron by the start of April.
The squadron became operational in mid-April 1941, initially tasked with carrying out convoy patrols over the North Sea. Its first weeks of duty were quiet and towards the end of the month, it moved to Leconfield and its Spitfire Mk Is were exchanged for newer Mk IIs. Its first aerial victory was achieved in the evening of 3 June when Knight, leading a flight of four Spitfires, intercepted and destroyed a Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber that was attacking a convoy off the Yorkshire coast. The Ju 88 was seen to go down into the sea off Cleethorpes.
Channel Front 1941 By the mid-June, the squadron was taking part in offensive operations across the English Channel to France. The RAF had started these in December the previous year as a way of taking the fight to the Luftwaffe and then expanded them to what were called 'Circus' raids in which a small number of RAF bombers were used as bait to draw up enemy fighters. On other occasions large scale sweeps would be mounted by the RAF fighters to northern France, again to draw out the Luftwaffe. Smaller scale operations, carried out by roving sections and flights, targeted shipping, port facilities and airfields.
Initially, the squadron provided detachments that were sent south to an airfield of Fighter Command's No. 11 Group and from there joined up with one of the fighter wings heading to France on a Circus raid. Its first combat loss was on one of these missions. Flying on 23 June as part of the Wittering Wing accompanying Bristol Blenheims on a bombing raid on a power station at Chocques, it saw no action until it turned back to the United Kingdom at which several Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters intercepted the squadron. A Spitfire was shot down off the French coast and its pilot killed.
On 1 July, the squadron moved to Redhill, a satellite airfield of Kenley. It took a more permanent role in the offensive against the Luftwaffe in northern France as part of the Kenley Wing, alongside Nos. 452 and 602 Squadrons. Wells shot down a Bf 109 on 5 July, the first claim over France for the squadron, while escorting Short Stirling heavy bombers on a raid to Lille. The squadron ended up being involved in 22 Circus raids over the course of the month but also did convoy patrols and provided protection for air-sea rescues. By the end of the month, five enemy aircraft had been destroyed although for the loss of seven pilots.
Starting in August the squadron began to receive the upgraded Spitfire Mk Vb. At least 20 of the new aircraft had been paid for by a subscription fund in which citizens of New Zealand and Pacific Island 'Protectorates' could participate. Most of these aircraft bore the names of New Zealand provinces stenciled on the aircraft, just ahead of the cockpit. One bore the initials WDFUNZ, in recognition of the fundraising efforts of the Women's Division Farmers Union New Zealand. Operations to France continued through the month, the squadron often flying twice a day. They began to encounter the newly introduced Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter, superior in performance to their Spitfire Mk Vbs and, together with the Germans implementing an improved raid detection system, this advantaged the Luftwaffe in its aerial engagements with the RAF. At the end of the month, the squadron was involved in Operation Iliad, designed to draw out the Luftwaffe into combat. Two non-operational and obsolete destroyers were taken to the English Channel and the squadron mounted standing patrols over the ships for nearly two hours, ready to intercept any enemy aircraft attempting to attack. The Germans did not take the bait.
At times there was tension between the New Zealanders and the reportedly more successful Australian No. 452 Squadron that was also part of the Kenley Wing. There were suspicions that the Australians were overstating their claims of aerial victories and Wells was spurred so far as to complain to the station commander, Wing Commander Prickman. His complaint was dismissed as sour grapes. Weather began to affect operations and only seven circuses were flown by the New Zealanders in September and three in October. The squadron's last operation from Redhill, a sweep to St. Omer which saw two Bf 109s damaged, was carried out on 21 October. It then shifted to Kenley, swapping with No. 452 Squadron which went to Redhill. In November, Wells succeeded Knight as commander of No. 485 Squadron.
By this stage the effectiveness of the German aerial defences was resulting in high casualties in Fighter Command and together with the winter weather this saw an end to the Circus raids for the time being. The squadron flew in the last Circus raid of the year, on 8 November, proving high cover for 12 Blenheims attacking railway facilities at Lille. The last operation of the year for the New Zealanders was providing aerial cover for minesweepers working in the North Sea. A Ju 88 that attempted to bomb the ships was intercepted and driven off although the Spitfire that did so was damaged. Its pilot bailed out and was collected by one of the minesweepers. The squadron ended the year credited with 18 enemy aircraft destroyed, six probably destroyed and 12 damaged.
1942 Particularly poor weather meant there was little operational flying for the early part of 1942 but on 12 February, the squadron flew a mission to target the fighter screen put up by the Luftwaffe to cover the Channel Dash by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The squadron was split into three flights, with two flights dispatched to deal with German fighters spotted between the ships and the Belgian coast while the other, led by Wells, flew the seaward side of the battleships. Four Bf 109s were destroyed, another was probably destroyed and Wells' flight strafed a Kriegsmarine E-boat to the point of sinking. While the RAF lost 37 aircraft in its efforts to attack the German fleet, none were from the squadron and its exploits were widely reported.
In March the RAF's Circus operations and fighter sweeps to France resumed. In April the squadron, still part of Kenley Wing, flew on 26 missions; Wells occasionally flew as the wing leader. At the end of the month, King George VI visited Kenley to observe the squadron while it was on an operation to France. Although a quiet mission had been planned, the New Zealanders were engaged by the Luftwaffe and a dogfight ensued. While all returned, a few with minor injuries or damaged aircraft, the King, listening in on the radio during the engagement heard surprisingly frank language being used and commented on this later with the returned pilots.