| James
Edgar Kain
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Almost half of the pilots that served with the RAF during World War II came from the British Commonwealth. One of Fighter Commands, commanders was the New Zealander Keith Park, a First World War 'Ace' himself with 20 victories. Park would inspire his men by flying unannounced visits throughout Operation Dynamo and also during The Battle Of Britain.
This fantastic group photo of Commonwealth 'Aces' second from right is Al Deere. One of the most resilient of the New Zealanders was Pat Jameson. As a flight commander with 46 squadron equipped with Hurricanes Jameson was sent to Norway in April 1940 aboard the Carrier HMS Glorious, Jameson was one of ten Hurricane pilots to land aboard Glorious (the first modern day fighters to do so). The following day Glorious was sunk by the German Cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, taking all the Hurricanes and their pilots we her except Jameson. Jameson was soon back in the thick of it commanding266 sqn during the Battle Of Britain. His war long career included Wittering Wing Leader, 12 Group Wing Leader at Dieppe, North Weald Wing Leader and group Captain planning the 2nd tactical Air Force strategy for D-Day, a fine example of a New Zealander during World War II.
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