Bill Crawford-Crompton

Air Vice Marshal William Vernon Crawford-Compton, (2 March 1915 – 2 January 1988) was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was officially credited with destroying at least 20 enemy aircraft.

Born in Invercargill, Crawford-Compton joined the RAF in 1939. He qualified as a pilot the following year and was posted to No. 603 Squadron. In March 1941, he was transferred to a newly formed unit, No. 485 (NZ) Squadron. He flew numerous operations, including during the Channel Dash and was credited with a number of enemy aircraft destroyed. After recovering from injuries received in a crash landing, he served as a flight commander in No. 611 Squadron. He was given command of No. 64 Squadron at the end of 1942 and led it for the early part of the following year. After a period of staff duties, he became wing commander of the Hornchurch fighter wing in mid-1943, and led it until the end of the year. He spent three months in the United States giving lectures on RAF operations before returning to active duty as commander of No. 145 Wing. He led the wing in offensive operations in France in the run up to and after Operation Overlord. After the war, he held a series of senior appointments in the RAF, retiring in late 1968. He died in January 1988 at the age of 72.

Early life

William Vernon Crawford-Compton was born in Invercargill, New Zealand on 2 March 1915, the son of William Gilbert Crawford-Compton and Ethel . The Crawford-Compton family later moved to Auckland, settling in Mission Bay. In 1938, he was working as a storeman in Waiuku when he decided to enlist in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He joined the crew of a ketch, with the intention of sailing to England where he would enlist in the RAF.

The yacht, ''Land's End'', left Auckland and began sailing through the South Pacific. After stops in Tonga and Fiji, as they neared New Guinea, ''Land's End'' struck an uncharted reef. The four crew built a raft and were able to make it to nearby Rossel Island. They stayed with a local tribe for a time before making their way to Samari in New Guinea. There he gained a berth as a carpenter on a steamer heading for England. He eventually arrived at Liverpool on 6 September 1939, and promptly joined the RAF as an aircraftman.

Second World War

Although Crawford-Compton enlisted in the RAF in a groundcrew role, he was later selected for flight training. Once this was completed, towards the end of 1940, he was posted to No. 603 Squadron, based at Hornchurch, as a sergeant pilot. In March 1941 he was transferred to No. 485 (NZ) Squadron. His new unit, newly formed at Driffield, had a cadre of experienced New Zealand pilots. After a period of training, the squadron became operational on 12 April, flying Supermarine Spitfires on patrols over the North Sea. In June it graduated to taking part in offensive sweeps over the French coast and the following month was operating from Redhill. By this time Crawford-Compton had been commissioned in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) and was a probationary pilot officer.

Channel Front

Redhill was a satellite airfield to Kenley and No. 485 Squadron formed part of Kenley Wing, alongside No. 452 and No. 602 Squadrons. It flew 22 offensive operations in July during which seven pilots were lost. By September the tempo of operations had slowed, with the squadron only involved in seven operations. During one of these, on 21 September, Crawford-Compton engaged a Messerschmitt Bf 109, claiming it as a probable. The following month, while covering bombers attacking St. Omer on 13 October, he destroyed a Bf 109, claiming to have seen it break up in midair. As winter set in, offensive operations were scaled back but on one of the final sweeps of year, he claimed another Bf 109 as a probable.

On 12 February 1942, No. 485 Squadron was among those scrambled during the Channel Dash, with Crawford-Compton leading one of its flights. He shot down a Bf 109, which crashed near Ostend. Another Bf 109 was reported as damaged. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) early the following month; the citation, published in '' The London Gazette'', read:

In March, the Kenley Wing resumed offensive operations and on 26 March, while escorting Douglas Boston bombers attacking Le Havre, the squadron encountered large numbers of Bf 109s. Crawford-Compton, leading the squadron on this operation, shot down one of the enemy fighters during this engagement, and with Pilot Officer Evan Mackie, shared in the destruction of another. Two days later he shot down a Focke Wulf Fw 190, one of several put up by the Luftwaffe in response to a sweep mounted by the RAF that covered the French coast from Cap Gris-Nez to Dunkirk