Camille Enright Malfroy, (21 January 1909 – 8 May 1966)Cam Malfroy
Tennis Archives was a prominent New Zealand

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player of the 1930s and 1940s, competing in numerous grand slam championships of the era, and a fighter pilot and

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Early and personal life

Camille Enright Malfroy was born in

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

on 21 January 1909 the son of Camille M. Malfroy, of the State Forest Department,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and younger brother of the rugby player Jules Malfroy. The Malfroy family in New Zealand was descended from Jean Baptiste Malfroy, originally from

Macornay Macornay () is a commune in the Jura department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Jura department The following is a list of the 494 communes of the Jura department of France. The commun ...

Lons-le-Saunier Lons-le-Saunier () is a Communes of France, commune and capital of the Jura (department), Jura Department, eastern France. Geography The town is in the heart of the Revermont region, at the foot of the first plateau of the Jura massif. The Jur ...

, France, a miller, and his wife, Josephine Pricarde. Jean Baptiste along with two of his sons,

Jean Michel Camille Malfroy Jean Michel Camille Malfroy (23 March 1839 – 6 January 1897) was a New Zealand engineer and local politician. He was born in Macornay, France on 23 March 1839. Malfroy arrived in New Zealand via the Victorian goldfields in the 1860s. Natural ...

, usually known as Camille, and Jules Cézar Malfroy (the eldest of the three brothers), joined the rush to the Victorian goldfields in the 1850s and arrived in New Zealand in the early 1860s. Malfroy, like his older brother Jules, attended

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, where he studied Economics. At Cambridge he received his Blue for tennis and was also a noted rugby player. Cam Malfroy with family 1951

In 1939 Malfroy married Sybil Gordon. They divorced in the 1940s. Malfroy remarried in 1948.

Tennis career

In the 1930s Cam Malfroy was a well-known tennis player and represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the

Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

. He played 12 matches for New Zealand between 1934 and 1939. In singles he won two matches and lost five, and in doubles he won three matches and lost two. Away from the

, he was in the final of the New Zealand tennis championships in 1932 and 1933, winning the title in 1933 after a five-set victory in the final against

Clifford Sproule Clifford Sproule (23 May 1905 – 24 April 1981) was an Australian tennis player and administrator. As a player he reached the semifinals of the Australian Championships singles. Sproule played Davis Cup, then was a manager of the Australian ...

. He also competed in a number of Grand Slam tournaments, nine times at Wimbledon, and once each in the France and Australian Opens. The furthest he progressed in any of these was to the fourth round of the 1931 Wimbledon championships. After his 1934, the year of his final triumph in the New Zealand championships, he moved to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and thereafter only competed in Europe, notably at Wimbledon, but also a number of other minor tournaments. As a doubles player he also won the Men's title twice (once in 1929–30 partnering D. G. France and a second time in 1932–33 partnering I. A. Seay) and won the Mixed Doubles in 1932–33 partnering Miss M. Macfarlane.Tennis, Lawn, New Zealand Championships
Teara.govt.nz (22 April 2009). Retrieved 13 July 2018.

Performance timeline

Military career

Malfroy learned to fly in 1931–32 while a student at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

with the

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons are training units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF of the Royal Air Force and their main role is to attract students into careers as RAF officers. Primarily its goal is achieved through offering b ...

. Soon after the outbreak of the

in September 1939 he was mobilised with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF) and joined

No. 501 Squadron RAF ("Fear nothing") , colors = , colors_label = , march = , mascot = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , anniversaries = , decorations = , battle_honours = France & Low Countries, 1940 Battle of Britain, 1940 Home Defen ...

. On 10 May 1940, the start of the German offensive against Western Europe and France, his squadron moved across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

as reinforcements for the RAF units already there. It was recorded that Malfroy claimed a

Heinkel He 111 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a "wolf in sheep's clothing". Due to restrictions placed on Germany after th ...

of II./

KG 53 ''Kampfgeschwader'' 53 "Legion Condor" (KG 53; English: ''Condor Legion'') was a Luftwaffe bomber wing during World War II. Its units participated on all of the fronts in the European Theatre until it was disbanded in May 1945. At all times it o ...

destroyed on 11 May near

Bétheniville Bétheniville () is a commune in the Marne department in northeastern France. Geography The commune is traversed by the Suippe river. Population See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 613 communes in the F ...

. Malfroy's squadron continued to fight until the evacuation from

Dinard Dinard (; br, Dinarzh, ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Dinard'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine Departments of France, department, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern France. Dinard is on the Côte d'� ...

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

on 18 June 1940. The following day, the Hurricanes flew from

St Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

on Jersey to cover the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

's evacuation from

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

. Flight Lieutenant Malfroy then became an instructor at No. 57 Operational Training Unit at

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home ...

, rejoining No. 501 Squadron in February 1941 until December, when he was posted to No. 417 Squadron RAF at Charmy Down flying

Spitfires The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

. He led No. 417 Squadron until March 1942, when he then commanded

No. 66 Squadron RAF No. 66 Squadron was a Royal Flying Corps and eventually Royal Air Force aircraft squadron. History World War I It was first formed at Filton on 30 June 1916 as a training squadron equipped with Royal Aircraft Factory BE2, BE12s and the Avro 50 ...

. In June 1942 he was posted as Chief Flying Instructor to No. 61 Operational Training Unit. He then had a short posting on the Training Staff at HQ 10 Group, before returning to operations in June 1943 to become wing commander (flying) at

RAF Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. In early 1944, he took command of 145 Airfield. He then moved to the staff at HQ Allied Expeditionary Air Force and in late 1944 commanded

RAF Portreath Remote Radar Head Portreath or RRH Portreath is an air defence radar station operated by the Royal Air Force. It has a coastal location at Nancekuke Common, approximately north east of the village of Portreath in Cornwall, England. Its radar ( ...

and

RAF Warmwell Royal Air Force Warmwell or more simply RAF Warmwell is a former Royal Air Force station near Warmwell in Dorset, England from 1937 to 1946, located about 5 miles east-southeast of Dorchester; 100 miles southwest of London. During the Second W ...

in 1945. Malfroy was credited with five enemy aircraft destroyed during the war. He was awarded both the Commonwealth Distinguished Flying Cross and the American Distinguished Flying Cross.Wing Commander Camille Enright Malfroy
New Zealand Fighter Pilots' Museum

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Malfroy, Cam 1909 births 1966 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge New Zealand male tennis players New Zealand people of French descent New Zealand World War II flying aces People from Hokitika Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Place of death missing