The Battle of Britain

Page 9 – Roll of honour

The following roll lists the names of New Zealand aircrew who died while serving with RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, July-October 1940. It contains 20 names - of whom 15 were killed in air operations and five as a result of aircraft accidents.

Nearly 3000 aircrew were awarded the Battle of Britain Clasp for having flown at least one authorised operational sortie with an eligible unit of RAF Fighter Command (including a number of attached Coastal Command units) during the period from 10 July to 31 October 1940. Of these, 135 came from New Zealand. They made up the third-largest national contribution after Great Britain and Poland.

See a full and definitive list of New Zealanders awarded the Battle of Britain Clasp here (pdf). This list was compiled with the assistance of Errol Martyn.

Name

Rank (highest during BoB)

Qualifying Squadron

Aircraft

Cause/Date of Death

ALLEN, James Henry Leslie

Flying Officer

151

Hurricane

Killed on air operations – 12 Jul 1940

BICKERDIKE, John Laurance

Pilot Officer

85

Hurricane

Killed in aircraft accident – 22 Jul 1940

BRENNAN, Jack Stephen

Sergeant

23

Blenheim

Killed in aircraft accident – 21 Aug 1940

COBDEN, Donald Gordon

Pilot Officer

74

Spitfire

Killed on air operations – 11 Aug 1940

HIGHT, Cecil Henry

Pilot Officer

234

Spitfire

Killed on air operations –
15 Aug 1940

HILL, Howard Perry

Pilot Officer

92

Spitfire

Killed on air operations – 20 Sep 1940

HOLDER, Robert

Sergeant

151

Hurricane

Killed in aircraft accident – 26 Oct 1940

HUGHES, David Earnest

Sergeant

600

Blenheim

Killed on air operations – 3 Oct 1940

KEMP, John Richard

Pilot Officer

141

Defiant

Killed on air operations – 19 Jul 1940

KIDSON, Rudal

Pilot Officer

141

Defiant

Killed on air operations – 19 Jul 1940

LOVELL-GREGG, Terence Gunion

Squadron Leader

87

Hurricane

Killed on air operations – 15 Aug 1940

ORGIAS, Eric

Pilot Officer

23

Blenheim

Killed on air operations – 25 Sep 1940

PATERSON, James Alfred

Flight Lieutenant

92

Spitfire

Killed on air operations – 27 Sep 1940

PRIESTLEY, John Sinclair

Pilot Officer

235

Blenheim

Killed in aircraft accident – 30 Aug 1940

RASMUSSEN, Lauritz Andrew Woodney

Sergeant

264

Defiant

Killed on air operations – 4 Sep 1940

SIMPSON, Geoffrey Mervyn

Flying Officer

229

Hurricane

Killed on air operations – 26 Oct 1940

STANLEY, Douglas Owen

Sergeant

151

Hurricane

Killed in aircraft accident – 26 Oct 1940

WENDEL, Kenneth Victor

Flying Officer

504

Hurricane

Killed on air operations – 7 Sep 1940

WILLIAMS, Wycliff Stuart

Pilot Officer

266

Spitfire

Killed on air operations – 21 Oct 1940

YOUNG, Robert Bett Mirk

Sergeant

264

Defiant

Killed on air operations – 8 Oct 140

How to cite this page

'Roll of honour', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/battle-of-britain/roll-of-honour, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 10-Apr-2015

Community contributions

4 comments have been posted about Roll of honour

What do you know?

Barron

Posted: 28 Sep 2023

You are missing Edgar "Cobber" Kain killed France 7th June 1940.

gabrielle

Posted: 15 Jul 2014

Hi Felicity
Try Cenotaph Database Auckland War Memorial Museum record of New Zealanders who served in World War 2 for information on Eric Orgias. Could be useful for your research.

Felicity Titley

Posted: 14 Jan 2014

So interested to see Eric Orgias recorded - and he was so young! He was my mother's cousin. My grandmother's sister Edie had married Edward Orgias and emigrated to NZ. I met her once in Norfolk, but did not then know of Eric. He is buried in Oxfordshire I think. This entry has made me decide to discover more if possible.