Richard Trousdale

Richard Macklow Trousdale (23 January 1921 – 16 June 1947) was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was credited with at least six, possibly seven, aerial victories.

Born in Waimate North, New Zealand, but raised in Auckland, Trousdale joined the RAF in 1939. After completing flight training, he was posted to No. 266 Squadron. He flew Supermarine Spitfires during the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk and during the subsequent Battle of Britain. He later flew with No. 255 and No. 409 Squadrons and achieved a number of aerial victories, many while flying Boulton Paul Defiants and Bristol Beaufighters on night fighting duties. In July 1942, he reformed No. 488 (NZ) Squadron and led it for several months. For much of the remainder of the war, he performed staff and training duties but transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in January 1945. He was killed in a flying accident when his de Havilland Mosquito crashed near Pershore in England.

Early life Born on 23 January 1921 at Waimate North, in the Far North region of New Zealand, Richard Macklow Trousdale was the son of a farmer in the area, Archibald Trousdale, and his wife Clarice Rebecca Trousdale. The Trousdale family later moved south to Helensville and then to Howick, in Auckland. Trousdale was educated at Howick District High School. He applied for a short service commission in the Royal Air Force (RAF) in February 1938 and was accepted on a provisional basis at the end of the year. He left for the United Kingdom in February 1939, travelling on the RMS Tainui. The squadron's pace of operations increased in the following weeks and on the night of 9 May, Trousdale and Chunn combined to shoot down two He 111s that were raiding Hull. The squadron was responsible for shooting down six bombers that night. Trousdale was taken off operations in July to serve in a staff role at the headquarters of No. 12 Group. His work was in relation to night fighting duties and came with a promotion to acting squadron leader. On 1 October, he was posted to No. 409 Squadron as a flight commander, still holding his acting rank. His new unit was Canadian and working up to operational status with Bristol Beaufighters for night fighting duty. Later in the month he damaged a Dornier Do 17 bomber. By November the squadron was regularly flying night patrols but a quiet spell followed and it was not until the night of 8 March 1942 that Trousdale achieved another aerial victory, when he and his radar operator, Sergeant Affleck, destroyed a He 111 over Hull. He shot down a Do 217 on the night of 7 April; the aircraft was seen to crash into the sea off the Lincolnshire coast. He was awarded a bar to his DFC in May, the published citation reading:

No. 488 Squadron Personnel of No. 488 Squadron, on the occasion of a visit from William Jordan, the New Zealand High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, 27 September 1942; Jordan is seated in the centre, wearing a suit while Trousdale is seated fourth left. Promoted to acting wing commander in July, Trousdale was posted to Church Fenton to take command of No. 488 Squadron. The original incarnation of the squadron had been raised for service in British Malaya but had been disbanded after the fall of Singapore; it was now being reformed at Church Fenton as a night fighter squadron operating Beaufighters. Trousdale set about bringing the squadron up to operational status, implementing training programs despite having inadequate personnel and equipment. At the start of September, the squadron moved to Ayr in Scotland where it continued training, including working with ground-based radar operators. It began flying missions to intercept incoming bombers identified by radar the following month although these were relatively few in number.

Ranger missions, nighttime flights to occupied Europe that targeted German transportation infrastructure, began to be flown in February 1943. On one of these, mounted on 15 February, Trousdale damaged a train at Courtrai and two barges. Later in the month, he was posted to the headquarters of No. 13 Group in a training capacity for the next several months. In March 1944, he was attached to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down; here he gained experience with a variety of aircraft, including the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. He also attended a course for test pilots.

Service with RNZAF At the start of 1945, having completed the five-year term of his short service commission in the RAF, Trousdale transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). He remained in the United Kingdom, serving at the Telecommunications Flying Unit based at Defford and gaining flight experience with a variety of multi-engined aircraft. He ended the war credited with having destroyed six enemy aircraft, possibly seven, with a share in another destroyed as well as two or three probably destroyed and one damaged. Military aviation historians Christopher Shores and Clive Williams consider that it is possible that one of the probables was actually confirmed.

Trousdale returned to New Zealand in January 1946 with his wife, who he had married in 1941, and their two children. He had an extensive period of leave and then formally commenced his service with the RNZAF in late April 1947 with the rank of squadron leader.

Trousdale returned to the United Kingdom the next month, tasked with collecting and ferrying a de Havilland Mosquito fighter bomber back to New Zealand. On 16 June, while conducting flight checks on a Mosquito in which he was flying as second pilot, he was killed when it stalled in low level flight and crashed near Pershore, Worcestershire. He is buried at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath, Somerset. His wife, a former officer in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, took the couple's two children back to the United Kingdom after his death but subsequently returned to live in New Zealand.