Veteran Recounts WW2
Mr Jack Stafford, an Ex WW2 RNZAF fighter pilot prior to being taken for a flight in a Harvard. His instructor for the flight was SQNLDR Scott Mckenzie. (OH-08-0344-10).
On 29 May the RNZAF base Ohakea Officers’ Mess had a dining in and it was our pleasure to have Mr Jack Stafford DFC as the guest speaker for the night.
Mr Stafford recounted his time as a FLTLT in No. 486 Squadron over Europe during WWII as a Hurricane, Typhoon and Tempest pilot. Among his most piercing memories was the first time he flew a combat mission, in which his aircraft suffered severe flak damage including a four and a half inch piece of shrapnel lodged in the propeller spinner. While Mr. Stafford was at RNZAF Base Ohakea he visited the Spitfire reconstruction project in Feilding and flew in the Historic Flight Harvard, one of the first aircraft types he flew in at Woodbourne as a trainee pilot in the RNZAF. It was an honour to have Mr Stafford and at 85 he more than impressed all who had the pleasure of meeting him.