The Wings Over New Zealand Show Episode 126 – “Spitfire Pilot Haydn Finbow” is now online. Following a chance meeting in his home town of Cambridge, New Zealand, I interviewed Haydn Finbow, a WWII Spitfire pilot.
Born and brought up in a small village in Suffolk, England, Haydn joined the Royal Air Force in 1941. In this episode he details his journey through the training system from initial entry at Lords Cricket Ground and flying Tiger Moths at Marshall Airport in Cambridgeshire, to advanced training in the USA, and his return to Britain where he eventually joined No. 610 (County of Chester) Squadron RAF.
Haydn flew Spitfire Mk. V’s and then the Griffon engined Spitfire Mk. XIV’s on patrols over Europe before and after D-Day, occasionally sighting enemy fighters including the famous yellow nosed Abbeville Boys, sometimes attacking ships, flying Search and Rescue operations, and more. Haydn had two crashes in Spitfires, the first shot down over enemy territory. He flew operationally with the squadron from mid-1943 through till after the end of the war. One of his squadron mates was New Zealander Colin Gray, who ended the war as New Zealand’s top fighter ace of all time. The pair were great friends.
Haydn and his wife moved to New Zealand in 1974, living in Cambridge , Hamilton and Tauranga before he has retired back to Cambridge.
http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/2016/12/haydn-finbow/
By: allan125 - 8th December 2016 at 07:39
No problem, happy to have helped complete his story.
By: Dave Homewood - 7th December 2016 at 21:59
Aha, gotcha, sorry I misread that bit.
By: allan125 - 7th December 2016 at 21:39
Ronnie was with no operational service when posted to 130 in March 1945.
By: Dave Homewood - 7th December 2016 at 20:24
Haydn talks about being hit and coming down, but he wasn’t “inside” the Allied line, he was right on the front line with Germans on one side and Allies on he other of his crashed aircraft.
Plus you book is wrong, he was not “with no operational experience”, he’d been flying ops with No. 610 Squadron since mid 1943.
By: allan125 - 7th December 2016 at 15:42
Hello Dave
I had a look in “Spitfire against the odds” by Ronnie Ashman, a Sgt pilot who joined 130 in about March 1945, with no operational experience, which was rare for an XIV squadron posting at this stage of the war. April 1945 “On one sortie, Flying Officer Finbow was unlucky. I saw him hit by flak as he passed over the last vehicle, but fortunately he crash-landed inside our lines and quickly sent to hospital” that’s the only mention of him, and confirms that I was correct in him being posted to 130 after 610 disbanded.
Allan
By: Dave Homewood - 7th December 2016 at 09:08
Thanks Allan.
By: allan125 - 6th December 2016 at 21:44
Thanks Dave, that answers my question. He came back to 125 Wing, and was posted to 130 (Punjab) as after VE-day they were posted back to the UK, instead of going to Denmark, to their disappointment, handed over their XIV’s and took on IX’s from a Canadian squadron. Then via Scotland they were posted to Norway as part of their Liberation.
Cheers
Allan
By: Dave Homewood - 6th December 2016 at 19:13
I do not know Allan, I was just going by what he said. He mentioned his second crash, just after the end of the war, was in a Mk. IX Spitfire, if that helps, but you’ll have to have a listen for other clues I guess. He did mention that was in Norway.
By: allan125 - 6th December 2016 at 17:05
Hello Dave
610 (County of Chester) Squadron was disbanded on 3 March 1945 whilst at Warmwell for an APC, so “He flew operationally with the squadron from mid-1943 through till after the end of the war” is not factually correct. Do you know if he was posted back to 125 Wing, then at B.78 Eindhoven/Holland, possibly as a reinforcement for 130 (Punjab) Squadron or 350 (Belgian) Squadron, the other Spitfire XIV Squadron, 41 Squadron, was detached to 122 Wing at B.80 Volkel at the time, and replaced 610 at the Warmwell APC a few days later, or he was posted elsewhere, perhaps from 83GSU?
many thanks
Allan
Many thanks
By: D1566 - 5th December 2016 at 18:10
It’s audio Martin.
Listening then 🙂 I will, in time.
By: Dave Homewood - 5th December 2016 at 01:51
It’s audio Martin.
By: D1566 - 4th December 2016 at 09:16
appreciate you sharing it but I haven’t personally had the chance to spend 2 hours watching it all yet!
By: Dave Homewood - 4th December 2016 at 02:51
I thought this thread may have generated at least a little interest here on the Spitfire forum, since he’s an English RAF Spitfire veteran who served two years in a famous squadron…
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December 1, 2016 at 11:21 pm