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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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488 crest
21st February 1944 488 Squadron Mosquito NF.XIII HK367 F/O. Riwai

Operation: Patrol

Date: 21st February 1944 (Monday)

Unit: No. 488 Squadron (motto: Ka ngarue ratau - 'We shake them')

Type: Mosquito NF.XIII

Serial: HK367

Code: ME-?

Base: RAF Bradwell Bay, Essex

Location: At base

Pilot: F/O. Tohunga Richard Riwai NZ/421764 RNZAF Age 25. Killed

Nav: Fl/Sgt. Ian Clarke NZ/425491 RNZAF Age 24. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

After taking off at about 05:35 hrs to carry out a patrol the aircraft crashed almost immediately.

HK367 came down among the steel anti-invasion defences on the mud flats one mile from the airfield. No reason for the accident has been ascertained.

Burial details:

F/O. Tohunga Richard Riwai. Brookwood Military Cemetery. Grave 2.K.2. Born on the 13th September 1918 at Otaki. Worked as a clerk for the Native Department at Rotorua prior to service. Enlisted at Rotorua on the 07th March 1942. Trained at 3 SFTS and 1 SFTS in New Zealand. Awarded his pilots badge on the 19th October and his commission on the 19th December 1942. Embarked for England on the 10th January 1943. After conversion training at 60 and 63 Operational Training Units joined 488 squadron on the 07th December 1943. Son of Ripai and Pita Riwai, of Rotorua, New Zealand. Husband of Katie Riwai (nee Ratete) and father of three children. A total of 417 flying hours logged, 33 of these solo on the Mosquito. On his 3rd operational sortie.

Above: RAF Bradwell Bay Memorial - name plates placed either side for lost aircrew.

Fl/Sgt. Ian Clarke. Brookwood Military Cemetery. Grave 2.K.1B. Born at Mataura on the 12th December 1919. Worked for NZR at Hamilton as a clerk prior to service. Enlisted at Waipapakauri on the 30th May 1942. Embarked for Canada on the 10th November 1942. Awarded his navigators badge on the 18th April 1942 and promoted to sergeant. Embarked for England on the 28th May 1943. After conversion training at 60 and 63 Operational Training Units joined 488 squadron on the 07th December 1943. Son of William Henry and Robina Jane Clark (nee Stevens), of Pukehina, Te Puke, New Zealand. On his 3rd operational sortie. (note spelling is Clarke not Clark as the CWGC has listed)

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to Jenifer Lemaire and to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, AWMM, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 25-04-2021

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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