ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 192857
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| Date: | Thursday 15 January 1942 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Brewster 339E Buffalo |
| Owner/operator: | 488 (NZ) Sqn RAF |
| Registration: | W8183 |
| MSN: | 199 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | near Alexandra Military Hospital -
 Singapore
|
| Phase: | Combat |
| Nature: | Military |
| Departure airport: | |
On 15 January 1942 Japanese bombers flew several raids against airfields of the Singapore and Japanese fighters claimed numerous victories over the island: escorting Ki 43s of 59 Sentai claimed six Buffaloes shot down, patrolling Ki 27s of 1 Sentai claimed a further seven Buffaloes shot down from a force a 13 encountered over Singapore and two Ki 44 pilots of 47 Independant Chutai, Capt Yasuhiko Kuroe and Capt Susumo Jimbo, claimed another together. Against these 14 claims, three Buffaloes, two of 488 Sqn RNZAF and one Dutch, were lost this day over Singapore.
One of these losses was the Buffalo W8183. Its pilot, Plt Off Greville Lloyd Hesketh, led off several aircraft of 488 Sqn but the formation was soon attacked by swarms of fighters - probably from 1 and 59 Sentais - and Hesketh was at once shot down (reportedly by a ’Zero’) and fatally wounded. The Buffalo crashed out of control close to the oils tanks alongside Alexandra Military Hospital. Most of the other Buffaloes were damaged although all were able to return to Kallang, whilst only Sgt Kuhn (W8150) was able to claim any success. He reported attacking a Ki 27 which he saw roll over and go down vertically, apparently out of control. As he was then attacked by another and his aircraft badly damaged, he was unable to observe his fate, but it was later confirmed by Air HQ to have crashed.
Hesketh, a law clerk born at Auckland on 24 February 1915, was the first killed in action of 488 Sqn.
Sources:
"Bloody Shambles, volume one: the drift to war to the fall of Singapore", by Christopher Shores, Brian Cull & Yasuho Izawa. ISBN 0-948817-50-X
http://www.adf-gallery.com.au//nz-serials/nzbuffalo.htm
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2AirF-c7-3.html
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2AirF-c7.html
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C25863_
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Military_Hospital,_Singapore
http://wikimapia.org/#lang=fr&lat=1.286444&lon=103.801222&z=14&m=w
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Jan-2017 14:13 | Laurent Rizzotti | Added |
| 07-Oct-2018 07:15 | Nepa | Updated [Operator, Operator] |
| 08-Jul-2022 00:22 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn] |
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