The Wings Over New Zealand Show

Guest: Clive Woodward Estcourt NZ391045, Pilot, Bomb Aimer (14th of October 1917 – 17th of Aug 2017 )

Host: Dave Homewood

Recorded: ‎13th of August 2013

Released: 9th of August 2026

Duration: 2 hour 33 minutes 11 seconds

Clive Estcourt had been a commercial artist and signwriter in Hamilton in 1939 when the war broke out, and he immediately volunteered to join the Royal New Zealand Air Force. He was sent to the newly-opened RNZAF Station Ohakea in the Manawatu region, and became one of the very first airmen posted into that base after it opened on the 18th of September 1939. He thought when he first joined that he was going to fly aeroplanes…. they made him the station postman!

He soon was sidelined to become Ohakea’s station signwriter. He was able to set up his own workshop to make all the signs on the ever-expanding station. But he was still wanting to become a pilot however, and eventually in 1942 he managed to convince the RNZAF to post him to an aircrew course, starting at RNZAF Station Rotorua for his Initial Training Wing course.

He then underwent flying training on Tiger Moths at No. 3 Elementary Flying Training School, at RNZAF Station Harewood. He was then sent to Canada to continue his training in October 1942, where he continued training at RCAF Dunnville flying Harvards. But this training did not go well, and he ended up getting getting the chop from the course.

Clive was remustered to Observer trade, and completed his training in Canada, before being sent to Britain where he crewed up at No. 11 Operational Training Unit, Westcott. Clive suffered a severe mishap at the OTU and was forced to bail out, which he details, and was forced to do the course again.

He was then posted to No. 75 (NZ) Squadron with his almost all-New Zealand crew, consisting of:
Captain – Pilot Officer John Rees “Aussie” Layton DFC, RNZAF (NZ425914)
Navigator – Flight Sergeant John Christie, RNZAF (NZ4212829), aka Jack, aka Ben
Air Bomber – Warrant Officer Clive Woodward Estcourt, RNZAF (NZ391045)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner – Flight Sergeant Ta Tio Tuaine “Tai” Nicholas, RNZAF (NZ425658)
Mid-Upper Gunner – Flight Sergeant David Onslow Light, RNZAF (NZ4212848)
Rear Gunner – Flight Sergeant Leslie Dixon Moore, RNZAF (NZ421327)
Flight Engineer – Sergeant F. Samuel, RAFVR

After one and a half months at RAF Mepal with the New Zealand squadron, Clive and his crew were selected to be posted from No. 75 (NZ) Squadron to No. 7 Squadron Pathfinder Force at RAF Oakington. They were on Pathfinder operations from October 1944 through till February 1945.

During the tour with No. 7 Squadron PFF, the Navigator John Christie was badly injured in a motorcycle accident and he was replaced by:
Navigator – Sergeant. Lloyd Edward Anger, RCAF (R200903)

However, due to a non-operational error by the captain when he failed to turn up for a briefing, the strict command chain in PFF saw the crew sent back to No. 75 (NZ) Squadron without completing the PFF tour. This included Lloyd Anger who stayed with the crew. They carried on with the New Zealand squadron through February and March 1945 till the original members of the crew were tour expired.

Clive completed 36 operational sorties over enemy territory in total, plus several other OTU flights close to enemy territory as well where they were creating a diversion to confuse German defences.

Once he completed operational flying he became an instructor at No. 17 Operational Training Unit at Silverstone and Turweston. Postwar, Clive returned to New Zealand and was a member of a Light Anti-Aircraft unit in the Territorial Air Force in Auckland, before becoming the Adjutant of No. 7 Squadron Air Training Corps in Hamilton for 17 years. He was very active in the RNZAF Association, and as a special associate member of the Mess at RNZAF Te Rapa, Hamilton, till its closure.

Clive was one of the New Zealand Bomber Command veterans who was selected to be flown to London for the unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, on the 28th of June 2012. He was the oldest veteran in the New Zealand party, aged 95.

Clive passed away on the 17th of Aug 2017, two months before his 100th birthday.

Clive Estcourt with his “Memory Lane” as he called it, with his favourite photos and model Lancaster.

Above: Clive Estcourt during WWII.

Below: Photo from RNZAF Station Ohakea in 1939.

Below: Ohakea, 1940. Clive is second from left.

Below: Sports at Ohakea (1939-1942). Clive seated left. Airspeed Oxfords behind.

Below: Aircrew training at RNZAF Station Harewood, Christchurch.

Below: Training in Canada.

Below: At Westcott, England.

Below: Photos of Clive and his crew taken at No. 1657 Heavy Conversion Unit, RAF Shepherd’s Grove, before they were posted to No. 75 (NZ) Squadron.

Below: Target photos from operations Clive and his crew undertook,

Below: Postwar photos, including with the LAA Flight

Note: This episode ends abruptly simply because that is how the original recording was.

The music at the end of this episode is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud.

Guests: Don Simms and Chris Newey

Host: Dave Homewood

Recorded: ‎1st of June ‎2026

Released: 6th of June 2026

Duration: 55 minutes 27 seconds

“Maximum Effort” was a docu-drama made by the Ministry of Information during WWII about a crew of a No. 75 (NZ) Squadron Avro Lancaster bomber based at RAF Mepal in mid-1944.

In this episode Dave Homewood, Don Simms and Chris Newey discuss the making of this film, the real life characters who appear as themselves, and the Lancaster that is featured, ND752.

Portions of the original film footage, along with original black and white and recently colourised photographs are used to illustrate the discussion.

This all-but-forgotten film is an amazing time capsule showing life at RAF Mepal, near Ely, Cambridgeshire, which became a little bit of New Zealand back in 1944-45.

NOTE: It is recommended that you watch the original 18 minute “Maximum Effort” first, and the watch the WONZ 354 Maximum Effort video. There is an audio podcast version of the latter but the video is much more satisfying.

Above: Avro Lancaster ND752 of No. 75 (NZ) Squadron as features in Maximum Effort, as the Whitting Crew’s regular aircraft. This is a colourisation from an original black and white from the collection of the late Bomb Aimer and New Zealand Bomber Command Association President Ron Mayhill DFC.

Quick Links:

• The Air Force Museum of New Zealand

• The Museum of Transport and Technology – Home of the New Zealand Lancaster

• The New Zealand Bomber Command Association

• The New Zealand Bomber Command Association Facebook Page

Footage and original soundtrack used from Maximum Effort in this podcast are Crown Copyright but are in the Public Domain. These clips are used here only to illustrate the narrative of the podcast.

Below are other publicity stills from the film, which have been colourised by Dave Homewood using a mix of ChatGPT and Photoshop, as seen in the WONZ Show video episode. The original monochrome images came from the Air Force Museum of New Zealand collection, but will have been Crown Copyright images, and are therefore in the public domain.

Guest: Flying Officer John de Hoop (RAF 1810752, 191161) Wireless Operator-Air Gunner

Host: Dave Homewood

Recorded: ‎19th of November 2013

Released: 29th of May 2026

Duration: 1 hour 6 minutes 13 seconds

John de Hoop was a Londoner who joined the Royal Air Force in 1943, and trained as a Wireless Operator-Air Gunner. The following year he was posted to No. 75 (NZ) Squadron at RAF Mepal, as a Wireless Operator on Avro Lancasters, in the crew captained by New Zealand pilot F/Lt Wylie Wakelin DFC. His final few ops were flown with S/Ldr Bob Rodgers as his captain.

This recording was made at the time using Skype, as John lived in the UK. It was recorded as part of a wider WONZ Show project I was working on at the time that ended up not proceeding to completion. So it seems like it’s about time to share it with listeners.

John passed away on the 7th of August 2016.

John de Hoop (Photo via Dee Boneham)

Two more photos of John, from Dee Boneham.

Quick Links:

• John de Hoop obituary on the 75 (NZ) Squadron Blog

• The Wylie Wakelin Crew on the 75 (NZ) Squadron Blog

• The Bob Rodgers Crew on the 75 (NZ) Squadron Blog

The music at the end of this episode is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud.

Guest: Warrant Officer Leslie James Olsen N74992

Host: Dave Homewood

Recorded: ‎18th of March ‎2026

Released: 24th of May 2026

Duration: 1 hour 55 minutes 48 seconds

Les Olsen joined the RNZAF as a Boy Entrant in January 1952. He trained as an Armourer in 1953, and ended up working on numerous units and squadrons over the next two and a half decades, working on guns, cannons, ejection seats, helicopter winches, torpedoes, turrets and more.

Les serviced armament equipment on Vampires at Ohakea, Canberras and Iroquois at RAF Tengah in Singapore, and he was one of the first Armourers to work on the new Lockheed Orions when they arrived at Whenuapai in 1966.

He talks about being on the duty crew when No. 75 Squadron RNZAF Canberra WF915 went missing in a storm off Malaya and F/O David Finn was killed. (Les misremembered the Canberra’s serial number.) And he talks about being the first RNZAF member to drop a torpedo since WWII. And he tells lots of other great stories.

Les is also the Armourer trade’s historian, keeping records of all the RNZAF Armourers through the decades right back to the beginning of the trade. He talks about how this came about and what records he keeps, including theories about service numbers for Armourers early in WWII.

Anyone who can add information, photos, memories, documents or anything else that might help Les’ research, he can be emailed at laurelesnz@gmail.com



Les Olsen’s Boy Entrants Course. Members of No. 5 Draft, Boy Entrants School, practicing drill. Boy Entrants School, RNZAF Station Woodbourne.
L-R: Front rank; Joe Wipani, Murray McIvor, Kerry McKee, Gerard Brown.
2nd rank; Les Olsen, Gordon Browne, Bert Sergent.
3rd rank; Murray McIvor, Bruce Moonie, Dave Jowett.
4th at back: John Barrow (part obscured), Keith Libline. (It’s his hat on ground at right).
Air Force Museum of New Zealand photo DM233-52, 08/06/1952

Les Olsen’s Boy Entrants Course. Members of No. 5 Draft, Boy Entrants School, watching General Service Instructor, Corporal Lionel Piggott, demonstrating the correct stance for firing a rifle during Weapons Training at the Boy Entrants School, RNZAF Station Woodbourne.
L-R: Brian Churcher, Kerry McKee, Murray McIvor (part obscured), Keith Libline, John Barrow, Bill Moore (at back), Murray Hutchins, Colin Carr, unknown, Milton Mathieson, Bert Sergent, Les Olsen, Keith Turnbull, Alan Powell, Gordon Browne (at back), Bruce Moonie, Joe Wipani, Phil Jones.
Air Force Museum of New Zealand photo DM234-52, 09/06/1952.

Trainee Armourers watching the instructor, Mr. Frank Field, describing the parts of a weapon. No. 1 Technical Training School, RNZAF Station Hobsonville. This would have been the course before Les’ one, as he was still at Woodbourne on this date, but it nicely represents his Armourer trade training. Air Force Museum of New Zealand photo DM278-52, 17/07/1952

Quick Links:

• The Royal New Zealand Air Force

The music at the end of this episode is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud.

Guest: Air Commodore Stuart McIntyre CBE, DFC

Host: Dave Homewood

Recorded: ‎25th of ‎August ‎2025

Released: 15th of May 2026

Duration: 1 hour 2 minutes 21 seconds

Air Commodore Stuart McIntyre CBE, DFC joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force on the 31st of August 1949. Following an elongated flying training phase, he converted onto the then-new de Havilland Vampires. He ended up deployed to Cyprus with No. 14 Squadron in 1952, and then returned to Ohakea, New Zealand and No. 75 Squadron in 1953, where among his duties he led an aerobatic display team. He then returned to Cyprus in April 1955 for a second tour, now as Flight Commander of No. 14 Squadron.

Stuart and adjutant Flying Officer Laurence Turner sent as one of the advance party to Tengah, Singapore, to prepare for the move of the squadron from Cyprus. The squadron eventually reequipped with Venoms, and went into action against the Communist Terrorists (C.T.s).

In his subsequent career, Stuart become the officer commanding No. 14 Squadron when they were equipped with English Electric Canberra bombers. He then led the team involved in the selection of the Canberra replacement, which ended up as the McDonnell Douglas Skyhawk.

Stuart filled several other roles including Base Commander of RNZAF Base Ohakea, Aide-de-Camp to both the Governor General to New Zealand, and HM Queen Elizabeth II. He also oversaw the creation of the Ohakea Museum. On leaving the Air Force he became Director of Civil Aviation.

Pilot Officer Stuart McIntyre in the cockpit of his No. 14 Squadron Vampire at RAF Station Nicosia, Cyprus, 1953. Air Force Museum of New Zealand Photo NICD156a

Portrait of Flight Lieutenant Stuart McIntyre, pilot with No. 14 Squadron, wearing flying helmet and oxygen mask. RAF Station Tengah, Singapore. Air Force Museum of New Zealand Photo MUS090171

Note: Unfortunately although I photographed Stuart’s logbooks, and you can hear a few extracts from our chatter while I did that at the end of this interview, I completely forgot to get a photo of him on the day.

The music at the end of this episode is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud.