Flight Lieutenant Basil Collyns

Basil Collyns, born in Greymouth on 24 February 1913, attended Nelson College from 1925 to 1930 and then spent two years at Lincoln Agricultural College before becoming a sheep farmer at Kaikoura.

In March 1939 Collyns applied unsuccessfully for a commission in the RNZAF before subsequently enrolling in the Civil Reserve of Pilots and beginning flight training with the Marlborough Aero Club. Having been called to full-time service on 19 November 1939 he completed his flying training and sailed for Britain on July 12 1940. 
 
After operational training on Hurricanes he was posted to 238 Squadron on September 28 and took part in the later stages of the Battle of Britain. On May 3 1941 Collyns joined No. 1 Squadron to take part in offensive sweeps, convoy patrols and bomber escorts. He shot down a Bf 109 into the sea near Boulogne on 21 June. 
 
With his operational tour completed in mid-November 1941, Collyns was posted away as an instructor. He returned to operations in June 1942 as a flight commander with 243 Squadron and remained with the unit until early September when he began a series of moves; firstly to 222 Squadron for a month, then to 485 Squadron for six weeks, next to the Air Fighting Development Unit at Duxford for seven months and finally as a gunnery instructor to 1493 Flight. 
 
Back on operations in mid-January 1944 he joined 65 Squadron to fly Mustangs. By this time he is believed to have had four enemy aircraft to his credit but no details are known. On 19 April 1944 Collyns damaged a Ju 52 and a Bf 109 on the ground during an attack on a French airfield and on 10 June he destroyed a Bf 109 in the air. 
 
Four days later Collyns was posted to 19 Squadron, part of 122 Wing which had seen heavy action over France since D-Day, eight days earlier. 
 
On June 20 1944 Collyns destroyed an FW 190 and two days later was reported ’missing’ after failing to return from a strafing raid on Cherbourg. His Mustang had been hit by flak as he attacked gun positions at low level. Pulling up sharply, hoping to reach the American lines, Collyns had to bale out when his engine caught fire. 
 
On landing he was greeted by French civilians and celebrations, complete with brandy, were in full swing when American troops arrived to collect him. He returned to England in a transport aircraft to rejoin his Squadron. 
 
On June 25 1944 the Wing flew to France to operate from Landing Ground B7 at Mastragny in Normandy. As the Army moved forward so did the Wing, to forward airfields. 65 Squadron was tasked with attacking enemy troops and lines of communication. Collyns took part in a strafing attack on the retreating German 7th Army at Vimoutiers, when the soldiers were subjected to non-stop rocket, cannon, bomb and machine gun attacks. 
 
Collyns later said "It was just slaughter. I have never been so near being sick in my life". 
 
On August 9 he destroyed an FW 190 and shared another and five days later he added a Bf 109 as a probable and damaged two FW 190’s. 
 
In a sweep over the Cherbourg Peninsula on 20 August Collyns destroyed an FW 190 and was then shot down. He crashed near a railway crossing not far from Rouvres, was thrown clear of his aircraft and was killed instantly. His body was taken to the Mayor’s house and at the funeral two days later the entire village attended with so many flowers the Germans protested. 
 
In October 1944 Collyns was posthumously awarded the DFC, having been credited with seven enemy aircraft destroyed and many others damaged.