Wilfred Clouston
Wilfred Greville Clouston was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. He was credited with the destruction of nine enemy aircraft and shared in the destruction of three more.
Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Clouston joined the RAF in 1936. He flew Supermarine Spitfires with No. 19 Squadron during the Battle of France and the subsequent Battle of Britain. He later commanded No. 258 Squadron. In August 1941 he was sent to Singapore to take command of No. 488 Squadron but became a prisoner of war when the British surrendered Singapore in February 1942. He remained in the RAF after the war, holding a series of administrative posts until his retirement in 1957. He farmed in New Zealand until his death in 1980.
Early life
Wilfred Greville Clouston, known as Wilf, was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 15 January 1916, the son of A. W. Clouston and his wife. He had at least one brother. The family later moved to Wellington, where Clouston was educated except for his final year of schooling, which was at Nelson College. On completing his education, he took up clerical work. Interested in flying, he took piloting lessons at Rongotai Aerodrome and in 1935 earned his pilot's licence. The following year he travelled to England where he obtained a short service commission in the Royal Air Force.Clouston underwent flight training at the Flying Training School at the RAF's station at Peterborough before being posted to No. 19 Squadron as an acting pilot officer in 1937. At the time, the squadron was based at Duxford and operated the Gloster Gauntlet but in August the following year, it began to re-equip with the Supermarine Spitfire. It was the first squadron in the RAF to do so.
Second World War
After the outbreak of the Second World War, No. 19 Squadron's operational role was to protect shipping in the North Sea by flying covering missions for convoys but generally it saw little offensive action by the Germans. In early May, Clouston and his section pursued a Junkers Ju 88 bomber off the coast of East Anglia but were unsuccessful in shooting it down. By this time, Clouston was married to Anne, the ceremony having taken place at Little Wilbraham.Soon after the German invasion of the Low Countries, No. 19 Squadron began operations over the French and Belgian coast and covering the area around Dunkirk. Clouston, now a flight lieutenant, was leading a flight of his squadron on its first patrol over Dunkirk on 26 May 1940 when it encountered around 20 Junkers Ju 87 dive bombers along with their fighter escorts. Engaging the Germans, Clouston managed to destroy two of the Ju 87s. The next day, he shot down a Dornier Do 215 and shared a probable with two other pilots in his flight. On 1 June, again over Dunkirk, he shared in the destruction of a Messerschmitt Bf 110 and on his own, shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109. Later in the month, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his efforts; the citation published in the London Gazette noted his feat in destroying four enemy aircraft.
Battle of Britain
Following the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk, No. 19 Squadron returned to Duxford and flew night patrols for a period. It was posted to Fowlmere as part of No. 12 Group, initially flying convoy patrols. As the Battle of Britain escalated, the squadron was one of those that formed the Duxford Wing and flew several operations beginning in August. Several Spitfires of the squadron were experimentally fitted with Hispano cannons but these proved problematic and were prone to jamming; eventually the aircraft reverted to their standard Browning machine guns. On 9 August, while flying a cannon-equipped Spitfire, Clouston was credited with half shares in two Bf 109s shot down over the Thames estuary. He destroyed two Bf 109s while on patrol with the squadron on 8 September.On Battle of Britain Day, 15 September 1940, No. 12 Group was scrambled to support No. 11 Group in its effort to deal with a large bombing raid mounted by the German Luftwaffe. With plenty of notice, the Duxford Wing of five squadrons was scrambled and assembled over London as the bombers approached. When the British fighters attacked, the bombers scattered and Clouston, leading a section of his flight, spotted a group of Dornier Do 17 bombers and managed to destroy one. Later the same day, during another bombing raid mounted by the Germans, he shot down a second Do 17. A few days later, he destroyed a Ju 88 over Canterbury.
In November 1940, Clouston, promoted to squadron leader, was appointed commander of No. 258 Squadron, which was based in Yorkshire. The majority of the flying personnel of this newly formed squadron, which operated Hawker Hurricanes, were New Zealanders. It began its operational service flying cover for convoys along the north-east coast but soon shifted to Jurby, in the Isle of Man. From Jurby it flew patrols to target German bombers attacking the ports along the English north east coast. In May 1941, the squadron was shifted to the south east of England and began to fly missions escorting bombers to targets in France. At one stage, Clouston was joined at the squadron by his brother John, who had joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1940 and had been sent to England to fly for the RAF. John was killed in 1944.
By August 1941, the British government had recognised the growing threat that the Japanese Empire presented to its territories in Asia and the New Zealand government was requested to assist in improving British Malaya's air defences. Accordingly, the RNZAF dispatched personnel to form a new fighter squadron in Singapore. As an experienced squadron commander, Clouston was ordered to take command of the squadron, to be designated No. 488 Squadron.
Singapore
Clouston arrived in Singapore on 19 September 1941 as the first member of No. 488 Squadron. His flight commanders were in Singapore ten days later and together they greeted the rest of the squadron when it arrived from New Zealand on board the SS Tasman on 10 October. The squadron was based at Kallang and began familiarisation with the Brewster Buffalo aircraft, which it had taken over from No. 67 Squadron. The Buffalo was a poor aircraft and Clouston had concerns about its suitability as a fighter. Despite this, he set about bringing the squadron up to operational readiness as soon as possible but his time was largely taken up with administrative matters and his flight commanders did much of the flying training.When the Japanese attacked British Malaya in December 1941, the squadron had yet to reach operational standards and intensified its training. By the end of the year it was flying regular patrols aimed at detecting and destroying Japanese reconnaissance aircraft but the Buffaloes were inadequate for the task, having a low operational ceiling. When the squadron began encountering Japanese fighters in mid-January 1942, the poor performance of the Buffaloes were even more exposed. Losses to Japanese fighters and bombing raids on Kallang soon reduced the squadron to only a few aircraft by the end of the month.
On 23 January 1942, Clouston was posted to RAF Air Operations Headquarters with one of the flight commanders taking over responsibility for No. 488 Squadron. During the final days of the Battle of Singapore, with the squadron's pilots having already been evacuated, its ground crew worked to prepare a Hawker Hurricane for Clouston's use in the event he wanted to escape. In the end, he took to a launch with other staff from RAF Air Operations but this was sunk in the Bangka Strait during an attack by a Japanese bomber. Rescued by a steamer that was intercepted by the Japanese the following day, he became a prisoner of war. Before his capture, he was still able to facilitate the evacuation of the remaining ground crew of the squadron from Singapore. Clouston was interned for most of the war at a POW camp at Palembang in Sumatra but by the time of the Japanese surrender in September 1945, he was held at Changi Prison back on Singapore.