Anzac Day: Family remember Kiwi bomber pilot Trevor Bagnall killed in World War II

Wellington man Trevor Shoesmith was born nine months after his uncle Trevor Bagnall was killed in World War II, and named in the lost Kiwi pilot's memory. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A World War II mystery was solved this month when wreckage from a Short Stirling bomber washed up on the Dutch coast. Among those on the ill-fated bombing run was Kiwi pilot Trevor Bagnall. His nephew, and namesake, speaks to the Herald on Sunday about a young life lost long ago.

The week before his plane disappeared off the Dutch coast after a bombing run on Nazi Germany, Trevor Bagnall posted a letter home to New Zealand.

"Dear Chooky," the just-turned 26-year-old pilot wrote to sister Peggy on December 8 1942.

"Every so many thanks for the Xmas parcels. They were a great thrill … lots of love to all."

Nine days later the Short Stirling MK1 Bagnall and seven others were on board vanished while returning from largely-failed mission to bomb the Opel [vehicle manufacturer] works near Wolfsburg in Germany.

Royal New Zealand Air Force warrant officer Trevor Bagnall was killed returning from a bombing run over Nazi Germany on December 17 1942. Photo / Supplied

More than six years later Bagnall's mother would open a letter from the Air Department in Wellington telling her that despite extensive searches no trace of the bomber or its crew had been found, and the plane was considered crashed at sea and its crew lost.

"I am aware of the distressing nature of this information Mrs Bagnall", the Air Secretary wrote four days before Anzac Day 1949.

"My deepest sympathy in your great loss."

It'd be 73 years before Bagnall's family, including his namesake - nephew Trevor Shoesmith, born 9 months after his uncle disappeared - learned the true story of the young Palmerston North man's fate.

Wreckage of a Short Stirling has washed ashore on the Dutch coast and been linked to a bomber which disappeared with 8 crew on board, including a Kiwi, in 1942. Photo / Supplied

The first reports came from overseas media. Wreckage of a Short Stirling MK1 had been found in February on a beach in Camperduin, a village in the Dutch province of North Holland.

Local historians, excited by a find much larger than the small pieces of WWII wreckage that usually washed ashore, discovered it was instead likely Bagnall and his crew's long missing bomber.

Their findings were based on individual designations on each Short Stirling, and Dutch and German documents they'd found also mentioned the crash of a Short Stirling into the sea near Camperduin, war history enthusiast Martijn Visser told the UK's Mirror.

The plane was shot down over the sea by Nazi night fighters, according to the Aircrew Remembered website.

Trevor Bagnall, top, pictured fellow airmen during World War II. Photo / Supplied

Shoesmith, now 78, heard about the wreckage when a relative saw a Herald story on the find last month.

"It was mind-blowing. It was a tiny miracle really, after all this time.

"And it was fantastic to get that recognition. That he was a member of our family and he'd shown great courage and resilience, in joining up to start with and then going off overseas."

He knew little about the pre-war life of the man who volunteered for the Royal New Zealand Air Force after war broke out, eventually logging 1015 flying hours across 30 missions.

One surviving pre-war photo showed Bagnall posing in a magician's outfit, top hat raised and wand tucked under his arm.

Trevor Bagnall is remembered for his sacrifice in war, but there was life before the conflict - as seen in this photo of him wearing a magician's costume. Photo / Supplied

That was likely related to his grandfather Henry Bagnall, a sharebroker with a lifelong involvement in amateur theatre, Shoesmith said.

His late mother Peggy, one of Bagnall's three siblings, told him the "fairly short and sharp" story of her brother's loss, and little else.

But he was never forgotten, his medals, logbook and letters home kept close until being passed on to Shoesmith.

"She didn't talk about him much. But she was very interested in perpetuating who he was … [with me] being named after him. That's gotta be pretty special, doesn't it?

"And I know she made donations to the Friends of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum [later in life]."

In a letter home nine days before his death, Trevor Bagnall thanks his sister Peggy - "Chooky" - for the Christmas presents she's sent. Photo / Supplied

It was the letters home that gave Shoesmith the most insight into the man he was named after, and a lesson in the danger he and other airmen faced in one of the riskiest roles in the deadliest war in history.

The Royal Air Force's bomber war was fought mostly by young, civilian volunteers from Britain and the Commonwealth and had a devastating death rate - 51 per cent of aircrew were killed on operations, 12 per cent were killed or wounded in non–operational accidents and 13 per cent became prisoners of war or evaders, according to the Imperial War Museum.

The death toll for Kiwis in the Royal New Zealand Air Force or Royal Air Force was 4150, from a total loss of 11,625 serving New Zealanders in the war, Ministry of Culture and Heritage figures show.

Their sacrifice, and those of other New Zealanders killed in war, will be commemorated on Anzac Day tomorrow.

After his death while serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force during World War II, Trevor Bagnall's family received this medal on his behalf. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He was amazed his uncle survived as long as he did, serving in 40 and 75 squadrons, Shoesmith said.

Bagnall was killed on his first mission with his new 75 squadron crew.

"I know other New Zealanders did it, but if you were in an aeroplane in those days your days were numbered."

That was especially brought home when he read one of Bagnall dispatches back to family.

Returning from a raid on Berlin, more than 1600km away, the year before his death, Bagnall and his crewmates found themselves in skies "black as ink", unaware they'd already crossed the Dutch and English coasts, the airman wrote in a letter home.

After descending through "several thousand feet" of cloud they struck fog, their wireless failed and they realised they were lost.

"Our starboard tank had been hit and petrol was getting low. At last we got a few home bearings but they took us over the sea so we decided to head back for land and bail out."

Trevor Bagnall, front centre, with his fellow 75 squadron crew. The crew were killed on their first mission together. Photo / Supplied

The captain told his crew to prepare to jump but as he was about to climb an engine cut and - spotting flat ground - decided to land, Bagnall wrote.

"The altimeter read 1500 feet [457 metres], but there were hills up to about 1000 feet [304m]. The rear gunner bailed out but it was too low - his chute opened but he was killed.

"He'd been married on his leave, too."

A Short Stirling bomber is shown being load with bombs in 1941. Photo / Supplied

The plane then struck the top of a row of trees before crashing on the side of a hill, catching fire as the crew, not seriously injured, escaped and were eventually taken in by those at a nearby country guest home.

"I didn't get a scratch, only one or two bruises … I'm feeling 100 per cent, wrote Bagnall.

"And I am ready to get going again."