Whanganui's John Hudson Keesing (left) at his home with Mike Jones and an original World War II Corsair jacket. Photo / Mike Jones
Another chapter has closed with the death of New Zealand’s last surviving World War II Royal New Zealand Air Force fighter pilot.
John Hudson Keesing, of Whanganui, died peacefully aged 102 in Whanganui Hospital on March 29.
Keesing served 137 days as a Corsair flight officer during the Pacific campaign in World War II.
New Zealand Bomber Command founder Dave Homewood said Keesing was the last remaining Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) fighter pilot and the last remaining pilot to serve in the Pacific theatre.
RNZAF fighter pilot Air Commodore Mal Gunton died in December, also aged 102.
One RNZAF bomber pilot who served in the European theatre was still alive and living in Wellington, Homewood said.
Extended family member Rhys Morgan said Keesing was a private person.
“The war days were the war days and he left them in the past. He was always thoughtful of his comrades,” Morgan said.
The rest of the family did not wish to comment.
Chief of Air Force Darryn Webb said Keesing was 20 when he joined as a pilot.
“He served with commitment and distinction flying Corsairs in the Pacific Campaign,” Webb said.
Returned and Services Association (RSA) national president Tony Hill said the organisation was deeply saddened by the death of one of New Zealand’s last surviving World War II pilots.
Webb and Hill extended their condolences to Keesing’s family and friends.
Mike Jones bought the last original World War II RNZAF Corsair and founded the RNZAF Corsair Supporters group in 2023, he said.
Jones first met Keesing in 2024 to show him the newly purchased Corsair.
In January this year, Jones found an original World War II leather Corsair jacket in a second-hand store on the way to Keesing’s home.
Keesing shared stories with Jones from his service.
“He and a mate managed to secure an abandoned American landing craft, and it became their personal fishing and expedition vehicle, so they had a pretty fun time up there. It was a pretty big adventure for them,” Jones said.
“I asked him if he got shot at, but he wasn’t aware that he had.
“By the end of the war – when he was there – the Japanese had run out of pilots and aircraft, and had been pushed back up the island chain. He only ever saw one Japanese plane the whole time he was up there, and it was too far away.
“He wasn’t seriously in danger ... but he made a strong contribution.”
About 8500 Kiwi airmen were sent to Canada during World War II under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, according to National Library archives.
New Zealand contributed $28.6 million to training costs over three-and-a-half years – more than $3 billion today, according to the New Zealand Reserve Bank calculator.
Keesing was a pilot on Tiger Moth planes in Ashburton in 1943 before being sent to flight school in Dunnville, Canada the next year.
He graduated in September 1944.
From the end of 1944, about 1100 trained and untrained men returned to New Zealand after the Commonwealth Training Plan closed.
Keesing returned to train at Wigram, Christchurch that November, before going to Ōhakea and then Ardmore in March 1945.
He was finally posted to No 17 Squadron and occasionally served in No 16.
No 17 Squadron shifted from Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks to 424 F4U-1 Corsairs in 1944.
They fought in the Pacific theatre against Japan, tasked with taking out Japanese soldiers on the ground using rockets and bombs.
Jones said they had six machine guns each, with “pretty devastating” firepower, but no New Zealand Corsairs were recorded as shooting down Japanese planes.
Keesing’s Pacific tour in the Admiralty Islands lasted from May 11 to September 25, 1945, when the squadron was disbanded.
They were ordered to stay for a second tour immediately after their first, Jones said.
With the war in Europe ending, but the Pacific war ongoing, most men brought back from overseas were unhappy, according to National Library archives.
They had spent many months in Canada with little or no flying because of the surplus of aircrew, and were back in New Zealand doing odd jobs and feeling redundant.
Training institutions were closed as the war against Japan ended.
Keesing was transferred to the reserves in November 1945 and decommissioned on June 1, 1956.
He was awarded the War Medal 1939-1945 and the New Zealand War Service Medal for his contributions.
Keesing founded Tasman Tanning in Whanganui in 1953.
The company makes premium leather products for global customers.
David Bennett developed a “strong” working relationship with Keesing while owning Pacific Helmets, next door to Tasman Tanning, from 1982 to 2023.
“He was a very small man. So that probably suited the day of being a fighter pilot,” Bennett said.
“A quiet guy and just a really normal, nice Whanganui bloke.
“Until a few years ago, he was still going to the office most days ... a great credit to the guy.
“Probably, in retrospect, it gave a lot of meaning to his life.”
Keesing is survived by his children and grandchildren.
Noam Mānuka Lazarus (Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara) is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle.