RNZAF pilot remembered

A World War II fighter pilot trained at Ohakea but killed in an accident halfway around the world was remembered yesterday.

Twenty-year-old Sergeant Malcolm Robertson of the Royal New Zealand Air Force died when his Spitfire crashed in the Scottish Borders on January 16, 1943.

Yesterday (New Zealand time) Craigton Cemetery in Glasgow was the site of a rededication ceremony for his partial remains, discovered during the excavation of an aircraft wreck in Scotland in July last year.

The wreck was found to be Sgt Robertson's Spitfire and parts of the wreckage were put on display at a museum in Haddington, north of the crash site, this year to mark the 70th anniversary of his death.

Kenneth Walker represented the pilot's family at the service and spoke about Sgt Robertson's experiences in the wartime air force and what he may have felt on his final flight.

"We visualise how it probably was for you when, in October 1942, you were posted to RAF 65 Squadron at nearby Drem. Constantly training, flying exercises, more operations, the cold of a Scottish winter and plying the skies in a Supermarine Spitfire.

"We have thought about you as we think you might have been at 1540 hours on 16 January, 1943, when you powered Spitfire AR403 into cloudy skies for a one-hour practice flight. Our vision is that the challenge in completing your flight far overshadowed the sound of the mighty Rolls Royce Merlin and any fleeting moments of exhilaration before you plunged through the cloud layer."

The ceremony was attended by Squadron Leader Susie Barns of the RNZAF, Iain Anderson of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, members of the Air Crash Investigation and Archaeology Group that excavated the wreck, and members of the Scottish Police. Ms Barns said the rededication service was a poignant time to reflect on service and sacrifice.

"Sgt Robertson has now been reburied with the honour and dignity befitting an RNZAF pilot."

Sgt Robertson was educated at Auckland Grammar and registered for military training in 1940 shortly after his 18th birthday. He was trained at the Flying Training schools at Whenuapai and Ohakea and left New Zealand for Britain in 1941, being posted to 243 Squadron RAF one week after his 20th birthday.