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Auction: 19003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 274

(x) The Second World War campaign group of five to Flight Sergeant H. Kay, 34 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, who was killed whilst piloting a Blenheim which crashed near Allahabad on 12 May 1942

Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, New Zealand Service Medal 1939-45, unnamed as issued, together with the recipient's New Zealand Memorial Cross, G.VI.R. (NZ 404377 F/Sgt. H. Kay), very fine (5)

Harold Kay was born on 26 October 1920 at Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Henry Sydney Bilby and Dorothy Kay of 52 Tainui Road, Devonport, Auckland. Educated at Tahapuna Grammar School and Seddon Memorial Technical College - where he gained his Senior Free Place - Kay went on to study at Druleigh College, fostering a passion for swimming and yachting. He served two years with the School Cadets and a further three years and three months with the 1st Battery, New Zealand Artillery, before applying for a short service commission with the Royal New Zealand Air Force on 5 July 1938; his application was unsuccessful owing to him having failed to meet the required educational standard.

Unperturbed, Kay applied again on 1 July 1939 volunteering his service as a pilot but his application was deferred following the outbreak of war. In the meantime he worked as a postman for the Postal and Telegraph Department in Auckland. On 24 November 1940 he enlisted into the Royal New Zealand Air Force and was sent to No. 4 Elementary Flying Training School, Whenuapai, on 27 December 1940. Transferred to No. 3 Flying Training School at Ohakea on 8 February 1941, he successfully gained his 'wings' on 24 March 1941 and was promoted Sergeant on 3 May. Kay embarked for Bournemouth, England on 26 May 1941 aboard the troopship Aorangai, and was promoted Flight Sergeant on 1 December 1941.

Sent to No. 17 O.T.U., Upwood, Kay was introduced to his crew and began training on Blenheim aircraft. In late December 1941 he was order to proceed with his new crew to the Far East, by way of Gibraltar, Malta, Eqypt, Iraq and India, arriving at Singapore on 30 December. Upon arrival he was posted to No. 34 Squadron at Tengah, being then sent to Palembang, Sumatra, a month later.

With the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, Kay proceeded over land to Oosthaven in Sumatra and embarked upon the S.S. Van Outhoorn for Batavia. He then transferred to a ship bound for Columbo, arriving on 7 March, before joining Dunera for Karachi, calling at Bombay on the way. On 19 April 1942 Kay piloted a Blenheim to Allahabad, re-joining his Squadron which was reeling from the Japanese onslaught and had experienced heavy losses.

As part of efforts to regroup and prepare for Japanese attacks on the Burma Front, Kay and his crew would have been heavily engaged in operations flying out of Chakrata and Allahabad. It was on one such sortie that he lost his life when the Blenheim aircraft which he was piloting crashed near Allahabad on 12 May 1942. Kay survived the impact but suffered severe injuries and passed away the next day in the British Military Hospital. With 295 hours to his name as Pilot, Kay was buried in the Cantonment Cemetery, Allahabad; sold with copied attestation documents, a detailed typed document of his life compiled by his mother, and a copied photograph in R.N.Z.A.F. uniform.


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Sold for
£240

Starting price
£140