HONOUR FOR TWO N.Z. PILOTS

Southland Times, Issue 24230, 13 September 1940, Page 4

HONOUR FOR TWO N.Z. PILOTS

DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSSES AWARDED (United Press Association) WELLINGTON, September 12. Two more New Zealanders have been awarded the Distinguished, Flying Cross, according to information received at Air Headquarters, Wellington, this morning. They are: Acting Squadron Leader Aubrey Arthur Ninnis Breckon. Acting Flight Lieutenant Francis Edwin Eustace. Squadron Leader Breckon comes from Northcote, Auckland, and is aged 26. According to the official citation: “He .participated in 21 major bombing attacks on Germany, Holland, Belgium and France. He made a reconnaissance flight north of Narvik of 14J hours in duration. Undeterred by enemy action and bad weather, he is a reliable, persistent long-distance pilot and a .cool, courageous, determined leader.” The flight to Narvik is generally acknowledged as the record long-dis-tance flight of the first 12 months of the war, involving a distance of 2000 miles from Scotland and back through icy weather and severe storms. The flight was made by an aircraft of the New Zealand squadron. There were two other New Zealanders in the crew, the navigator coming from Stratford and the wireless operator from Auckland.

Squadron Leader Breckon was a newspaper photographer in Auckland before he was granted a short service commission in the Royal Air Force. Shortly before the war he was posted to a New Zealand squadron in England, transferring to the Royal New Zealand Air Force. When war broke out the squadron was placed at the disposal of the Royal Air Force. Squadron Leader Breckon has since played a conspicuous part in the squadron’s activities.

Flight Lieutenant Eustace, who is 24, was bom in Nelson and educated at the Taumarunui District High School and Nelson College. He was accepted for a short service commission in the Royal Air Force in 1937.