Bill Crawford-Crompton

Who was Bill Crawford-Crompton?

Air Vice Marshal William Vernon "Bill" Crawford-Crompton CB, CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar was a New Zealand-born pilot and air ace of the Second World War. After the war, he went on to serve as a senior commander in the Royal Air Force.

Crawford-Crompton was born in Invercargill, New Zealand on 2 March 1915. He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1939. In 1941 he was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a Pilot Officer. He was then posted as a pilot to No. 485 Squadron RNZAF. He is credited with shooting down 21.5 enemy aircraft, and for bravery was awarded the prestigious French Chevalier of the Legion of Honour and United States Silver Star. He took part in Operation Overlord and destroyed four enemy aircraft in July 1944 during that operation.