Noel Sharp

Who was Noel Sharp?

Flying Officer Noel Callan Sharp, DFC was a New Zealand pilot of No. 488 Squadron RNZAF. Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Sharp worked as a bank clerk. He flew a Brewster Buffalo aircraft, recognizable by his personal nose art, a striking Chinese dragon motif painted on the fuselage under the cockpit windshield.

Sharp is credited with three kills during the Malayan Campaign. He claimed an unknown Japanese fighter on January 12, a Nakajima Ki-43 the next day, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero on January 18 and damaged two bombers on January 20.

He was shot down on 17 January 1942, but survived. Engineers were able to repair his aircraft, replacing the front section of the engine cowling with that of another plane. Sharp was evacuated from Singapore before its capitulation, along with his Buffalo. The aircraft was destroyed at Palembang, South Sumatra during a Japanese bombing raid on 7 February 1942.

Sharp was killed in action over Java on 20 February 1942, while flying a Hawker Hurricane with No. 605 Squadron RAF. He was 20 years old. Buried in the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore, Sharp was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 20 December 1946.