Noel Sharp

Noel Callan Sharp
Born 9 February 1922
Auckland, New Zealand
Died 20 February 1942 (aged 20)[1]
Java, Dutch East Indies
Allegiance  New Zealand
Service/branch  Royal New Zealand Air Force
Rank Flying Officer
Unit No. 488 Squadron RNZAF
No. 243 Squadron RAF
No. 605 Squadron RAF
Battles/wars Malayan Campaign
Dutch East Indies campaign
Awards Distinguished Flying Cross

Flying Officer Noel Callan Sharp, DFC (9 February 1922 – 20 February 1942) was a New Zealand pilot of No. 488 Squadron RNZAF. Born in Auckland,[2] New Zealand, Sharp worked as a bank clerk.[3] 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.[4]

Sharp is credited with three kills during the Malayan Campaign. He claimed an unknown Japanese fighter on 12 January, a Nakajima Ki-43 the next day, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero on 18 January and damaged two bombers on 20 January.[5]

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.[6] 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.[4][7]

Sharp was killed in action over Java on 20 February 1942,[4] while flying a Hawker Hurricane with No. 605 Squadron RAF.[8] He was 20 years old. Buried in the Kranji War Cemetery in Singapore,[9] Sharp was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 20 December 1946.[10]

References

  1. ↑ Casualty Details
  2. ↑ NO. 488 SQUADRON'S COMBATS | NZETC
  3. ↑ SHARP Noel Callan - Auckland/Royal New Zealand Air Force - Bank Clerk/Flying Officer, Archives New Zealand, retrieved 2010-01-23
  4. 1 2 3 Stenman and Thomas, page 52.
  5. ↑ Notable Brewster Buffalo pilots, Southeast Asia
  6. ↑ Brewster B-339 Buffalo, Tamiya
  7. ↑ Heyman, p.28.
  8. ↑ Memorial Roll, New Zealand Fighter Pilot Museum, retrieved 2010-01-23
  9. ↑ Kranji Commonwealth War Cemetery - NZ Names on Memorial Wall
  10. ↑ Royal Air Force and Naval Aviation News and Announcements, Flightglobal/Archive, 20 December 1946, retrieved 31 August 2012
Bibliography

See also

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