Trevor Freeman

Trevor Owen Freeman (5 June 1916–17 December 1943) was an officer in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War.

From Lawrence in New Zealand, Freeman joined the Royal Air Force in 1936 but transferred to the RNZAF in July 1939. He was part of the New Zealand Flight, organised to ferry several Vickers Wellington medium bombers to New Zealand later that year. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the flight was the basis of No. 75 Squadron and became operational in March 1940. Freeman served with the squadron for the next several months as it carried out bombing raids to mainland Europe and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The following year he was given command of No. 115 Squadron, another bomber unit involved in the raids to Europe. By the end of his second tour of operations in October 1942 he had been awarded a Bar to his DFC and the Distinguished Service Order. He returned to New Zealand in early 1943 to serve in a staff role with the Air Department and then in September was sent to the Southwest Pacific. He led the RNZAF Fighter Wing from mid-October as it was engaged in the aerial suppression of the Japanese base at Rabaul as part of the Solomon Islands campaign. He went missing in action on 17 December 1943, after leading the wing in an engagement with Japanese fighters. Provided by Wikipedia