One of the Southland old boys was Victor de la Perelle, who was born in 1919 and learned to fly at Otago Aero Club before joining the Royal New Zealand Air Force on a short service commission. He sailed to the UK to serve with the RAF in 1939. He eventually converted to Hurricanes and joined No 245 Squadron at Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, on 30 September 1940.
He went to No 258 Squadron, also a Hurricane unit, in November and became a Flight Commander in August 1941. The squadron was posted overseas and eventually arrived at Seletar, Singapore. With Nos 258 and 605 Squadrons de la Perelle flew against the Japanese and briefly commanded Seletar.
On 21 February 1942, de la Perelle was promoted to acting Squadron Leader and appointed liaison officer with the Dutch Air Force in Java. According to Men of the Battle of Britain: “The situation deteriorated rapidly as he went into the hills with RAF and Dutch personnel, moving from one tea plantation to the next. ….. they were forced to surrender and were sent to a prison in Batavia, with de la Perelle in charge, he was the only senior officer left.”
He was released in September 1945. To quote Men of the Battle of Britain again: “The first aircraft to arrive was a New Zealand one and the first person off was a nurse, who accepted the surrender of the [local] Japanese. She was carrying 400 cigarettes for de la Perelle from his brother.”
After recuperation in New Zealand, de la Perelle returned to the RAF and commanded No 165 Squadron. He was seconded to the USAF, carrying out secret work in Korea during the Korean War, and was awarded the US Bronze Star. He retired from the RAF in 1958, as a Squadron Leader, lived in the UK and held a senior management role. He died in 1983.
