Richard Haine

Haine was born in Gloucester on 1 October 1916 and matriculated from the Crypt Grammar School.[6] While at school, he got his first taste of flight in an Avro 504 biplane trainer of Cobham's Flying Circus,[7] which made him determined to fly. He spent his youth making aeroplane models and obsessing about flying.[4] When he left school, he became an apprentice at the Gloster Aircraft Company and joined a local flying club, soloing in a Tiger Moth in 1935.[6]

Haine joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1936 and qualified as a fighter pilot. He joined No. 25 Squadron RAF, flying the Hawker Fury.[6] His prior experience led him to join the squadron aerobatics team in 1937.[8] The squadron converted to the Hawker Demon, then the Gloster Gladiator and, when the Second World War started, the Bristol Blenheim.[7]

Haine flew in the first night patrol of the RAF in the war, in a Blenheim from RAF Northolt on 4 September 1939.[7][9] These night flights rarely intercepted any aircraft, primarily due to the absence of onboard radar.[6][10]

On 28 November 1939, Haine flew one of six Blenheims of No. 25 Squadron to attack a seaplane base at Borkum, the first fighter attack of the war on German territory.[8] He may have destroyed a Heinkel He 59 on the water.[8]

On 10 May 1940, Haine led six Blenheims of No. 600 Squadron RAF against a key airfield at Waalhaven against an incipient landing by German Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft and parachute troops.[8] The raid was a disaster; five of the six aircraft were shot down upon arrival.[6] Only one Blenheim returned safely to base.[8] Haine and his gunner destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 109 in the air and two Ju 52s on the ground before being shot down.[8][11] They evaded capture and returned to England aboard HMS Hereward, the same Royal Navy destroyer that was evacuating the government of Norway and Queen Wilhelmina.[6] Haine was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the action.[12] The award was published in The London Gazette on 9 July 1940.[13][14] His medals were sold at auction for £7,000 in 2018.[15]

Haine was deployed repeatedly to command positions.[upper-alpha 1] He served as the commanding officer of No. 488 Squadron RNZAF, flying the de Havilland Mosquito, until the end of November 1944.[5]

While in command of No. 488 Squadron Haine and his squadron flew beachhead patrols on D-Day. Over Normandy on the night of 4 August he destroyed a Junkers Ju 88. On a patrol of Caen, during the night of 1 September, the squadron intercepted and shot down another.[6] However, his claim for having made two kills while flying the Mosquito was reduced when the second Ju 88 was not credited to him.[2][8]

Haine commanded RAF Turnhouse (now Edinburgh Airport) and then RAF Akrotiri, a large facility in Cyprus, for which he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 1962 New Year Honours.[6][16][8]

At the Ministry of Aviation, Haine was a staff officer, responsible for supervising flight testing of new aircraft. He trained at the Empire Test Pilots' School, and flew the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II in the United States. Eventually he earned qualifications to fly 94 types of aircraft, and flew 18 others as a second pilot.[6]

In 1965, Haine was a participant in the funeral for Winston Churchill.[8]

Haine was married twice; he had a daughter from his first marriage, which ended in divorce. He married Evelyn Benton in 1948. They had two sons and a daughter.[6]

After retirement from the RAF, Haine worked for a short time as a service liaison officer for an insurance company. He thereafter devoted himself to sailing, a preferred avocation, and work as harbourmaster of a large Leamington marina.[6]

Haine wrote an autobiography, From Fury to Phantom: An RAF Pilot's Story – 1936–1970, published in 2005.[4] He died on 30 September 2008, the day before his 92nd birthday.[6]