British aircraft museum to honour slain NZ pilot

New Zealand Spitfire pilot James Alfred Patterson will be the first flyer honoured by a British aviation museum which is setting up World War II memorials.

Shoreham Aircraft Museum, which is run by volunteers, plans to provide memorials to the airmen who crashed within a 16km radius of the museum in Shoreham village, Kent.

Flight Lieutenant Patterson died on September 27, 1940, just weeks before his 21st birthday, when his Spitfire fighter crashed in Sparepenny Lane, Farningham.

The museum will raise funds for the memorials on May 21, when eight former Battle of Britain pilots will sign memorabilia for the public at the museum.

Flight Lieutenant Patterson, who was aged 19 when he set sail for Britain, applied to join 92 Squadron, a fighter unit, in July 1940. On September 11 his Spitfire was shot down and he suffered serious burns to his face before bailing out.

After recovering in hospital he rejoined his squadron, flying out of Biggin Hill, although his sight was still impaired.

He had scrambled with the rest of his squadron on September 27, 1940, to intercept a formation of German bombers flying over Sevenoaks.

"Jimmy Patterson's aircraft was seen spinning like a fire arrow," the museum said on its website.

The museum has a collection of items recovered from the crash site, which was excavated more than 20 years ago.

Flight Lieutenant Patterson's memorial will be erected close to a public footpath though the farm on which he died.

- NZPA