Bristol Beaufighter, part nine. The Beaufighter serving with Nos. 488 & 489 Squadrons.

 

The Bristol Beaufighter also served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during World War 2, albeit the two squadrons that operated the type, Nos. 488 and 489, made it under Royal Air Force (RAF) command. 

• No. 488 Squadron was reformed at Church Fenton, Yorkshire, after having served through the south-east Asian campaign, when Japan invaded. On 25th June 1942 they were reformed as a night fighter 'intruder' squadron and for this purpose, they were re-equipped with the Bristol Beaufighter. In August 1942, they became fully operational and were rebased to Ayr, Scotland. In February 1943 they commenced to perform intruder missions over France. As they operated from Scotland, they had to refuel at Coltishall and then proceed with the raid. They operated the Beaufighter Mk. II and Mk. VI until August 1943 when their role was switched to the night defensive fighter one and subsequently, the Beaufighters were replaced by the De Havilland Mosquito.

• No. 489 Squadron: Unlike No. 488, this unit was formed at Leuchars, England and operated in Europe for the whole duration of the war. 
  Committed to the torpedo-bomber role, this unit began to transition to the Beaufighter TF. Mk.X from the ageing Handley Page Hampden in September 1943, completing the transition in November that same year. This transition meant that, as the Beaufighter had a crew of just two, pilot and navigator, the gunners and the wireless operators required by the Hampden became surplus personnel, so they had to be relocated to other units while the pilots were trained to operate the Beaufighter.
  The unit resumed the anti-shipping patrols in January 1944, targeting German shipping lanes off the Norwegian coast, that were often protected by flak ships. During the squadron's first sortie with the Beaufighter, they managed to sink a merchant ship before they were spotted by a group of German Messerschmitt Bf. 109 fighters. During the return trip they strafed another German merchant ship damaging it. 
  In April 1944 the unit was rebased to south east Anglia, to be part of the Anzac Strike Wing, together with No. 455 Squadron (an Australian unit) and they operated in support for the upcoming Operation Overlord (Normandy landings) by attacking merchant ships  and looking for movements in the shipping lanes off northern France Belgium and the Netherlands.
  For those operations, many of the Beaufighters were equipped with cannons instead of torpedoes, as they were more effective to destroy the anti-air defences of the ships that were being attacked. They also targeted German E and R-boats. 
  On D-Day they were tasked with isolating an area of the English Channel to prevent E and R-boats from attacking the Allied barges from disembarking. This task of patrolling the Channel was extended through the summer of 1944 and was performed with high success rates. It wasn't until October 1944 that the unit returned to their previous anti-shipping assignment, operating from Dallachy, Scotland. 
  From this period until the end of the war in Europe, they patrolled mainly the Norwegian shoreline and fjords. On 9th February 1945 they, together with other Beaufighters of the Anzac Strike Wing (this time reinforced with a British squadron), managed to damaged the German destroyer Z33. That same month, the squadron sunk another German freighter, carrying thousand of tons of mines and during March, another ship was sunk.
  Their last operational sortie in Europe took place after the war, on 21st May 1945. It was a simple patrol by a pair of Beaufighters. 
  In June, with the war in Europe now over, they were moved to Banff, Scotland, to transition to the De Havilland Mosquito, in order to serve in the Pacific Theatre, however, before the transition was completed, Japan collapsed, putting an end to the war and the squadron was disbanded on 1st August 1945.

Sources:
1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._488_Squadron_RNZAF
2nd https://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RNZAF/No_488_sqn_RNZAF.html
3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._489_Squadron_RNZAF
4th https://www.historyofwar.org/air/units/RNZAF/No_489_sqn_RNZAF.html