Naval aviators in final WWII dogfight

Sub Lieutenant Fred Hockley

Although the Americans would claim it was the Hellcats from US Navy squadron VF-88 that engaged in the last dogfight of WWII, the British say it was Seafires from the 24th Naval Fighter Wing which took that particular prize.  In truth, both groups of fighters encountered Japanese Zeros and Raidens on the morning of 15 August 1945 over Tokyo Bay.
 At 04:15 local time, flying from approximate position 34° N 142° E, Task Force 38 commenced
launching mainland Japan air strikes at targets in the Tokyo area. HMS INDEFATIGABLE launched a force of four Fireflies and six Avengers, escorted by eight Seafires (from 887 and 894 Naval Air Squadrons) for the first strike but found the target, Kisarazu airfield, obscured by bad weather. An alternative target, a camouflaged factory at Odaki Bay, was sighted and bombed.
At 05:40 the Indefatigable Strike Force was intercepted by a dozen enemy aircraft: four Mitsubishi J2M3 ‘Raiden’ and eight A6M ‘Zeke’ fighters which were engaged by the Seafires; four were  shot down, four more believed shot down and the remainder damaged and driven off.
 At 05:45 Sub Lieutenant V Lowden RNVR in Seafire Serial No. LR866 led a flight of three 887 Naval Air Squadron aircraft to attack 4 A6M over Odaki Bay, two were shot down in flames, one being shared with Sub Lieutenant W Williams RNVR and another seen to go down smoking, the pilot baled out.
Sub Lieutenant L Murphy RNVR in Seafire Serial No. NN212 shot one down with smoke and flames from its engine and a second went down in flames and rolled over on back. Sub Lieutenant D Duncan RNVR (894 Naval Air Squadron) in Seafire Serial No. PR206 attacked two, one went down burning almost vertically and another was probably destroyed; Sub Lieutenant R Kay RNVR (894 Naval Air Squadron) in Seafire Serial No. NN584 shot the tail off one A6M and damaged another; on returning to the ship he burst a tyre on landing and his aircraft tipped on its nose.
Sub Lieutenant R Gorvin RNVR (894 Naval Air Squadron) in Seafire Serial No. PR263 suffered damage from the encounter with the A6Ms over Odaki Bay but managed to land safely. Sub Lieutenant F Hockley RNVR (894 Naval Air Squadron) was hit by flak over Tokyo, he baled out and landed on Chiba Peninsula, east of Tokyo where he was captured.
 
Temporary Sub Lieutenant(A) Fred Hockley RNVR 
At approximately nine o'clock that night, nine hours after Emperor Hirohito had announced the Japanese surrender, Fred Hockley (aged 22) was taken to a grave blindfolded, where he was executed by three Imperial Army officers. However, he was later exhumed and cremated for fear that his body might be found.
Fred Hockley's fate was only revealed when Allied Occupation forces investigated his VJ Day disappearance. Two of the Japanese officers were convicted of war crimes, sentenced to death and hanged on 16 September 1947 while the other officer was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
Sub Lieutenant Hockley’s ashes are now interred in Yokohama War Cemetery, Japan - British Section.
Sub Lieutenant (A) John Francis Joseph Andrew Bonass RNVR
One of the 820 Naval Air Squadron Avengers on the strike was also badly damaged; Serial No. JZ482 was attacked by 4 A6Ms diving out of sun, suffering rear fuselage and tail damage. Petty Officer Air Gunner A Simpson shot one down smoking with flames under its engine. The Observer, Sub Lieutenant J Bonass RNVR (aged 22) was wounded and baled out into the sea off Tokyo but died almost immediately. The aircraft eventually ditched but the pilot, Sub Lieutenant L Baldwin RNVR, and Petty Officer Simpson were rescued safely.

​                                     This was the last British air combat of WWII.

Read more about the Fleet Air Arm in the Far East in WWII here