Wing Commander Owen Hardy
Keen and skilful fighter pilot who was twice awarded the DFC and later formed an aerobatic team
WING COMMANDER OWEN HARDY, who has died aged 95, was a New Zealand fighter pilot who achieved success in North Africa and later during in North West Europe. He was twice awarded the DFC.
In March 1942 he joined No 72 Squadron flying Spitfires from Biggin Hill. Engaged mainly on sweeps and bomber escort missions over northern France, Hardy shared in destroying a Messerschmitt Bf 109 near Le Havre and in June he damaged a Focke Wulf 190 near Abbeville. In September the squadron moved to Scotland to prepare for overseas service and in November it arrived in Algiers.
Within days, Hardy shot down a Bf 109 near Bone, the squadron’s first success in Africa. A month later he shared in the destruction of a Focke Wulf 190. Hardy and his fellow pilots escorted bombers attacking German positions as the ground forces advanced towards Tunis.
On January 5 1943 he was escorting Hurricane bombers when he shot down a FW 190; the following day he shared in the destruction of another. Over the next three months the Spitfires of No 72 were in constant action. In March, Hardy was escorting US bombers when he engaged enemy fighters and shot down a Bf 109.
As the Allied armies closed in on Tunis, No 72 was increasingly engaged on ground support operations, but Hardy still engaged enemy fighters, damaging at least three and probably shooting down another. He also destroyed one on the ground during a strafing attack.
By the end of May he had completed 70 sorties and was awarded a DFC. He was described as a “keen and skilful section leader who has rendered excellent service”.
Owen Leslie Hardy was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on July 31 1922 and educated at the city’s Seddon Memorial Technical College. He was working as a mechanical engineer when he joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in March 1941. After training as a pilot in Canada, he arrived in the UK in October and converted to Spitfires before joining No 72 Squadron.
At the end of the North African campaign in June 1943, Hardy returned to the UK to become a fighter instructor. In April 1944 he joined No 485 (NZ) Squadron as a flight commander flying Spitfires as part of the Second Tactical Air Force (2 TAF) preparing for the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Spitfires were fitted with bomb racks and the squadron flew divebombing sorties in the build up to D-day.
As the armies landed in France, No 485 flew beachhead patrols and by the middle of June it was flying from hastily prepared landing grounds in Normandy. Hardy led many dive-bombing sorties in close support of the ground forces as they advanced into the Low Countries, settling in the Netherlands for the severe winter of 1944-45. At the end of hostilities, Hardy won a Bar to his DFC.
He returned to New Zealand to complete his studies but was back in Britain in 1947, when he joined the RAF. He converted to jet fighters and flew Vampires before being appointed a flight commander on No 247 Squadron, after which he transferred to his old squadron, No 72.
At the end of 1950 he was appointed to command a new Vampire squadron, No 71, based in Germany. He formed and led an aerobatic team and in the spring of 1952 it won the 2 TAF aerobatic competition. As a result, it became the official demonstration team, performing at numerous Nato events. Hardy was awarded the AFC in May 1953.
After attending the RAF Staff College, he began a long period specialising in air defence guided weapons. After appointments in the Air Ministry he served at the RAF HQ in Cyprus and in 1966 he was made the commanding officer of RAF North Coates, Lincolnshire. He retired from the RAF in 1969 and worked for Portsmouth City Council and later Hampshire County Council as a planning officer.
Hardy was a keen sailor with his 27-metre yacht Windstreaker moored at Chichester. He returned to New Zealand in 2000 but was back in Britain by 2013, living in an apartment overlooking Port Solent marina. The French government appointed him to the Légion d’honneur in 2016. On his 95th birthday he flew in a Spitfire and took the controls during a barrel roll.
Owen Hardy married Barbara Du Sautoy in November 1945; she died in 1988. Their son and daughter survive him.
Wing Commander Owen Hardy, born July 31 1922, died January 4 2018