Colin Falkland Gray Group Captain Colin Falkland Gray ( 9 November 1914 – 1 August 1995 ) was the top New Zealand fighter ace of the Second World War . Born in 1914 , Gray was accepted into the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) in 1939 after two previous attempts failed on medical grounds . He flew with No . 54 Squadron during the Battles of France and Battle of Britain , and had shot down 14 aircraft and had a half share in another by September 1940 . He later added another 13 kills while leading fighter squadrons and wings in the North African and Italian Campaigns , and finished the war with a confirmed 27½ kills . After the war he held a number of staff and command positions in the RAF before his eventual retirement in 1961 . He returned to New Zealand to work for Unilever . He died in 1995 at the age of 80 . Early life . Colin Falkland Gray and his twin brother Ken were born in Christchurch , New Zealand on 9 November 1914 , the sons of an electrical engineer and his wife . He attended schools in the lower North Island and in Christchurch . He gained employment as a stock clerk in 1933 , working at Dalgety and Company . In 1937 , Gray , along with Ken , attempted to join the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) in 1937 . While Ken was accepted , Colin failed for medical reasons . A second attempt also resulted in failure on medical grounds and after this , to improve his fitness , Gray took up sheep mustering . He was successful on a third application to join the RAF and was granted a short - term commission at the beginning of 1939 . His flight training was conducted at the de Havilland flying school at Hatfield in Hertfordshire , England . He was posted to No 11 Flying Training School from which he graduated as a probationary pilot officer in October 1939 . Second World War . Gray was posted to No . 54 Squadron , at the time equipped with Supermarine Spitfire s and based at Hornchurch , in November . He was confirmed in his rank of pilot officer on 17 January 1940 . During the Phoney War he participated in patrols over the English Channel up until May 1940 . The death of his brother Ken , in a flying accident on 1 May 1940 , affected his morale . After initial combat on 24 May ( claiming two ' probable ' victories ) Gray had a share in his first confirmed enemy aircraft , a Messerschmitt Bf 109 , on 25 May 1940 , while escorting a formation of Fairey Swordfish to dive - bomb Gravelines . His Spitfire was badly damaged in the engagement , and damage to the port aileron forced the aircraft into a dive that was controlled only with great difficulty . His aircraft had also lost its airspeed indicator and control of guns , flaps or brakes . Despite this damage Gray managed to force land safely at Hornchurch . On 13 July 1940 Gray shot down his second Bf 109 near Calais after a long chase at sea level . 54 Squadron was heavily engaged in the Battle of Britain , tasked with the defence of the approaches to London . By early September Gray had claimed 14½ kills , and his squadron was sent north to rest and re - equip . He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross ( DFC ) on 15 August 1940 . Gray was promoted to flying officer on 23 October 1940 . He then served with 43 Squadron before returning to 54 Squadron . Gray remained with the squadron until he was posted to 1 Squadron . He was promoted to flight lieutenant in August 1941 and the following month was awarded a bar to his DFC . The same month , he was posted to No . 616 Squadron to serve as its commander until February 1942 , at which time he took up a staff posting at 9 Group . Returning to operations in September 1942 , Gray , promoted to acting squadron leader , took over No . 64 Squadron , which operated over the English Channel and France . At the end of the year , he was posted to the Mediterranean Theatre , firstly to 333 Group and then in January 1943 , to command of No . 81 Squadron , based in Algeria the first unit to fly the Spitfire Mk . IX in the Middle East . During his service with the squadron he shot down a further eight aircraft bring his personal tally to 22 . For his leadership and actions during this period , Gray was awarded the Distinguished Service Order . Gray was promoted to acting wing commander on 1 June 1943 and took over No . 322 Wing , which at the time was based in Malta . Conducting patrols over the Italian coast and supporting the Allied invasion of Sicily , he shot down a further five aircraft . His final kills were on 25 July 1943 , when he shot down two Junkers Ju 52 transports . He was promoted to war substantive squadron leader on 1 September 1943 and later that month he returned to England for a rest from active duty . A second bar to Gray ' s DFC was awarded in November . He returned to operational duty in England , with 9 Group and in August 1944 was appointed Wing Commander of the Lympne Wing which carried out operations over France and occupied Holland . He did not increase his tally of kills and finished the war with 27 aerial kills , two shared destroyed , six probable kills , with a further four shared probables , the top New Zealand fighter ace of the Second World War . Post - war . Gray returned to New Zealand on secondment to the Royal New Zealand Air Force from July 1945 to March 1946 . He was retroactively promoted to the permanent rank of flight lieutenant from 23 January 1943 , and received a retroactive promotion to temporary squadron leader from 1 July 1945 . He was promoted to the substantive rank of squadron leader on 1 September 1945 . Back in England after the end of his secondment , he was promoted to wing commander on 1 July 1947 . He served in the Air Ministry until 1949 . He then served in Washington , D . C . on the Joint Services Mission United States as an air liaison officer . In 1954 , after a period of time training in the Gloster Meteor , he commanded RAF Church Fenton in Yorkshire for two years , during which he was promoted to group captain on 1 January 1955 . He was posted to HQ Far East Air Force in Singapore for three years before a return to the Air Ministry in 1959 and his subsequent retirement in March 1961 . Later life . Gray returned to New Zealand to work for Unilever in Petone as its personnel director until 1979 , at which time he retired . He settled in Waikanae and in his later years , he wrote " Spitfire Patrol " , an autobiography detailing his time in the RAF and which was published in 1990 . Gray died in Kenepuru Hospital , Porirua , on 1 August 1995 , survived by his wife , Betty , who he had married in October 1945 , and his four children and a stepdaughter .