Evan Mackie Wing Commander Evan " Rosie " Mackie , DSO , DFC & Bar , was a New Zealand fighter pilot and ace of the Second World War . Many New Zealand pilots who served overseas enlisted in the RAF ; Mackie chose to join the RNZAF and as such he was the highest scoring member of that service . Born in October 1917 , ' Rosie ' , ( so named when in the RAF because of his ruddy complexion ) trained as an electrician before the war . Mackie joined the RNZAF in January 1941 , and on completion of flying training was posted to the No 485 ( NZ ) Squadron in the UK in early 1942 . On 26 March he shared in destroying a Bf 109 , and a month later probably destroyed a FW 190 . His Spitfire was hit by flak in the port wing but he returned to base safely . In March 1943 he was posted to North Africa , to No . 243 Squadron , flying the Spitfire Mk V . He was shot down over Pont du Fahs area on 24 April , but returned on foot to Allied lines the next day . He was awarded the DFC in May , and achieved success in combat through April - October 1943 . On 7 April the squadron intercepted fifteen Ju 87 ' s with Bf 109 escort . The Spitfires shot down five , Mackie claiming two . Three days later he claimed a Bf 109 and in the next month claimed another two destroyed and share in a third . He was subsequently awarded the DFC . In June 1943 the squadron moved to Malta to participate in the invasion of Sicily . Mackie was promoted to Acting Squadron Leader and given command of the unit . A Bf 109 was claimed on 4 July ( of II . / JG 77 ) and another Bf 109 of I . / JG 53 on 5 July , while 2 Italian - flown Junkers Ju 87 of 121 " Gruppo " and a Reggiane Re 2002 of 5 " Stormo " were shot down on 13 July . In November he was posted to command No . 92 Squadron , returning , tour - expired , to the UK in February 1944 . He then joined 274 Squadron flying the Hawker Tempest in December 1944 at Volkel in Holland . On 24 December 1944 , he shot down an FW 190 over the Malmedy area ( the Fw 190 A - 9 “ White 6 ” of 28 - kill ace " Hpt " . Wolfgang Kosse , 13 . / JG 3 , who was killed ) . His combat report read ; " " I was flying No . 2 to Talbot Leader in Red Section on a patrol Julich - Malmedy and while we were returning to base and approaching Eindhoven , I noticed approx . 8 Typhoons flying in the opposite direction at about 4 , 000 ft . They were in open formation . When almost abreast of these A / C at about 6 , 000 ft I noticed one of the Typhoons suddenly break formation and dive into the ground on fire and I did not see anybody bale out . I then noticed the machine which had been flying behind that one , had moved behind another Typhoon , which then began shedding large pieces and losing height . Although we were not close enough to these aircraft to identify one of them as an enemy , I realised that this particular one must have been , so I immediately jettisoned my long - range tanks and gave chase . " There was no R / T communication between myself and the other members of the section , as I had not heard the order to change to channel ' A ' . The E / A lost some height then pulled vertically upwards . I identified it as a short nosed FW190 and opened fire with four cannons at a range of about 250 yds closing to 50 yds . I then broke off the attack as I was then rolling over on to my back . I gave about a 2 1 / 2 sec . burst and numerous strikes were seen on the wings and centre section of the FW190 by myself and F / L Malloy who was flying Red 3 . After I broke away , S / L Baird stated that the FW190 levelled out , going very slowly , dropped a wing and then spun into the ground approx . 4 miles SE of Eindhoven , where it blew up . " " " In early January 1945 Mackie was given command of 80 Squadron at Volkel . He destroyed a Bf 109 on 23 January 1945 , and shot down a FW 190 near Hanover on 7 March . He then became No . 122 Wing Leader in April 1945 . He then destroyed two Arado AR 96 trainers on 9 April and shared in the destruction of a FW 190 six days later . On 4 May 1945 Mackie led 486 Squadron over the Kiel - Haderslev area , and they claimed three Fiesler Storch Fi 156 aircraft destroyed on the ground . Mackie scored 20 air victories , as well as 3 shared kills , 2 probables , 10 damaged and 1 shared damaged , with 3 destroyed and 2 shared destroyed on the ground during the war . Of this final total , 12 kills , three shared destroyed , two probably destroyed , seven damaged and one shared damaged , was achieved while flying the Spitfire Mark V and Mark VIII . Mackie was also credited with 6 . 5 kills in the Hawker Tempest . Following the war Mackie declined roles in the military , preferring to return home to New Zealand and continue his career as an electrician , eventually becoming Chief Inspector for the Tauranga Power Board . Shortly before he died in 1986 he was interviewed extensively by Max Avery who subsequently , with the assistance of Christopher Shores , published a biography " Spitfire Leader " focusing mostly on his military service . 978 - 1 - 84603 - 298 - 1