Flight Lieutenant

Eric Neville Griffiths

Conflict: 
WW2
Additional Information: 

Son of Percy and Nancy Griffiths, of Wellington City, New Zealand; husband of Frances Marie Griffiths, of Wellington City.

References:
  • CWGC
NZ WAR GRAVES

Biographical Notes:

Flight Lt. Eric GRIFFITH, SUVA WAR CEMETERY, Fiji.
During the Spanish Civil War, Eric Griffith from Eastbourne, near Wellington, served as a fighter pilot in the Republican air force and shot down several German and Italian planes. He signed a mercenary contract which included a £200 reward for each plane shot down.
Every bit the ‘dashing aviator’, he had been part of an air circus in New Zealand, had flown in China, and served as a member of Admiral Richard Byrd’s Antarctic expeditions.
He was badly wounded in Spain when shot through the shoulder but managed to land his plane in one piece. He was paid £1000 for his injury, as per his contract. After a spell training Spanish pilots, Griffith returned home to get married. As befitting this larger-than-life personality, he then headed for Hollywood in an unsuccessful bid to become a stunt man.
He returned to New Zealand during the Second World War where he became a flight lieutenant in the RNZAF. He was killed in 1942 during an unauthorised joyride in an American air force plane.
Source - NZHistory.net, Ministry of Culture and Heritage

Public Contributions:

There are no public contributions written for this casualty

Personal Tributes:

Casualty

Service Number: 
1182
Name:
Eric Neville Griffiths
Rank: 
Flight Lieutenant
Date of Birth:
09 September 1913
Date of Enlistment:
Not known
Occupation on Enlistment:
Jeweller
Armed Force: 
Air Force
Unit:
Royal New Zealand Air Force

Casualty Details

Cause of Death:
Accidental death on active service
Date of Death:
23 February 1942
Day of Death:
Monday
Age at Death: 
28
Conflict: 
WW2

Embarkation Details

Embarkation Body:
Royal New Zealand Air Force

Text in italics supplied by Cenotaph Online, Auckland War Memorial Museum

Cemetery

Cemetery Reference: 
9. 133.
Cemetery Location: 
Fiji
Eric Neville Griffiths
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