Vance Drummond (1927 - 1967)

Ancestors

Biography

Vance Drummond was born on 22 February 1927^[1] at Hamilton, New Zealand, third of six children of Leonard Drummond , office manager, and his wife Dorothy McKnight. Educated at Hamilton West Public and Te Awamutu District High schools, Vance left early to help his father farm. In May 1944 Vance joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force. His training ended in September 1945 and in October he was demobilized as sergeant navigator.

In March 1946 Drummond enlisted in the New Zealand Military Forces. He was sent to Japan in July with 'J' Force and qualified as an interpreter. Back in New Zealand in October 1948, he left the army and applied to rejoin the R.N.Z.A.F., hoping to train as a fighter pilot. When he was rejected as being too old, he moved to Australia and was accepted by the R.A.A.F. on 29 August 1949.

Graduating top of his course as sergeant pilot in February 1951, Drummond was posted to No.78 Wing at Williamtown, New South Wales, and in August to No.77 Squadron in Korea with which he flew Gloster Meteor jets against superior Soviet-built MiG-15s. He was recommended for the American Air Medal (gazetted 1953) and commissioned on 30 November 1951. Next day his aircraft was shot down and he was captured by the North Koreans. On Good Friday, 1952, he and four companions escaped from Pinchon-ni prisoner-of-war camp, but all were recaptured and punished. Drummond was repatriated in September 1953.

On 8 July 1966 he joined the 19th Tactical Air Support Squadron as a forward air controller. He flew in a Cessna 0-1 'Bird Dog', a two-seat observation aircraft, nicknamed 'Snoopy'.

On the night of 24-25 July Drummond and his American pilot went to the aid of an army company which was surrounded by troops of the People's Liberation Armed Forces (Viet Cong). Despite heavy anti-aircraft fire, they kept low, dropping flares, illuminating enemy positions, and calling up support from fighter-bombers and helicopter-gunships. They flew for a total of eleven hours in four sorties, in addition to the five hours which they had flown in daylight on the 24th. By dawn on the 25th the soldiers had been saved. Drummond was to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. For similar work on 27 October, he won the Republic of Vietnam's Cross of Gallantry with Silver Star. He flew a total of 381 operational missions and set a high standard for Australian F.A.C.s who followed him. Returning home, on 20 February 1967 Drummond assumed command of No.3 Squadron at Williamtown. On 17 May that year he and three other pilots were engaged in training exercises off the New South Wales coast. At 4.20 p.m., about 50 miles (80 km) north-east of Newcastle, his Mirage went into a dive and plummeted into the sea. Neither his body nor the aircraft was recovered. Margaret took their only child, 9-year-old David, to Government House, Canberra, to receive Vance's D.F.C. on 5 April 1968.

He is memorialized at Norwood Park Crematorium and Memorial Park, Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, Australia^[2][3]

Sources

1. ↑ Registrar General New Zealand, New Zealand BDM Fiche Index, Folio # 2079/1927 Hamilton.
2. ↑ Memorial: "Billion Graves"
   Norwood Park Crematorium and Memorial Park, 65 Sandford St, Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2911, Australia
   BillionGraves memorial (accessed 12 January 2024)
   Memorial page for Vance Drummond (22 February 1927-17 May 1967); Transcribed by adriangn, Sep 6, 2016; Photographed by ptgdominick, Aug 23, 2016.
3. ↑ Memorial: Find a Grave (has image)
   Find A Grave: Memorial #231182719 (accessed 12 January 2024)
   Memorial page for Wing Commander Vance Drummond (22 Feb 1927-17 May 1967); Maintained by Just Jack (contributor 49577555).

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vance_Drummond
• http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/drummond-vance-10054
• https://www.awm.gov.au/learn/memorial-boxes/2/case-studies/Vance-Drummond
• Wikidata: Item Q21538976, en:Wikipedia