Alan McGregor Peart, DFC (25 July 1922 – 5 September 2018) was a New Zealand fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War.

He was involved in numerous sorties to continental Europe, including providing aerial cover for the Dieppe Raid in August, until November when he was transferred to No.

On 31 December he damaged a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter while flying the personal aircraft of Wing Commander Petrus Hugo.

Soon afterwards, the squadron shifted to the island of Malta and began flying operations to Sicily and Italy as the Italian campaign commenced.

81 Squadron encountered a dozen Bf 109s; Peart damaged one of them, when flying one of the older Spitfire Vcs.

[4][10] On 13 September, when leading a flight of six Spitfires, he helped two other pilots destroy one of three Dornier Do 217 bombers attacking Allied shipping near the beachhead at Salerno.

[11] The Japanese invaded India on 4 February and the squadron sought to achieve air superiority, flying forward to temporary airstrips from which they operated during the day, returning to Imphal at night.

[4] In March 1944, Peart was one of six pilots sent with their aircraft to an airstrip, named Broadway, in the jungle to support the operations of the Chindits.

The following day, 30 Japanese Oscar fighters attacked the airstrip but forewarned, the Spitfires were already airborne and able to shoot down four of the enemy aircraft plus damaged others.

Four of the six Spitfires were destroyed on the ground and a pilot killed but Peart and his squadron commander took off in time and shot down one Oscar.

Peart's commander was shot down, leaving the New Zealander to fight a solo dogfight against the remaining Japanese.

The citation for his DFC, published in The London Gazette, read: Flying Officer Peart is a keen and courageous fighter who has destroyed five enemy aircraft and damaged several more.

Peart was posted to India where he took command of a fighter conversion and tactical flight, based at Poona.

On recovering his health, he briefly served as an instructor and was discharged from the RNZAF later that year with the rank of flight lieutenant.

[1][16][17] He ended the war credited with the destruction of six enemy aircraft, a share in a seventh destroyed and nine damaged.