John Gordon Pattison, DSO, DFC (27 January 1917 – 11 September 2009) was a New Zealand fighter pilot and squadron commander of the Second World War.

He joined the Civil Reserve of Pilots in January 1939, and learned to fly de Havilland Tiger Moths at Hastings.

His training was completed in late May 1940, when having gained his flying badge the previous month, he was commissioned as a pilot officer.

[1] Pattison was sent to England to serve with the Royal Air Force (RAF), departing New Zealand on 7 June aboard the RMS Rangitata with some fellow RNZAF pilots, including Robert Spurdle and Edward Wells.

The squadron was tasked with intercepting a force of Luftwaffe bombers making their way over the Thames Estuary, and passing through cloud he became separated from the other Spitfires of his unit.

Unable to make radio contact with the ground, he became lost, ran out of fuel and executed a wheels-up landing in a field.

At the time, the Battle of Britain was at its peak and less than two weeks later, he crash landed his Spitfire at West Malling; during a dogfight over Gravesend, he had been attacked by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and received serious thigh wounds from a cannon shell.

He spent the next eight months in hospital and on recovery, rejoined the squadron on 1 June 1941 having been promoted to flying officer.

In November Pattison contravened standing orders regarding low flying and flew under the Severn railway bridge.

[1] On 26 April the squadron, providing cover for Hurribombers attacking targets in Calais, was engaged by Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters.

The squadron carried out a number of operations in preparation for the Invasion of Normandy and on D-Day itself, provided aerial cover for the landing beaches.

He led it in numerous dive bombing missions in support of the Canadian Army's operations in France, Belgium and Holland, as they advanced along the north-east coast of the European continent, dealing with pockets of resistance and securing shipping ports.

[6][7] From early 1945, it performed reconnaissance flights towards the Rhine and it was during one of these when the first death in the squadron occurred while it was under Pattison's command.

[8] When the squadron was withdrawn from the front line in February 1945 to begin converting to the Hawker Tempest fighter, Pattison was posted to the staff at the headquarters of No.

He has shown the finest qualities of leadership both in the air and on the ground and his sterling work had contributed in good measure to the success of the squadron he commands.

[10] He died at Hastings on 11 September 2009, one of the last living of the New Zealand fighter pilots to have flown in the Battle of Britain.