Kenneth Stewart (RNZAF officer)

Kenneth William Stewart, DFC (7 October 1915 – 3 August 1960) was a flying ace of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War.

He and his radar operator Harold Brumby achieved a number of aerial victories during the final six months of the war in Europe.

[1] Stewart studied law after completing his schooling, qualified as a solicitor and duly entered the legal profession.

54 Operational Training Unit to become familiar with the twin-engined Bristol Beaufighter and de Havilland Mosquito, both used as night fighters.

[2] On 23 December, Stewart and Brumby were on their fifth operational sortie, patrolling around Roermond when a Junkers Ju 88 night fighter was detected on radar some 4 miles (6.4 km) distant.

[2][8] Stewart had to make another emergency landing on 1 January 1945; that day the Luftwaffe mounted Operation Bodenplatte, an attack on a number of Allied airfields.

Stewart and Brumby were flying when they spotted and pursued a fighter-bomber to Rheine but their Mosquito was damaged by anti-aircraft fire.

[2][10] On 26 March, while patrolling over the Ruhr, Stewart and Brumby destroyed a Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter, having tracked it on radar for some time before closing in to a sufficient distance to allow positive identification.

[2] The duo resumed their patrol and soon picked up another aircraft on Brumby's radar, which was subsequently identified as a Heinkel He 111 medium bomber.

They had to abandon pursuit of the He 111 and, unable to return to their base in Amiens-Glisy because of poor visibility, flew across to England to land at Bradwell Bay.

They were also tasked with providing aerial cover for Antwerp, a logistically important port for supplying the advancing Allied ground forces.

[7] In June, both Stewart, by this time holding the rank of flight lieutenant, and Brumby were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for "gallantry and devotion to duty in the execution of air operations.

[15] On returning to New Zealand in September and being discharged from the RNZAF, Stewart immediately resumed his prewar profession as a lawyer, becoming a partner in a Dunedin law firm.

[2][16] He was also involved in veterans' affairs, serving on the executive committee of the Dunedin branch of the Returned Services Association.