29/05/2026
🛣️ Road Name Series: Richard Avenue
We love doing these road name posts, because every now and then you come across a story that just stops you in your tracks.
Richard Avenue is named after Richard Trousdale.
He was young man from Howick who went on to become one of New Zealand's most decorated fighter pilots of World War Two.
Richard was born in Waimate on the 23rd of January 1921, the son of Archibald and Clarice Trousdale. He grew up on his family's farm 'Murvale' in Howick.
In 1938, at just 17, he applied for a short service commission with the Royal Air Force. He was accepted, and in 1939 he sailed for England aboard the R.M.S Tainui, ready to train as a pilot.
Assessed as an exceptional student during training, Richard had his sights set on becoming a bomber pilot. When WW2 broke out, he was posted to No. 266 Squadron, and from there, history took over.
Richard flew patrols over Dunkirk as part of Operation Dynamo and then fought in the Battle of Britain which is one of the most pivotal aerial campaigns in human history.
By late 1941 he had been promoted to acting Flight Lieutenant and transferred to No. 255 Squadron, defending the skies over mid-Britain. He kept adding to his tally of enemy aircraft, including a share in bringing down a Heinkel He 111 bomber at night.
In March 1942 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, with his citation noting that since the early months of the war he had "destroyed at least four enemy aircraft including one at night" and shown outstanding keenness throughout.
He wasn't done yet. A Bar to his DFC followed, recognising that he had now destroyed eight enemy aircraft, five of them at night.
By July 1942 he was leading No. 488 NZ Squadron as a night fighter intruder unit over England. By the end of the war, he was credited with destroying at least six enemy aircraft, possibly seven, with a share in another, plus further probable kills and a damaged aircraft to his name.
Richard married in 1941 and came home to New Zealand in January 1946 with his wife and their two children. After some well-earned leave, he formally joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a Squadron Leader in April 1947.
Just weeks later, he was sent back to the UK on one final mission. He was to collect a de Havilland Mosquito fighter bomber and fly it home to New Zealand. On the 16th of June 1947, while carrying out flight checks near Pershore in Worcestershire, the aircraft stalled at low level and crashed. Richard was killed. He was just 26 years old.
He is buried at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath, Somerset. A long way from Howick. A long way from Murvale.
