WONZ 340 – Buck Pound

Guest: Flight Lieutenant Wilfrid Leopold “Buck” Pound NZ427559 – 21 October 1922 to 27 January 2021

Hosts: Dave Homewood

Recorded: 29th of June 2013

Released: 31st of December 2025

Duration:  53 minutes 23 seconds

In this Wings Over New Zealand Show episode Dave Homewood interviews WWII RNZAF bomber pilot ‘Buck’ Pound. He spent a short time in the Army in Tauranga after WWII broke out, before getting into the RNZAF. His initial training was at Rotorua, and he began flying training at Ashburton on de Havilland Tiger Moths. Next he progressed onto flying Airspeed Oxfords at Wigram.

Upon passing out with his flying badge, Buck was posted to England where he flew more Oxfords, and then onto Vickers Wellingtons at No. 11 Operational Training Unit at Westcott. He and his crew, and his best mate Robbie who was another pilot with his own crew, volunteered to got to Italy. They joined No. 104 Squadron at Foggia, flying Wellingtons in the night bombing role. He talks about some of the experiences he had including a terrifying night when the Wellington was struck by lightning and they lost all their instruments.

Following the tour in Italy, Buck was sent to by converted onto Mosquitoes. And he ended up flying Mosquitoes from Malta in a specialist target marking role.

After the war Buck got into banking and finance. Buck was a member of the New Zealand Bomber Command Association. He passed away on the 27th of January 2021.

Quick Links:

• The New Zealand Bomber Command Association

• The New Zealand Bomber Command Association Facebook Page

Photos from Wilfred ‘Buck’ Pound’s collection, via The New Zealand Bomber Command Association Archive.

The music at the end of this episode is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud