Reginald Jack Hyde, (21 December 1912 – 23 March 1985) was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR) during the Second World War. He was officially credited with destroying at least five enemy aircraft. Born in Islington, Hyde was working in the United Kingdom in an electrical factory when he joined the RAFVR in July 1938. The following year he started receiving full-time flight training with the Royal Air Force (RAF). Mobilised after the outbreak of the Second World War, he was loaned to the Fleet Air Arm and trained to land aircraft on aircraft carriers. Returning to RAF service, he was posted to No. 66 Squadron, and flew patrols over Dunkirk during the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and the North Sea during the Battle of Britain. In August 1940 he was sent to Malta, where he served for several months with No. 261 Squadron and achieved the majority of his aerial victories. He returned to the United Kingdom in May 1941, instructing until the end of 1942. He was then posted to No. 197 Squadron, flying on operations to German-occupied Europe. Hyde was involved in the making of a film in the later part of 1943, before taking up a series of instructing posts. In February 1945 he transferred to the Royal New Zealand Air Force but continued to serve with the RAF. His final posting was as the commanding officer of No. 3 Tactical Exercise Unit. In September 1945 he returned to New Zealand and went onto the Reserve of Pilots at the end of the year. He worked in the electrical industry until his retirement. He died in 1985, aged 72. Early life Reginald Jack Hyde was born on 21 December 1912 in Islington, a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. He was educated at North Linwood Primary School and then Christchurch Boys' High School. Following his schooling, he gained an apprenticeship as an electrician at a firm in Christchurch, while working towards his certification at the Christchurch Technical College. In 1936, he went to the United Kingdom for work experience, finding employment as an assistant factory manager at an electric tool company near London. In July 1938, Hyde joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR); prior to this he had been learning to fly with the Cambridge Aero Club. As a sergeant with the RAFVR, he received flight