Irving Smith (RAF officer)

Irving Stanley Smith CBE, DFC & Bar (21 May 1917 – 16 February 2000) was a New Zealand flying ace of the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during the Second World War, who subsequently transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF). He was credited with the destruction of eight enemy aircraft.

Born in Invercargill, New Zealand, Smith joined the RNZAF in 1939 but was sent in England for training with the RAF. He flew Hawker Hurricanes with No. 151 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. The squadron switched to night fighting duties during the Blitz and by 1942 he was its commander. He spent most of 1943 on staff duties but returned to operations in February 1944 as commander of No. 487 (NZ) Squadron. He led it for the most of 1944, including during Operation Jericho and in air support duties for the D-Day landings in Normandy. The final months of the war was spent on instructing duties. Having formally transferred to the RAF from the RNZAF, he held a series of flying and administrative posts in the postwar period until his retirement in 1966. He later farmed in Devon and died in 2000, at the age of 82.