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See - Shores, Christopher; Williams, Clive (1994). Aces High: A Tribute to the Most Notable Fighter Pilots of the British and Commonwealth Forces in WWII. London: Grub Street. ISBN 1-898697-00-0.: pp.338-9
485 NZ Squadron
185 Squadron {Malta}
602 Squadron
From wiki entry (pending edit)
In January 1943, Houlton was posted to No. 602 Squadron but had only been with the unit a few weeks when he transferred back to No. 485 Squadron, at the behest of its commander, Squadron Leader Reg Grant. Soon afterwards he received a temporary commission as a pilot officer. Over the summer period, the squadron flew extensively as part of the Biggin Hill fighter wing. The New Zealanders flew operations nearly every day, sometimes two or more daily. Many of these were 'Ramrod' raids, which involved bombers attacking targets in France, distracting the Luftwaffe while a main raid was mounted on locations elsewhere. The Spitfire squadrons, which had a shorter operational range, escorted the bombers making their way to France while North American P-51 Mustangs and Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, having greater fuel endurance, accompanied the main force.
On 27 August, flying a Spitfire Mk IX, Houlton destroyed a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter over St Pol.[1] The next month he shared in the destruction of another Fw 190 and also damaged a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter.[1] He received a further promotion in September, to flying officer. The squadron had a period of reduced operations in Scotland with No. 12 Group over the winter period before returning to the south of England in February as part of the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force. The 2nd TAF had been raised to provide air cover protection and support during the operations of the Second British Army and the First Canadian Army during the impending invasion of France. Accordingly, it began training in the appropriate tactics, including operating in a fighter-bomber role. The squadron returned to operations in March, carrying out bomber escorts and sweeps to France.
On the day of the Normandy landings, there were only a few aerial encounters with the Luftwaffe for the RAF, Houlton having one of them. Leading a section of Spitfires in an afternoon patrol over the landing beaches, Houlton destroyed a Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber. This was alleged to be the first enemy aircraft shot down on D-Day. However, it is likely that RAF de Havilland Mosquitos had destroyed some enemy aircraft earlier in the day, before dawn. With the three other pilots of his section, he also shared in the destruction of a second Ju 88. Two days later he destroyed a Bf 109 near Caen. Another Bf 109 was shot down on 12 June near Aunay-sur-Odon and at the end of the month he claimed a further Bf 109 as damaged.
In July Houlton was taken off operations and seconded to the Ministry of Aircraft Production. In the preceding weeks No. 485 Squadron had been involved in the development of a new gyroscopic gunsight and Houlton embarked on a lecture tour around the various factories involved in its production. He returned to the squadron in August and shortly afterwards it began operating from airfields in France, supporting the First Canadian Army in its advance along the coast of France and the Low Countries.[1] In September, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The citation, published in the London Gazette read:
'Flying Officer Houlton has completed a very large number of varied sorties and has displayed notable skill and determination throughout. He has shot down four enemy aircraft, three of them within a short period recently.'
— London Gazette, No. 36686, 5 September 1944
Houlton then had a period off operations in England, where he attended the Fighter Leaders school and then proceeded on to the Central Gunnery School at Sutton Bridge for more training. A period of instructing duties at an OTU followed before he was promoted to flight lieutenant and returned to operations in Europe with No. 274 Squadron. He was a flight commander with his new unit, which flew the Hawker Tempest and on 3 May 1945 he shot down a Dornier Do 217 bomber that was on route for Norway.
At the end of the war, Houlton was credited with shooting down at least five German aircraft, two shared as destroyed and four damaged. It is possible that he actually destroyed seven aircraft; the two Ju 52 transport aircraft that he claimed as damaged on 28 November 1942 are believed to have crashed into the sea.
