WONZ 341 – Ray Tocker

WONZ 341 – Ray Tocker

From The Wings Over New Zealand Show by Dave Homewood

January 6, 2026 · 1h 16m

About this episode

This episode features an interview with Warrant Officer Raymond William Tocker, sharing his experiences in the RNZAF.

Guest:  Warrant Officer Raymond William Tocker 73469 (18 June 1931 to 24 September 2015) Hosts:  Dave Homewood Recorded:  11th of February 2013 Released:  6th of January 2026 Duration:   1 hour 15 minutes 32 seconds In this Wings Over New Zealand Show episode Dave Homewood pulled another previously unpublished older interview out of the archives. The recording is with the late Ray Tocker, who was a good mate of Dave’s. On a visit to Ray’s place, a couple of blocks from Dave’s, Ray began telling stories of his RNZAF service so Dave gained permission to pull his recorder out of his rucksack and hit record. The result was a great conversation with Ray telling some wonderful and often very funny stories about his days in the RNZAF in the 1950s. The conversation was heavily focused on his days at RNZAF Base Ohakea working in the maintenance hangar on Mosquitoes, Devons, a Grumman Avenger, and more. And he also talks about some adventures when he was a Flight Engineer on the Short Sunderland flying boat, including the incident where he was aboard Sunderland NZ4113 when it scraped its belly along the new runway at the opening of Wellington…

People in this episode

Host: Dave Homewood

Guest: Raymond William Tocker

Topics covered

  • RNZAF service
  • aviation stories
  • military history
  • aircraft maintenance
  • personal anecdotes

Keywords

  • RNZAF
  • Ray Tocker
  • aviation
  • Wellington Airport
  • Sunderland flying boat
  • aircraft maintenance
  • military stories

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Royal New Zealand Air Force

Places: Ohakune

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