The rare Great War Handley Page pilot's D.S.C. group of five awarded to Flight Commander V....

The rare Great War Handley Page pilot’s D.S.C. group of five awarded to Flight Commander V. R. Gibbs, Royal Naval Air Service, a former R.N.V.R. Armoured Car officer and afterwards Royal Air Force Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., the reverse hallmarked London 1920; 1914 Star (12/3306 V. R. Gibbs, A.B. R.N.V.R.) naming officially impressed in a later smaller style); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. V. R. Gibbs. R.A.F.); France, 3rd Republic, Croix de Guerre 1914 1917, with bronze palme, mounted as worn, good very fine (5) £2,000-£2,400 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- D.S.C. London Gazette 17 November 1917: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in numerous night bombing raids, particularly on the night of the 25 September 1917, when in spite of difficult weather conditions, he carried out a double trip and made good shooting from 3,000 feet and below, and was responsible for dropping over 1½ tons of bombs on his objectives.’ Victor Richard Gibbs was born in Islington, London on 13 October 1893. On joining the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve as a rating in August 1914, he was drafted to Hawke Battalion in the Royal Naval Division and embarked for Antwerp, from whence he returned to the U.K. in mid-October 1914. Commissioned as a Sub. Lieutenant in the R.N.V.R. in December 1914, Gibbs was attached to No. 8 Squadron Armoured Cars and served in that capacity in France in April 1915, before being embarked for the Dardanelles. He was subsequently present in operations at Cape Helles and Suvla Bay, in addition to serving at Imbros. Then, in late 1915 he joined the staff of the Western Frontier Force (Armoured Cars) in Egypt for operations against the Senussi. Back in the U.K. by January 1916, Gibbs transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service as a Probationary Flight Sub. Lieutenant and gained his aviator’s certificate at Hendon in March. Having then attended further courses at Eastbourne, Cranwell and Eastchurch, he joined No. 6 Naval Squadron in January 1917, a unit of No. 4 Wing R.N.A.S. However, it was on his subsequent posting to No. 7 Naval Squadron at Dunkirk that his operational career commenced proper, his first sortie taking place on the night of 28-29 July 1917, when, flying one of the squadron’s giant Handley Page bombers, he was assigned to attack rolling stock and railway junctions in the Bruges area. Over the course of the following five months, Gibbs flew at least 30 operational sorties, mainly against railway stations and enemy aerodromes. Thus a strike against St. Denis Westrem aerodrome on the night of 25-26 August, a successful sortie in which ‘good shooting’ was made and roughly five tons of bombs dropped by the attacking force of six Handley Pages. In early hours of 1 September, in an attack on Ghistelles aerodrome, it was reported that ‘Flight Sub Lieutenant Gibbs (Observer G./L. Kille) and Flight Sub Lieutenant Johnson (Observer G./L. Brooks) achieved good results … A.A. fire was active and fairly accurate. In all about five and a half tons were dropped on the objective.’ It was about this time his service record was endorsed: ‘Recorded very useful information with regard to enemy aerodromes and successfully dropped his bombs on the railway sidings and mainland adjoining near the N.W. corner of the objective.’ Following another attack on St. Denis Westrem aerodrome on the night of the 10-11 September, Gibbs and his fellow aircrew began a flurry of operations against the railway stations and airfields at Thorout, Lichtervelde and Cortemarck, the first such sortie being flown on the night of 21-22 September. Following a similar trip on the night of 25-26 September, Gibbs was commended by his C.O.: ‘I beg to call your attention to the conduct of Flight Sub Lieutenant Gibbs, Observer A.M.1 G./L. Kille, and Flight Sub Lieutenant Johnson, Observer A.M. 1 G./L. Boshier. These Pilots and Observers made double trips, and good shooting from 3,000 feet and below, each machine being responsible for dropping over 1½ tons of bombs during the night.’ The same report adds in respect of Gibbs, ‘in addition this officer has carried out twenty-three night bombing raids.’ He was recommended for the D.S.C. On the night of 29-30 September, the squadron’s targets included Zeebrugge, where one Handley-Page had to beat a retreat owing to severe ground fire. In fact, as made clear by related squadron reports, enemy searchlights and A.A. fire was often intense and accurate, and not a few aircraft were hit and damaged. This was especially so of larger targets such as Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent, all of which were attacked by Gibbs and his fellow aircrew in October. In mid-December, he was recommended for the post of Flight Commander in No. 14 Squadron, R.N.A.S., formerly 7a Squadron, a recommendation that was duly approved. And it was in this capacity that he carried out a sortie on the night of 22-23 December 1917, when he and his crew took valuable observations of multiple enemy recognition signals, their handiwork being assisted by copies of a code map which had been found in the possession of a captured German airman. However, in mid-February 1918, for reasons unknown, Gibbs was admitted to No. 14 General Hospital at Wimereux and thence to No. 51 General Hospital at Etaples. His R.N.A.S. service record then closes with an entry for a medical re-boarding on 11 June 1918. He subsequently obtained a regular commission in the newly created Royal Air Force and his inter-war appointments included service with the Palestine Wing at Bir Salem in 1922-23, H.Q. Transjordan and Palestine at Amman in 1930, and H.Q. Middle East at Cairo in 1931. Back home, in the interim, he held squadron appointments in the Wessex Bombing Area in the mid-to-late 20s. Advanced to Squadron Leader in November 1929 and to Wing Commander in November 1938, Gibbs served for the entirety of the Second World War on the staff of the Directorate of Organisation. He died at Edmonton, Essex in October 1949. Sold with copied research, including extensive operational reports for sorties flown in 1917.