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Lot 1415
A rare Second World War D.S.C. group of seven awarded to Lieutenant (A.) R. A. Wiltshire, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, a Fleet Air Arm pilot who was decorated for his part in ‘Operation Dragoon’: he had earlier participated in ‘Operation Tungsten’, the famous attack on the Tirpitz in April 1944 distinguished Service Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1945’ and privately engraved, ‘Lieutenant (A.) Reginald Alfred Wiltshire, D.S.C., R.N.V.R.’, hallmarks for London 1947, in its Garrard & Co. fitted case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; Pacific Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals, these last in their original card forwarding box, together with embroidered Fleet Air Arm ‘Wings’ (2) and a set of tunic ribands, generally extremely fine (7) £4000-5000 D.S.C. London Gazette 27 March 1945. The original recommendation states: ‘Sub. Lieutenant Wiltshire joined H.M.S. Pursuer on 26 November 1943. Since that date he has carried out 25 operational missions and 71 deck-landings. During ‘Operation Dragoon’, he led five fighter bomber missions of four or more aircraft and took part in 10 missions. He is always cheerful, quite imperturbable and sets a fine example. He leads in the air well. For courage, skill, leadership and a fine example.’ Reginald Alfred Wiltshire, who was born in Enfield, Middlesex in January 1923, completed his pilot training at the U.S. Naval Air Stations at Pensacola and Miami, and returned to the U.K. in the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Biter in June 1942. following a brief posting to No. 762 (F.A.A.) Squadron, and appointment to the rank of Acting Sub. Lieutenant, he removed to No. 896 (F.A.A.) Squadron in August 1942, in which unit he carried out deck-landings in Martlet IVs on the U.S.S. Charger, before removing to the aircraft carrier Victorious in February 1943, the whole in preparation for a six-month operational tour in the Pacific, where the Victorious was on loan to the U.S.N. returning home towards the end of the year, Wiltshire and his fellow 896 pilots transferred to the Pursuer in November, an appointment that would lead to frequent convoy patrol work in Wildcat Vs and their participation in the famous attack against the Tirpitz in Kaafjord 3 April 1944 - a.k.a. ‘Operation Tungsten’ - an attack in which the escorting Wildcats were credited with knocking out most of the enemy’s fire-control systems, and one that resulted in 440 casualties among the Tirpitz’s crew. in June 1944, Wiltshire transferred to 881 (F.A.A.) Squadron, a busy month for patrols and ‘flaps’ and one that included an encounter with a Ju. 88 - ‘Unable to catch it’. In July, the Pursuer having arrived in the Mediterranean, he carried out several dive-bombing attacks on Comino and Filfa Islands, while in August, as part of the carrier force acting in support of the landings in the South of France, he flew 10 operational sorties in Wildcat VIs, five of them as force leader. And, according to accompanying press cuttings, he was responsible for inflicting severe damage on enemy transport and troops. A fellow pilot described how in one attack they destroyed 14 military vehicles and damaged another 20, yet, as confirmed by Wiltshire’s flying log book, enemy flak was a constant threat: ‘19 August: Armed Recce. Strafed Orange aerodrome, near Avignon, damaged Fw. 190. Intense flak - Banks, Sherbourne and Sharp shot down. Went on to bomb oil tanks at Berre L’Etang and strafed rolling stock at Rognac. Destroyed Arado 196 on water.’ ‘21 August: Bombed M./T. on road near Uzes. Destroyed 7 personally whilst strafing. Damaged one Loco. Hit by flak 5 times. P.O. Brittain shot down.’ At the end of the month, Wiltshire was recommended for the D.S.C., while in September - the Pursuer having made her way to the Aegean - he flew further operational sorties in the face of heavy opposition. Thus a night shipping strike in which two enemy ships and a U-Boat were sunk, a dive-bombing attack on merchantmen in Rhodes harbour and, if needed, a reminder of the hazards of flak - ‘Intensive flak near Suda Bay. Hit in windscreen whilst strafing.’ Returning once more to the U.K. in mid-November 1944, 881’s pilots were attached to R.N.A.S. Grimsetter and the Trumpeter in the following month, in which capacity they flew occasional operational sorties off Norway. Then in February 1945, Wiltshire was posted to No. 3 Flying Instructors School, and he ended the War at No. 1 Naval Air Fighter School. He was released in January 1946. sold with a quantity of original documentation, including Admiralty letter of notification for the award of the recipient’s D.S.C., dated 28 March 1945, and related Buckingham Palace forwarding letter; his Flying Log Books (2), covering the periods September 1941 to December 1944, and January 1945 to January 1946, the former including several gun-camera images of targets attacked in the South of France in August 1944, and a copy of the King’s and Prime Minister’s congratulatory signals for participants in ‘Operation Tungsten’, as sent via the Admiralty on 4 April 1944; together with a photograph album covering the period 1937-45, quite a few images lacking but nonetheless a good wartime record and also including related newspaper cuttings; his application papers for a Visa to the U.S.A., American identity card, etc., including portrait photograhs, dated 21 July 1941, and his Graduation Certificate from the U.S. Naval Air Station at Miami, dated 14 May 1942. £4000-£5000
Lot 1513
A particularly fine Second World War Mosquito navigator's D.F.M. group of four awarded to Pilot Officer L. J. Etheridge, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who completed 50 sorties over France, Holland and Germany in 1944-45, an action packed tour that included a brace of crash-landings back in England after damage sustained in action - once on one-engine with a hung-up 500lb. bomb: so, too, the spectacular daylight raids on the S.S.-occupied Chateau de Fou in August 1944 and S.S. barracks at Arnhem in the following month distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (1603309 F./Sgt. L. J. Etheridge, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; France and Germany star; War Medal 1939-45, extremely fine (4) £3000-3500 D.F.M. London Gazette 8 May 1945. The original recommendation states: ‘Flight Sergeant Etheridge has completed 50 sorties with his pilot, Flight Lieutenant Gasson, including three daylight operations. this N.C.O. has proved himself to be an excellent operational Navigator. He has never failed to bring his pilot to the target area, often despite poor weather conditions and without navigational aids. some of the sorties in which he was engaged involved very deep penetrations into enemy territory, where accurate navigation, without Gee facilities, was vital to the success of the missions. the results obtained by this Navigator and his pilot have been outstandingly good as the following examples will show. on the night of 6-7 August 1944, a moving light was attacked in France and due to the fact that the attack was pressed home to a low level the port engine was hit by a ricochet and caught fire at 1500 feet. The port propeller was feathered and the graviner switch operated. The return flight was made on one engine and Flight Sergeant Etheridge's accurate navigation brought them safely to England. It was found that height could not be maintained with the result that the English coast was crossed at 400 feet and a crash landing made at Ford. on the night of 4-5 October 1944, when carrying out a patrol over Holland and Germany, two trains were found in a railway station at Millingen, which were attacked with bombs and cannon. A large explosion followed the attack and later a fire started. During the same patrol a tug and six barges were found and successfully strafed. flight Sergeant Etheridge also took part in the successful daylight operations against the chateau south of Chatellerault on 2nd August, trains at Chalons on 25 August 1944 and on the barracks at Arnhem on 17 September 1944. flight Sergeant Etheridge possesses great determination and coolness in times of crisis. His fine offensive spirit, which is equal to that of his pilot, has gone to make an ideal Mosquito crew. In view of his fine operational record, I strongly recommend him for the award of the Distinguished Flying Medal.’ Laurence James Etheridge commenced his operational career with No. 107 Squadron, a Mosquito unit of 2nd Tactical Air Force's 138 Wing, operating out of Lasham, in July 1944, when, with his New Zealander pilot, Flight Lieutenant L. Gasson, he completed an offensive patrol over Vire-Falaise-Trouville sector on the night of the 24th-25th. Indeed it was to prove the first of a spate of such patrols in support of the Allied landings, 107s Mosquito VIs targeting enemy troops, transport and communications, often with great success, according to the Squadron's Operational Record Book (O.R.B.), by means of bombing and cannon fire delivered from altitudes as low as 500-1000 feet. Success was also dependent on a bright moon, a case in point being Etheridge's third sortie - against targets in the upper reaches of the Seine, from Rouen on the night of 30-31 July - when 107's Mosquitoes strafed and bombed a variety of trains, bridges, roads and in fact, any moving lights, but not without interference from the usual flak concentrations which had a habit of 'creeping up on the unwary'. etheridge's next sortie was of the daylight variety, one of a series of famous strikes against the S.S. and Gestapo, in this case an attack on troops of the notorious 158th ‘Security’ Regiment - who had recently murdered members of the S.A.S. - in the Chateau de Fou, south of Chatellerault on 2 August, a spectacular raid captured on camera, and one in which his aircraft, Mosquito A-NT. 136, formed part of the third wave - never the best place to be with aroused defences: ‘In the woods to the immediate south of the Chateau, one large explosion was seen after a cannon attack, possibly from motor transport. Bombs landed all round the Chateau but no direct hit was claimed. Strikes were obtained on the roof in a cannon attack and a small fire was seen to start inside. Aircraft ‘D’ sustained the loss of one engine over the target and crash landed at Thorney Island - crew unhurt. The trip back was uneventful except for a little flak soon after leaving the target, which was successfully avoided by all except F./O. Staple in Aircraft ‘J’ ... It is doubtful if the Chateau was entirely destroyed but troops possibly hiding in the woods would have been eliminated’ (107’s Squadron Operational Record Book refers). two days later Etheridge was part of a Squadron effort to lend support to the Army in the Caen sector, when 'much activity was seen in the battle zone and flak was very considerable', while on the night of 6-7 August, as cited above, he and Gasson were compelled to return from France on one engine, the other having been set alight by a ricochet from their own low-level cannon-fire - not mentioned, however, is the fact they were carrying a hung-up 500lb. bomb as they made their crash landing at Ford in Sussex and that said bomb exploded just two minutes after they had scrambled clear of the wreckage. Notwithstanding such a close-call, both were back in action over France, chasing trains out of Paris, the very next night. So, too, on the 8th-9th, evidence indeed of 107's constant operational agenda, another three nights of successive operations taking place between the 12th-15th, in one of which further trains were shot up in the Falaise sector. and as if this "three-nighter" agenda were not punishing enough, Etheridge and Gasson were called upon to carry out two sorties on the night of 16th-17th, both of them strikes against barges on the Seine - such was the ferocity of the flak that neither could see the results of their attacks. Bad weather then having intervened, their next sortie was flown on the night of 23-24 August, on a line between Cap D'Antifer and Lens, another on the 24th-25th, and a daylight operation against railway targets at Chalons in the afternoon of the latter date - a spectacular mission in which a number of oil-trains were hit, exploding 'with a terrific mushroom of flame and black smoke', but a mission, too, in which most of the participating aircraft were also damaged by return fire: a vivid portrayal of 107’s Mosquito VIs on a low-level railway strike over France, by David Pentalnd, is available as a limited edition print from Cranston Fine Arts. the Squadron now having moved to Epinoy, France, September started with a deep penetration sortie into Holland and Germany on the night of the 5th-6th, severe jamming preventing the use of GEE and making Etheridge's navigation role all the more difficult, while on the 9th-10th eight of 107s aircraft destroyed a brace of ammunition trains between Metz and Morhange, taking it in turns to carry out devastating cannon and machine-gun attacks. A successful sortie to Holland followed on the night of the 11th-12th, a less successful one on the 13th-14th, while on the 17th Etheridge and Gasson, piloting Mosquito B-NT. 207 in 107's sky black formation, paved the way for the biggest airborne landings ever made with a daylight attack on the S.S. barracks at Arnhem. At 0700 hours that morning, a total of 32 crews from 107 and 603 Squadrons were assembled for a special briefing, during which models of
Lot 68
KARL MAUGHAN (NEW ZEALAND, B. 1964) EARTH 1 Signed and dated 2000 on verso, oil on canvas 45cm x 35cm (17.5in x 13.75in) and another by the same hand, 'Earth II', a pair (2) Notes: Karl Maughan has been painting gardens since the mid-1980s and this accomplished concentration on subject has made him an international reputation. Karl Maughan’s fascination with gardens has come through his wish to explore light and colour. Photographing his chosen gardens in differing lights, Maughan records as much detail as possible. In the studio he then collages selected elements into new composite images. Applying paint in small areas of the canvas to avoid premature drying, he pieces the work together like a mosaic. Rather than blending colours, he uses clean colours side by side, This ‘alla prima’ (wet onto wet) technique was popular with the Impressionists. Viewed from a distance his (mostly large scale) paintings have the heightened effect of photorealism. After ten years in London, Maughan returned to New Zealand in 2005. He lives in Auckland. In 1997 he was a finalist in the John Moore Painting Award. His work is held in public and private collections throughout the world including the Saatchin Collection, London where he was included in two exhibitions - 'Neurotic Realism', 1998 and 'I’m a Camera' 2001.
Lot 294
Camera Cuss, 522 Oxford Street London, a late Victorian 18 carat gold open faced pocket watch, circa 1898, no 31075, the four piece case, hallmarked London 1898, with engraved gold dial with black Roman numerals and blued spade hands, 7 jewel lever fusee movement, the outer cover with engine turned engraving and vacant foliate cartouche
Lot 1262
*Parts of three tinplate and brass magic lanterns, together with an Arnold & Richter projector, together with an Air Ministry G42 camera type B, ref no. 14A/1033, serial no. 393; a camera type G45, ref no. 14A/1390, serial no. 13058, both by Williamson & Co Ltd; an Evcsam 8mm Reflex 8, and Camex 8mm movie cameras, and two Zeiss Ikon Moviken 8 movie cameras. (10)
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