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Auction: 1005 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 11

The Exceptionally Rare Second World War 1944 Lancaster Pilot´s D.F.C. and Post War 1950 ´Civilian´ G.M. Combination Group of Seven to Flight Lieutenant and Captain I.R. Harvey, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and British European Airways Corporation, Whose Bravery and Bomber Command Experience Enabled Him to Successfully Land a Viking Passenger Airliner After a Mid-Air Explosion Over the English Channel Caused by an ´Infernal Machine´ had Badly Crippled the Controls and Blown-Out Much of the Rear Fuselage a) Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse engraved ´1944´ b) George Medal, G.VI.R. (Capt. Ian R. Harvey, D.F.C.) c) 1939-1945 Star d) Air Crew Europe Star e) Defence and War Medals f) Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., with ´Territorial´ scroll suspension (Fg Off I R Harvey RAF), extremely fine, mounted as worn, with the following related items &c.: - Royal Mint cases of issue for the D.F.C. and G.M. - Two Royal Air Force Pilot´s Flying Log Books, covering the period 9.10.1941- 6.12.1945 - Ministry of Civil Aviation Personal Flying Log Book, covering the period 29.7.1946- 5.5.1950 - Ministry of Civil Aviation Official Report on the Bomb Incident, together with the B.E.A. Air Safety Committee´s findings - Recipient´s own account of the ´Infernal Machine´ Incident, together with a contemporary journalistic account - Copy of the London Gazette announcing the award of the recipient´s G.M. - Buckingham Palace Enclosure for the D.F.C. - Central Chancery letter regarding the Investiture for the recipient´s G.M., dated 5.6.1950 - 14 Letters of congratulations to the recipient on the occasion of the award of his G.M., including one from Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, G.C.B., M.C., D.F.C., Chairman of the British European Airways Corporation; and one from a Brazilian Airline Captain, who witnessed the emergency landing - 7 Photographs of the recipient, his crew, and the B.E.A. Viking - 17 Photographs showing the Bomb Damage to the B.E.A. Viking, 13.4.1950 - Two letters to the recipient from Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris, Bt., G.C.B., O.B.E., A.F.C., together with a copy of his Special Order of the Day, 10.5.1945 - Great Mysteries of the Air by Ralph Barker, and Danger in the Air by Oliver Stewart, which both have chapters on the Bomb Incident (7) Estimate £ 7,000-9,000 D.F.C. London Gazette 11.2.1944 Acting Flight Lieutenant Ian Richard Harvey (128903), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 106 Squadron. The Recommendation, dated 18.12.1943, states: ´Flight Lieutenant Harvey as Captain of aircraft has completed 22 successful operational sorties against some of the most heavily defended targets including Berlin four times. At all times he has shown skill, courage, and determination of a high order. On one occasion when carrying out his bombing run he was attacked by two fighters. His skill and airmanship enabled him to avoid the fighters and bomb the target successfully. On another occasion when attacked by a fighter his skill and airmanship enabled his gunners to engage the enemy aircraft successfully and shoot it down. I consider the coolness, courage, and fine airmanship shown by Flight Lieutenant Harvey throughout his operational tour fully merits the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross.´ G.M. London Gazette 16.5.1950 Captain Ian Richard Harvey, D.F.C., Pilot, British European Airways Corporation (Pinner, Middlesex.) ´On the evening of the 13th April, 1950, Captain Harvey was in command of a B.E.A. Viking aircraft flying from Northolt to Paris with twenty-seven passengers. At 3,500 feet, 20 miles south of Hastings, over mid-channel, an explosion occurred in the rear lavatory compartment, extensively damaging the aft end of the aircraft and seriously injuring the stewardess. Both sides of the rear of the fuselage and the internal door to the control cabin were blown out and the lavatory compartment, pantry and neighbouring area were destroyed. All flying controls at the tail end were completely severed, except for the main elevator control which was badly crippled, and the elevators themselves were partly jammed. The resultant effect of the damage also made the aileron controls inefficient. With extreme coolness Captain Harvey regained control of his aircraft and was able to turn the machine back to Northolt. When an attempt was made to alight in the darkness the damaged controls made necessary an overshoot procedure and a second circuit. In addition to the useless rudder, only partial elevator control could be secured and it required all the strength of the pilot coupled with superb skill before the Viking was landed successfully without injury to any of the passengers. In the face of this very grave emergency, the action of Captain Harvey is worthy of the highest praise. The complete loss of the aircraft and all its company was avoided only as a result of his courage and the high skill and presence of mind with which he handled the seriously damaged machine.´ Captain Ian Richard Harvey, D.F.C., G.M., was born in Bristol on 13th October, 1920, and was educated at Cotham Grammar School. On leaving school in 1938 he worked for Bristol City Council, and enlisted with the Royal Artillery, Territorial Army. On the outbreak of War he was called up, and in 1940 was posted to the British Expeditionary Force in France, where he saw action against the enemy before being evacuated with his unit at Dunkirk. The following year he transferred to the Royal Air Force, and took to the skies for the first time on the 9th October 1941. After training both in England and America, he gained his Wings on the 6th September 1942 at Turner Field, Georgia, and was Commissioned Pilot Officer, returning to England to convert to Bombers. Joining 106 Squadron (Lancasters), previously commanded by Guy Gibson, of Dambusters fame, Harvey´s first tour with 106 Squadron began with a Mine-laying mission over the Terschelling Islands, 1.7.1943; followed by bombing raids over Cologne (2); Gelsenkirchen; Turin; Hamburg (3); Milan (2); Berlin (4); Munchen Glandbach; Munich; Hanover (3); Bochum; Kassell; and Modane. On the 23rd August, during his first raid over the German capital, he and his crew were attacked by an enemy Ju88 fighter over Denmark, and it was through his skill and airmanship that he was able to manoeuvre the Lancaster so as to bring two of its turrets to bear, destroying the enemy fighter by sending it crashing down in flames. Recommended for the D.F.C., Harvey completed his tour with raids over Berlin (3); Frankfurt; Stettin; and Brunswick, the last on the 14th January 1944- in the course of his tour he dropped a total of almost 130 tons of bombs on the enemy. After a brief posting to 617 Squadron towards the end of the War, and having been promoted Flight Lieutenant, Harvey was demobilised on the 18th December 1945. The War over, in 1946 Harvey joined the British European Airways Corporation, which had been formed that year to operate all Domestic, European, and North African flights (with B.O.A.C. operating the Empire, North American, and Far East routes), flying almost exclusively the Vickers Viking, a twin-engined airline derived from the Wellington. Based at Northolt (until B.E.A. relocated to Heathrow in 1954), for the next four years Harvey flew to destination throughout Britain and Europe (Civilian Log Book refers). Explosion in Mid-Air ´Thursday 13th April 1950 began for me like any other day, but before it was over, it was to be a day which I and thirty-one others would remember to the end of our lives. On that day it was my duty to fly to Paris and back again, and return to Paris in the evening. The afternoon return trip had been normal except that the weather had not been too kind and we had spent our time dodging thunderstorms and heavy showers. For the evening trip my crew consisted of my Second Pilot Frank "Dusty" Miller, my Radio Officer Mike Holmes, and the stewardess Sue Cramsie. We were due to leave Northolt at 7:45pm and before starting we completed the necessary details, such as making out our flight plan, checking the weather, and most importantly thoroughly checking the aeroplane- a Viking- inside and out. We departed on time with a full load- 27 passengers and a 3 month old baby. It was a very dark night with no moon and the "Met" men had forecast a clear trip except that there might be one or two storms over the Channel. For the first thirty minutes all went well- no bumps and a starry sky. Our two Bristol Hercules engines were roaring away steadily and in the warm, brightly lit cabin the stewardess was serving the passengers with dinner. Below we could see the lights of the towns in Kent and Sussex and beyond the blackness of the English Channel. We crossed the coast at Hastings whilst flying at 3,500 feet and headed for Dieppe on the French coast. After a few minutes I noticed a few flashes of lightning away to the east and almost immediately Frank drew my attention to a large diffused mass ahead of us. As it was so dark it was impossible to tell whether or not it was a thunder cloud, but Safety First being the motto I decided to steer round it. We were almost clear when suddenly there was a loud explosion and a vivid flash. The aircraft rocked and there was an acrid smell of burning. My immediate reaction was that we had been struck by lightning- I had been struck before, and while it is a most unpleasant experience, it does not usually cause much damage. However, it was quickly apparent that something much more serious had happened, because apart from the door into the cabin having been blown from its hinges and having hit Mike on the head- luckily without serious damage, I could feel that the controls no longer responded as they should. I sent Frank back to the cabin to check that all was well there while I checked the flying controls. The rudder control was completely severed as I could feel the rudder bar swinging loosely under my feet. The elevators which control the up and down movement of the aircraft were very stiff and restricted in movement and caused the aircraft to tend to climb all the time. The trimmers for these controls were also severed. I found that the best way to keep the aircraft on an even keel was to wedge my knee behind the control column and thus relieve the load on my arms. Frank now returned, and with bad news. The back of the cabin was very badly damaged, with two holes, one on each side of the fuselage, each approximately 8 feet long by 5 feet high. The stewardess too was in a bad way- she was unconscious and appeared to be badly injured. Frank, with the assistance of a couple of the male passengers, moved her from the vicinity of one of the holes and made her as comfortable as possible with blankets and the crew´s raincoats. On hearing this information I immediately decided to return to London, which was nearer than Paris. Mike sent urgent radio messages giving all the details and Air Traffic Control gave us a direct clearance back to Northolt and kept all other aircraft away from us. Speed was now reduced to relieve the strain on the airframe and we flew slowly back at 135 knots. When we had settled down, Frank took over the controls and I went back to the cabin to see for myself the extent of the damage and to try and reassure the passengers and the stewardess. The passengers were all outwardly calm and even the small baby was still asleep. One or two asked me if we were going to be alright and I assured them that we should be, although I did not feel the confidence that I tried to show. The sight of the stewardess shook me, because she was lying there, her face a mask of blood, and obviously in great pain. She was now conscious and when I spoke to her merely asked if I could get her the morphine. This was impossible, as the morphine was in the First Aid kit attached to the inside of the main passenger door, and this was hanging out in space! On returning to the cockpit we commenced our preparations for landing. Mike was sent back to the cabin to assume his emergency landing position and to cheer and give confidence to the passengers. This he did most successfully, while Frank and I strapped ourselves in as tightly as possible and maintained radio contact with Northolt. In view of the lack of workable flying controls I decided to make as flat an approach as possible and thus relieve strain on the elevators. I was able to turn the aircraft by banking in either direction and with Frank briefed to give assistance if required we started our approach. Clearance to land was given and with fire and crash services standing by we neared the runway. Everything seemed normal except for the heaviness and lack of movement on the elevators, so I controlled the rate of descent solely by use of engine power. All went well until I attempted to level out for the actual landing. We were now no more that 20-30 feet from the ground, and when I tried to pull back the control column- and at the same time close the throttles- I found I was unable to move it sufficiently. I called to Frank for assistance and between us we overcorrected, with the result that the aircraft, instead of flying level with the ground and sinking, was now pointed upwards and was sinking. I did the only thing possible- opened the throttles fully and pushed the control column forward. This had the effect of levelling the aircraft and stopping the downward sink. For a moment the speed dropped sickeningly and then began to pick up. We slowly gained height to about 800 feet and went around the circuit to try another approach. During all this time, while not consciously aware of it, I was confident that we would land safely. Again we received clearance to land, and again commenced our approach. This time I tried to make it flatter still, and for the actual landing was able to lower the aeroplane onto the runway by careful reduction of engine power than by use of the controls. In the words of the First Officer, it was the best landing I had made that day- it was also by far the luckiest, as we were to discover next day when we were able to examine the aircraft in daylight.´ (Recipient´s own account refers). At time of the landing it appeared to Harvey that the Viking had been damaged by a severe lightning strike, and his initial Log Book entry records: ´A/C hit by Lightning over Channel- Badly Damaged- Sue Cramsie injured´. However, ´investigation on the following day made it clear there had been no lightning strike and that there had been an explosion of an infernal machine in the lavatory.´ (Accidents Investigation Branch Official Report refers). The ´Infernal Machine´ Having served the passengers on the flight dinner and coffee, the stewardess Sue Cramsie, the cover-girl of a contemporary B.E.A. magazine and a former British Red Cross nurse, was sitting in the pantry waiting to take around a selection of duty-free cigarettes. Suddenly she became conscious of a faint but unfamiliar smell. It was not a smell that she was at all familiar with, being neither oil, petrol, burning dust from the heaters, coffee, or tobacco smoke. To her mind it smelt of acid. Thinking the smell came from the direction of the passengers´ compartment she rose from her seat and looked around the side of the pantry. Everything seemed normal, and facing that direction the smell seemed to have disappeared. She then turned to the rear of the plane to fetch the cigarettes, and it was then that the explosion occurred. She was blown off her feet and lost consciousness. ´Miss Cramsie´s injuries were severe and included the severance of the triceps muscle of the left arm and a number of minor wounds in the left shoulder, left arm and hand, and left cheek. Many of these wounds contained small metal particles...On the port side of the aircraft, opposite the lavatory, a ragged hole measuring about 5 feet by 5 feet 7 inches had been torn in the rear fuselage, and on the starboard side, next to the lavatory compartment, a similar hole had been blasted measuring about 5 feet 2 inches by 8 feet 2 inches. The whole of the lavatory and pantry compartments were shattered and the main entrance door had been blown open.´ (Accidents Investigation Branch Official Report refers). Following a thorough investigation on the ground it was deduced that the explosion must have been caused by a bomb placed in the waste towel box in the lavatory compartment. However, no part of the explosive charge, its detonator, or timing device was found. Harvey altered the entry in his Log Book, crossing out ´hit by Lightning´ and substituting ´Bomb Explosion´. For his extreme coolness and superb skill in landing the Viking successfully without injury to any of the passengers Harvey was awarded the George Medal. Amongst the large number of letters of congratulations that flowed in was one from Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Douglas of Kirtleside, G.C.B., M.C., D.F.C., Chairman of the British European Airways Corporation, who wrote: ´Dear Captain Harvey, may I add my congratulations to the many you must have already received; how very relieved I was to hear that you were all safe, and that Miss Cramsie would be alright. As you know a great friend of ours Mr. R. Strauss [Ralph Strauss, the Marshall Plan assistant] was one of your passengers, so we owe you an added debt of gratitude´. Captain Harvey continued working for B.E.A. for another twenty-five years, later flying Viscounts, Comet 4Bs, and Tridents. He retired in 1975, and died on the 11th July, 2004. The subsequent Scotland Yard Investigation failed to bring any charges, although numerous theories were put forward, and the file is still open.

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£12,000