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Auction: 17001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 255

A particularly fine Second World War night intruder's D.F.C. group of six awarded to Squadron Leader R. C. 'Mac' MacAndrew, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, a member of the Caterpillar Club and veteran of over 50 operational sorties in Beaufighters and Mosquitos of No. 141 Squadron, many of them enacted under the command of R.A.F. legend Wing Commander J. R. D. 'Bob' Braham, D.S.O.**, D.F.C.**, A.F.C.

In fact MacAndrew's 18-month operational tour of 'Ranger', 'Instep' and Serrate sorties was occupied by much high drama: when his guns jammed after shooting up an Me. 110 over Hasselt one night in June 1943, his Air Speed Altimeter registered an unprecedented 400 m.p.h. as he took violent evasive action: as a consequence his Beaufighter's back hatch blew open and 'the Navigator lost his hat but not his head'

Most dramatic of all, however, was the occasion when he joined Braham on an 'Instep' sortie over the Bay of Biscay in April 1943. In his autobiography - Scramble! - the latter pays tribute to his fellow pilot for sticking with him as they flew into walls of flak over a heavily defended enemy convoy: 'Red balls of fire flashed towards us … the air was full of flying metal and I couldn't see how we could escape being hit'

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated '1944'; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, France and Germany; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, together with the recipient's Caterpillar Club membership badge, with 'ruby' eyes, the reverse officially inscribed, 'F./L. R. C. MacAndrew', and two wartime period embroidered R.A.F. 'Wings', generally good very fine (9)

D.F.C. London Gazette 27 June 1944. The original recommendation states:

'Acting Squadron Leader MacAndrew joined 141 Squadron at R.A.F. Ford from 54 O.T.U. on 22 December 1942. It was obvious from the first that this officer was to prove a well above average pilot. He immediately applied himself to night flying training and on 16 January 1943 made his first defensive night fighter patrol. From then until the end of February he flew approximately 20 hours on night defensive patrols often in extremely difficult weather.

In March 1943, at R.A.F. Predannack, the Squadron commenced training for more offensive operations, and Acting Squadron Leader MacAndrew immediately applied himself with zest to the task of making himself and his operator proficient in flying long distances over strange country.

On 10 March(sic) 1943, three aircraft led by the Squadron Commander were detailed to act as Bomber Escort on a shipping strike in the Bay of Biscay. When the convoy, consisting of four destroyers surrounding a large merchant ship was sighted, neither bombers nor other supporting aircraft could be seen. Nothing daunted, the three Beaufighters, each singling out a destroyer went into the attack, and it was only on the orders of his Squadron Commander that Acting Squadron Leader MacAndrew broke off his attack.

On 15 March(sic) 1943, on an Air Sea Rescue patrol, he succeeded in sighting a dinghy, thereby enabling its occupants to be rescued. He took part in several Ranger sorties, on one occasion badly damaging a train.

In May 1943, on arrival at R.A.F. Wittering, the Squadron were detailed for new duties of a most secret and highly specialised nature, and Acting Squadron Leader MacAndrew again applied himself with vigour to the new training required.

He made his first sortie on 14 June 1943, and on his second, two days later, and when east of Eindhoven, found an enemy aircraft, which he identified as an Me. 110 and closing from 400 to 300 feet gave a very short burst of cannon and machine-gun fire before all his guns jammed, not, however, before he had observed strikes on the fuselage and wing of the enemy aircraft, causing pieces to fly off and the port under-carriage to come down. The Me. 110 was lost sight of and was claimed and admitted as damaged.

Acting Squadron Leader MacAndrew was appointed Deputy Flight Commander of 'B' Flight on 17 September 1943 and Flight Commander on 21 February 1944. He has made 26 sorties since his squadron commenced their specialised operations.

He has shown all the attributes of an excellent Flight Commander and in view of the foregoing is strongly recommended for the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross.'

Ronald Charles MacAndrew commenced his pilot training at R.A.F. Prestwick in December 1940. Having qualified for his 'Wings' and been commissioned, he attended No. 54 O.T.U. prior to joining No. 141 Squadron, a Beaufighter unit, at Ford, in December 1942. In the same month a new C.O. arrived, Wing Commander J. R. D. 'Bob' Braham, D.S.O., D.F.C. The latter would remain in command until October 1943, a period in which 141 would undertake numerous 'Ranger' and 'Instep' sorties, the latter over the Bay of Biscay, in addition to top secret Serrate missions to counter Luftwaffe nightfighters. In common with his new C.O., MacAndrew was to experience some hair-raising moments but to begin with, at least, he busied himself with some home defence night patrols.

At the end of February 1943, 141 moved to Predannack, and it was from here, on the night of 21-22 March, that MacAndrew undertook his first 'Ranger' sortie, a trip to France in which he attacked a railway station and signal box; he attacked a locomotive on a similar outing in April. Yet it was in another type of operation being undertaken by 141 - 'Instep' sorties to the Bay of Biscay - that he first came face to face with enemy return fire of the hair-raising kind. Even 'Bob' Braham was moved to conclude their survival was a miracle.

'Instep' - 50 feet over the Atlantic - 'the air was full of flying metal'

The action in question took place on 10 April, three Beaufighters of 141 having been ordered to escort some Hampden torpedo bombers and six other Beaus from Coastal Command in a strike on a large German armed raider and its destroyer escort. As Braham would later recall in his autobiography, 'We were off the ground on time and followed by our Coastal friends at close intervals.'

However, the Hampdens were nowhere to be seen at the pre-planned rendezvous over the Scillies. Braham, flanked by MacAndrew and the other 141 pilot, opted to continue the mission, the three Beaufighters skimming 50 feet over the Atlantic for about 40 minutes before encountering the enemy convoy. It transpired the Hampdens had already arrived, the sky being filled with a terrific barrage of light and heavy flak. 'An enormous splash,' wrote Braham, 'followed by oil smoke, marked the grave of one of the torpedo bombers and as far as we could see none of the ships seemed to be damaged.'

Braham called up the C.O. of the six Coastal Beaufighters and told him to act as a diversion while he and his two pilots went into the attack. The latter refused, stating that the Hampden torpedo attack was over and so was his mission, too. Braham recalled, 'There was no point in arguing over the radio, so I called up my two crews and directed them in for the attack on the escort vessels.' The enemy onslaught that followed - a mass of 'red balls of fire … the air full of flying metal' - left Braham to conclude they couldn't avoid being hit. He takes up the story:

'The ship was smothered in flashes and smoke as the shells from our guns struck home. We bore in at 230 m.p.h. and the Nazi ship grew larger and larger … the air was full of bursting shells and the rest of the convoy tried to shoot my comrades out of the sky … when we broke away all hell let loose. The Nazis threw everything at us to avenge their damaged comrade … Great gouts of water shot up all around us as the heavier naval guns joined in with the light flak …'

Braham continues:

'It was getting dark. The ship we had attacked seemed to be out of control, going round in a slow circle, smoking but still afloat. All the other vessel seemed unharmed. My immediate concern was to try and contact my other two crews. I called them both over the radio. MacAndrew, the pilot of one of the Beaus, answered at once and said that he was OK and was also heading home. The other crew failed to answer. I hoped and prayed they had survived even though it would mean being taken prisoner. Later I heard they had been shot into the sea by heavy flak and went down with their aircraft. Two hours later Mac and I landed our Beaus back at Predannack. Both had been hit by flak fragments but no serious damage had been done.'

While Braham contemplated his expenditure of 520 rounds of 20mm. in a single burst of fire - the longest burst he fired throughout the war - he also set in motion an official report that resulted in the Coastal Command Beaufighter C.O. being removed from his command.

Me. 110 - violent evasive action - 400 registered on the Air Speed Indicator

In June, the Squadron relocated to Wittering, the same month in which its Beaufighters became fully operational with Serrate devices to home in on German night fighter radar transmissions. On the night of 16th-17th, whilst on a 'Ranger' to Eindhoven, MacAndrew and his Navigator, Pilot Officer Wilk, encountered an aircraft over Hasselt. Closing to 1,000 feet above and behind, they identified it as an Me. 110 with green-grey camouflage. Diving to the attack, MacAndrew fired a one second burst from about 300 or 400 feet. His combat report takes up the story:

'Strikes on the fuselage and wing root caused bits to fly off and his port under-carriage to come down. There was no return fire. We overshot beneath him and as our machine-guns and cannon had jammed we took violent evasive action, diving and turning and reached more than 400 A.S.I. in cloud. At this point the back hatch flew open. The Navigator lost his hat but not his head and managed to get it shut … We crossed the English coast at Orfordness at 0225 hours and landed at Wittering at 0508 hours.'

Ongoing 'Serrate' operations and membership of the Caterpillar Club

Notwithstanding this close call, MacAndrew and Wilk undertook three further Serrate bomber escort sorties in June, to Wuppertal, Krefeld and Cologne; likewise to Gelsenkirchen, Aachen and Hamburg in July, the latter at the time of the 'firestorm' raids. A night sweep over Eindhoven in the middle of the month resulted in one 'visual' but no action.

MacAndrew was now about half way through his protracted operational tour, Serrate sorties being flown to Nuremburg, Milan, Stettin and Berlin in August. He pursued five contacts over the 'Big City' but with no joy. In September, he undertook similar operations to Munich, the Channel ports and Hannover, whilst in October, the month of Braham's departure, he made two trips to Frankfurt.

In November, he pursued a brace of enemy night fighters over Aachen for nearly 30 minutes, but was unable to obtain a telling visual contact. Then towards the of the month he was elected to the membership of the Caterpillar Club: his Beaufighter's engines seized and he had to bale out at 1200 feet near Coltishall.

Tour's end - Mosquitos

In December, 141 relocated to West Raynham and re-equipped with Mosquitos. MacAndrew flew his first sortie in the type on 27 January 1944, another Serrate sortie to the 'Big City'.

Shortly afterwards he was advanced to the acting rank of Squadron Leader and took command of 'B' Flight, in which capacity he would continue to fly on Serrate sorties until rested from operations in late June. Thus night intruder operations to Leipzig, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Essen in March and Paris, Osnabruck, Karlsruhe and Essen in April. He was recommended for his D.F.C. at the end of the same month.

Having then flown sorties to Hassel and Heligoland in May, MacAndrew ended his tour with a flurry of Serrate missions in June, notching up half a dozen intruder patrols over the French and Dutch coasts. In July 1944, after 18 months of constant operational activity - and 55 sorties - he was rested at an O.T.U.

In April 1945, he was embarked for India, where he joined 176 Squadron, a Beaufighter unit operating out of Baigachi. But it proved to be a short-lived appointment for, in June, he was appointed Personal Assistant to Air Marshal Sir Keith Park at H.Q. Kandy, Ceylon, in which role he frequently flew Sir Keith back and forth to India and Burma; so, too, other dignitaries, among them Lord Louis Mountbatten. His final posting was to A.H.Q. Burma in January 1946.

Sold with the recipient's original R.A.F. Pilot's Flying Log Book (2), covering the periods December 1940 to January 1944, and February 1944 to January 1946, privately bound as a single volume, and including target illustrations in red ink and one or two inserts, among them an old carbon copy of his combat report for the action of 16-17 June 1945 and a Japanese Government $10 banknote.

Additional reference sources:

Bowman, Martin W., The Men Who Flew the Mosquito (Leo Copper, 2006).
Braham, Wing Commander J. R. D. 'Bob', D.S.O., D.F.C., A.F.C., C.D., Scramble! (William Kimber, London, 1985).


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