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Auction: 17002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 392

'We drew comfort from our brand-new flak suits. I had draped mine over my uniform as instructed, but 'Tiger' had decided to sit on his. 'That's the part of my anatomy I want to protect,' he said. 'If I get that damaged, I might as well be dead anyway.'

Squadron Leader G. 'Tiger' Hunter makes an understandable decision en route to Arnhem on 17 September 1944, as 2nd Pilot of a Dakota of No. 271 Squadron. His pilot was Flight Lieutenant James Edwards, better known today as the actor and comedian 'Jimmy' Edwards; his Six of the Best, refers.

An exceptional Second World War D.F.C. group of six awarded to Squadron Leader G. 'Tiger' Hunter, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, a veteran of three operational tours and 77 sorties

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated '1943', with its Royal Mint case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, France and Germany; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with their original addressed Air Ministry card forwarding box, good very fine and better (6)

D.F.C. London Gazette 30 November 1943. The original recommendation states:

'Flight Lieutenant Hunter has been with this squadron since 27 May 1943, during which time he has carried out 35 sorties involving 193.25 hours operational flying. He has completed his 2nd tour of operations and has carried out a total of 73 operational sorties.

This officer's fine offensive spirit and determination have given his crew the highest record in the Squadron for photographs of the target area.

On 19 June 1943, this officer's crew were detailed to attack Messina. Despite the intense ground defences, he refused to drop his bombs until he had definitely made certain of the correct aiming point and caused two dummy runs over the target.

In July last on an attack on Pomigliano airfield, Flight Lieutenant Hunter secured a very fine photograph of the centre point of aim in the face of intense ground defences.

Flight Lieutenant Hunter's fine bombing record, devotion to duty, and his excellent operational record, have been an example to his comrades in the Squadron.

Very strongly recommended for the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross.'

Graham 'Tiger' Hunter enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1940 and commenced training at No. 45 Air School at Oudtshoorn in South Africa at the year's end. Having then attended further courses back in the U.K., he qualified as a Navigator and was commissioned Pilot Officer.

1st Tour: No. 218 Squadron - night fighter attack - 'packets of flak'

In August 1941, Hunter reported to No. 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron, a Wellington unit based at Marham, Norfolk and, having joined Sergeant Tucker's crew, commenced his first operational tour with a strike on Boulogne on the night of the 11th.

Two nights later, on returning from a raid on Essen, his aircraft was attacked by a Ju. 88 on approaching Marham: 'Hydraulics shot away, port engine on fire. Rear A.G. put in two good bursts. Forced landed at base. Ju. 88 sheared off' (his Flying Log Book refers). Seemingly unshaken by this early introduction to the operational scene, pilot and crew departed for Hanover 48 hours later and indeed completed three more trips before the end of the month, two of them to Mannheim.

Over Brest on 3 September, noted Hunter, they encountered 'packets of light and heavy flak' (ibid); Berlin, Karlsruhe and Stettin completed that month's operations, the latter proving uneventful with the exception of flak over Rostock. October commenced with strikes on Rotterdam and Bordeaux, four enemy fighters being evaded on the latter occasion; and ended with attacks on Nurnberg, Duisberg and Bremen: his Wellington's petrol tanks were punctured by flak over Duisberg.

By now a member of Sergeant Webber's crew, Hunter flew five more sorties in November, the first of them to Bordeaux, where the proverbial 'packets of flak' resulted in further damage to his Wellington; the other sorties were to Essen, Berlin, Emden and Dusseldorf. In mid-December, and having joined Squadron Leader Ker's crew, he returned to Brest, whilst in February he flew at short notice to counter the "Channel Dash": his aircraft was engaged by Dornier 217.

With the exception of a strike on the Renault works at Billancourt, his remaining sorties in the period March-April 1942 were of the heavily-defended German kind: thus four trips to Essen, in addition to Cologne, Dortmund and Hamburg.

Tour-expired by mid-May 1942 - he had participated in 36 sorties - Hunter was no doubt relieved to be posted to No. 21 Operational Training Unit at Moreton-in-March. If so, his relief was short-lived: he was quickly called to arms for the Thousand Bomber Raids on Cologne and Essen.

2nd Tour: No. 142 Squadron - 73 sorties up - D.F.C.

In May 1943, Hunter returned to the operational scene with a posting to No. 142 Squadron, a Wellington unit operating out of Kairouan, Tunisia. Teaming-up as Bomb Aimer in Flight Lieutenant Odoire's crew, he flew no less than a dozen sorties against Pantelleria and Messina in June. It was during the course of one the Messina trips, on the 19th, that Hunter insisted on his pilot making two runs over the target before releasing the bombload.

Indeed targets in Sicily and Italy were to dominate much of his second operational tour, thus strikes on such locations as Catania, Salerno and Syracuse in July, three of 13 sorties flown in the same month. Another, as cited in the recommendation for his D.F.C., was Pomigliano airfield where, in spite of intense flak, he secured a very fine photograph of the aiming point.

There were no doubt further examples of his coolness and gallantry in August-September, for he flew nine more sorties in the same period. Tour-expired, and with a remarkable tally of 73 operations to his credit, he received a long-overdue D.F.C.

3rd Tour: No. 271 Squadron - D-Day and Arnhem - glider towing and 'tightened backsides'

In January 1944, Hunter joined the strength of No. 271 Squadron, a Dakota unit based at Down Ampney, and it was in this capacity, as Navigator and 2nd Pilot, that he embarked on his third operational tour. Thus his subsequent part in some the most notable airborne operations of the war:

Operation "Tonga", 5 June 1944
Operation "Mallard", D-Day, 6 June 1944
Operation "Lemon", Arnhem, 17 September 1944

Moreover - and luckily for posterity's sake - his experiences in the above operations are vividly recounted in his pilot's autobiography: namely Six of the Best by 'Jimmy' Edwards, the famous actor and comedian.

Described by Edwards as 'a cheery blond-haired chap, with a great taste for beer', Hunter would act as his 2nd Pilot on each of the above listed operations.

Having been trained in the art of glider-towing, the pair of them took off from Down Ampney on the eve of D-Day, with a Horsa glider of the Parachute Regiment. Owing to the smoke and dust thrown up by extensive bombing, they were unable to locate their designated dropping zone. Apologising profusely, the pilots were forced to let the glider go and turn for home but not before their Dakota - 'The Pied-Eyed Piper of Barnes' - had taken a flak hit. Owing to a complete loss of hydraulic fluid, the brakeless landing back at Down Ampney proved exciting, the damaged Dak 'swinging round in a wild ground-loop': but for Hunter's rapid work on the emergency hand pump to release the undercarriage, the landing would have been of the wheels-up variety.

Pilot and 2nd Pilot - having counted several holes in The Pied-Piper of Barnes's port wing in the interim - were back over Normandy delivering another Horsa on D-Day 6 June 1944. Six of the Best takes up the story:

'Crossing the coast near Worthing at about 2,000 feet, in the most glorious weather, we had a grandstand view of the whole impressive show. In front and behind, there streamed a steady flow of transport aeroplanes of all shapes and sizes. Above, and all around, massed formations of fighters, forming a huge umbrella which no enemy aircraft had the nerve to try to penetrate. And beneath us, as we approached the French coast, the assembled might of the British and Allied Fleets. I simply followed the man ahead and marvelled at the spectacle that I was so privileged to see. The Navy for once recognised us as friendly and forbore from popping off at us as we trundled up the coast and along the mouth of the River Orne. Our dropping-zone was already half-filled with gliders as we delivered Captain Mills and his men to their destination with all the panache of a postman delivering his mail … '

A spate of supply and casualty evacuation sorties having followed, as the Allies pushed inland from Normandy, Hunter and Edwards were next back in action over Arnhem on 17 September 1944. As Edwards later recalled, on reaching the Dutch coast, we 'tightened our backsides in preparation for the long daylight flight over enemy territory'. Edwards continues:

'The Stirlings came up from behind with their superior speed and flew through the lot of us. We rocked and swayed in their slipstreams, but there was nothing we could do except hang on to the stick and swear. Then it was the Albemarle's turn, and soon the sky was a huge jumble of aeroplanes and gliders - but I didn't see one collision.

We were getting near the target now, and there was an increase in ack-ack. In front of us, a tow-rope was severed by the flying shrapnel, and down went a glider all on its own, while the Dakota turned and headed for home, the shredded length of hawser still dangling from its tail. 'If he's got any sense,' I thought, 'he'll take that back to England with him.'

We plodded on. The Stirlings were well out of sight now. They were dropping the chaps who would set up small radar transmitters for us to home on to. Hertogenbosch passed beneath us, then Eindhoven - and eventually Arnhem. As we crossed the river, the ground was littered with crashed gliders, and the air full of many more on their way down. I bade farewell to my glider pilot, Captain Joe Mills, with whom I had supped many a pint, got rid of the rope and climbed away at full throttle. Some two hours later I was back at Down Ampney.'

Shortly after this sortie, Hunter was taken ill. Two days later Edwards's Dakota was shot down in flames by an Fw. 190 but he remained at his controls to effect a crash landing and save his R.A.S.C. dispatchers: he was awarded an immediate D.F.C.

For his own part, in November 1944, Hunter transferred to No. 575 Squadron, another Dakota unit of Transport Command: It was in this capacity that he flew his final mission of the war: Operation "Varsity" - the crossing of the Rhine on 23 March 1945.

He was released from service in August 1945.

Sold with the recipient's original R.A.F. Observer's and Air Gunner's Flying Log Book (Form 1767 type), covering the period July 1941 to August 1945: his first Flying Log Book, commenced in South Africa was lost, as per an opening red ink endorsement; together with six original 'target photographs' from his tour in No. 142 Squadron.

Additional reference sources:

Edwards, Jimmy, Six of the Best (Robson Books, London, 1984).
Sotheby's, 11 May 1989; catalogue entry for Edwards's medals.



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Sold for
£2,800