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Auction: 17003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 721

A remarkable Second World War D.F.M. group of five awarded to Squadron Leader D. J. Park, Royal Air Force, a long-served - one-legged - Flight Engineer who completed 40 sorties in Halifaxes of No. 35 Squadron and Lancasters of No. 156 Squadron, both units of the Path Finder Force (P.F.F.)

Described by a friend as 'an incredibly strong man of enormous stature', he displayed great fortitude in overcoming the loss of his left leg in a pre-war motor cycle accident: he was participating in heavy-weight boxing bouts long before his gallant deeds in the P.F.F.

Throughout every one of his 40 sorties he well knew his chances of abandoning a damaged aircraft with an artificial leg were minimal: even had he managed to do so, he likely faced serious injury on completing his parachute descent

Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (566793 F./Sgt. D. J. Park, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, Atlantic; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, good very fine (5)

D.F.M. London Gazette 15 October 1943. The original recommendation states:

'This N.C.O. has taken part in 40 operational sorties against targets in Germany, Italy and the occupied territory. Five of these sorties have been on Path Finder Force duties.

Flight Sergeant Park came to this squadron [No. 156 Squadron] from No. 35 Squadron with a very high reputation as a Flight Engineer. This reputation he has consistently maintained. He has always shown the utmost courage, determination and tenacity of purpose in spite of the fact that he has an artificial leg and is constantly suffering from inflammation of the stump of the leg which gives him intense pain.

By his qualities of grit and devotion to duty, Flight Sergeant Park has earned the admiration and respect of his fellow members in the Squadron.'

Douglas James Park was born in October 1917 and entered the Royal Air Force as a Halton apprentice in the mid-1930s. He lost his left leg as a result of a motor cycle accident when aged 20, a friend recalling that he underwent numerous operations before the decision was taken to amputate. As stated, he displayed great fortitude in overcoming his disability and, before too long, was participating in heavy-weight boxing bouts.

Having qualified as a Flight Engineer after the renewal of hostilities, Park commenced his operational tour with No. 35 (Madras Presidency) Squadron, a Halifax unit operating out of R.A.F. Graveley, in July 1942; he participated in three successive strikes on Duisberg before the month's end, in addition to raids on Saarbrucken and Dusseldorf.

The Squadron having joined the newly established Path Finder Force in the following month, Park undertook regular trips to other heavily-defended German targets over the coming months, among them Cologne, Dortmund, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Mannheim, Munich and Stuttgart, in addition to a brace of strikes against Berlin in March 1943; on the second of these trips to the 'Big City' his Halifax's starboard outer engine cut out after a close burst of flak over Brandenburg.

At the end of June 1943, Park transferred to No. 156 Squadron, another P.F.F. unit operating out of Warboys in Lancasters. He subsequently completed five further sorties, including two trips to Italy and a third strike on the 'Big City'.

Tragically, Park's crew all died in a flying accident near East Wretham in early September 1943. This marked the end of his operational career and, after completing no less than 40 sorties, he was awarded the D.F.M. Commissioned Pilot Officer in February 1944, he was employed on Ferry Command duties for the remainder of the war.

Park obtained a regular commission in the R.A.F. after the war, serving in the Secretarial Branch, and was advanced to Squadron Leader in July 1955. He was finally placed on the Retired List in May 1966 and died in Leicester in October 1991, aged 74.

Sold with the recipient's original Buckingham Palace investiture admittance ticket, dated 6 June 1944, together with several photographs, including wartime crew line-up; and typed biographical notes compiled by a friend.


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Sold for
£3,200