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Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 602

A rare Second World War and post-war A.F.C. and Bar group of six awarded to Squadron Leader S. J. 'Tommy' Thomas, Royal Air Force

An exceptional aviator, he gained appointment as Personal Pilot to the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief in India in 1945 and afterwards lent valuable service in the Berlin Airlift

Later still, he served as an Experimental Pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough and, by the time of his retirement in the early 1970s, he had amassed in excess of 10,000 hours of flying time

Air Force Cross, G.VI.R., with Second Award Bar, the reverse of the Cross officially dated '1946' and the reverse of the Bar '1959'; 1939-45 Star; Burma Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, good very fine (6)

Just 105 Second Award Bars were issued to the A.F.C. in the period 1946-79.

A.F.C. London Gazette 1 January 1946. The original recommendation states:

'Acting Squadron Leader Thomas is an exceptionally fine V.I.P. pilot. Before being selected for this duty he served as a flying instructor and later as Commanding Officer of No. 1331 Check and Conversion Unit at Karachi and Risalpur, from September 1943 to January 1945, when he was appointed personal pilot to the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief. As such he has given outstanding service.'

Bar to A.F.C. London Gazette 1 January 1959.

Simon John Thomas commenced his career at No. 25 Elementary Flying Training School at R.A.F. Hucknall on 31 July 1941. He gained early experience in Tiger Moths and then transferred to Oxfords in September, being rated 'average' as a pilot at the end of his training on 1 January 1942. Promoted Pilot Officer, Thomas travelled to South Africa and commenced training on Ansons at No. 61 Air School, George, at the end of which he was noted as 'a good navigator who should make an excellent pilot'. Thomas returned to the U.K. and continued training, recording an 'evasive action with spitfire' on 26 August and an 'evasive action with 2 Spitfires, low flying' a few days later whilst piloting a Hudson.

In November 1942, Thomas flew a Hudson VI via the Middle East to India. As a pilot, he flew almost daily sorties between Delhi, Jodhpur, Karachi and Allahabad, transferring passengers and occasionally carried out searches for missing aircraft. On 5 September 1943, he converted to Liberators and began acting as a flying instructor, conducting up the three take-offs, circuits and landings a day; his log notes twelve days later, 'Complete hydraulic failure on take-off Allahabad. Landed wheels down, no brakes. Damaged Nose.'

A memorandum from H.Q. 226 Group lends further detail:

'Accident Liberator BZ.889 on 17.9.43:

'With reference to the above accident as reported on Form 765(c) and described to the A.O.C. 226 Group by O.C. Ferry Wing on his recent visit to Delhi, the pilot, A./F./Lt. S. J. Thomas is to be congratulated on his coolness and judgement, and also those members of the crew who may have contributed to the landing on which, under the difficult circumstances, comparatively little damage was suffered by the aircraft.

Signed: L. M. Iles, Air Commodore, A.O.C., No. 226 Group. R.A.F.'

Unperturbed, Thomas returned to flying four days later and continued instructing on Liberators, Dakotas and, later, Mosquitos. On 23 November 1943, he took up a Hurricane and from 6 January 1944, he and Flight Sergeant Fowler were able to conduct local flying on a Wellington from R.A.F. Mauripur. In total, Thomas's log book records over 400 training flights between September 1943 and January 1945, accounting for a large percentage of his 1114 hours of flying time up to that date.

Personal Pilot to the A.O. C.-in-C. - V.I.P. Flights

Thomas was next appointed personal pilot to the Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, South-East Asia Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Alfred Guy Roland Garrod; it was Garrod who had temporarily stepped up to the role three months previously when Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, the nominated successor to the then incumbent Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Peirse, was killed in an air crash in the French Alps on the way to take up the appointment. On 26 January 1945, Thomas and a crew of six set off with Garrod from R.A.F. Ratmalana in Dakota KC518 on a two-week tour of South-East Asia, making daily visits to air bases in India, Burma and further afield. On 18 February, he ferried Rear-Admiral George Creasey from Mauripur to Delhi, and six days later took Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Arthur Power, from Alipore to Ratmalana.

In late February 1945, Thomas flew Garrod back to R.A.F. Northolt but, two weeks later, the Air Marshal began a second tour with Thomas, this time to Italy; for the next three months the itinerary incorporated all the major cities and places of interest, and, whilst not serving Garrod, Thomas continued with air testing and the alternative 'V.I.P. flights'. He ended the war in the acting rank of Squadron Leader. June saw flights to Casablanca and Holland, whilst July witnessed Garrod bringing his wife along on a trip to Athens. On 4 July, Garrod and Air Marshal Tuttle travelled to Rhodes, before continuing to Cyprus and on to Italy. On 10 July, Thomas flew Field-Marshal Smuts from Milan to Florence, his log book noting, 'Escort of 13 Mustangs'.

In August, Thomas flew Garrod to Munich, from where they began a four-day tour that included Regensburg and Nuremberg. In October, they travelled to South Africa and returned home via Kenya and Egypt. Here ended Thomas's association with Garrod, during which he had gained a further 500 hours of flight experience; for his services, he was awarded the Air Force Cross.

Berlin Airlift and Experimental Pilot

Thomas joined No. 24 Squadron at Bassingbourn in 1946 and continued to fly Dakotas for the next three years. He was awarded a permanent commission as a Flight Lieutenant in March 1949 and saw extensive service during Operation "Plainfare", flying Avro York transport aircraft of No. 99 Squadron between Wunstorf and Gatow. Returning home in 1949, Thomas took a brief conversion course and was then posted to No. 90 Squadron, flying the Avro Lincoln bomber. In 1950, he converted to Washingtons, otherwise known as the B-29 Superfortress, and flew regular cross-country exercises from R.A.F. Marham.

In the mid-1950s, he joined the Meteorological Research Flight of the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough. His log books shows almost daily flights in Canberra, Devon, Hastings and Varsity aircraft, and in March 1955 he was assessed as 'above the average' as an experimental pilot. He spent the next three years with this Flight, before joining the Ferry Support Squadron in late 1958. His log notes flights in the Comet, Twin Pioneer and Valetta aircraft, and he was able to return to India and the Far East. He was awarded a Bar to his A.F.C. and ended the decade with the Middle East Communications Squadron flying the Pembroke light transporter and the Valetta.

Thomas joined No. 3 C.A.A.C.U. at Exeter Airport in 1962 and flew the Vampire on regular practice interceptions where his aircraft was vectored onto 'the enemy', typically ships of the Royal Navy. He remained at Exeter and continued to fly the Vampire and Meteor for the next nine years, before taking his last flight as pilot of Vampire 459 on 14 December 1971; his log book records a final total of over 9000 hours flying time.

Thomas was placed on the Retired List at his own request in 1972, retaining the rank of Squadron Leader.

Sold with the following original documentation:

(i)
R.A.F. Pilot's Flying Log Books (Form 414 types) (7), a complete run covering the periods 31.7.1941-10.11.1945; 28.11.1945-23.1.1953; 5.2.1953-31.1.1956; 1.2.1956-24.7.1959; 17.8.1959-21.7.1962; 1.8.1962-24.4.1970 and 27.4.1970-14.12.1971.

(ii)
A selection of period photographs (15), including one showing the recipient in the cockpit of his aircraft, some of aircraft flown, and views looking down upon the landscape of Italy.


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Estimate
£3,000 to £3,500