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Auction: 20001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - conducted behind closed doors
Lot: 745

(x) A 1944 D.F.C. group of five awarded to Flight Lieutenant (Pilot) E. W. Harbutt, No. 183 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, grandson of the inventor of plasticine, who was fortunate to be rescued from the English Channel after being shot down in his Typhoon fighter-bomber and was later decorated having displayed magnificent examples of audacious courage

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated '1944' and contemporarily engraved 'Flt. Lt. Eric W. Harbutt. D.F.C.'; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, very fine (5)

D.F.C. London Gazette 29 December 1944. The citation states:

'This officer has shown outstanding merit as a pilot and flight commander. He has participated in numerous sorties, many of them in Rocket firing aircraft, against heavily defended targets such as airfields, railway sidings, and enemy transport. His attacks on enemy shipping off Brest were fine examples of courage and daring. After a successful attack on Cap D'Antifer, Flight Lieutenant Harbutt's aircraft was shot down. He abandoned it by parachute and was afterwards rescued from the sea. Since the invasion of Normandy, he has led his flight with great keenness and courage and has set a fine example to his pilots.'

The recommendation adds:

'This officer has completed 140 operational sorties with his Squadron, 65 of which have been R.P. attacks on highly defended targets. He has proved himself to be a most versatile and daring pilot, having completed dive-bombing attacks, fighter sweeps, shipping attacks and other operations of a varied nature. He is extremely keen and his low level attacks in particular have always been most commendable. He was shot down by flak whilst attacking Radar targets before 'D' Day and was picked up from the sea.'

The Station Commander adds:

'Attacking a Radar Target, he was hit by flak, baled out in the Channel, and was back on the Squadron within 3 days.'

Eric William Harbutt was born in 1922 at Bath, the youngest son of Eric Jeffcoate Cambridge Harbutt of Bathampton, Somerset. The Harbutt family were prominent figures in the arts and business community of Bath, with Eric's grandfather William Harbutt serving as the Headmaster of the old Bath School of Art at The Paragon. The elderly gentleman devoted his spare time to private teaching and invention, later becoming world famous as the inventor of plasticine, the modelling preparation which brought joy to generations of children (The Western Daily Press, refers). In 1900 the Harbutt family established Harbutt Plasticine Ltd. at Bathampton, with the company experiencing considerable success and diversifying into 'play-wax' and the 'novel art' process of producing picture postcards - at a time when the postcard industry, especially holiday postcards, was flourishing.

Leaving the management of the company to a cousin, Mr J. T. Dawson, Eric served with No. 183 (Gold Coast) Squadron which was formed on 2 March 1942 at Church Fenton and equipped with rocket armed Hawker Typhoon 1B aircraft. In June 1943 the Squadron focussed upon shipping reconnaissance missions and 'rhubarbs', as well as a bombing attack on Morlaix. In October 1943 the Squadron attacked merchant ships in Cherbourg harbour, followed by regular sweeps over the Channel and northern France into the spring of 1944.

Following the D-Day landings the Squadron moved to airstrips on the beachhead in France, before joining the Allied advance across Europe via the Netherlands. As one of the four Squadrons in 123 Wing, 84 Group of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, the pilots of No. 183 attacked targets of opportunity, including shipping around the Friesian Islands and the U-Boat pens at Wilhelmshaven (Profile of a New Zealander: The Autobiography of Denis Adam, refers). On 3 July 1944, Harbutt's luck finally ran out when he was hit by flak attacking a radar emplacement on the coast of northern France. He was forced to bail out 10 miles south of the Isle of Wight and spent 45 minutes in the English Channel without a dinghy before rescue. Returning to action on 8 July 1944, he was fortunate for a second time when his aircraft was hit in the nose tanks by enemy flak. Despite these close shaves, he was heavily engaged on 7 and 8 August 1944 attacking tanks and transport in the Caen-Falaise-Vermontieres area. Piloting Typhoon 1.B MN886 on 14 August 1944, Harbutt successfully destroyed a motorised convoy on the road west of Grand Mesnil, the Operations Records Book noting 'motor cycling destroyed' (AIR 27/1137, refers). The following day he attacked a large mixed convoy, including 'large single-decker type busses' which were travelling south from Varmot to Vimoutiers. The convoy was stopped in its tracks, the official report noting '1 flamer, 5 smokers, 1 damaged'. Thereafter continued regular attacks on tanks and gun emplacements, the Operational Records Book being inundated with reports of destroyed motor vehicles and fixed targets.

At the end of hostilities the Squadron relocated to a former Luftwaffe airbase at Wunsdorf, near Hanover, before returning to England and converting to Spitfires at. Chilbolton. Switched to Tempests in preparation for deployment to the Asia theatre of operations, Harbutt and his fellow pilots were spared the transfer overseas with the surrender of Japan. No. 183 Squadron was subsequently disbanded upon re-numbering as No. 54 Squadron on 15 November 1945.

Returning to the family business, Harbutt died suddenly on his way to the Royal United Hospital on 6 May 1965, predeceasing both of his parents, including his mother Constance - affectionately known as 'Connie'- who worked as a Head Nursing Sister in London and served with the Red Cross throughout the war. Recorded as a Company Director of 53 Warminster Road, Bathampton, he is buried at St. Nicholas' Churchyard, Bathampton, Somerset; sold with copied research including recommendation documents, records of missions flown, copied Operational Record Book, and a newspaper article containing a small photograph of Harbutt at the time of winning his D.F.C.


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Sold for
£3,500

Starting price
£800