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Auction: 21002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 242

The rare and important 1942 O.B.E., 1927 'Pioneering Aviator's' A.F.C. group of three awarded to Flight Lieutenant B. M. T. S. Leete, Royal Air Force, awarded the A.F.C. for his ground-breaking flight by light aircraft from London to Delhi together with T. Neville Stack

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) Officer’s 2nd type breast Badge, silver-gilt; Air Force Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; General Service 1918-16, 1 clasp, Kurdistan (F/O. B. M. T. S. Leete. R.A.F.), good very fine (3)

14 A.F.C.'s awarded for Civil Aviation.

O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1942 (Technical Officer, Civil Aviation Directorate, Government of India).

A.F.C. London Gazette 3 June 1927:

'In recognition of the distinguished service rendered to aviation by his recent flight in a light aeroplane from London to Delhi.'

Bernard Moore Troughton Shute Leete was born on 8 October 1898 at Claygate, Surrey and was promoted 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps in May 1917 (entitled to Pair) and flew with No. 55 Squadron in Kurdistan (Medal & clasp).

He wrote his name into the record books with Thomas Neville Stack, the pair flying the first air route from London to India, which lasted from 16 November 1926-8 January 1927. They had met several years before at the Lancashire Aero Club at Woodford. Their record is even more impressive for their flight in Moths, which began at Stag Lane, required the pair not only to Pilot and Navigate themselves, but also to act as Mechanics. They could not rely on fuel dumps or spares along the way if things went wrong, but thankfully only one forced landing due to fuel problems occurred along the way.

Having completed the flight, the pair were duly awarded the A.F.C. - a most scarce award worthy of further mention. As recalled by Squadron Leader Routledge in the O.M.R.S. Journal, Volume 17, No. 3, Autumn 1978, the early pioneers such as Alcock and Brown were awarded with Knighthoods of the Civil Division. The first A.F.C. was awarded to Hawker in 1924, with Leete and Stack being awarded the sixth and seventh awards, of just fourteen which were awarded. Having completed their flight, Leete gave a number of VIP pleasure flights, thankfully escaping with his life - and that of Lady Hailey, wife of the Governor of the Punjab - after a 'prang' which wrote off his beloved Moth.

Stack lectured on the journey to the Royal Aeronautical Society at the Royal Society of Art on 4 May 1927, while Leete remained in India. He forged a successful career and landed Avro 594 Avian III GI-AA-X at Jorhat Gymkhana, making it the first landing on the soil of North-East India. The landing was at the request of A.C. Tungstel, Director of Toclai Tea Research, in order to take his ailing wife for treatment to Calcutta.

Latterly Technical Officer for the Government of India, Leete also operated air mail and charter services, established flying clubs and an aircraft import business. Leete died at Stanmore in 1978, with his son becoming an Air Chief Marshal; sold together with copied research.

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Sold for
£2,000

Starting price
£1600