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Auction: 25002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 194

An early Second World War Coastal Command operations D.F.M. group of five awarded to Sergeant E. E. Matty, Royal Air Force

Decorated for a tour of duty in Hudsons of No. 224 Squadron in 1939-40 - in which 'he had numerous engagements with enemy aircraft, one of which he shot down' - he was posted missing in a Catalina of No. 202 Squadron on the Gibraltar run in August 1943

Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (530777 Sgt. E. E. Matty, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, the first with loose suspension rivet, otherwise very fine or better (5)

D.F.M. London Gazette 21 February 1941:

'For gallantry and devotion to duty in the execution of air operations.'

The original recommendation states:

'This airman has had 380 hours operational flying since the commencement of the war. He has had numerous engagements with enemy aircraft, one of which he shot down. He has also carried out good work during numerous bombing raids, particularly the raid on Hamburg on 18 May 1940.

This airman has always shown great courage and determination in the execution of his duties.'

Edward Ernest Matty was a pre-war regular who was serving as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner in No. 224 Squadron at the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939. A Coastal Command unit equipped with Hudsons, the squadron was assigned to operational flying over the North Sea, occasionally on search and rescue missions but otherwise on reconnaissance and anti-shipping sorties. Such was the swift nature of 224's deployment that it had lost three of its aircraft by the end of September 1939, but their loss was partly avenged by the shooting down of a Dornier Do. 18 flying boat on 8 October 1939, possibly the 'kill' referred to in Matty's D.F.M. recommendation.

Be that as it may, the squadron's operational agenda certainly picked up pace after the German invasion of Norway in April 1940. And in respect to Matty's aircraft, the squadron's Operations Record Book (O.R.B.) bears testament to some challenging encounters. Hence the entry for a maritime reconnaissance flown in Hudson P.5122 on 10 July 1940, in which a Dornier 215 was spotted and engaged. The latter's return fire mortally wounded Matty's wireless operator, Sergeant R. C. Christie, who died during the aircraft's return flight to Lossiemouth.

Of shipping strikes, the O.R.B. includes mention of Matty's Hudson attacking nine merchantmen in a fjord just south of Bergen on 13 June 1940, an attack delivered from 3,000 feet with a stick of three 250lb. bombs and six incendiaries. Two days later, he and his crew attacked two tankers, their bombs falling about 100 yards astern. And on 1 August 1940, as the Battle of Britain was in full swing, they turned to attack another merchantman only to be jumped by three Me. 109s from a blind spot. Luckily the pilot, Pilot Officer G. J. M. Dewar, managed to quickly find cloud cover.

And of the Hamburg raid in May 1940, referred to in Matty's recommendation, the relevant O.R.B. entry speaks of 'very powerful' searchlights and 'considerable and accurate flak' bursting at 10,000 feet.

Recommended for his D.F.M. in December 1940, Matty subsequently joined No. 202 Squadron, another Coastal Command unit which was equipped with Catalinas. And he was similarly employed when his aircraft was posted missing in a ferry flight to Gibraltar on 4 August 1943. There were no survivors.

Aged 24, he was the son of Herbert and Lilian Matty of Kingstanding, Birmingham and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

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Estimate
£1,200 to £1,600

Starting price
£950