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George Cross Island Association 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Print by John Young.
Official limited edition print of the 60th Anniversary of the George Cross Island Association. Spitfires from one of Maltas most famous squadrons, 249, climbing up over Valetta harbour in the summer of 1942. The panorama beneath the aircraft is the city with its thousands of Maltese citizens daily exposed to the enemy blitz, ships of the Royal Navy and Merchant Service, and the Armys anti-aircraft batteries. |
| | Item Code : LI0029 | George Cross Island Association 60th Anniversary Limited Edition Print by John Young. - Editions Available | |
| | DESCRIPTION | SIZE | SIGNATURES | OFFERS | PRICE | PURCHASING | PACKS | Signed limited edition of 500 prints.
Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item! | Paper size 29 inches x 23 inches (74cm x 58cm) |
Twiss, Peter | | Lieutenant Peter Twiss OBE DSC (deceased) |
| Peter Twiss was born on the 23rd of July,1921 in Lindfield, West Sussex. Peter Twiss spent much of his early days on a farm near Salisbury. When war broke out later in 1939 he enlisted as a Naval Airman Second Class in the Fleet Air Arm, qualifying as a pilot after initial training at 14 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School at Castle Bromwich on Tiger Moths and then went on to fly Hawker Harts and Fairey Battles. Operational training followed at RNAS Yeovilton flying Blackburn Rocs a |
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McGeoch, Ian | | Vice-Admiral Sir lan McGeoch KCB DSO DFC (deceased) |
| Ian McGeoch was born in Helensburgh on 26th March 1914 and was educated at Pangbourne Nautical College, and in 1931 joined the Royal Navy as a special entry cadet. From 1933, Megeoch served as a midshipman on the HMS Royal Oak in 1933 then on the destroyer HMS Boadicea before moving on to the cruiser HMS Devonshire. McGeoch volunteered to serve on submarines and in 1936 attended the course at HMS Dolphin. Promoted to Lieutenant, McGeoch joined HMS Clyde at Malta. When war broke out he was |
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Thompson, A R F | | Flight Lieutenant ARF Thompson DFC (deceased) |
| Anthony Robert Fletcher Thompson was born on October 14th 1920. He joined the RAFVR about July 1939 as an airman under training pilot. Called up on September 1st, he completed his training at 15 EFTS and 5 FTS Sealand and arrived at 6 OTU on September 10th 1940. After converting to Hurricanes, he joined 85 (F) Squadron at Church Fenton on the 29th and moved to 249 (F) Squadron at North Weald in Essex on October 17th 1940. Thompson shared in the destruction of a Junkers Ju88 on October 28th a |
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Jewett, Frederick | | Petty Officer Frederick Jewett |
| With his Action Station, as a member of the gunnery team, on the bridge of the destroyer HMS Ashanti, Fred Jewett had a very close-up view of the famous Pedestal convoy. Rear-Admiral Burrough, the C-in-C, transfer-red his flag to Ashanti after his flagship Nigeria was put out of action. Jewett was already a veteran of many naval actions and he went on to take part in the D-Day landings. In 2000 he finally realised his dream to create a commemorative Malta Window in the Church of St Thomas the Ma |
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Linton, Ron | | Merchant Seaman Gunner Ron Linton |
| The last known survivor of the tanker Ohio which was at the heart of the legendary Pedestal convoy, Ron Linton had set out on that operation, as a 19 year old Merchant Seaman Gunner, on another ship, the MV Dorset. Hit by a stick of bombs, Dorset was crippled and abandoned. Linton was rescued by HMS Bramham and then volunteered to join the stricken tanker Ohio to help man her AA guns for the last desperate effort to reach Malta. The arrival of the surviving Pedestal ships, particularly the tanke |
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Roxburgh, John | | Vice-Admiral Sir John Roxburgh KCB CBE DSO DSC |
| When he took command of the submarine P 44, later to be named United, in December 1942, aged 23, Roxburgh was the youngest submarine commander in the Royal Navy. In 10 months he sent 21,000 tons of enemy ships to the bottom and damaged a further 12,000 tons, a remarkable achievement even for one of the extraordinary Fighting Tenth Flotilla based on Malta. On several occasions he came close to losing his boat in his many contacts with the enemy but survived to pursue a distinguished career in the |
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Fraser, Stanley | | Lieutenant Stanley Fraser |
| As a member of the 4th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Malta, Stan Fraser endured more than three thousand air raids and constant direct attacks on his battery of 3.7 AA guns which killed and maimed several of his comrades. When he reached Malta in July 1941 he had already survived the evacuation from Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain when he served in a mobile column of AA guns, and the London Blitz. In 1992, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the award of the George Cross to the island of Malta |
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Rixon, Frank | | Sergeant Major Frank Rixon BEM |
| A member of the 2nd Battalion Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, Frank Rixon went to Malta in April 1940, staying for more than three difficult years. The duties of the battalion were the defence of the island but most of his time was spent on Luqa Airfield building aircraft pens, filling in bomb holes and assisting the RAF in rearming and refueling aircraft and also unloading ships in the harbour. A career soldier, Rixon later spent 18 months in Korea for which service he was awarded the BEM. |
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Bonello, Chevalier Antoine Pace | | Lieutenant Colonel Chevalier Antoine Pace Bonello MBE GC OCC |
| At the outbreak of war Pace Bonello was commissioned into the Royal Malta Artillery. He became Battery Commander of 8 S/L (Searchlight) RMA performing a critical if often underestimated role in conjunction with the AA guns and nightfighters. Post-war he became commander of 3rd/11th Regiment Royal Malta Artillery.
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Micallef, George V | | Brigadier George V Micallef MOM CBE |
| Commissioned into the Royal Malta Artillery almost direct from University in 1939, George Micallef took part in the first phase of the defence of Malta. He served with 5 Anti-Aircraft Battery of 2 AA Regiment RMA at AA Position Delimara at a critical time before being posted to Egypt in May 1940. He returned in May 1942 to serve as battery commander with the 2 AA Regiment until 1945. He had a distinguished post-war military career including command of the Royal Malta Artillery.
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Tabone, Censu | | Dr Censu Tabone MD FRCS(EDIN) KUOM |
| The man who in 1987 was to become President of Malta was a newly qualified doctor when the war broke out in 1939. He immediately applied for a Medical Officer Emergency Commission and served as a medical officer with the armed forces until 1946. Apart from service at two major hospitals on the island, he was also Medical Officer to several Maltese and British units on the island. His post-war career combined politics and medicine and culminated in his election as the fourth President of Malta.
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Turner, Carmela | | Chief Nursing Officer Carmela Turner RGN SCM |
| Carmela Turner was eighteen when she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment of nurses in 1939. Based at the Irmarfa. Hospital, she was to see at first hand the terrible effects of the war on both the services and civilians in Malta. She also become a casualty herself when a bomb aimed at the nearby Takah airfield exploded next to the hospital. Although injured, she first went to see that the patients were safe. Later a piece of shrapnel was extracted from her arm and she wears the resultant scar wi |
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Kemp, N L D | | Flight Lieutenant N L D Kemp DFC (deceased) |
| A Battle of Britain veteran who had flown with Douglas Bader in the famous 242 Canadian squadron. Nigel Kemp transferred with the squadron to Malta in 1941, flying his Hurricane of Ark Royal on Nmember 12. The squadron sufferred such heavy losses in Malta that in March 1942 the survivors were absorbed into 126 and 185 Squadrons. He had been with 242 in 1941 when the squadron was re-equipped with the Hurricane II and took part in the cross channel offensive, receiving the D17C in October 1941 for |
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Drake, Billy | | Group Captain Billy Drake DSO DFC* (deceased) |
| Joined the R.A.F. in 1936. His first posting was to 1 squadron flying Furies then Hurricanes and first saw action over France in the Spring of 1940 and was awarded his first DFC by the end of the year. As a Squadron Leader he was sent to West Africa to command 128 Squadron. 1942 saw his commanding 112 squadron in North Africa, in July saw an immediate BAR to his DFC and in December an immediate DSO. Posted to Malta as Wing Commander he won a US DFC in 1943. Back in the UK he now was flying Typho |
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Aldridge, Arthur | | Squadron Leader Arthur Aldridge DFC |
| Although Arthur Aldridge was only to spend two months in Malta - 217 Squadrons Beauforts were actually en route to Ceylon at the time - the results he achieved make hirn a legend amongst torpedo airmen. On his first operation from Malta on June 15 1942 he and his crew made a lone attack on the Italian fleet and sank the 10,000 ton heavy cruiser Trento. Perhaps as a result, the Italian Navy never put to sea as a fleet again. On June 21 Aldridge sank the 7,744 ton cargo ship Reichenfels. Although |
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Bamberger, Cyril | | Squadron Leader Cyril Bam Bamberger (deceased) |
| Born in Port Sunlight on May 4th 1919, Cyril Bamberger won an electrical engineering apprenticeship at Lever Brothers in 1934. He joined 610 Squadron AuxAF, in 1936 on the ground staff. Accepted for pilot training with the RAF VR in late 1938, he soloed in mid 1939. Bamberger was called up at the outbreak of war and on the 23rd October 1939 was posted to No 8 EFTS, Woodley and later went to 9 FTS, Hullavington to complete his training. He rejoined 610 (F) Squadron at Biggin Hill on July 27th bu |
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Broom, Ivor | | Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom KCB CBE DSO DFC AFC (deceased) |
| Entering the RAF in 1940 he joined No 114 Squadron as a sergeant pilot flying Blenheims. After 12 operations he and his crew were allocated to No 105 Squadron and then No 107 Squadron, the last remaining Blenheim Squadron in Malta. The Squadron remained there without relief for five months carrying out low level attacks on the shipping. Very few of the original crews survived the detachment, in fact he was commissioned during this period, when 107 Squadron had lost all their officers and for |
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Lawrence, Keith | | Squadron Leader Keith Lawrence DFC (deceased) |
| Keith Lawrence was born in New Zealand at Waitara on November 25th 1919. After attending Southland Boys High School at Invercargill, Lawrence went to work in a local bank in December 1936. In November 1938 he applied to join the RAF and was accepted for pilot training in Britain and sailed in February 1939. In November 1939 Keith Lawrence completed his flying training and joined the newly-formed 234 Squadron, which flew Spitfires throughout the Battle of Britain. Whilst based at St Eval in Corn |
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Leggett, P G | | Squadron Leader P G Leggett (deceased) |
| Percival Graham Leggett was born on the 24th of February 1921 and joined the RAFVR In June 1939 as an Airman under training Pilot. He was called up for active duty on 1 September 1939 and he completed his training in September 1940. On the 18 September 1940 Leggett crashed at Oldbury on Severn in Gloucestershire but was unhurt. Leggett was posted to No.615 Squadron at RAF Prestick in Scotland then to 245 Squadron at RAF Aldergrove on 28 September and then to No.46 Squadron at RAF Stapleford |
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Moon, Harry | | Squadron Leader Harry Moon (deceased) |
| Flying his Hurricane off the carrier Ark Royal for Malta on June 30th 1941, Harry Moon was fortunate to arrive on the island to join 249 Squadron in a period when the opposition was provided by the Italians. The Hurricane were equal to this task and Moon took part in many combats. However, in December the Lufttwaffe appeared again and losses rose sharply. In February 1942, he was transferred to 126 Squadron when 249 was temporarily disbanded as a result of losses and pending the arrival of Spitf |
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Pickering, James | | Flight Lieutenant James Pickering AFC (deceased) |
| Jim Pickering joined the RAFVR in 1937, and was attached to 769 Sqn FAA, then 804 Sqn FAA. In June 1940 he returned to the RAF and flew Spitfires with 64 Sqn during the Battle of Britain. With 418 Flight Jim flew Hurricanes to Malta from HMS Argus on 2nd August 1940. This flight was to reinforce Maltas handful of outdated Gladiators and few surviving Hurricanes, and on 16th August was amalgamated to become 261 Squadron. With this unit Jim flew Hurricanes and at least five operations in the l |
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Robertson, Douglas | | Flight Lieutenant Douglas Robertson |
| One of Robertsons strongest memories of Malta was taking Hurricanes on low level, night intruder raids on Sicily as a member of the Malta Night Fighter Unit which he joined from 249 Squadron in July 1941. These nuisance raids were intended to keep the German bombers on the ground. He had come out to Malta in April 1941, flying his Hurricane of the deck of HMS Ark Royal to join 261 Squadron initially at Takali, later transferring to 249 Squadron. In the Spring of 1942 Robertson was posted to the |
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Rothwell, Peter | | Flight Lieutenant Peter Rothwell (deceased) |
| Reaching Malta early in 1942, after a tour on Coastal Command Wellingtons in the UK, Peter Rothwell was posted to the Special Duties Flight which he subsequently took over. This remarkable unit of Wellingtons co-operated with the Navy to find enemy convoys, homing ships or aircraft on to them, dropping flares, observing results and finally bombing themselves. After 38 hazardous sorties Rothwell was sent back to the UK. Taking a tired Wellington back to Egypt on the way, he was lucky to survive t |
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Crosley, Mike | | Commander Mike Crosley DSC* Royal Navy (deceased) |
| Robert Michael Crosley was born on February 24 1920 , Mike Crosley was a Metropolitan Police constable (a reserved occupation) when war broke out, but volunteered on the day of the Fleet Air Arm strike on Taranto, November 11 1940. Fleet Air Arm Ace Mike Crosley joined the carrier HMS Eagle in late 1941, one of four FAA pilots flying Sea Hurricanes in defence of the Malta convoys, On June 12 he was on alert on the deck of HMS Eagle. After two hours strapped in his cockpit, he was expecting to |
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+ Artist : John Young | £40 Off! | Now : £280.00 | | | Signed limited edition of 500 prints. (One print reduced to clear)
Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item! | Paper size 29 inches x 23 inches (74cm x 58cm) |
Twiss, Peter | | Lieutenant Peter Twiss OBE DSC (deceased) |
| Peter Twiss was born on the 23rd of July,1921 in Lindfield, West Sussex. Peter Twiss spent much of his early days on a farm near Salisbury. When war broke out later in 1939 he enlisted as a Naval Airman Second Class in the Fleet Air Arm, qualifying as a pilot after initial training at 14 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School at Castle Bromwich on Tiger Moths and then went on to fly Hawker Harts and Fairey Battles. Operational training followed at RNAS Yeovilton flying Blackburn Rocs a |
|
McGeoch, Ian | | Vice-Admiral Sir lan McGeoch KCB DSO DFC (deceased) |
| Ian McGeoch was born in Helensburgh on 26th March 1914 and was educated at Pangbourne Nautical College, and in 1931 joined the Royal Navy as a special entry cadet. From 1933, Megeoch served as a midshipman on the HMS Royal Oak in 1933 then on the destroyer HMS Boadicea before moving on to the cruiser HMS Devonshire. McGeoch volunteered to serve on submarines and in 1936 attended the course at HMS Dolphin. Promoted to Lieutenant, McGeoch joined HMS Clyde at Malta. When war broke out he was |
|
Thompson, A R F | | Flight Lieutenant ARF Thompson DFC (deceased) |
| Anthony Robert Fletcher Thompson was born on October 14th 1920. He joined the RAFVR about July 1939 as an airman under training pilot. Called up on September 1st, he completed his training at 15 EFTS and 5 FTS Sealand and arrived at 6 OTU on September 10th 1940. After converting to Hurricanes, he joined 85 (F) Squadron at Church Fenton on the 29th and moved to 249 (F) Squadron at North Weald in Essex on October 17th 1940. Thompson shared in the destruction of a Junkers Ju88 on October 28th a |
|
Jewett, Frederick | | Petty Officer Frederick Jewett |
| With his Action Station, as a member of the gunnery team, on the bridge of the destroyer HMS Ashanti, Fred Jewett had a very close-up view of the famous Pedestal convoy. Rear-Admiral Burrough, the C-in-C, transfer-red his flag to Ashanti after his flagship Nigeria was put out of action. Jewett was already a veteran of many naval actions and he went on to take part in the D-Day landings. In 2000 he finally realised his dream to create a commemorative Malta Window in the Church of St Thomas the Ma |
|
Linton, Ron | | Merchant Seaman Gunner Ron Linton |
| The last known survivor of the tanker Ohio which was at the heart of the legendary Pedestal convoy, Ron Linton had set out on that operation, as a 19 year old Merchant Seaman Gunner, on another ship, the MV Dorset. Hit by a stick of bombs, Dorset was crippled and abandoned. Linton was rescued by HMS Bramham and then volunteered to join the stricken tanker Ohio to help man her AA guns for the last desperate effort to reach Malta. The arrival of the surviving Pedestal ships, particularly the tanke |
|
Roxburgh, John | | Vice-Admiral Sir John Roxburgh KCB CBE DSO DSC |
| When he took command of the submarine P 44, later to be named United, in December 1942, aged 23, Roxburgh was the youngest submarine commander in the Royal Navy. In 10 months he sent 21,000 tons of enemy ships to the bottom and damaged a further 12,000 tons, a remarkable achievement even for one of the extraordinary Fighting Tenth Flotilla based on Malta. On several occasions he came close to losing his boat in his many contacts with the enemy but survived to pursue a distinguished career in the |
|
Fraser, Stanley | | Lieutenant Stanley Fraser |
| As a member of the 4th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment in Malta, Stan Fraser endured more than three thousand air raids and constant direct attacks on his battery of 3.7 AA guns which killed and maimed several of his comrades. When he reached Malta in July 1941 he had already survived the evacuation from Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain when he served in a mobile column of AA guns, and the London Blitz. In 1992, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the award of the George Cross to the island of Malta |
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Rixon, Frank | | Sergeant Major Frank Rixon BEM |
| A member of the 2nd Battalion Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, Frank Rixon went to Malta in April 1940, staying for more than three difficult years. The duties of the battalion were the defence of the island but most of his time was spent on Luqa Airfield building aircraft pens, filling in bomb holes and assisting the RAF in rearming and refueling aircraft and also unloading ships in the harbour. A career soldier, Rixon later spent 18 months in Korea for which service he was awarded the BEM. |
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Bonello, Chevalier Antoine Pace | | Lieutenant Colonel Chevalier Antoine Pace Bonello MBE GC OCC |
| At the outbreak of war Pace Bonello was commissioned into the Royal Malta Artillery. He became Battery Commander of 8 S/L (Searchlight) RMA performing a critical if often underestimated role in conjunction with the AA guns and nightfighters. Post-war he became commander of 3rd/11th Regiment Royal Malta Artillery.
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Micallef, George V | | Brigadier George V Micallef MOM CBE |
| Commissioned into the Royal Malta Artillery almost direct from University in 1939, George Micallef took part in the first phase of the defence of Malta. He served with 5 Anti-Aircraft Battery of 2 AA Regiment RMA at AA Position Delimara at a critical time before being posted to Egypt in May 1940. He returned in May 1942 to serve as battery commander with the 2 AA Regiment until 1945. He had a distinguished post-war military career including command of the Royal Malta Artillery.
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Tabone, Censu | | Dr Censu Tabone MD FRCS(EDIN) KUOM |
| The man who in 1987 was to become President of Malta was a newly qualified doctor when the war broke out in 1939. He immediately applied for a Medical Officer Emergency Commission and served as a medical officer with the armed forces until 1946. Apart from service at two major hospitals on the island, he was also Medical Officer to several Maltese and British units on the island. His post-war career combined politics and medicine and culminated in his election as the fourth President of Malta.
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Turner, Carmela | | Chief Nursing Officer Carmela Turner RGN SCM |
| Carmela Turner was eighteen when she joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment of nurses in 1939. Based at the Irmarfa. Hospital, she was to see at first hand the terrible effects of the war on both the services and civilians in Malta. She also become a casualty herself when a bomb aimed at the nearby Takah airfield exploded next to the hospital. Although injured, she first went to see that the patients were safe. Later a piece of shrapnel was extracted from her arm and she wears the resultant scar wi |
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Kemp, N L D | | Flight Lieutenant N L D Kemp DFC (deceased) |
| A Battle of Britain veteran who had flown with Douglas Bader in the famous 242 Canadian squadron. Nigel Kemp transferred with the squadron to Malta in 1941, flying his Hurricane of Ark Royal on Nmember 12. The squadron sufferred such heavy losses in Malta that in March 1942 the survivors were absorbed into 126 and 185 Squadrons. He had been with 242 in 1941 when the squadron was re-equipped with the Hurricane II and took part in the cross channel offensive, receiving the D17C in October 1941 for |
|
Drake, Billy | | Group Captain Billy Drake DSO DFC* (deceased) |
| Joined the R.A.F. in 1936. His first posting was to 1 squadron flying Furies then Hurricanes and first saw action over France in the Spring of 1940 and was awarded his first DFC by the end of the year. As a Squadron Leader he was sent to West Africa to command 128 Squadron. 1942 saw his commanding 112 squadron in North Africa, in July saw an immediate BAR to his DFC and in December an immediate DSO. Posted to Malta as Wing Commander he won a US DFC in 1943. Back in the UK he now was flying Typho |
|
Aldridge, Arthur | | Squadron Leader Arthur Aldridge DFC |
| Although Arthur Aldridge was only to spend two months in Malta - 217 Squadrons Beauforts were actually en route to Ceylon at the time - the results he achieved make hirn a legend amongst torpedo airmen. On his first operation from Malta on June 15 1942 he and his crew made a lone attack on the Italian fleet and sank the 10,000 ton heavy cruiser Trento. Perhaps as a result, the Italian Navy never put to sea as a fleet again. On June 21 Aldridge sank the 7,744 ton cargo ship Reichenfels. Although |
|
Bamberger, Cyril | | Squadron Leader Cyril Bam Bamberger (deceased) |
| Born in Port Sunlight on May 4th 1919, Cyril Bamberger won an electrical engineering apprenticeship at Lever Brothers in 1934. He joined 610 Squadron AuxAF, in 1936 on the ground staff. Accepted for pilot training with the RAF VR in late 1938, he soloed in mid 1939. Bamberger was called up at the outbreak of war and on the 23rd October 1939 was posted to No 8 EFTS, Woodley and later went to 9 FTS, Hullavington to complete his training. He rejoined 610 (F) Squadron at Biggin Hill on July 27th bu |
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Broom, Ivor | | Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom KCB CBE DSO DFC AFC (deceased) |
| Entering the RAF in 1940 he joined No 114 Squadron as a sergeant pilot flying Blenheims. After 12 operations he and his crew were allocated to No 105 Squadron and then No 107 Squadron, the last remaining Blenheim Squadron in Malta. The Squadron remained there without relief for five months carrying out low level attacks on the shipping. Very few of the original crews survived the detachment, in fact he was commissioned during this period, when 107 Squadron had lost all their officers and for |
|
Lawrence, Keith | | Squadron Leader Keith Lawrence DFC (deceased) |
| Keith Lawrence was born in New Zealand at Waitara on November 25th 1919. After attending Southland Boys High School at Invercargill, Lawrence went to work in a local bank in December 1936. In November 1938 he applied to join the RAF and was accepted for pilot training in Britain and sailed in February 1939. In November 1939 Keith Lawrence completed his flying training and joined the newly-formed 234 Squadron, which flew Spitfires throughout the Battle of Britain. Whilst based at St Eval in Corn |
|
Leggett, P G | | Squadron Leader P G Leggett (deceased) |
| Percival Graham Leggett was born on the 24th of February 1921 and joined the RAFVR In June 1939 as an Airman under training Pilot. He was called up for active duty on 1 September 1939 and he completed his training in September 1940. On the 18 September 1940 Leggett crashed at Oldbury on Severn in Gloucestershire but was unhurt. Leggett was posted to No.615 Squadron at RAF Prestick in Scotland then to 245 Squadron at RAF Aldergrove on 28 September and then to No.46 Squadron at RAF Stapleford |
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Moon, Harry | | Squadron Leader Harry Moon (deceased) |
| Flying his Hurricane off the carrier Ark Royal for Malta on June 30th 1941, Harry Moon was fortunate to arrive on the island to join 249 Squadron in a period when the opposition was provided by the Italians. The Hurricane were equal to this task and Moon took part in many combats. However, in December the Lufttwaffe appeared again and losses rose sharply. In February 1942, he was transferred to 126 Squadron when 249 was temporarily disbanded as a result of losses and pending the arrival of Spitf |
|
Pickering, James | | Flight Lieutenant James Pickering AFC (deceased) |
| Jim Pickering joined the RAFVR in 1937, and was attached to 769 Sqn FAA, then 804 Sqn FAA. In June 1940 he returned to the RAF and flew Spitfires with 64 Sqn during the Battle of Britain. With 418 Flight Jim flew Hurricanes to Malta from HMS Argus on 2nd August 1940. This flight was to reinforce Maltas handful of outdated Gladiators and few surviving Hurricanes, and on 16th August was amalgamated to become 261 Squadron. With this unit Jim flew Hurricanes and at least five operations in the l |
|
Robertson, Douglas | | Flight Lieutenant Douglas Robertson |
| One of Robertsons strongest memories of Malta was taking Hurricanes on low level, night intruder raids on Sicily as a member of the Malta Night Fighter Unit which he joined from 249 Squadron in July 1941. These nuisance raids were intended to keep the German bombers on the ground. He had come out to Malta in April 1941, flying his Hurricane of the deck of HMS Ark Royal to join 261 Squadron initially at Takali, later transferring to 249 Squadron. In the Spring of 1942 Robertson was posted to the |
|
Rothwell, Peter | | Flight Lieutenant Peter Rothwell (deceased) |
| Reaching Malta early in 1942, after a tour on Coastal Command Wellingtons in the UK, Peter Rothwell was posted to the Special Duties Flight which he subsequently took over. This remarkable unit of Wellingtons co-operated with the Navy to find enemy convoys, homing ships or aircraft on to them, dropping flares, observing results and finally bombing themselves. After 38 hazardous sorties Rothwell was sent back to the UK. Taking a tired Wellington back to Egypt on the way, he was lucky to survive t |
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Crosley, Mike | | Commander Mike Crosley DSC* Royal Navy (deceased) |
| Robert Michael Crosley was born on February 24 1920 , Mike Crosley was a Metropolitan Police constable (a reserved occupation) when war broke out, but volunteered on the day of the Fleet Air Arm strike on Taranto, November 11 1940. Fleet Air Arm Ace Mike Crosley joined the carrier HMS Eagle in late 1941, one of four FAA pilots flying Sea Hurricanes in defence of the Malta convoys, On June 12 he was on alert on the deck of HMS Eagle. After two hours strapped in his cockpit, he was expecting to |
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+ Artist : John Young | £80 Off! | Now : £240.00 | | |
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