Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Friday, 13 August 2010
Monday, 9 August 2010
Belgian Medals Continued
One of my main aims in this blog is to try and find out why my Grandfather was awarded the his two Belgian medals, La Croix de Guerre and La Décoration Militaire.
I have now found the award of the medal in four different publications but none of them gave a reason for the award.
An article in Flight magazine on the history of 48 Squadron says that only 2 Croix de Guerres were award to men of the Squadron. The other Croix de Guerre was awarded at the same time to the pilot Lt. Norman Hunt. Hunt was not awarded La Décoration Militaire but instead was awarded the Chevaliers de l'Ordre de Leopold II which is practically a knighthood in Belgium.
I've asked on the Great War Forum for suggestions on where to find the citations and general opinion is that there unlikely to be one. A likely scenario is that Belgian government made the decorations available and the British Military Authorities made the decision on who to give them to.
So Reginald and Hunt might have just been chosen to represent the Squadron in accepting these decorations, but why these two men.
Was it a random choice or was there something special about them that pushed them to the front?
Is it a coincidence that a pilot and an observer in a Squadron are both awarded La Croix de Guerre?
Were they flying together on a patrol when some extraordinary event occurred?
I have now found the award of the medal in four different publications but none of them gave a reason for the award.
An article in Flight magazine on the history of 48 Squadron says that only 2 Croix de Guerres were award to men of the Squadron. The other Croix de Guerre was awarded at the same time to the pilot Lt. Norman Hunt. Hunt was not awarded La Décoration Militaire but instead was awarded the Chevaliers de l'Ordre de Leopold II which is practically a knighthood in Belgium.
I've asked on the Great War Forum for suggestions on where to find the citations and general opinion is that there unlikely to be one. A likely scenario is that Belgian government made the decorations available and the British Military Authorities made the decision on who to give them to.
So Reginald and Hunt might have just been chosen to represent the Squadron in accepting these decorations, but why these two men.
Was it a random choice or was there something special about them that pushed them to the front?
Is it a coincidence that a pilot and an observer in a Squadron are both awarded La Croix de Guerre?
Were they flying together on a patrol when some extraordinary event occurred?
Friday, 6 August 2010
48 Squadron Rugby Team
Major Keith Parks is in the center of the group with the gloves and walking stick.
Thursday, 5 August 2010
A quiet game of chess
Photos of some of the men from the squadron taking time out to play chess.
Malin & Blanc
Wood & Ward
Not sure who is in the last picture but it appears to be in the same room as where the chess games were being played.
Not sure who is in the last picture but it appears to be in the same room as where the chess games were being played.
Sunday, 1 August 2010
48 Squadron
Thank you very much to Trevor Henshaw for sending me this fantastic photograph of 48 Squadron taken shortly after the war. Reginald can be found in the middle row just left of centre, he is man standing head and shoulders above everyone else in his row.
Looking back at his service record it says that Reginald was 5 foot 10 when he enlisted but in the picture he looks more like his final height as a man of 6 foot 2. It just brings back the fact that he was still such a young man when he served in the RAF and still going through a late growth spurt.
This photo must have been taken before the 18th February 1919 as Capt.L.Payne can be seen sitting in the middle of the photo next to Major Keith Parks. Payne was killed on this date. Capt Freddie Cunningham, the other side of Park, had a copy of this picture with Cologne writen on the back so suggests the photo was taken while the squadron were at Bickendorf. If this is the case then the photo must have been taken at some time between the 19th December 1918 and 18th February 1919.
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