GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY SOLD BY ORDER OF THE RECIPIENT FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE BENEVOLENT FUND x596 The important C.N.Z.M., Q.S.O., Second World War D.S.O., D.F.C. group of eleven awarded to Squadron Leader J. L. “Les” Munro, Royal New Zealand Air Force, the last surviving “Dambuster” pilot Having won his D.F.C. for a tour of operations in 97 Squadron, including three trips to the ‘Big City’ which were memorable for ‘a mass of fires, weaving searchlights and bursting flak’ - Munro volunteered for 617 Squadron in March 1943 As quoted, in his wartime memoir Enemy Coast Ahead, Guy Gibson, V.C., described Munro as ‘one of those types who can always be relied upon to do the right thing at the right moment’: exactly what the New Zealander did on the night of the Dams Raid when his Lancaster’s communications were crippled by flak Leonard Cheshire, V.C., under whom Munro regularly flew as Deputy Leader, considered him a vital component of 617 Squadron’s ‘backbone’, a member of the ‘old firm’ who displayed ‘indomitable and cool courage’ on countless occasions and whose accurate marking was directly responsible for the destruction of many vital targets - the aircraft works Albert and the Michelin works at Clermont Ferrand among them In fact, the Dams Raid aside, Munro flew another 35 trail-blazing sorties in 617 Squadron, often leading-in the attacking force amidst curtains of flak, a case in point being the strike on the E-Boat pens at Le Havre and Boulogne when his Lancaster was yet again damaged by enemy fire: small wonder he attributed his survival to numerous visitations from ‘Lady Luck’ On one of his sorties to the heavily defended Antheor Viaduct, he marked the target from 300 feet, while on the eve of D-Day, with Leonard Cheshire as his 2nd Pilot, he displayed immense skill in carrying out the ‘spoof’ “Operation Taxable”: here, then, further evidence of an exceptional operational career that was finally curtailed on the orders of the A.O.C. - immediately on Munro’s return from the crucial “Tallboy” attack on the V.3 site at Minoyecques, where, needless to say, ‘a nightmare of flak’ had greeted the ace aircrews of 617 NEW ZEALAND ORDER OF MERIT, Companion’s (C.N.Z.M.) neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, hallmarks for Birmingham 1997, the reverse officially engraved, ‘J. Les Munro’, with its Thomas Fattorini fitted case of issue; DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER, G.VI.R., silver-gilt and enamel, the reverse of the suspension bar officially dated ‘1944’; QUEEN’S SERVICE ORDER (Q. S.O.), silver, gilt and enamel; DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1943’; 1939-45 STAR; AIR CREW EUROPE STAR, clasp, France and Germany; ITALY STAR; DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS 1939-45; NEW ZEALAND SERVICE MEDAL 1939 -45; NEW ZEALAND 1990 COMMEMORATION MEDAL, mounted court-style as worn where applicable, good very fine or better (11) £40000-50000 www.dnw.co.uk GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY Les Munro at the Bomber Command Memorial, Green Park, London, in May 2013. INTRODUCTION It was a travesty that it took some 67 years before the loss of 55,573 lives in Bomber Command during World War Two was finally recognised by the unveiling of an appropriate memorial at Green Park, London. I served with many of those named thereon, a Roll of Honour that includes the 1,679 New Zealanders who travelled 12,000 miles to serve in Bomber Command in support of the struggle for freedom and democracy. During his visit to the U.K. in 2013, Prime Minister John Key visited the Memorial to lay a wreath in their memory. Today, the Memorial is under the guardianship of The Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, a leading welfare charity that continues to assist New Zealanders who served in the R.N.Z.A.F. and R.A.F. - since 2011 the charity had spent nearly £60,000 on 32 cases in New Zealand. The Memorial is a magnificent tribute to Bomber Command’s fallen and is a real credit to Robin Gibb - who kick-started the fund raising appeal - and to the architect Liam O’Connor and the sculptor Philip Jackson. My reasons for donating my medals and my flying log books to the R.A.F. Benevolent Fund and, more particularly, the Bomber Command Memorial, were prompted by my visit to the memorial in May 2013 - with the feelings of the descendants of those 55,573 in mind, I could not help but think of the cost of its ongoing maintenance for future generations. Before the war, I had only a casual interest in aircraft. I used to look at commercial planes flying past my farm on which I worked on their scheduled routes. Following the outbreak of war I gave thought to the options available and decided that my preference was to be a pilot - to be in control of my own destiny. Thus ensued my operational career in 97 Squadron and, of course, in 617 Squadron, initially under Guy Gibson but afterwards Leonard Cheshire. I had a great personal regard for Cheshire, an outstanding human being blessed with a droll sense of humour. He flew with me on D-Day during “Operation Taxable”. I have often been asked how I felt when a crew did not return from an operation, with some questions directed specifically to the losses of the Dams Raid. In respect of the latter I would make the point that we were only together for a matter of six weeks. We were extremely busy training for the raid and the circumstances were not really conducive to the development of close friendships. The situation changed somewhat after the Dams Raid as quite a number of originals continued to survive successive operations and I became quite friendly with several of these. One of these was Micky Martin, for whom I was privileged to be Best Man at his wedding many months later. When fellow officers that I knew relatively well were lost on operations, I would feel a brief period of sadness but that had to be quickly relegated to the background of my thoughts. There was a job to do and the loss of a colleague could not be allowed to influence how I carried out that job. My duty as the Captain of Aircraft was to carry out the next operation without emotional distraction and to ensure that I did so to the best of my ability with the safety of my crew paramount. Grief could not be allowed to distract from duty. For my own part, I consider myself a fortunate survivor, ‘Lady Luck’ having sat on my shoulder on several occasions. Yet I think that I left New Zealand on the basic premise that if I was going to cop it, so be it. I am first and foremost a fatalist - what will be, will be. I have never regretted my service in the war. It may have supplanted a period in my life when I normally would have been formulating and fashioning my future career, but on the other hand my war service moulded me as a man: it gave me the confidence in my own ability and, very importantly, it taught me to get on with my fellow men and to value comradeship. It is because of that sense of comradeship - and the equal importance of the act of remembrance - that I now part company with my medals and flying log books for the benefit of the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, London. Squadron Leader Les Munro, C.N.Z.M., D.S.O., Q.S.O., D.F.C. www.dnw.co.uk GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY Les Munro and Leonard Cheshire, V.C., share a lighter moment at the 617 Squadron reunion in Auckland, New Zealand, in March 1986. ‘From New Zealand came Les Munro, ex-97 Squadron. Like all New Zealanders, he was a most charming fellow, with an excellent operational record. He was one of those types who can always be relied on to do the right thing at the right moment. There he was, standing quietly, and drinking slowly and thinking a lot.’ Guy Gibson, V.C., referring to his first meeting with Munro in Enemy Coast Ahead. ‘The man I most admired would without a doubt be Leonard Cheshire. I had a great personal regard for him, he was an outstanding person, self-effacing, quietly spoken, with a droll sense of humour. Always friendly and approachable, and taking a genuine interest in all those under his command. He was a deep thinker and, as later events unfolded, spent much thought on ways and means of improving marking and bombing methods with the result that 617 became highly efficient in destroying individual targets. Leonard flew as my second pilot on the D-Day window spoof operation, code named “Operation Taxable”.’ Les Munro reflects upon the qualities of Cheshire, V.C. To be sold with the recipient’s original Flying Log Books (2), comprising Royal New Zealand Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book (Form 414), covering the period August 1941 to November 1943, including the signatures of Guy Gibson and Leonard Cheshire, and Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book (Form R.95 / R.A.F. Form 414), covering the period December 1943 to July 1945, with additional entries for flights undertaken at Gisborne Aero Club in February-March 1947, including several further Cheshire signatures, the former with unstitched interior binding and both worn as a consequence of age.