CAMPAIGN GROUPS AND PAIRS
734
Three: Sergeant R. S. G. Kelly, Royal Air Force, who completed a busy operational tour as an Air Gunner in Halifaxes
of No. 102 Squadron in 1943-44
1939-45 STAR; AIR CREW EUROPE STAR, clasp, France and Germany; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, with their original addressed Air
Ministry card forwarding box, mounted as worn, good very fine (3) £350-400
Kelly commenced training as an Air Gunner in April 1943 and was posted to No. 102 Squadron, a Halifax unit operating out of
Pocklington, in September of the same year, in which month he flew sorties to Hanover and Bochum. In October he was detailed to
attack Frankfurt, his Flying Log Book noting the occurrence of a fire in his aircraft’s starboard engine, while in November, in a strike
against Dusseldorf, the same record states his Halifax returned on two engines following a combat. His last sortie of the year was
against Berlin, flown on 29 December, in which he would appear to have engaged a 109 in another combat.
Early 1944 witnessed the Squadron carrying out several “gardening” sorties, in addition to another strike against the “Big City” on 29
January, and a trip to Paris in late February, following which 102’s targets focused on further French targets in the lead up to the
Normandy landings, among them marshalling yards at Le Mans and Amiens, Kelly noting for the record two further combats with 109s.
On D-Day itself, the Squadron attacked enemy coastal batteries at Maisy, before being detailed to attack a target in St. Lo and carry out
three successive “gardening” trips to Brest. Thus ended Kelly’s operational tour, his Flying Log Book stating ‘Recommended for a gong
15.6.44’. He was transferred to an O.T.U. and ended the War in a conversion unit at North Luffenham.
Sold with the recipient’s original R.A.F. Navigator’s, Air Bomber’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book, covering the period April 1943 to
July 1945, together with a wartime photograph of his crew.
www.dnw.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191