CAMPAIGN GROUPS AND PAIRS
744
Seven: Captain W. Darkin, Royal Signals, who later served with the Royal Hong Defence Force
1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR, clasp, 8th Army; ITALY STAR; DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS; EFFICIENCY DECORATION, G.VI.R., 2nd issue,
Territorial, reverse officially dated ‘1950-, with ‘G.VI.R.’ clasp dated ‘1950’; POLAND, MONTE CASSINO CROSS 1944, reverse
numbered, ‘49 641’, all unnamed, mounted as worn; together with a set of six mounted miniature dress medals (as
above less Monte Cassino Cross), good very fine (lot) £140-180
Sold with two identity disks, ‘69447 Capt. Darkin, C.E.’; an identity bracelet (no chain), ‘City of London Signals T.A., Sigmn. Darkin W.,
1936’; riband bar; Royal Corps of Signals badge and button; Polish Army cap badge; Hong Kong Regiment button; Hong Kong Defence
Force silver badge; R.H.K.D.F. cloth shoulder rank tabs (2); Bexley Heath & District Motor Cycling Club Medal, bronze and enamel,
reverse inscribed, ‘Langmaid Trial, 1939, W. Darkin’.
745
‘A’ Flight, 66 Squadron, Fighter Command, April 1943
Four: Flight Lieutenant J. Muir, Royal Air Force, a Spitfire pilot who flew operationally in 66 and 681 Squadrons
1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR; BURMA STAR; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, very fine or better (4) £200-250
James Muir enlisted in the Royal Air Force in July 1941 and commenced pilot training in February 1942, being appointed to the acting
rank of Sergeant in the following month. Having then attended F.T.Ss in Rhodesia and South Africa, he returned to the U.K. in
November 1942, graduated as a Spitfire pilot at No. 61 O.T.U. and was posted to No. 66 Squadron April 1942, then commanded by
Battle of Britain ace Squadron Leader H. A. C. Bird-Wilson. Muir flew a brace of convoys patrols before the month’s end, but was
transferred to a gunner establishment shortly afterwards, and thence to a succession of units as an instructor, including postings in the
Middle East and India. And it was in the latter theatre of operations that he joined No. 681 Squadron, a Photo-reconnaissance unit
operating out of Calipore, in May 1945, an appointment that led to his participation in four operational patrols over the Sittang River
and elsewhere prior to the War’s end. Advanced to Flight Lieutenant in January 1946, Muir was released from the service in July of the
same year.
Sold with the recipient’s original R.A.F. Pilot’s Flying Log Book, covering the period February 1942 to March 1946, and including an
original photograph of ‘A’ Flight, No. 66 Squadron, from April 1943.
746
Three: Lieutenant-Commander (A.) P. B. Pratt, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, a Fleet Air Arm pilot who flew
operationally in Walrus aircraft of 701 Squadron in 1941, prior to taking command of 728 Squadron in Malta in 1944
1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, good very fine and better (3) £180-220
Pratt commenced his pilot training at Elmdon in June 1940 and was posted to
No. 775 Squadron at R.N.A.S. Dekheila in Egypt in July 1941, and he remained
employed in the same unit removing to No. 1 F.R.U. at Gamil in August 1942,
appointments that saw him piloting Albacores, Gladiators, Rocs and Swordfish.
Having then been advanced to Lieutenant (A.) and undertaken ground duties on
attachment to No. 815 Squadron in early 1943, Pratt was posted to No. 701
Squadron at Beyrouth in Syria, in which capacity he piloted Walrus aircraft and
participated in at least 15 operational sweeps, largely in a convoy escort role.
Then in May 1943 he was appointed C.O. of the F.R.U. at Hal Far in Malta, with
whom he flew in Fulmars and Hurricanes, working on assorted “shoots” for the
Royal Malta Artillery in addition to the Fleet. Returning to the U.K. via Gibraltar
in November of the same year, he was again ordered to Malta on completion of
his leave, this time taking command of No. 728 Squadron at Goldfinch, the Fleet
Air Arm’s base at Takali, in the temporary rank of Lieutenant-Commander (A.),
with effect from January 1944. And he served in the same capacity until the end
of hostilities, operating in Defiants, Martinets and Seafires. Pratt’s final flight for
728 Squadron was an air to air photography trip in early December 1945.
Sold with the recipient’s original R.A.F. Pilot’s Flying Log Book, covering the period June 1940 to December 1945, with several
interesting inserts including a Naval message and a photograph of 728 Squadron (F.A.A.) aircrew taken at Malta in June 1945,
including the recipient.
www.dnw.co.uk
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