GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY 912
The unique Great War and Afghan War D.F.C. and 2 Bars, A.F.C. group of eleven awarded to Group Captain R. “Jock” Halley, Royal Air Force, late Royal Naval Air Service: having won a brace of D.F.Cs for his gallantry in daring long- distance night bombing raids to Germany in 1918, he was awarded the A.F.C. for the epic flight of the Super Handley V/1500 Old Carthusian to India - where he promptly won a third D.F.C. for a remarkable raid on Kabul in May 1919
DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, G.V.R., with Second and Third Award Bars, unnamed as issued; AIR FORCE CROSS, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; BRITISHWAR ANDVICTORYMEDALS, M.I.D. oak leaf (Capt. R. Halley, R.A.F.); INDIAGENERAL SERVICE 1908-35, 1 clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 (Flt. Lieut. R. Halley, R.A.F.); 1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR;DEFENCE ANDWARMEDALS, M.I.D. oak leaf; JUBILEE 1935; CORONATION 1937, mounted court-style as worn, very fine and better (11)
£18000-22000 D.F.C. London Gazette 3 August 1918:
‘A gallant and determined leader in long distance night bombing raiding. He has been most successful in many of these raids, generally under adverse weather conditions and intense anti-aircraft fire from the enemy, and having had to fly by compass owing to density of mist. In his last raid the flight outward and homeward lasted eight hours.’
Bar to D.F.C. London Gazette 1 January 1919. Second Bar to D.F.C. London Gazette 12 July 1920 (Afghanistan). A.F.C. London Gazette 22 December 1919. First and Second D.F.C.s - Night Bomber Pilot
Robert “Jock” Halley was born in Perth in November 1895, the second son of Bailie Robert Halley, and was educated at Perth Academy.
Joining a cyclist unit in the Royal Highlanders in February 1915, he saw no active service, and in February 1917 he transferred to the Royal Naval Air Service as a Probationary Flight Officer and commenced pilot training at R.N.A.S. Vendome. On graduation, he was posted to Naval ‘A’ Squadron (later 16 Naval Squadron and 216 Squadron, R.A.F.), flying twin-engined Handley Page 0/100s out of Manston, and afterwards out of Ochey aerodrome, near Nancy in France - more often then not with the American millionaire Bobbie Reece as his Observer.
As verified by his Flying Log Book, Halley went on to complete over 20 night bombing raids before the War’s end, many of them daring long-distance strikes against German targets - thus trips to Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Mannheim, the latter on at least six occasions. And an indication of the challenges faced during such sorties is to be found in Peter Chapman’s article for The 1914-18 Journal, “Frankfurt - By Night and By Day”:
‘In late August 1918, 216 Squadron were based at Autreville, France and were equipped with Handley Page 0/100 and Handley Page 0/400 twin-engined heavy bombers. These aircraft normally carried a crew of three - pilot, observer/navigator and gunner - and with a bomb load of up to 1650lbs were able to reach targets as far afield as Cologne, Stuttgart or Frankfurt.
The weather outlook on 24 August 1918 was not good, with a strong south-east wind blowing across much of eastern France and a weather forecast of severe thunder storms approaching later that evening. Despite this, orders were received at the squadron to mount a maximum effort that night, the main target being the railway station and sidings at Frankfurt am Main, with the Burbach works at Saarbrucken as an alternative target, should a raid on Frankfurt not be possible.
Shortly after dusk the squadron’s six serviceable aircraft took off individually, with a time lapse of a few minutes separating each take off, each aircraft being given the go ahead by the aerodrome officer via signal lamp. Soon after they had all departed, however, it became apparent to many crews that they would be faced with an almost impossible task to reach Frankfurt in the prevailing weather, and gradually all but two aircraft returned to their aerodrome with their bombs. One of the remaining two chose to bomb Boulay aerodrome, an alternate target, before also returning to Autreville.
The sixth aircraft that night was Handley Page 0/100 No. 3138, crewed by Captain Robert Halley, D.F.C. (pilot), Lieutenant Robert H. Reece, D.F.C. (observer/navigator) and 2nd Lieutenant C. W. Treleaven, a relatively new pilot in the squadron, who went along as their gunner. An experienced pairing, Halley and Reece had already undertaken a number of long distance bombing sorties to targets such as Mannheim and Stuttgart, and both had been decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross for their exploits.
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