GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY
THE MOST HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH, K.C.B. (Military) Knight Commander’s set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, and breast star, silver, with gold and enamel centre, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; THEMOST EXCELLENTORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, K.B.E. (Military) Knight Commander’s 2nd type set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, and breast star, silver, with silver-gilt and enamel centre, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS,
G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1944’; AIR FORCE CROSS, G.V.R.; BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS (J. N. Boothman); GENERAL SERVICE 1918-62, 1 clasp, Southern Desert, Iraq (F./Lt. J. N. Boothman, R.A.F.); 1939-45 STAR; AIR CREW EUROPE STAR; DEFENCE ANDWARMEDALS, M.I.D. oak leaf; CORONATION 1953; FRANCE, CROIX DE GUERRE 1914-1918; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Legion of Merit, Commander’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, in its case of issue; UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS; CZECHOSLOVAKIA,WAR CROSS 1939-45, together with CZECHOSLOVAKIA PILOT’S BADGE, silver, silver-gilt, the reverse impressed ‘V. Pistora, Paris 1940’ and numbered ‘F237’, mounted as worn where applicable, generally good very fine or better (19)
£15000-20000
K.C.B. London Gazette 10 June 1954. K.B.E. London Gazette 7 June 1951. D.F.C. London Gazette 14 July 1944. The original recommendation states:
‘In the early days of the war, Air Commodore Boothman took part as a pilot of a bomber aircraft in raids against the enemy. He operated in the initial attack against the German Navy at Kiel on the opening day of the war, and subsequently in bomber raids on German industrial targets. He was also in one of the last fighter sweeps over Dunkirk.
Air Commodore Boothman took over the operational command and direction of the R.A.F. High Altitude Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (now known as No. 106 Group) in June 1943.
Now, at the age of 43, Air Commodore Boothman is one of the oldest R.A.F. officers to engage in active solo high altitude flying operations against the enemy. Since assuming command of No. 106 group he has carried out fourteen operational photographic sorties. On one occasion, over the Watten and Marquise area, he flew through heavy and accurate flak to photograph his objective. On as recently as 8 May 1944, in carrying out a reconnaissance over Holland at 35,000 feet, he successfully evaded an attack by twelve enemy aircraft. On one photographic sortie flown over enemy territory, he landed in North Africa after covering 1,160 miles, and two days later, after completion of a special inspection duty, returned to base, the last 200 miles of the homeward journey over the sea in bad weather being carried out with one engine “dead”; this involved a total distance of 3,210 miles flying. His last operational service sortie was carried out on D-Day of the current invasion operations.
This officer has always shown the greatest keenness to take part in operations, and has only been prevented from doing so more frequently by pressure of his normal duties as Air Officer Commanding.
In addition to operational flying, he has tested all types of aircraft to ensure that his pilots have the latest and best aircraft for the job - invariably undertaking himself the initial reconnaissance over enemy territory in a new type of aircraft.
When he assumed command of the Photographic Reconnaissance Units, morale and keenness of the pilots were of a high order, but his enthusiasm, personality and, above all, his personal example have raised these qualities even higher.
I approve the immediate award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Air Commodore Boothman.’ A.F.C. London Gazette 9 October 1931.
John Nelson Boothman was born in Wembley, Middlesex, in February 1901, the son of a railway clerk, and was educated at Harrow County School. And it was as a schoolboy that he experienced his first flight, a story described in his Times obituary:
‘He developed his love of flying as a schoolboy, and his determined pursuit of aviation brought him a remarkable early achievement in that field - a flight with the pioneer aviator, Colonel Cody. The latter entered for a race in 1911 that required a passenger, and took with him the young Boothman, then aged 10, as the lightest passenger he could find willing and anxious to venture into the air in a “flying machine” ... ’
Too young to enlist in the British armed services, but anxious to play his part, young Boothman volunteered for the French Red Cross in January 1918, and served as a motor ambulance driver on the Balkan front, gallant work that won him the French Croix de Guerre for ‘more than a year’s zeal and devotion in the evacuation of French wounded despite enemy bombardment.’
On his return to the U.K., Boothman determined to pursue his early interest in aviation, and took private flying lessons at Hendon, gaining his Private Pilot’s Licence (No. 691), before being commissioned in the Royal Air Force in March 1921. And in September of the following year, he flew operationally in Bristol F2Bs of No. 4 Squadron during the Chanak crisis in Turkey.
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