Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry


‘All right so far, sir,’ Cochrane said. ‘Nothing to report yet.’ They walked up and down the long room between the wall where the aircraft blackboards were and the long desks that ran down the other side, where men were sitting. Satterly was there, ‘The Gremlin’, the intelligence man and Dunn, chief signals officer, sitting by a telephone plugged in to the radio in the signals cabin outside. He would get all the Morse from the aircraft there; it was too far for low-flying planes to get through by ordinary speech.


Harris and Cochrane talked quietly, and Wallis was walking miserably with them but not talking, breaking away every now and then to look at the big operations map on the end wall. The track lines had been pencilled in and he was counting off the miles they should be travelling. It was 10.35 when Cochrane looked at his watch and said, ‘They ought to be coming up to the Dutch coast now......’


At Grantham a long silence had followed the flak warning at Huls, and then Dunn’s phone rang sharply, and in the dead silence they all heard the Morse crackling in the receiver. It was quite slow and Cochrane, bending near, could read it. ‘Goner,’ he said. ‘From G George.’ ‘Goner’ was the code word that meant Gibson had exploded his bomb in the right place.


‘I’d hoped one bomb might do it,’ Wallis said gloomily.


‘It’s probably weakened it,’ Cochrane soothed him. Harris looked noncommittal. There was no more from ‘G George’, and they went on walking. A long silence. Nothing came through when Hopgood crashed. The phone rang, ‘Goner’ from ‘P Popsie’. Another dragging silence. ‘Goner’ from ‘A Apple’. Wallis swears even today that there was half an hour between each signal, but the log shows only about five minutes. ‘Goner’ from ‘J Johnny’. That was Maltby, and the aura of gloom settled deeper over Wallis.


A minute later the phone rang again and the Morse crackled so fast the others could not read it. Dunn printed it letter by letter on a signals pad and let out a cry, ‘Nigger. It’s Nigger. It’s gone.’


Wallis threw his arms over his head and went dancing round the room. The austere face of Cochrane cracked into a grin, he grabbed one of Wallis’s hands and started congratulating him. Harris, with the first grin on his face that Wallis had ever seen, grabbed the other hand and said:


‘Wallis, I didn’t believe a word you said about this damn bomb, but you could sell me a pink elephant now.’ (Ibid) Choosing Leonard Cheshire


After the success of the Dams Raid, Cochrane went on to play his part in the development of 617 Squadron as a specialist precision bombing squadron. A brilliant and meticulous planner of raids, he oversaw the transition of leadership of the Squadron from Gibson to Leonard Cheshire whilst all the time identifying new possible targets for attack. For the remainder of the war Cochrane worked closely with both Barnes Wallis and Cheshire (and subsequently Willie Tait), helping to develop special target marking techniques, and incorporating the huge ground penetrating bombs - ‘Tallboy’ and ‘Grand Slam’ into 617 Squadron’s precision bombing role.


Having personally chosen Cheshire to lead 617 Squadron:


‘A bond was developing between the two men. Cochrane did not have an easy personality and few of the hundreds who were daunted by him ever realised that underneath the crisp almost ruthless front he was shy, with rigid control over his emotions. His precise brain dwelt on operational efficiency. He watched his men from close quarters and visited them constantly. He never, for instance, missed attending a squadron dance, so that he could know them and gauge their temper (and so that they could gauge him). Yet the reserve that covered his shyness made him wary of the embarrassments of easy-going familiarity that might lessen his unswerving concentration. Cheshire was brilliant in a more erratic way, and Cochrane’s relentless logic was a brake on this occasional waywardness. They were an ideal combination. Cheshire was a natural tactician in personal relationships, gentle and unobtrusive but with a quiet confidence and the charm that comes from treating everyone, high or low, as a real person and not as a Thing.’ (Ibid)


After being intrinsically involved with Cheshire and all of his 617 Squadron led raids, Cochrane recommended the former for the award of his Victoria Cross. He also decided to replace Cheshire with Willie Tait, after Cheshire had completed 100 operational sorties. Cheshire later reflected:


‘In tracing the evolution of our low-level bombing technique don’t underestimate the contribution of Cochrane. He is the only senior officer with a really clear, unbiased brain that I have met. He followed our course with great attention to detail, was remarkably quick to grasp the fundamentals and was seldom hoodwinked. If I ever asked for anything and he refused, he always gave me clearly his reasons.


If we ever needed anything we usually got it immediately. I used to think that if I asked him for an elephant I’d get it by return of post. As a matter of fact I once did ask him for an elephant because the tractors kept getting bogged in the mud, but the mud dried up and he said we didn’t need the elephant then.


One day I asked him for two Lancasters fitted with nitrogen tanks (a guard against fire) for the leading high-level crews. He hadn’t a hope on earth of getting them officially because they were all booked up months in advance by the Pathfinders, who, though they didn’t need them as badly as we did, had the highest priority of all. Cochrane merely called up the makers, asked them to let us have the first two that came off the line without letting anyone know, and we got them three days later.


It was much the same with everything else, and we should have been lost without someone as strong and critical as Cochrane behind us. He is, of course, a strict disciplinarian, ruthless in dealing with inefficiency, and there is no doubt that he was the key figure behind all that 617 achieved.’


Willie Tait and the Tirpitz Cochrane masterminded the three raids which eventually sunk the German battleship Tirpitz in November 1944:


‘It might be said that the fate of the battleship was finally sealed in the bath of Air Vice-Marshal the Honourable Ralph Cochrance. In his waking moments work was rarely absent from his mind; he had been thinking of the Tirpitz for a long time, and it was in his bath one morning that he finally made up his mind to get permission for 617 to sink her. He climbed out, dried, dressed and flew down to see Harris, and Harris said yes.’ (The Dam Busters, P. Brickhill refers)


What followed were three carefully adjusted attempts to sink the German ship, through Russia and Scotland. Success was finally achieved by Cochrane and Tait, 12 November 1944. The sinking of the Tirpitz was to be Tait’s last major success with the Squadron, and once again Cochrane was tasked with finding a replacement. This time he chose a Canadian - Johnnie Fauquier.


Cochrane oversaw the initial use of Barnes Wallis’s monster ‘Grand Slam’ bombs, before finally being appointed the AOC in Chief of Transport Command in February 1945. He subsequently served as AOC in Chief of Flying Training Command, 1947-1950, and as Air ADC to the King, 1949-1952, and in the same capacity to the Queen from her coronation. Cochrane advanced to Air Chief Marshal in March 1949, and was appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff in March 1950.


Air Chief Marshal Cochrane retired in 1952, and was subsequently employed as the Managing Director of both the Atlantic Shipbuilding Company and of Rolls Royce Ltd. He resided at Grove Farmhouse, Shipton-under-Wychwood, Oxford, and died in December 1977.


A post-war photograph shows recipient wearing Defence and War Medal ribands only, as such Second War Stars unconfirmed.


www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 20% (+VAT where applicable)


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  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236  |  Page 237  |  Page 238  |  Page 239  |  Page 240  |  Page 241  |  Page 242  |  Page 243  |  Page 244  |  Page 245  |  Page 246  |  Page 247  |  Page 248  |  Page 249  |  Page 250  |  Page 251  |  Page 252  |  Page 253  |  Page 254  |  Page 255  |  Page 256  |  Page 257  |  Page 258  |  Page 259  |  Page 260  |  Page 261  |  Page 262  |  Page 263  |  Page 264  |  Page 265  |  Page 266  |  Page 267  |  Page 268  |  Page 269  |  Page 270  |  Page 271  |  Page 272  |  Page 273  |  Page 274  |  Page 275  |  Page 276  |  Page 277  |  Page 278  |  Page 279  |  Page 280  |  Page 281  |  Page 282  |  Page 283  |  Page 284  |  Page 285  |  Page 286  |  Page 287  |  Page 288  |  Page 289  |  Page 290  |  Page 291  |  Page 292  |  Page 293  |  Page 294  |  Page 295  |  Page 296  |  Page 297  |  Page 298  |  Page 299  |  Page 300  |  Page 301  |  Page 302  |  Page 303  |  Page 304  |  Page 305  |  Page 306  |  Page 307  |  Page 308  |  Page 309  |  Page 310  |  Page 311  |  Page 312  |  Page 313  |  Page 314  |  Page 315  |  Page 316  |  Page 317  |  Page 318  |  Page 319  |  Page 320  |  Page 321  |  Page 322  |  Page 323  |  Page 324  |  Page 325  |  Page 326  |  Page 327  |  Page 328  |  Page 329  |  Page 330  |  Page 331  |  Page 332  |  Page 333  |  Page 334  |  Page 335  |  Page 336  |  Page 337  |  Page 338  |  Page 339  |  Page 340  |  Page 341  |  Page 342  |  Page 343  |  Page 344  |  Page 345  |  Page 346  |  Page 347  |  Page 348  |  Page 349  |  Page 350  |  Page 351  |  Page 352  |  Page 353  |  Page 354  |  Page 355  |  Page 356  |  Page 357  |  Page 358  |  Page 359  |  Page 360  |  Page 361  |  Page 362  |  Page 363  |  Page 364  |  Page 365  |  Page 366  |  Page 367  |  Page 368  |  Page 369  |  Page 370  |  Page 371  |  Page 372  |  Page 373  |  Page 374  |  Page 375  |  Page 376  |  Page 377  |  Page 378  |  Page 379  |  Page 380  |  Page 381  |  Page 382  |  Page 383  |  Page 384  |  Page 385  |  Page 386  |  Page 387  |  Page 388  |  Page 389  |  Page 390  |  Page 391  |  Page 392  |  Page 393  |  Page 394  |  Page 395  |  Page 396  |  Page 397  |  Page 398  |  Page 399  |  Page 400  |  Page 401  |  Page 402  |  Page 403  |  Page 404  |  Page 405  |  Page 406  |  Page 407  |  Page 408  |  Page 409  |  Page 410  |  Page 411  |  Page 412  |  Page 413  |  Page 414  |  Page 415  |  Page 416  |  Page 417  |  Page 418  |  Page 419  |  Page 420  |  Page 421  |  Page 422  |  Page 423  |  Page 424  |  Page 425  |  Page 426  |  Page 427  |  Page 428  |  Page 429  |  Page 430  |  Page 431  |  Page 432  |  Page 433  |  Page 434  |  Page 435  |  Page 436  |  Page 437  |  Page 438  |  Page 439  |  Page 440  |  Page 441  |  Page 442  |  Page 443  |  Page 444  |  Page 445  |  Page 446  |  Page 447  |  Page 448  |  Page 449  |  Page 450  |  Page 451  |  Page 452  |  Page 453  |  Page 454  |  Page 455  |  Page 456  |  Page 457  |  Page 458  |  Page 459  |  Page 460  |  Page 461  |  Page 462  |  Page 463  |  Page 464  |  Page 465  |  Page 466  |  Page 467  |  Page 468  |  Page 469  |  Page 470  |  Page 471  |  Page 472  |  Page 473  |  Page 474  |  Page 475  |  Page 476  |  Page 477  |  Page 478  |  Page 479  |  Page 480