A rare Great War Palestine operations M.C. group of six awarded to Wing Commander S. G. Kingsley, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, late Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, who flew operationally in ‘X’ Flight, No. 14 Squadron, in support of Lawrence of Arabia’s forces 1916-17, in which period he was shot down and wounded - so, too, grounded on a patrol by engine trouble, when his Observer managed to keep the enemy at bay with accurate machine-gun fire

Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Lieut. S. G. Kingsley, R.A.F.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Air Efficiency Award, G.VI.R., 1st issue (Act. Wg. Cdr. S. G. Kingsley, RA.F.V.R.), together with his Royal Life Saving Society’s bronze swimming medal (S. G. Kingsley, July 1911), generally very fine or better (7) £3000-3500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Ron Penhall Collection: Important Awards and Memorabilia of Lawrence of Arabia Interest.

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M.C. London Gazette 3 March 1917:

‘For conspicuous gallantry in action. He was attacked by three hostile machines and shot down. To ensure that his machine would be destroyed, he deliberately landed in the sea at great risk to himself, as he had been wounded, and only with difficulty swam ashore.’

Shirley George Kingsley, who was born in London in August 1893, was working as a motor engineer in Argentina on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, and, on eventually returning to the U.K., was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 7th Battalion, York & Lancaster Regiment.

Shortly thereafter transferring to the Royal Flying Corps, he qualified for his aviator’s certificate (No. 3294) on a Maurice Farman Biplane at Thetford in April 1916, and was posted to X Flight No. 14 Squadron at Ismailia in early September, which unit was charged with supporting operations being undertaken by T. E. Lawrence and his Arabs, a fascinating wartime history retold in James Hynes’ Lawrence of Arabia’s Secret Air Force, in which Kingsley receives due recognition.

As verified by squadron records Kingsley was quickly in action, flying numerous bombing and reconnaissance sorties - thus, by way of example, a strike on a new enemy camp at Sudr el Heitan on 7 December 1916, in which he dropped seven 20lbs. bombs, hitting a trench and tent and ‘probably killed several of the men seen running about’. About the same time, he had a close-call on another reconnaissance patrol:

‘One of the squadron machines from Suez - to which a Flight had again been detached following the Romani operations - developed engine trouble when flying over the broad range of mountains which are the dominant middle feature of southern Sinai. The pilot, Lieutenant Kingsley, discovered a small flat surface towards the eastern edge of the range opposite a Turkish advanced position in the plain called Ain Sudr on which he succeeded in landing. He then set to work to remedy his engine defect which centred in the magneto, while his Observer with his machine-gun held off the Turks who advanced up the Pass to capture them. The machine being at last repaired was dived over the mountain side until sufficient flying speed was attained, where after on completion of the reconnaissance, she returned to Suez.’

Invariably, too, such operations led to combats with enemy aircraft, Kingsley being shot down and wounded after a protracted fight with three hostile machines in early January 1917. While recovering at No. 2 Lowland Field Ambulance, he submitted the following account of the action to his superiors:



‘On 9 January 1917, at 3.30 p.m., I was piloting Martynside 7489, when five miles west of Beersheba, I observed three enemy machines coming towards me. Two of these machines were Fokker biplanes and the third I was unable to observe the type. The machines were flying with one above me, one below, and one on the same level. The one level with me immediately started to climb and as he easily out climbed me I dived on the one below, and got half a drum into him before he turned and started to climb. By this time the other two machines had closed on me, one behind and one alongside, and got off their guns firing at once. The engine, petrol tank, radiator and machine were all badly hit, and I myself was hit three times within two minutes. As the petrol was running out of the tanks and I could not reach the hostile machines, I stalled the machine and got the remainder of the drum into the machine above me without doing any obvious damage. The hostile machines chased me for about five minutes and when they left me, I made for the coast on a line with the enemy encampment at Sheikh Nuran, on which I dropped my bombs, but was unable to observe the effects. My engine was running on three cylinders and these finally failed through petrol shortage when I was two miles east of Khan Yunus. Finding I could not reach our lines, I decided to put the machine in the sea, as I had no petrol left to set it alight.

I landed the machine in the sea about two miles west of Khan Yunus and about 100 yards from the beach. Before the machine took to the water, I took off my leather coat and stood on the seat with one foot on the control lever. I pushed the nose down and jumped over the side. On reaching the shore, I set out for our own lines but I was captured by five Bedouins, who searched me and took everything I possessed, excepting my clothes. They started to take me back to Khan Yunus. Shortly afterwards two men of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles came along and rescued me, and took the Bedouins prisoners and marched them back to Rafa.’

He was awarded the M.C., mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 18 March 1917 refers), advanced to Captain and appointed a Flight Commander, and continued to fly operationally in No. 14 until the July 1917, a period that witnessed several more combats, including one with a Halberstadt while on a reconnaissance sortie over Gaza on 12 May 1917.

Following his time in No. 14 Squadron, Kingsley held a brief appointment in No. 111 Squadron in August-September 1917 before returning to the U.K. and, by the War’s end, had flown over 500 hours in 20 different aircraft types. He was demobilised in January 1919.

Commissioned as a Flying Officer in the Admin & General Duties Branch, R.A.F.V.R. in August 1939, Kingsley remained similarly employed throughout the 1939-45 War and attained the acting rank of Wing Commander before being placed back on the Reserve in June 1946; sold with an extensive file of research.