A scarce Second World War and South-East Asia group of six awarded to Squadron Leader E. H. Busfield, Southern Rhodesia Air Force and Royal Air Force, a pilot who completed a tour of operations in Hampdens prior to becoming personal pilot to Lord Mountbatten

1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, S.E. Asia 1945-46 (Sqn. Ldr., R.A.F.), together with a set of related miniature dress medals, extremely fine (12) £500-600

Ernest Howard Busfield, who was born in Yorkshire in June 1912, and was employed as a Timber Salesman in Salisbury, Rhodesia, at the outbreak of hostilities, enlisted in the Southern Rhodesia Air Force in June 1940. Commencing his pilot training in the latter country, he transferred to the Royal Air Force that October, qualified for his “Wings” in July 1941 and attended an Operational Training Unit on his arrival in the U.K.

He was subsequently posted to No. 455 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron, a Hampden unit operating out of Swinderby, Lincolnshire in December 1941, and was employed on bombing and minelaying missions until the summer of 1942, a period that encompassed an attack on the Scharnhorst - for which his Australian navigator was awarded the D.F.M. - and a close-call after a strike on the famous Krupps Works in the Ruhr:

‘His twin-engined Hampden “N for Nuts” was hit by flak soon after dropping 450kg. of bombs on the target. The aircraft lost power, but Busfield managed to coax his aircraft to within 24 kilometres of his base near Lincoln before being forced to crash-land in a farmer’s field. Busfield and his crew of three all stepped out unhurt. The only casualties were two carrier pigeons. A few days later, flying a new Hampden, Busfield was back over Germany’ (a newspaper feature refers).

In August 1942, having gained experience in Blenheims of No. 254 Squadron at Dyce, and been commissioned, Busfield joined No. 577 Squadron, a unit of the Transport Support Force, in which, among other types, he flew Hurricanes. Having then served as a Liaison Officer on attachment to H.M.S. Coldstreamer in early 1944, he was embarked for service as a V.I.P pilot in a communications unit in South-East Asia Command, a chapter of his career best summarised by the following extracts taken from another newspaper feature:

‘Busfield, an ex-Squadron Leader in the R.A.F., was once Lord Louis Mountbatten’s personal pilot. During the last hectic months of the Second World War, he ferried Lord Mountbatten, then Supreme Commander in South-East Asia, tens of thousands of kilometres over the war zone in his personal Dakota, “Sister Ann”. A highlight was flying Lord Mountbatten and General Bill Slim to Singapore to accept the formal Japanese surrender in South-East Asia.’

‘Busfield was assigned Mountbatten’s personal pilot in April 1945 soon after the Supreme Commander had moved his H.Q. from Delhi to Ceylon ... set among the hills, Mountbatten’s new H.Q., however, presented tricky landing and take-off problems, particularly in monsoon weather, “But he always left the decision to me,” said Busfield. “If I told him it was too risky to fly he’d accept it without question.”

‘A major assignment immediately after the Japanese surrender in Singapore was flying Lady Mountbatten on a 26,000 kilometre tour of P.O.W. camps in Burma, Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippines, French Indo-China and the Celebes. “It was a shattering experience - the beri beri, malnutrition and appalling conditions. Lady Mountbatten was visibly moved by what she saw and promised speedy evacuation of the prisoners. Soon a massive air shuttle was under way to get them to Singapore and the best medical attention.”

‘Lord Mountbatten again demonstrated his tremendous charm when, as Chief of Britain’s Defence Staff, he visited Rhodesia in October 1960. Busfield, now a civilian back-room boy with the Rhodesian Air Force, and his wife Dorothy, were invited to a reception for Lord Mountbatten at Army H.Q. in Salisbury. After greeting all the guests with a formal word and handshake, Mountbatten sent his Aide over to ask the Busfields to join him. “He wanted to talk about the old days. I suppose we chatted about the War for 20 minutes or more.”

Busfield was demobbed and repatriated to Rhodesia in March 1946.

Sold with the recipient’s original Air Ministry campaign award forwarding slip, together with a quantity of research, the latter including several photocopies taken from the recipients’ flying log book and local newspaper features, among them images of the recipient as a member of No. 455 Squadron in 1941-42, and a picture of his “pranged” Hampden following the Krupps raid - his original flying log book is held by the Military Museum of Zimbabwe at Gweru.