The fine Second War Honorary ‘intelligence’ M.B.E., extremely rare Great War D.F.M. group of twenty awarded to Major Aviateur C. J. G. T. Delloye, Compagnie des Aviateurs and Aviation Militaire, who served as a Pilot with 2e Escadrille, and racked up in excess of 100 hours of reconnaissance missions over enemy lines during 1918.

Delloye served with the Belgian Air Force during the Fall of France, and was taken prisoner of war in August 1940. Returning to occupied Belgium he was briefly employed in the Ministry of Finance before attempting to make his way to the UK via Gibraltar. Captured and interned in Spain, Delloye eventually made his way to the UK in 1942. He joined the Belgian Forces stationed there, and was employed by the Belgian State Security Detachment in an Intelligence capacity, October 1942 - October 1944. During this time Delloye was attached as a Squadron Leader in Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt; Distinguished Flying Medal, G.V.R. (No 243 Flt Warrant Officer Charles Delloye, Aviation Belge.) on 1st type horizontal striped riband; Belgium, Kingdom, Order of Leopold II, Commander’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, bilingual motto, with neck riband; Order of Leopold, Military Division, Officer’s breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, French motto, with rosette on riband; Order of the Crown, Officer’s breast badge, gilt and enamel, with rosette and crossed swords emblem on riband; Military Cross, First Class, L.III.R., gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband; Croix de Guerre, A.I.R., bronze, with bronze palm emblem on riband; Yser Medal 1914, bronze and enamel; Commemorative Medal for the Great War 1914-18, bronze; Allied Victory Medal 1914-19, bronze; Combat Volunteers Medal 1914-18, bronze; Frontline Fire Service Cross 1914-18, bronze; Evaders Cross, bronze; Volunteer’s Medal 1940-45, bronze; Armed Resistance Medal 1940-45, bronze; Political Prisoner’s Cross 1940-45, silvered and enamel, with riband bar with three stars; Prisoner of War Medal 1940-45, bronze, with five bronze riband bars; Commemorative Medal for the Second World War 1940-45, bronze, with small crown emblem on riband; Medal for Military Fighters of the Second World War 1940-45, bronze; Volunteer’s Medal, bronze, generally good very fine and better (20) £4,000-£5,000

Provenance: The Reverend E. Hawkes Field Collection, Glendinings, November 1950 (listed as D.F.M. only, and with an estimate of £15/10/0); J. B. Hayward, 1973.

Appointed Honorary M.B.E. 11 November 1946.

D.F.M. London Gazette 19 July 1919 (originally recommended for a M.M.):
‘A pilot who has distinguished himself by his skill and his dash, and who was always to be found ready to start on difficult enterprises. During the Flanders offensive of 1918, his work was largely responsible for successful counter battery work.’

Charles Jules Ghislain Joseph Delloye was born in Thorembais les Béguines, Belgium in July 1894. He joined the Belgian Air Force (Compagnie des Aviateurs) in August 1914, and advanced to Premier Sergeant-Major in the renamed Aviation Militaire in September 1917. Delloye was posted for training as a pilot to the Aviation School at Etampes in 1917, and then posted for operational service as a pilot to 2e Escadrille. He flew over 100 hours of reconnaissance missions over enemy lines during the Great War, and advanced to Adjutant (Warrant Officer) in January 1918.

Delloye was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Auxiliary Engineers in January 1919, and transferred to the Infantry in July of the same year. He advanced to Lieutenant in December 1921, and transferred back to the Belgian Air Force as Aircrew in January 1924. Delloye advanced to Capitaine Aviateur in December 1935, and served with the Belgian Air Force in Bordeaux, France from 12 May 1940. He returned to occupied Belgium as a prisoner of war in August 1940, and was employed in the Ministry of Finance, November 1940 - July 1941. At the end of July he fled occupied Belgium, and was captured and interned in Spain, 29 December 1941. Delloye was released with the rights of a Political Prisoner, 9 September 1942, and joined the Belgian Forces in the UK. He was attached to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and served with the Belgian State Security Detachment in an Intelligence capacity, October 1942 - October 1944. He subsequently advanced to Capitaine-Commandant D’Aviation, and served with the Recruiting Mission, October 1944 - September 1946. Delloye transferred to the Reserve in April 1946, and retired as a Major Aviateur in January 1947.

Sold with extensive copied research, including photographic images of recipient in uniform.