A superb Great War and Second War C.B., D.S.C. group of nineteen awarded to Air Marshal Sir Philip Wigglesworth, Royal Air Force, late Royal Naval Air Service


The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, C.B. (Military) neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels, in its Garrard & Co case of issue; Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R.; British War and Victory Medals (Flt. Lt., R.N.A.S.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Italy Star; France & Germany Star; Defence & War Medals; U.S.A., Legion of Merit, Officer’s breast badge; France, Legion of Honour, Officer’s breast badge, silver-gilt and enamels; French Croix de Guerre 1914-1916, with bronze palme; French Croix de Guerre 1939, with bronze palme; Greece, Order of George I, Officer’s breast badge with swords, silver-gilt and enamels; Spain, Order of Military Merit, 3rd class breast badge, gilt and enamels, the lower arm with cracks to the enamel, these last fifteen mounted ‘Court’ style as worn; France, Legion of Honour, Commander’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels, in case of issue, several chips to central circlets; Greece, Order of George I, Commander’s neck badge with swords, silver-gilt and enamels, in case of issue; U.S.A., Legion of Merit, Commander’s neck badge, gilt and enamels, the reverse officially named, and numbered ‘755’ on the suspension loop, in case of issue; together with related tunic ribbons, generally very fine or better (19) £3500-4500

See Colour Plate IV


D.S.C. London Gazette 21 April 1917: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and enterprise on 23 January 1917, during a bomb attack by aircraft when considerable damage was done to enemy blast furnaces at Burbach. During this flight he fought five engagements with enemy aircraft in formations of three, four and five at a time.’

(Horace Ernest) Philip Wigglesworth was born on 11 July 1896, and was commissioned into the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915. He flew with 3 Naval Wing with Raymond Collishaw (later Air Vice Marshal) who, in his book Air Command, mentions Wigglesworth’s part in the raids on Oberndorf and Burbach raids. Wigglesworth’s gunlayer on the latter raid, W. Bunce, was awarded the D.S.M. for helping to drive down one of the enemy fighters. Both men were badly frost bitten by the time they returned safely to their base at Ochey.

In 1918, Wigglesworth was transferred into the Royal Air Force and during 1926 he completed the first night flight over the Transjordan Desert. He graduated from the Staff College in 1931 and acted as Deputy Director of Intelligence between 1936 and 1939, including a stint as Air Adviser to General Wavell whilst on Russian military manoeuvres. On promotion to Group Captain soon afterwards, he joined the Combined Planning Staff, Middle East. This was a high pressure posting with extensive responsibilities, covering an operational area that stretched from Benghazi to the Persian Gulf, and from Turkey to East Africa. Wigglesworth received considerable praise for his part in the evacuation of Greece when, due to the urgency of the matter, he was compelled to draft out a plan in one hour.

It was not long before he was recognised as a skilled and tactful commander, and he duly received rapid promotion to Air Commodore and Acting Air Vice Marshal, holding among other appointments those of Senior Staff Officer (Air), Middle East, Air Officer Commanding, East Africa (1942), Deputy Commander in Chief Allied Air Forces, Mediterranean, under Air Chief Marshal Lord Tedder (1943), and Deputy Chief of Staff, Allied Expeditionary Air Forces, under Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory (1944). The latter appointment required a great deal of tact in smoothing over awkward situations which arose between British and American commanders. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder wrote in his autobiography that “Wigglesworth even tamed the redoubtable Bedell Smith, Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff”.

After being confirmed in the rank of Air Vice Marshal in 1945, he became Commander of the British Air Forces of Occupation in Germany. Wigglesworth retired with the rank of Air Marshal in 1948, having been created a K.B.E. in 1946 and a C.B. in 1943. He died on 31 May 1975.