RAF Halton, Barrington-Kennett Trophy, silver medal, type 5, by N.A. & A.F.I. (A/A Newstead, C.H.), hallmarked Birmingham 1937, about extremely fine, original blue and red ribbon and ornate uninscribed clasp £150-200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Preston-Morley Buckinghamshire Collection: Medals and Militaria.

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Collection

Provenance:

A.C. Solomon Collection;
BDW Auction, 27 September 1994, lot 496;
BDW Auction, 5 December 1995, lot 189.

567204 Sgt (Flight Engineer) Conrad Howard Newstead, 35 (Madras Presidency) Squadron, RAF, from Dundee; b. 23 September 1917; educ. Dundee High School, 1930-3; joined RAF Halton Aircraft Apprentices, August 1934, passed out July 1937. One of the first fitters to qualify as a Flight Engineer (a post only established in March 1941), Newstead joined 35 Squadron, based at Linton-on-Ouse. He took part in five bombing raids in June 1941, targets including sites in Hanover and Keil, during which his aircraft twice came under attack from enemy fighters. Newstead was killed in daylight operations over the Scharnhorst at La Pallice, 24 July 1941. His aircraft, Halifax L.9527 (M), which took off from Stanton Harcourt, was last seen in the target area descending in a slow spiral with smoke coming from one or two of its engines. Two crew members managed to parachute to safety and became prisoners of war, both being repatriated in 1945. Sgt Newstead and the four remaining crew members are all buried at Angles Communal cemetery, near Les Sables d’Olonne, France. Further research, including a detailed account of the Scharnhorst attack, is sold with the lot.