Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The original R.A.F. flying log books appertaining to Master Signaller M. T. Griffiths, D.F.M., comprising Observer’s and Air Gunner’s (Form 1767) type, with entries covering the period December 1940 to January 1953, including an operational tour in Lancasters of No. 97 Squadron, and several wartime inserts, the back cover glued to the front cover of the second book, a Navigators, Air Bombers, Air Gunners and Flight Engineers (Form 1767) type, with entries for the period January 1953 to July 1959, including a long tour of operations in Malaya, together with his R.A.F. Certificate of Service, dated 20 July 1959, a Certificate of Parachuting for three descents from a Valetta at the Far East Transport Wing, Changi, and an Identity Card, dated 20 September 1956, covers and spine worn, contents good (Lot) £300-350

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, An Old Collection of Medals Relating to The Great War.

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Martin Thomas Griffiths, who was born in June 1922 and originally served in the Territorial Army, transferred to the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in the summer of 1940 and commenced training as a Wireless Operator at the year’s end.

Duly qualified and having attended an O.T.U., he went operational in Lancasters of No. 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron at Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire, in May 1942. And among more notable sorties flown over the coming weeks were the 1000-Bomber raids on Essen and Bremen, and the daylight strike on Danzig on 11 July 1942, on which occasion Griffiths stepped in as Mid-Upper Gunner, when his Lancaster was hit by flak. Of this latter operation, Middlebrook’s and Everitt’s The Bomber Command War Diaries state:

‘44 Lancasters were dispatched on another experimental raid. The plan called for the Lancasters to fly at low level and in formation over the North Sea, but then to split up and fly independently in cloud which was forecast to be present over Denmark and that part of the Baltic leading to Danzig (now Gdansk). The target was expected to be clear of cloud and the Lancasters were to bomb U-boat yards from normal bombing heights just before dusk and return to England during darkness. With a round trip of 1500 miles, it was the most distant target Bomber Command had yet attempted to reach. It was also another attempt to utilise Lancasters in a semi-daylight role.

The plan worked well except that some of the Lancasters were late in identifying Danzig and had to bomb the general town area in the dark. 24 aircraft bombed at Danzig and returned; 2 more were shot down by Flak at the target. They were the only losses; the novel tactics and routing prevented any German fighters making contact.’

Griffith’s subsequent operations included two further trips to Essen, two to Berlin and another daylight raid - against Milan on 24 October 1942 - and he was recommended for the D.F.M. in mid-April 1943, after 34 sorties and over 200 hours of operational flying, the recommendation stating:

‘This N.C.O. has now completed an operational tour as Wireless Operator during which he has attacked Berlin, Essen and many more very heavily defended German towns. he also took part in the daylight attack on Danzig and night attacks against Italy. Sergeant Griffiths has carried out all these tasks with great determination.’

His decoration duly gazetted, Griffiths served as an instructor at an Air Observation School before joining No. 518 Squadron, a Halifax unit based at Tiree, in April 1944, and in which capacity he flew around 50 meteorological sorties in the period leading up to V.J. Day, and afterwards out of Aldergrove, until being released from the service.

Rejoining the Royal Air Force in early 1949, Griffiths qualified as a Signaller and, over the coming decade, flew in a wide variety of aircraft, including Ansons, Lincolns, Valiants and Valettas. He also witnessed further active service as a Paratrooper Dispatcher in Valettas of No. 52 Squadron and No. 110 Squadron out in Malaya in the period March 1953 to November 1956, his flying log book listing a mass of operational sorties in the same period. He was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 11 October 1955 refers). Having then been advanced to Master Signaller in December 1956, he was discharged in July 1959.