Orders, Decorations and Medals

Nine: Flight Lieutenant E. L. Roberts, Royal Air Force, No. 209 (Hong Kong) Squadron, Far East Flying Boat Wing, mentioned in despatches when his Sunderland Flying Boat was involved in a friendly fire incident over Korea
1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (Flt.Lt., R.A.F.); Korea 1950-53, M.I.D. (Flt.Lt., R.A.F.); U.N. Korea, nearly very fine and better (9)

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals Relating to the Korean War 1950-53.

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M.I.D. London Gazette 1 April, 1952.
The following details are taken from the Squadron Operations Record Book for October 1951:
9.10.51 - Sunderland 5, RN277 “X” (Flt.Lt. V. Bergman, Captain, and crew of 10 including Flt.Lt. E. L. Roberts, Beam Gunner). Flying on a Night Weather Reconnaissance Patrol off the West coast of Korea. Flt.Lt. V. Bergman in Sunderland RN277 “X” on a prescribed leg of a scheduled patrol flew over a Task Force of United Nations warships which were not picked up on the radar screen of the A.S.V. which had been serviceable heretofore. No R/T watch was kept at the time and no identification was made. The wakes of some ships were sighted and shortly afterwards the explosions of a series of anti-aircraft shell bursts were heard and felt. It was thought that they were heavy calibre shells fired in salvoes of four. Most were near misses and the aircraft was holed in two places and the beam gunner’s sleeve was ripped by shrapnel. Flt.Lt. Roberts, the gunner, had a slightly scorched arm as a result. The warship was later identified as the U.S.S. New Jersey, United States Navy. Sold with a photograph of the recipient and further research.