Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The mounted group of seven miniature dress medals attributed to Air Marshal Sir Philip Babington, K.C.B., Royal Air Force, late Hampshire Regiment and Royal Flying Corps

Military Cross, G.V.R.; Air Force Cross, G.V.R.; 1914-15 Star; British War and Victory Medals; Jubilee 1935; Coronation 1937, mounted as worn and housed in a Spink, London, case, good very fine and better (7) £200-£300

K.C.B. London Gazette 1 January 1943.

C.B. London Gazette 1 January 1941.

M.C. London Gazette 3 June 1916.

A.F.C. London Gazette 1 January 1919.

Sir Philip Babington was born in London on 25 February 1894, and was educated at Eton. Following the outbreak of the Great War he joined the Inns of Court Officers’ Training Corps in August 1914. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 9th (Cyclists) Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, on 31 August 1914, and was promoted temporary Captain on 21 September of that year. Seconded for duty with the Royal Flying Corps on 20 December 1914, he received his Flying Certificate at Netheravon Flying School on 7 January 1915, and served as a Pilot with 2 Squadron on the Western Front from 20 June 1915. He was appointed Officer Commanding 46 Squadron, operating on the Western Front, from 1 June 1916 (with the rank of temporary Major), and Officer Commanding 141 Squadron, operating out of Biggin Hill, from 1 January 1918. For his services during the Great War, during which he was wounded, he was twice Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 1 January and 15 June 1916), and was awarded the Military Cross and Air Force Cross.

Transferring to the Royal Air Force on its formation on 1 April 1918, Babington remained in the Service following the cessation of hostilities, and was advanced Air Vice Marshal on 1 January 1939. He served as a Staff Officer during the Second World War, as Air Member for Personnel from 1 December 1940, and as Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Flying Training Command, from 17 August 1942. He was created a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1943 New Year’s Honours’ List, and was promoted to his ultimate rank of Air Marshal on 6 June 1945.

Sold with the recipient’s original Ottawa Air Training Conference Pass, May 1942, with photograph of the recipient; together with two corresponding R.A.F. Ferry Command Accommodation Order chits; an invitation to a New Year’s Dance at the Sergeants’ Mess, R.A.F. Duxford, 31 December 1924; and a large quantity of copied research, including a photographic image of the recipient with H.M. Queen Elizabeth (later the Queen Mother).