Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Sold by Order of a Direct Descendant

Family group

A fine Second World War ace’s Battle of Britain and Middle East operations D.F.C. group of seven awarded to Wing Commander C. H. “Sammy” Saunders, Royal Air Force, who flew in the celebrated No. 92 Squadron from April 1940 until May 1941, prior to gaining further victories on Channel sweeps with No. 74 Squadron and with No. 145 Squadron in the Middle East: he was twice wounded by return fire

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ‘1942’; 1939-45 Star, clasp, Battle of Britain; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star, clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals, mounted court-style as worn, good very fine or better, together with a set of related miniature dress medals and original documentation as per below list (14)

A Second World War Burma operations M.B.E. awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. Saunders, Intelligence Corps, who was killed by terrorists in Malaya in 1953 while employed as a civilian security officer

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military), 2nd issue, extremely fine, together with original documentation as per below list £4000-5000

D.F.C. London Gazette 4 December 1942. The original recommendation states:

‘On 21 July 1942, Flight Lieutenant Saunders was leading a patrol of Spitfires when he attacked a formation of ten 109s. He destroyed one of them himself and whilst doing so was hit by a cannon shell. In spite of being wounded in the head and neck, he continued the combat and brought his aircraft back to base, although it was so damaged that the engine was partially seized and the hydraulics out of action.

Flight Lieutenant Saunders has destroyed five enemy aircraft. He has probably destroyed three more and damaged three [several of these successes being obtained in the Battle of Britain]. His courage, aggressiveness and determination to come to grips with the enemy are a shining example to his fellow pilots. He is now flying again with his Squadron.’

Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Services in the Air London Gazette 1 January 1959.

Cecil Henry “Sammy” Saunders was born at Forest Hill, London in July 1911, the son of a senior executive officer at the Admiralty. He was ducated at Whitgift Middle School in Croydon, where he excelled at sports and was nicknamed “Sammy”.

He applied for a Short Service Commission in the R.A.F., but was turned down on account of a reduction in his ability to breath through his nose (which he had broken when he fell from a first floor window as a child). Following a successful operation to correct this problem, Saunders re-applied to the R.A.F. in 1939 and was duly accepted for pilot training, and, having attended courses at Derby and Kinloss, was posted as a Pilot Officer to No. 92 Squadron at Croydon in April 1940.

In terms of future fighter aces, few squadrons in Fighter Command would match No. 92’s record by the end of the Battle of Britain, and it is indeed fortuitous in terms of research potential that at least three of its pilots subsequently “went into print”, namely Bob Stanford-Tuck (Fly For Your LIfe), Brian Kingcome (A Willingness To Die), and Geoffrey Wellum (First Light). Added to which no history of the Battle fails to mention 92’s achievements, or indeed its famous cast of pilots, among the others being “Tich” Havercroft, “Don” Kingaby and “Wimpy” Wade. More recently Best Of The Few, 92 Squadron 1939-40, by Michael Robinson, appeared in print, in which Saunders receives appropriate recognition.

Standing at 6ft. 4 inches in his flying boots - adjustments apparently had to be made to the cockpit of his Spitfire to allow him room to manoeuvre - Saunders quickly made his mark, when he shared in the destruction of an He. 111 on 4 July, and, in an early example of “pilot-chivalry”, landed near the wreckage at Mere, Wiltshire to see if he ‘could be of assistance’ - the enemy pilot was rescued and taken to hospital. But on the 17th of that month, in an engagement with a Ju. 88 over Bristol, during which Saunders expended all of his ammunition, his Spitfire sustained damage to its wings, and he was fortunate to get back to his aerodrome at Pembroke - interestingly, F. K. Mason’s Battle Over Britain credits him with the destruction of this Junkers, an aircraft of I/KG 51, while other standard reference works make no mention of an appropriate claim. On the following day, in another dogfight over the Bristol Channel, his oil pressure suddenly fell to zero and he had to race back to base before his engine seized.

In early September No. 92 was posted to Biggin Hill, and on the 9th, during a patrol over Canterbury, encountered a large force of enemy bombers and fighters, Saunders falling victim to an Me. 109, his Spitfire being hit by 20mm. cannon shell, which exploded, embedding shrapnel in his leg. Notwithstanding his wounds, he managed to carry out a crash-landing on farmland at Midley near Rye in Sussex, and was helped from his cockpit by a local landowner. Saunders was admitted to the R.A.M.C. Hospital at Brookland, also near Rye.

Returning to operational duty with No. 92 in October, he damaged an Me. 109 in an engagement south of Tunbridge Wells on the 26th and destroyed an Me. 110 in a dogfight over the Kenley area on the 29th. On 1 November, in a combat over the Thames Estuary, Saunders added a confirmed Ju. 87 to his tally, and an Me. 110 damaged, but was once more compelled to make a forced-landing, and, exactly one month later, an Me. 109 in an engagement over the Channel. On this latter occasion, as a result of damage inflicted on his Spitfire by return fire, he made a “wheels-up” landing on the North Downs at Badlesmere on regaining the coast. His final claim with No. 92 was a half-share in a Ju. 87 on 5 February 1941, following a combat off Ramsgate, the Stuka’s wreckage providing an ideal opportunity for an Air Ministry “photo-call” (see accompanying illustration).

In May 1941, Saunders was posted to No. 74 Squadron at Gravesend as a Flight Commander, and in a channel sweep on 27 June he claimed a probable Me. 109 over Lille. He subsequently accompanied his unit to North Africa in April 1942, was transferred to No. 145 Squadron that August and claimed a probable Me. 109 on the 3rd. In the following month, also on the 3rd, he claimed a probable Me. 109, and on the 11th a confirmed Italian Mc. 202 south of Alamein. October, too, was a successful period, when he added an Me. 109 damaged on the 22nd, and another destroyed, again over the Alamein sector, on the 25th, bringing his tally to 5 and 2 shared destroyed, 3 probables and 3 damaged. He was awarded the D.F.C.

Next appointed an instructor with an O.T.U. at Ismailia, Saunders’ “rest” period was short-lived, for he was seconded for duty as a Fighter Director aboard a ship during the Sicilian invasion in July 1943. In the following month he was advanced to Acting Squadron Leader and took the command of No. 154 Squadron, which he led until November 1944, a period that witnessed him taking the Squadron to Corsica in the summer of that year. Then in May 1945, having attended the R.A.F. Staff College at Haifa, he joined H.Q., C.-in-C., Allied Air Forces, Mediterranean, but ended the War with command of No. 87 Squadron.

Having been advanced to substantive Squadron Leader in August 1947, Saunders held a number of other Squadron Commands after the War, in addition to several senior staff appointments. His final advancement was to Wing Commander in January 1952, following which he was employed for several years at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down. Saunders was placed on the Retired List in May 1958, and was gazetted for the Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Services in the Air in January of the following year.

The Wing Commander, who in later life partnered the famous post-war golfer Bobby Locke in charity matches, died in Cornwall in September 1992, aged 81 years.




Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including his Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Services in the Air certificate in the name of ‘Wing Commander C. H. Saunders, D.F.C., Royal Air Force (Retired)’, and dated 1 January 1959, together with related congratulatory letter from Air Chief Marshal Sir Claude Pelly, K.C.B., C.B.E., M.C., this dated 31 December 1958; two named certificates and three photographs relating to the recipient’s time with Alaskan Air Command in 1954, one of the former for successfully completing ‘The Arctic Survival Training Course’; Air Ministry “retirement letter”, dated 17 March 1958; official invitation and menu for a dinner aboard the royal yacht Britannia on 4 April 1959, in the name of ‘Mr. C. H. Saunders’; together with two photograph albums, one very much of wartime vintage (approximately 45 captioned images), featuring scenes from No. 92 Squadron days and much besides, and the other circa 1950 (again with approximately 45 captioned images), with further scenes from his R.A.F. career, including a royal visit by H.R.H. Princess Elizabeth to Malta, where the recipient commanded No. 73 Squadron in 1949; and his full-dress embroidered R.A.F. uniform “Wings”.

Ronald William Saunders, brother of fighter ace “Sammy” Saunders, served as an Intelligence Officer under Field Marshal Sir William Slim in 14th Army during the Burma campaign, attaining the rank of Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel. In addition to his M.B.E., ‘For gallant and distinguished services in Burma’ (London Gazette 28 June 1946), he was twice mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 30 December 1941 and 9 May 1946). The original recommendation for his M.B.E. states:

‘Major Saunders has worked as G.S.O.II (I) (a) on the H.Q. of this Army since March 1943. His work has always been first class and, in fact, exceptionally good. He has shown great devotion to duty and it is largely due to his efforts that the operational intelligence of this H.Q. has been maintained on a very high level.’

Immediately after the War he was appointed an Intelligence Officer to Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Messervy, G.O.C. Malaya, and he served in a similar capacity to Lieutenant-General Sir Harold Briggs, the Director of Operations, in 1950. Resigning his commission in the following year, Saunders became a security officer to a group of rubber estates in Johore, but in November 1953 he was killed by a terrorist landmine which blew up his car. He was 40 years of age.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, comprising Buckingham Palace forwarding letter for his M.B.E., in the name of ‘Lieutenant-Colonel Ronald W. Saunders, M.B.E., Intelligence Corps’; M.I.D. certificates as Lieutenant (T./Captain), Intelligence Corps, dated 30 December 1941, and as Lieutenant-Colonel (Temp.), M.B.E, Intelligence Corps, dated 9 May 1946, this latter torn; copy death certificate, issued on 7 April 1954, together with three old photographs of his gravesite; and a local newspaper cutting reporting his death in November 1953.