Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The unique A.F.C., C.G.M. group of six awarded to Flying Officer C. E. White, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who displayed outstanding gallantry as a W./O. Pilot in No. 100 Squadron during the raid on Leipzig on the night of 20-21 October 1943: much of his Lancaster was illuminated by a burning engine for most of his outward and all of his return trip - flying nearly 20 minutes behind the last aircraft of the main attacking force to depart the target area, his heavy bomber was ‘easy prey’ for prowling night fighters, yet even when he was fortunate enough to reach his home base, he calmly circled the airfield to allow another endangered aircraft to land before him

Air Force Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1946’; Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying), G.VI.R. (W./O. C. E. White, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals, cleaned, one or two edge bruises, generally good very fine and better, and the only combination of such decorations ever awarded (6) £14000-16000

A.F.C. London Gazette 1 January 1946. The original recommendation states:

‘Flight Lieutenant White has been employed on instructional duties for 17 months. For a year he was engaged upon conversion duties and to this arduous and difficult flying he has devoted himself with skill and keenness. He has worked unceasingly to give his pupils the best possible instruction and his efforts have been attended with much success.’

C.G.M. London Gazette 16 November 1943. The original recommendation for an immediate award states:

‘On the night of 20-21 October 1943, Warrant Officer White was captain of a heavy bomber detailed for an attack on Leipzig. Whilst climbing over the aerodrome following take-off, his inter-communication became unserviceable and the crew had to rely on the emergency use of R./T. equipment. Soon after crossing the enemy coast on the way to the target, a mechanical defect rendered the port-outer engine unserviceable and, before he had time to feather the airscrew, the engine caught fire. After using his fire extinguisher, the flames subsided but continued to burn sufficiently to illuminate the fuselage and tailplane. Although easy prey to fighters, he continued to the target and pressed home his attack.



The return trip was begun 17 minutes behind the last aircraft of the main force and with the port-outer engine still burning. The Navigator displayed unusual initiative in finding an alternative to the port-outer engine as a means of obtaining current for his navigational aids [Flight Sergeant L. C. A. Dowdell, who was awarded an immediate D.F.M.]. On arrival over the home aerodrome, the fire could be seen from the ground and in spite of having to circle the aerodrome awaiting permission to land, this Warrant Officer showed coolness and presence of mind. On landing, the flames burst upwards and threatened to engulf the whole mainplane. Warrant Officer White ordered his crew out of the aircraft whilst he attended to the petrol cocks and switches.

It is felt that Warrant Officer White skilfully directed his crew, which inspired them with confidence and commanded respect which was a major factor in the return of the aircraft to effect a safe landing at his parent station. It is strongly recommended that such gallant action be recognised by the award of an immediate Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.’

Remarks by Station Commander:

‘It is considered that the courage, determination and calm presence of mind displayed by Warrant Officer White on this sortie is typical of the manner in which he has performed his duties throughout his operational tour. His outstanding coolness and confidence when circling his base aerodrome with one engine on fire and adverse weather conditions while waiting for another aircraft, which had been flashing S.O.S., to land is worthy of the highest praise. The Squadron Commander’s recommendation for an immediate award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal is strongly endorsed.’

Claude Edward White commenced his pilot training at No. 6 E.F.T.S. at Sywell in August 1941, first going solo in early September of the same year. Following further training at No. 36 S.F.T.S., he was awarded his “Wings” in April 1942, attended conversion and O.T.U. courses and was posted to No. 100 Squadron, a Lancaster unit based at Waltham, near Grimsby in Lincolnshire, in May 1943.

Flying his first sortie as a Sergeant Pilot - against Dortmund - on the night of 23-24 May 1943, he went on to complete trips to Dusseldorf, Essen and Wuppertal over the next week, a rapid introduction to operational flying by any standards. In June, White went on to participate in strikes against Cologne on the 16th and again on the 28th, with a trip to Krefeld in between, and, in July, having been advanced to Warrant Officer, he returned to Cologne on the 3rd and the 8th, squadron records noting that his Lancaster’s ‘elevator control was shot away and the fuselage holed by flak’ during the latter trip. He also participated in one of the famous “firestorm” raids on Hamburg on the 27th, while his final sortie of the month was a raid on Remschied.

Back over Hamburg for the last of the “firestorm” attacks on the night of 2-3 August, White completed no less than eight more sorties that month, a brace of them to Milan, but the remainder against yet more heavily-defended German targets, among them Mannheim on the 9th, Nurnberg on the 10th and again on the 27th, and the “Big City” itself on the 23rd. One of the Milan trips, on the night of the 12th-13th, caused understandable excitement, when his 4000 lb. bomb ‘hung up and fell onto the bomb doors’, as did the last sortie of the month, against Munchen Gladbach, when his Lancaster was fired on by an Me. 110 night fighter. Accordingly, White was no doubt grateful for the relative quiet of September, when he was ordered to fly just one sortie, against Hannover on the 22nd.

In October, which would witness the completion of his operational tour - and the winning of his C.G.M. - White returned to Hannover on the 8th, and, among other targets, attacked Munich and Stuttgart.

But it was for his extraordinary coolness and courage in the raid against Leipzig on the night of the 20th, that White won his immediate C.G.M. - he took-off from Waltham in Lancaster DV189 HW-B2 at 5.58 p.m. This was the first occasion on which Bomber Command had mounted a serious raid against this distant German city, an operation involving around 350 Lancasters. As it transpired, the prevailing weather conditions were appalling, as a consequence of which many aircraft failed to bomb, testament indeed therefore to the determination of White in his burning and illuminated Lancaster, who carried on to the target when fully entitled to abort his mission. Details of his epic flight hit the home press on the announcement of the award of his immediate C.G.M., a feature in the Daily Herald appearing under the headline “Plane On Fire, But Pilot Waited”:

‘Lancaster B2 arrived back late at a North of England airfield from Leipzig with one engine on fire. It had been on fire for four hours. It was like that over Leipzig. But the pilot, Warrant Officer C. E. White, of London, signalled that it could burn a little longer while a Lancaster from another squadron, out of petrol, made an emergency landing. Then B2 landed. Flames shot up. White ordered his crew out, and stayed at his post directing the fire tender crew who put out the blaze. Lancaster B2 had been in trouble almost from the start of the bombing trip. It fought through severe electrical storm and icing. Over Germany, in a heavily defended area, one engine caught fire. Pilot and crew fought in vain to extinguish it. Flames which lit up the fuselage and tailplane made the bomber an easy target for night fighters and A.A. guns. But the pilot pressed on to complete his task, and dropped a large number of incendiaries on Leipzig. On the return journey the bomber was picked up in a searchlight cone, still on fire. The pilot sought cover in a patch of cloud. So well did the crew tackle the blaze that instead of being wrecked B2, fitted with a new engine, could have flown to Germany again the next night.’

White did return to Germany, just 24 hours later, in a strike against Kassel, this time on the final sortie of his tour of operations. Subsequently commissioned, he served for 17 months as an instructor and was awarded his A.F.C. while serving in No. 30 O.T.U. Nor was this so-called period of “rest” without its moments, an endorsement in his relevant flying log book, dated at R.A.F. Coltishall on 19 July 1944, stating:

‘After an engine fire at night, sixty miles out over the North Sea, he succesfully flew a Wellington aircraft on one engine, and a crash landing was effected owing to a hydraulic failure. Pilot Officer White showed excellent captaincy and carried out all the correct procedures.’

White remained an active member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve after the War, gaining advancement to the substantive rank of Flying Officer in the early 1950s.

Sold with the recipient’s original Flying Log Books (2), the first covering the period August 1941 to March 1949, and the second April 1949 to January 1953; together with two photographs, one of White “in the office” and the other an aerial view of an unknown rural location, and wartime newspaper cuttings from the Daily Herald, in which White’s gallant exploits are described (see above).