ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS & MILITARIA: 11 OCTOBER

Noonans are to sell the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar of the highest scoring Jewish Ace of the Great War, who claimed at least 13 aerial victories – all won in a period of six months in 1918.

Captain S.C. Joseph, of the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force, was a gung-ho Sopwith Camel pilot, whose victories cost him dear as he dodged anti-aircraft fire, suffered wounds in aerial combat and crash-landed.

Now his Distinguished Flying Cross, G.V.R., with bar for second award – one of only 66 such double awards made during the First World War – will be offered in the 11 October Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria auction with an estimate of £15,000-18,000.

The only Great War ace to hail from Birmingham, Solomon Clifford Joseph was born in April 1893, the son of a fine art dealer specialising in jade whose family home was 14 Speedwell Road, Edgbaston.

He joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1917, at the age of 24, and trained as a pilot at Crystal Palace for just over a month from 12 August, transferring for further training at Vendome to the south-west of Paris from 15 September, attaining his Royal Aero Licence (No.5475) on 7 October. With further training at Cranwell and Manston completed, he was posted to Dunkerque on 16 February 1918.

Initial brief postings led to a transfer to the Royal Air Force in April and Joseph then spent the rest of the war flying in Sopwith Camels in France, becoming Flight Commander of 210 Squadron.

The squadron initially undertook ground-attack duties to help stop the German Spring Offensive, but then moved on to offensive patrols and bomber escort missions over Belgium.

The first of Joseph’s 13 victories came on 8 May when he forced down an Albatros DV out of control over Armentières. A précis of the Combat Report gives an early indication of his close-up style of fighting:

‘In general engagement with 14 Albatros and Pfalz scouts over Armentières got on tail of one of former and after firing 90 rounds from 50-10 yards E.A. went down out of control. Confirmed by Lieut. F.V. Hall.’

The following day Joseph shared another Albatros forced down out of control near Bailleul:

‘Patrol attacked an Albatros two-seater near Bailleul and after Capt. Carter had shot the observer in firing 60 rounds from 30-20 yards. Lieut. Joseph got behind & above E.A. and fired about 60 rounds into the pilot from 20 yards. Pilot collapsed & E.A. went down out of control diving on its back. Not seen to crash owing to ground mist, but did not reappear.’ (Ibid)

Five days later, on 14 May, Joseph attacked a further three enemy aircraft and forced an Albatros DV down out of control near Ypres-Zillebeke:

‘Between Ypres & Zillebeke at 12,000ft. In general engagement with 12 E.A. Lieut. Joseph attacked 3 individually in successive dives. Then observed Albatros Scout below dived & fired at 50-40 yards, E.A. went down Out of Control unable to observe result as I was attacked by 5 E.A. & chased back to the line, my machine being hit in the tail.’ (Ibid)

The following day Joseph was involved in an inconclusive aerial combat with a Pfalz Scout near Armentières, when he fired 150 rounds at 50-100 yards. The enemy aircraft was seen to turn on its back and go down in a deep spiral dive, but no result was observed. He concluded his success for the month, with the shared destruction of a Kite Balloon near Pont Riqueu on 21 May – two weeks to the day since his first victory.

June was to prove even more impressive, starting with Joseph destroying one enemy aircraft and sharing in the destruction of another on the 6th, while under attack from machine gun fire from the ground.

Three days later, he forced a Pfalz DIII down out of control near Ploegsteert Wood, and on June 26 he fired a burst of 160 rounds at 60 yards to point blank range at 15,000 feet, with his quarry bursting into flames and falling out of control, a victory confirmed by another officer as Joseph took evasive action under fire himself from three Triplanes.

Further victories came in June, July and early August, the tally climbing again as Joseph destroyed a Fokker DVII on 3 September – the month that nearly did for him.

On 6 September his Sopwith Camel came under attack from anti-aircraft fire near Zevecote. Joseph escaped injury, though the plane was damaged. He was less fortunate on the 24th, being wounded in aerial combat and forced to crash-land.

By the end of October, he had recuperated and was back in the air, claiming one final Fokker DVII on the 30th from a range of 100-20 yards.

“Joseph was an extraordinary pilot, not just because of the number of victories he achieved, but also for his fearless aggression, going in for the kill numerous times at close to point blank range,” said Noonans Medal specialist Oliver Pepys. “With multiple enemy aircraft chasing him, often supported by ground fire, he must have been equally skilled at flying to have avoided disaster, save on the single occasion when he was wounded and crash-landed.”

The winner of the DFC and Bar proved to be as determined in business as he was in the air.

After the war, he pursued a prosperous manufacturing career in Birmingham, using his middle name for inspiration to form The Clifford Group, eventually an organisation of 16 companies involved in aeronautical engineering, motorcycles and motoring components and other aspects of engineering.

Captain Joseph died in the Queen Elizabeth hospital, Birmingham, in March 1966, and is buried at Witton Jewish Cemetery.

The group is sold with a file of copied research including photographic images of the recipient, 16 Combat Reports, Aviators’ Certificate, service papers, London Gazettes, medal roll, Census etc.