A rare Great War immediate D.F.C. group of seven awarded to Wing Commander R. H. Haworth-Booth, Royal Air Force, late Royal Naval Air Service

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.V.R.; British War and Victory Medals (Lieut., R.A.F.); General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Kurdistan (F./O., R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Defence and War War Medals, a little polished, very fine and better (7) £2500-3000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Awards to the R.F.C. and R.A.F. formed by Wing Commander Bill Traynor.

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D.F.C. London Gazette 8 February 1919:

‘For gallantry and skill during a raid on Constantinople on 25 October 1918, in which he decoyed two enemy fighters into such a position that they were eventually shot down by his observer. This officer ran considerable risks in the methods he adopted, but the success attained justified his courageous action and pertinacity.’

Robin Howard Haworth-Booth, who was born in November 1899 and educated at Westminster School, was appointed a Probationary Flight Officer in the Royal Naval Air Service in October 1917, and commenced his pilot training at Vendome. Taken on the strength of the newly established Royal Air Force in April 1918, he is believed to have been serving in No. 226 Squadron, a component of No. 62 Wing, British Aegean Squadron, at the time of winning his immediate D.F.C. later that year.

Post-war, and having been appointed a Flying Officer in August 1919, he was posted to No. 1 Squadron at Hinaidi, Iraq, in November 1921, and was subsequently employed in the Kurdistan operations of 1923, possibly on attachment to another unit. Returning to the U.K. shortly thereafter, he served variously in 31 and 23 Fighter Squadrons, and in 603 Auxiliary Air Force (A.A.F.) Squadron, and was advanced to Flight Lieutenant in January 1928. Further A.A.F. appointments followed - namely 502 and 504 Squadrons - in addition to stints with No. 440 (Fleet Spotter Reconnaissance) Flight aboard H.M.S. Hermes and 821 Squadron, H.M.S. Courageous, and by the renewal of hostilities Haworth-Booth was serving at the School of Army Co-operation at Old Sarum, Wiltshire, as a Squadron Leader.

Then in late 1939, and having been advanced to Wing Commander, he was appointed C.O. of No. 57 Squadron, a Blenheim unit based at Rosieres in France, where he took over from Wing Commander H. M. A. “Wings” Day, who had failed to return from a reconnaissance over the Hamm-Hanover-Sopest sector on Friday, 13 October. As it transpired, Haworth-Booth’s period of command was also of a short nature, for he was admitted to hospital on 10 March 1940 and invalided home. Placed on the Retired List in August 1945, he settled in Brecon and died in August 1968.