Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An extremely well documented Second War POW campaign group of four awarded to Halifax Wireless Operator, Warrant Officer I. R. B. Crawford, 640 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who was shot down and parachuted to safety whilst returning from a raid on Bourg Leopold, 27 May 1944. A survivor of ‘The Long March’, he suffered from frostbite and dysentery during the extreme conditions of the force route march across Germany

1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted for wear, with Caterpillar Club badge, in gilt metal with ´ruby´ eyes, reverse engraved ´Sgt. I. R. B. Crawford´, this with Irving box of issue, also with Bomber Command Commemorative Medal and International Prisoners of War Commemorative Medal, both of which in cases of issue, good very fine (4) £800-1200

Ian Robert Brown Crawford was born in Edinburgh in October 1923. He served during the Second War with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from July 1942. Crawford carried out his initial training as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner at No. 2 Radio School, R.A.F. Yatesbury and No. 3 (O) A.F.U., R.A.F. Halfpenny Green, before qualifying as a Wireless Operator in November 1943. Crawford was posted to 19 O.T.U., Kinloss in December 1943, and converted to Halifaxes at 1652 H.C.U., Marston Moor, in March 1944.

Having advanced to Sergeant, Crawford was posted for operational flying to 640 Squadron (Halifaxes), at Leconfield, in April 1944. He flew in five operational sorties with the squadron, including 27 May 1944, ‘Ops - Bourg Leopold. D.C.O. Shot Down By Night Fighter On Return Baled Out Over Belgium At 0230 Hours’ (Log Book refers)

Of the crew of seven, three were killed (including the pilot Flying Officer F. Williams, D.F.M.) and the remaining four were taken prisoner of war. Flight Sergeant R. Olsen, one of the crew, later wrote the following:

‘I always felt comfortable when flying in a Halifax III, with its powerful Hercules engines and under the control of a competent pilot. The position of Wireless Operator, Navigator and Bomb Aimer, in the lower front fuselage, with escape hatch conveniently placed, was I feel, an important factor in our later experiences.

On May 27th, our target was a large military depot at Bourg-Leopold in Belgium. The outward trip was routine, the target markers well placed and Tom Riley was on the intercom, indicating to the skipper slight course changes. Then came the reassuring sound “Bombs Gone” and the course was set for the leg home. Suddenly the intercom went dead and fire was apparent behind the pilot. In such a situation, a very small space of time seems an eternity, but action must have been swift. Our rear gunner vacated his turret and the three of us in front [including Crawford] made our exits from the escape hatch. The sight of Q-Queenie was not at all a pleasant one and has long remained in my memory.’

Crawford’s Y.M.C.A. Wartime Log for British Prisoners gives his version of events:

‘Saturday May 27th 1944:
Weather very good. Went to camp cinema and seen “Cry Havoc”. Very good. Left England just before midnight. Left unfinished letter for mother. Hope personal belongings were sent home OK.

Sunday May 28th 1944:
Trip going OK. Pranged target. Very good. Shot up by fighter. Baled out at 0230 hours. Rations left behind... Good landing. In Belgium and cannot speak the language. Received bread and cheese and large bottle of beer at farmhouse. Captured at 0900 hours just outside of Wortel. Taken to military camp and was handed 20 Belgian cigarettes by a woman. ... First time I had tasted German coffee. Did not know what it was and thought I had been poisoned.... At 1030 hours taken by car to town and met F/Sgt Olsen. Searched and everything taken off me... Questioned but only gave name, rank, number. Put in cell with F/Sgt Olsen. At 1700 hours shoved into lorry. In lorry were machine guns and salvage from kites shot down. Also the charred remains of a body. Taken to big prison at Antwerp and shoved into cell along with F/Sgt Olsen. Conditions terrible. One little barred window, straw beds. Lavatory inside. No food given to us. Sirens went at 1900 hours and Yanks came over, good show. Bags of ack ack.’

Having been reunited with all of his surviving crew members, Crawford was transported to Germany by train and arrived at a transit camp 8 June 1944. He arrived at Stalag Luft VII, five days later:

‘Off train and marched to prison camp about three miles away. Prison camp not up to much. New camp which has just been opened. Huts like chicken runs...’ (Ibid)

Olsen further recollects:

‘After my capture and imprisonment in Antwerp gaol, spells of solitary in Brussels and Dulag Luft, the expected interrogation occurred. There was little the Germans didn’t know about our crew or the Halifax aircraft. Behind the Interrogation Officer was a large map showing the flight plan for the Bourg Leopold trip. Beside him was a Gee box which, although by no means the latest navigational aid, was still important to the R.A.F....

The four survivors from our crew arrived at different times at Stalag Luft 7, near Bankau, not far from Kruelberg. Three of us shared a temporary hut [including Crawford] with four other aircrew and one was allotted quarters elsewhere. Transfer from the huts to larger winter barracks was made before the snow fell. When the Russians advanced in 1945, our camp was evacuated. We were on the roads, resting by day and walking distances up to thirty kilometres during the night. Then followed transport in railway box-cars, P.O.W.’s being packed closely together with little food and poor sanitary conditions. Arrival at Stalag IIIA, Luckenwalde, revealed many weak, ill-nourished aircrew, who had difficulty moving from the rail centre to the P.O.W. Camp situated south of Berlin. Military activity in the area preceded the arrival of the Russians, who brought tanks into our camp after the German guards had fled.

Finally Stew, Ian [Crawford] and I managed to get past the Russian sentries and joined a U.S. transport which made a fast journey to Magdeburg. We reached Hanover and flew on to Brussels where I said farewell to Ian and Stew and later boarded a Dakota.’

Crawford survived ‘The Long March’, which he chronicles in his Y.M.C.A. Wartime Log for British Prisoners, having suffered from frostbite and dysentery. He returned to the UK, 12 May 1945, and advanced to Temporary Warrant Officer in December 1945. Crawford returned to Germany, when he was stationed at R.A.F. Fuhlsbuttel as part of the B.A.O.R. from June 1946. Warrant Officer Crawford was discharged 8 March 1947.

Sold with the following original items and documents: POW Identity Tag; lapel ephemera; Royal Air Force Navigator’s, Air Bomber’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book (27 June 1943 - 13 September 1946); Royal Air Force Airman’s Service and Pay Book; Royal Air Force Service and Release Book; recipient’s Y.M.C.A. Wartime Log for British Prisoners, detailed diary written in pencil (27 May 1944 - 7 May 1945); recipient’s POW Camp records, complete with his ‘Mug shot’ and finger prints and a stamped ‘Quittung’; Telegram to recipient’s father informing him that his son has been reported ‘missing in action’ 27 May 1944; Caterpillar Club Membership Card, with correspondence relating to issue of badge; American Red Cross Receipt for Prisoner of War Package, named to recipient at Stalag Luft VII, dated 16 June 1944; correspondence between recipient and various author’s regarding articles and publications; a copy of Hok Jaarboek 1997, which includes a 40 page article written in Dutch about the crash of Crawford’s aircraft, also enclosed is correspondence between the author and Crawford; a copy of Seventy Five Percent Luck, An anecdotal history of 640 Squadron R.A.F. January 1944 - May 1945, by Fred J. Papple, in which the recipient is mentioned several times; a copy of The R.A.A.F. POWs of Lamsdorf, edited by J. E. Holliday; copied research and other ephemera.