Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Original Second World War Pilot’s Flying Log Book, appertaining to Flight Sergeant D. R. “Don” Beard, D.F.M., an ace who destroyed at least five enemy aircraft over North Africa while serving in Hurricanes of No. 73 Squadron, covering the period 9 August 1942 to 31 October 1945, commencing with operational entries in No. 73 and ending with flights as an Instructor at No. 3 A.P.S., the intervening operational entries to June 1943 with a good deal of additional commentary including victories claimed, together with assorted pasted-down wartime magazine illustrations and inserted portrait photograph, title page lacking and spine taped, contents good, rare £400-500

Donald Ronald “Don” Beard, who was from Sandbach, Cheshire, claimed his first confirmed victory with No. 73 Squadron on the night of 27-28 October 1942, when he downed a Ju. 88 some 25 miles west of El Alamein. Another similar followed on the night of 16-17 December, near Benghazi. But his busiest sortie was on the night of 15-16 April 1943, when he claimed a Ju. 52 destroyed, another as a ‘probable’ and a third as damaged, the whole over the Hammamet-Rass Mamoura sector. Then on the night of the 9th-10th of the following month, he claimed two more confirmed Ju. 52s, one at Menzel Temime and the other over Kelibia. He was awarded the D.F.M. in February 1942, the Air Ministry releasing the following details to the press:

‘Flight Sergeant Beard has taken part in a very large number of sorties, many of them at night. Throughout his work has been most impressive. He has destroyed two Junkers 88s. In attacks on ground targets he has destroyed a searchlight and two gun positions. After chasing one Junkers 88 over the Eastern Mediterranean and raking it with gunfire, he hit the sea, breaking the tips of his propeller. The impact smashed his navigation instruments and the compass and wireless would not function, and though it was pitch dark he managed to steer a course to base by the stars.’