Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A poignant Second War Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot’s campaign group of three awarded to Flight Sergeant L. R. Carter, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who survived a mid-air collision during a dog-fight serving with 66 Squadron, 11 October 1940 - only to be shot down and killed, aged 21, whilst carrying out a fighter sweep over northern France with 74 Squadron, 6 July 1941

1939-45 Star, 1 copy clasp, Battle of Britain; Air Crew Europe Star; War Medal 1939-45, with a later (possibly replacement?) Caterpillar Club badge, in gold with painted ‘ruby’ eyes, reverse engraved ‘Sgt/Pilot L. R. Carter’, with named Air Council enclosure and portrait photograph of recipient - both mounted on thick card for framed display purposes, enclosure cut for purpose, good very fine (lot) £1,200-£1,600

Leslie Raymond Carter was born in Shenley, Hertfordshire, and was the son of Albert William Carter. He was educated at St. Alban’s School, Shenley, and after school was briefly an engineering apprentice at Rolls Royce in Derby. Carter joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, aged 18, in 1939. He was mobilised with the outbreak of the Second War, and carried out pilot training. Carter was posted as a Sergeant Pilot for operational flying with 66 Squadron (Spitfires) at Coltishall, 28 August 1940.

Carter was posted to 610 Squadron in September 1940, and to 41 Squadron at Hornchurch, 1 October 1940. Ten days later he was involved in a fatal mid-air collision:
‘11 Aircraft ordered to patrol base at 30,000 feet. About 50 Me. 109’s were sighted at 30,000 feet and the squadron climbed to attack. During the combat F/O O’Neill and Sgt. Carter collided. F/O O’Neill crashed near West Kingsdown and was killed. Sgt. Carter baled out and landed uninjured. P/O Lecky did not return from the engagement and was later found dead near West Kingsdown. P/O Lock [later an ‘Ace’ and D.S.O., D.F.C. and Bar] shot down 1 Me. 109 in flames.’

Carter described the incident in a letter to his mother, written shortly after the incident (this letter was printed in the book Despatches From The Heart - An Anthology of Letters From The Front, by A. Tapert, and later reprinted in The Sunday Express, 4 November 1984):
‘Sergts. Mess R.A.F., 41 Squadron, Hornchurch.
Dear Mother,
Herewith a line to let you know that I reached my base alright yesterday, & also an adventure to thrill the youth of the next generation & this one too I should imagine.
After lunch we went off on a “flap” & were patrolling London to Maidstone when we get the “tally-ho” & there is the old 109 stooge trap all laid open to the boys of 41 Sqdn, being clear we could see gangs right, left, up & down so off we go into line astern & climb into the sun so that the swine can’t get can’t get such a big dive on us. Next minute something hit me amidships & most everything goes quiet after a few seconds of bumps, swings & jars & there I am sitting in the cock-pit of my Spitty with no engine & the tail & about a yard of fuselage hanging on by the tail control wires, & altimeter reading 28,000 ft. I sat still as I knew I wouldn’t catch fire & I saw the other Spit tearing towards the deck, smoking slightly. Next moment however there is a bang & the tail comes over & bangs the cockpit by my ear, & swings back & takes another crack. So I lowered the seat & sat with all my straps undone, & wireless disconnected breathing in the oxygen which luckily is still coming through, & watching the tail having a crack at me. At 17,000 I decide to get out & grabbing the tail on one of its frequent swings, held on until I am standing on the edge of the cockpit & then let go & jumped backwards. At this time the wreck is going slowly round & the starboard main planes plonks itself under my back, & there I lay for about ten seconds wondering what I had landed on & looking around I decide to get clear by going to the wing and stepping off by the trailing edge. I could now hear the battle above & so decided to do a delayed drop. I couldn’t get my head up for a start until I decided to do what I had heard previously, double up my legs, & it worked. I started rolling. I whizzed down to lower cloud level at 4,000 feet & looked for the ripcord & pulled it, according to regulations. For less time than it takes to write a couple of letters I thought I was being strangled, there being no jolt, & then was leisurely floating down to South Kingsdown, ten miles from Maidstone, into the arms of about ten L.D.V’s & forty women & kids demanding to know if I was British. I only had one minutes anxiety & that was when my wreckage came past, after I had pulled the ripcord, about fifty feet away. I have not a single cut or bruise thank the Lord & the parachute packer, whom I have just been round to thank in the normal way.
Cheerio. Love to All at Home.
Keep smiling. Les.

P.S. I must get the adjutant to send off for my caterpillar, as it was an Irving air chute.’

Having survived that encounter, Carter was back on flying duties 17 October 1940. Five days latter, he suffered severe frostbite to his fingers - the canopy of his Spitfire being frozen partly open whilst flying a patrol at 35,000 feet. Carter was unable to fly for several months, and was placed on light duties. He was posted to 58 O.T.U. early the following year, prior to returning to operational flying with 74 Squadron (Spitfires) operating from Manston.

Carter took off for a sweep over northern France, 6 July 1941. He was presumed shot down and killed over Wormhoudt, near Lille. Aged 21, Flight Sergeant Carter is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

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Sold together with the following family medals

Four: Sergeant A. W. Carter, Bedfordshire Regiment
1914-15 Star (12886 L. Cpl A. W. Carter. Bedf: R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (12886 Sjt. A. W. Carter. Bedf. R.); Defence Medal, mounted with Cap Badge on card for framed display purposes, very fine

Albert William Carter was the father of the above, and served during the Great War with the Bedfordshire Regiment in the French theatre of war from 30 July 1915. For his services during the Great War he was Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette 18 December 1917).

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