Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare Great War 1917 ‘French theatre’ R.E.8 Aerial Gunner’s M.M. group of nine awarded to Air Mechanic 2nd Class T. A. H. Lea, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, late 1/7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment (T.F.). He was wounded in action serving with the Army in Gallipoli in 1915, prior to transferring to the Royal Flying Corps and becoming 1 of the first 12 R.F.C. gunners to be formally trained at Hythe in December 1916.

He distinguished himself as an Aerial Gunner whilst serving with 52 Squadron in France, in particular when attacked by 6 hostile enemy aircraft south east of Mory, 18 September 1917. On the latter date he helped fend off the swarm of enemy aircraft, forcing one down, prior to succumbing to the same fate with his pilot Second Lieutenant S. Canning. Lea re-engaged for service as Lieutenant with the Royal Corps of Signals (T.F.) between the wars, and advanced to Major during the Second World War

Military Medal, G.V.R. (49338 2. Cl. A.M. T. H. Lea. 52/Sq: R.F.C.); 1914-15 Star (3071 Pte. T. H. Lea. Manch. R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves, loose (401031. 2. A.M. T. H. Lea. R.F.C.); 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1937; Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Territorial, reverse officially dated ‘1944’, with 2 additional G.VI.R. long service award bars, mounted court-style by Spink & Son Ltd as originally worn, with related miniature awards similarly mounted, the last lacking additional award bars, all housed in a leather Spink & Son Ltd case, lacquered, generally nearly very fine or better (lot) (9) £2,000-£3,000

M.M. London Gazette 12 December 1917. The original recommendation states:

‘Lea. Thomas Henry 2nd A.M. Aerl. Gunr. No. 52 Squadron, R.F.C. Has shown conspicuous ability in action since joining the R.F.C. in the Field as an Aerial Gunner on 8.5.1917. He has had several combats with hostile aeroplanes and has proved himself to be a gunner upon whom his pilot can rely for protection with absolute confidence. On the eighteenth ultimo [September] he put up a very fine fight against heavy odds, defending his machine against a simultaneous attack by six hostile aeroplanes, and by good shooting succeeded in forcing one of them to land close to the enemy’s front line. Recommended for the Military Medal 4.10.17.’

Approximately 167 M.M.’s, and 2 Second Award Bars were awarded to the Royal Flying Corps for the Great War.

Thomas Alfred H. Lea was born in Wilmslow, Cheshire in January 1898. He enlisted in the 1/7th Battalion, Manchester Regiment (T.F.), 12 November 1914, aged 16 years and 10 months. Lea served with the Battalion in the Gallipoli theatre of war from 11 June 1915, and received a gun shot wound to the right thigh the following month being admitted to the Clearing Hospital on ‘W’ Beach, 12 July 1915.

Lea transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as an Air Mechanic 2nd Class, 5 September 1916, and was one of the first 12 Royal Flying Corps gunners to be formally trained. He graduated from Hythe, 22 December 1916, and was posted for operational service as an Aerial Gunner with 52 Squadron in France in May 1917. The Squadron was equipped with R.E.8’s and mostly tasked with reconnaissance and light bombing duties. Lea flew with Second Lieutenant S. Canning as his pilot, and they engaged 6 enemy aircraft in aerial combat south east of Mory, 18 September 1917. Lea successfully forced one of the enemy aircraft down, before he and Canning were forced down themselves, landing at an Allied Advanced Landing Ground. Their aircraft was claimed as the 6th ‘Victory’ of Leutnant V. Schobinger of Jasta 12 (he went on to add another 2 to his score, and was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd Class, and the Knight’s Cross with Swords of the Hohenzollern House Order).

Lea transferred to the Royal Air Force as Private 1 in April 1918. He was posted to No. 1 Officer Cadet Wing in May 1918, and graduated as a Flight Cadet, 5 October 1918. Lea was transferred as Second Lieutenant to the Unemployed List in February 1919. He was commissioned Lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals (T.F.) in August 1931, and advanced to Major in July 1939 (awarded his Efficiency Decoration in September 1944, and the additional clasps both in January 1955). Major Lea retired in March 1948, and died in Bangor, Wales in October 1966.

M.I.D. unconfirmed.

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