Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Second War D.F.C., D.F.M. group of five awarded to Wireless Operator Flight Lieutenant J. P. Dow, 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron, Pathfinder Force, Royal Air Force, who completed two operational tours with Bomber Command, during which he flew to Berlin and back on no fewer than ten occasions

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated 1944, in Royal Mint case of issue; Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (1128110 F/Sgt. J. P. Dow. R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; War Medal 1939-45, in named card box of issue addressed to ‘F/Lt J. P. Dow, 20 Glasgow Road, Kilmarnock, Ayrshire’, nearly extremely fine (5) £3,000-£4,000

D.F.C. London Gazette 18 August 1944.

D.F.M. London Gazette 11 February 1944.
The original recommendation, dated 25 November 1943, states: ‘This N.C.O. has completed 41 operational sorties, 12 with the Pathfinder Force of which 8 were as marker. He has taken part in all the recent operations against important German targets including four on Berlin, two on Hanover, two on Mannheim and others on Stuttgart and Munich to mention only a few. On two occasions, he was a crew member of an aircraft when it was attacked by enemy fighters and on one of these occasions, the enemy aircraft was destroyed. Flight Sergeant Dow is a member of a leading crew in the squadron and he has displayed commendable keenness and devotion to duty at all times.’

John Paton Dow was born on 24 August 1924 and joined the Royal Air Force on 4 October 1941. His first Operational Posting was with 57 Squadron (Lancasters), and his first Operational Sortie was Gardening off Anholt Island on 7 March 1943; by the end of the month he had flown two sorties to Berlin. Further targets in his first operational tour, which ended on 24 July 1943, included Essen (twice), Kiel, Turin (twice), the low level raid on Stettin, Duisburg (twice), Essen, Dortmund (twice), Pilsen, Dusseldorf, Wuppertal (twice), Gelsenkirchen (twice), Cologne (three times), and Milan.

Dow transferred to 97 (Straits Settlements) Pathfinder Force Squadron (Lancasters) at R.A.F. Borne at the start of September 1943, and began his second operational tour on 3 September 1943, with a raid on Berlin, on which occasion the main force was damaged by fighters. Further targets included Mannheim (twice), Munich (twice), Hanover (twice), Darmstadt, Stuttgart, and a further three sorties to Berlin in the space of six days, 18-23 November 1943. Recommended for the Distinguished Flying Medal at the end of November 1943, he continued his second tour with further operational sorties to Leipzig, Frankfurt, Magdeburg, Stuttgart (twice), Essen, Nuremberg (30 March 1944, on which night Bomber Command had 95 aircraft shot down), Aachen, Munich, and a further six raids on Berlin.

Dow was commissioned Pilot Officer on 9 March 1944, and having completed his second operational tour in May 1944, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, he was posted to No. 17 O.T.U. at Silverstone. He returned to operational flying with 223 (Special Duties) Squadron (Liberators) in January 1945, and undertook various Window Patrols over Germany in the early months of 1945. His last operational flight was to Augsburg on 16 April 1945. Following the cessation of hostilities he served with 102 (Ceylon) Squadron and 53 Squadron. Confirmed as flight lieutenant on 13 October 1951, he relinquished his commission, retaining the rank of flight lieutenant, on 22 August 1959.

Sold with the recipient Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Log Book, covering the recipient’s entire flying career; Pathfinder Force Badge; riband bar; R.A.F. Identity card; Buckingham Palace letter for the investiture of his D.F.C.; and a large quantity of photographs and other ephemera.