Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War D.S.O. group of five awarded to Captain I. H. McClure, Intelligence Corps, late Motor Cyclists Section, Royal Engineers, who served during the Great War in France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, and Poland; was four times Mentioned in Despatches; and was awarded the Italian War Merit Cross. A keen amateur pilot in the inter-War years, he once flew from London to Constantinople in a D.H. Moth, and was later Director of Operations, Services and Intelligence, in the Department of the Director General of Civil Aviation at the Air Ministry

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; 1914 Star, with copy clasp, erased; British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Capt. I. H. Mc.Clure.); Italy, Kingdom, War Merit Cross, bronze, good very fine (5) £1,400-£1,800

D.S.O. London Gazette 1 January 1918.

M.I.D. London Gazettes 1 January 1916; 15 June 1916; 15 May 1917; and 11 December 1917.

Italian War Cross London Gazette 21 August 1919.

Ivor Herbert McClure was born in London on 9 October 1890, the son of the Rev. Canon Edmund McClure, and was educated at both Eton and Harrow, and at Clare College, Cambridge. Fluent in French, with a good knowledge of German and Italian, and a smattering of Flemish, Spanish, and Dutch, he attested initially for the Motor Cyclists Section, Royal Engineers, and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from September 1914, before being commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps on 20 February 1915. He served on the Staff of the Intelligence Corps at Rouen, and was promoted temporary Captain on 1 March 1916. During the Great War his duties took him to France, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, Yugoslavia, and Poland, and for his services during the Great War he was four times Mentioned in Despatches, was awarded the Italian War Cross, and was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order. He relinquished his commission on 28 September 1919.

Post-War, McClure was a keen amateur pilot, and received his Royal Aero Club Aviator’s Certificate no 8108 on 9 June 1927. His aircraft of choice was a D.H. 60G Moth, and in April 1930 he purchased from Captain Geoffrey de Havilland himself aircraft G-AAAA. As head of the Aviation Department, Automobile Association, he was a regular visitor to the skies over Europe; on one occasion he flew from London to Constantinople by way of Brussels, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, and Sofia on the outbound journey, and then via Bucharest, Krakow, Breslau, Berlin, Hannover, and Amsterdam on the return leg. He was also a regular contributor to Flight magazine. In 1937 he was appointed Director of Operations, Services and Intelligence, in the Department of the Director General of Civil Aviation at the Air Ministry. He subsequently emigrated to Quebec, Canada, and died on 25 April 1981.

Sold with the recipient’s civilian Pilot’s Log Book, covering the period from 2 April 1927 to 25 September 1933, including his flights from London to Constantinople; his F.A.I. Aviator’s Certificate; a Silver cigarette case, inscribed ‘Presented to Lieutenant Ivor H. McClure by the Staff of the Intelligence Corps at Rouen, as a small token of their appreciation, November 1915’; various photographic images and other ephemera; and much copied research, including various extracts of Flight magazine.