Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The outstanding Second War Honorary ‘Intelligence’ M.B.E. and rare Great War Belgian Pilot’s D.F.M. group of twenty awarded to Capitaine-Commandant C. J. G. J. Delloye, Compagnie des Aviateurs and Aviation Militaire, who served as a Pilot with 2e Escadrille, and racked up in excess of 100 hours of reconnaissance missions over enemy lines during 1918, ‘distinguishing himself by his skill and his dash’

Continuing in service, Delloye was captured in 1940 but escaped to Britain where he was attached to the Royal Air Force as Acting Squadron Leader and served as head of the escape and evasion department of Belgium State Security in London - here he organised the routes and contacts for getting escaped and downed aircrew back to the UK as well working closely with his counterparts in MI9, including Airey Neave, organising the recruitment and cover stories for agents getting in and out of Belgium

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 2nd type breast badge, silver; Distinguished Flying Medal, G.V.R. (No 243 Flt Warrant Officer Charles Delloye, Aviation Belge.) on 1st type horizontal striped riband; Belgium, Kingdom, Order of Leopold II, Commander’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, bilingual motto, with neck riband; Order of Leopold, Military Division, Officer’s breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, French motto, with rosette on riband; Order of the Crown, Officer’s breast badge, gilt and enamel, with rosette and crossed swords emblem on riband; Military Cross, First Class, L.III.R., gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband; Croix de Guerre, A.I.R., bronze, with bronze palm emblem on riband; Yser Medal 1914, bronze and enamel; Commemorative Medal for the Great War 1914-18, bronze; Allied Victory Medal 1914-19, bronze; Combat Volunteers Medal 1914-18, bronze; Frontline Fire Service Cross 1914-18, bronze; Evaders Cross, bronze; Volunteer’s Medal 1940-45, bronze; Armed Resistance Medal 1940-45, bronze; Political Prisoner’s Cross 1940-45, silvered and enamel, with riband bar with three stars; Prisoner of War Medal 1940-45, bronze, with five bronze riband bars; Commemorative Medal for the Second World War 1940-45, bronze, with small crown emblem on riband; Medal for Military Fighters of the Second World War 1940-45, bronze; Volunteer’s Medal, bronze, generally good very fine and better (20) £4,600-£5,500

The Reverend E. Hawkes Field Collection, Glendinings, November 1950 (listed as D.F.M. only, and with an estimate of £15/10/0); J. B. Hayward, 1973.

One of just 4 D.F.M.s awarded to Allied airmen during the Great War (3 to Belgians and 1 to a Frenchman).

Appointed Honorary M.B.E. 11 November 1946. This for his work as head of the escape and evasion department at the Belge Surete de L’etat, London. These Awards were not Gazetted but are confirmed (WO 373/153/549).

D.F.M. London Gazette 19 July 1919 (originally recommended for a M.M.):
‘A pilot who has distinguished himself by his skill and his dash, and who was always to be found ready to start on difficult enterprises. During the Flanders offensive of 1918, his work was largely responsible for successful counter battery work.’

Belgium Croix de Guerre, awarded 4 February 1919:
‘A remarkable pilot for his skill. His courage and his dash. Carried out many very fruitful reconnaissance missions over enemy lines during more than 100 hours of observation flights.’

Emblem for Belgium Croix de Guerre awarded 12 June 1919:
‘Showed much courage and devotion to duty during the Flanders Offensive in 1918.’

Charles Jules Ghislain Joseph Delloye was born in Thorembais les Béguines, Belgium in July 1894. He joined the Belgian military in June 1914 and was on active service with the Compagnie des Aviateurs from 14 August 1914. Delloye was an early member of the Belgian Air Force, being one of just 175 Officers and men being called to service at the start of the War. Initially based at Antwerp, Delloye was one of the defenders of that place in the early days of the War. A huge number of Belgium troops became prisoner when that town fell, the remnants being driven back to the river Yser, where they desperately and successfully attempted to hold the line during October 1914. The defenders of the Yser were later awarded the distinctive Yser medal (Delloye’s confirmed). On 30 October 1914, Delloye was transferred to Service Arriere de L’Aviation at Calais and appears to have stayed there for the next couple of years, the Compagnie des Aviateurs being renamed Aviation Militaire in March 1915. Posted for training as a pilot to the Aviation School at Etampes on 1 January 1917, he was promoted Corporal on 21 April and was posted for operational service as a pilot to 2e Escadrille on 22 July, remaining with this squadron throughout the rest of the War.

Great War
2e Escadrille was a Squadron tasked with Artillery and photography work on the Western Front, under the orders of Division d’Armee. The squadron had a nominal strength of 15 aircraft; 11 2-seaters; Spad and Breguets and 4 single seaters; Nieuports and Sopwith Camels. Unlike British, French or German Squadrons, Belgium reconnaissance Squadrons had 4 fighter aircraft as part of 15 aircraft compliment, this for their own protection during missions. This was probably due to the size of the Belgium Air Force during the War, which was a fraction of the size of the other main combatant nations. By the end of the War, Belgium had just 11 Squadrons, of these one was non operational (on paper only), 7 were reconnaissance or bomber Squadrons and 3 were fighter squadrons. A report in September 1918, noted the Belgium squadrons strength at 134 aircraft. Putting this into context, at this time the British had 200 operational Squadrons and nearly 23,000 aircraft.

Delloye was advanced to Sergeant on 29 July, to Premier Sergeant on 22 September and Premier Sergeant-Major on 22 November 1917. Promoted Adjutant (senior Warrant Officer) on 22 January 1918, he would fly missions throughout, being mentioned in Orders twice for his gallantry and was one of just 4 Allied airmen to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal by the British (others receiving the MM, DCM, MC etc). In the main, it seems Delloye was a 2-seater pilot, his citations suggest this, as do a number of copy photographs of him in and around 2e Escadrille’s Breguets and Spads. However, there are also several taken in the cockpit of different Nieuports fighters; one in a series of postcards of Belgium aviators during the War (like German Sanke cards). So it seems he flew both fighters and 2-seaters. Delloye’s entry in ‘The Belgian Air Service in the First World War’, notes at least 102 missions during the War.

Delloye was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Auxiliary Engineers on 6 January 1919, and transferred to the Infantry in July of the same year. He advanced to Lieutenant, 26 December 1921, and transferred back to the Belgian Air Force as Aircrew in January 1924. Delloye advanced to Capitaine Aviateur on 26 December 1935.

Second World War, Escape, Head of Bureau des Evasions and MI9
Still with the Belgian Air Force at the outbreak of the Second War, on 12 May 1940 Delloye moved with his unit to Bordeaux but when France fell, he was taken prisoner. On 16 August 1940, Delloye was returned to occupied Belgium as a prisoner of war and after release was employed in the Ministry of Finance from November 1940. At the end of July 1941 he escaped from occupied Belgium with the intention of joining Belgian forces in the UK but was captured at Leon on 29 December 1941. He was subsequently interned in Valladolid, Spain, 6 January 1942 and Miranda Internment camp from 23 February. Delloye was released with the rights of a Political Prisoner on 9 September 1942, and arrived in the UK via Gibraltar on 12 October 1942. Joining the Belgian Forces in the UK, he was attached to Surete de L’etat, London (Belgian State Security, London) and was additionally enlisted into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 3 December 1942.

Captaine Delloye’s role with Surete de L’etat was the command of the Bureau des Evasions; basically the evasion section of department for getting Allied aircrew evaders back to the UK via contacts and resistance agents in Belgium. Delloye was also tasked getting secret agents in and out of Belgium, the lines of escape, cover stories etc. In this role it seems he worked closely with his British counterparts at MI9; various documents survive relating to correspondence between Captain Airey Neave of MI9 and Delloye 1943-4, these relating to agents and missions.

On 12 November 1943, Delloye was transferred to HQ L’Aeronautique Militaire but remained attached to Surete de L’etat, performing his previous role. Appointed Capitaine-Commandant D’Aviation on 26 March 1944, he left the Surete de L’etat at the end of October that year and was Commissioned Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force (Belgian section), serving in Belgium. It seems after Belgium’s liberation, Delloye’s role was no longer needed at Surete de L’etat, so his skills were to be used elsewhere and he was sent to Belgium where he served with the Belgium Recruiting Mission; exact details of his role are as yet unknown. Advanced to Flying Officer on 1 February 1945 and to Acting Squadron Leader on 7 June 1945, he remained with the Belgium Recruiting Mission until 30 September 1946. Delloye was discharged from the Royal Air Force on 1 October 1946 but remained on active service until he retired as a Major Aviateur on 1 January 1947. For his service with the British during the War, Delloye was appointed Honorary M.B.E. on 11 November 1946.

No Citation has yet been found for Delloye’s M.B.E., however the citation for a similar M.B.E. awarded to another Belgian Air Force Officer working with Surete de L’etat, on similar duties has been found (copy with research), dated 6 August 1946:
‘Major Aviateur Joseph Marie Victor Vuylsteke, D.F.M., (21388), (Belgian Air Force Reserve). This Officer rendered distinguished service with the clandestine organisations during the enemy occupation of Belgium. After the liberation of the Country, he directed the Belgium Army Information service in close liaison with Allied Authorities, thus contributing largely to the safeguarding and security of the armies and their lines of communication.’

By coincidence, Vuylsteke was one of the other two Belgium Pilots recommended for the award of the M.M. in 1919 (along with Delloye), Vuylsteke’s award also being switched to the D.F.M.

Note: Delloye’s service papers additionally note entitlement to the following British medals: 1939-45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence Medal. These are not with the group but should be, the 2nd will be for his service in Belgium (and probably elsewhere), between November 1944 and the end of the War.

When originally catalogued in Glendinings sale in 1950, it was listed as a D.F.M. only. Old pictures of the group, presumably by Hayward, show it as a group of 4 Great awards. Collectors notes with the group show the other awards were added to the group for display purposes (current combined value around £600), the collector taking time to confirm each and every award. He did not get around to adding the 3 British Second War awards to which Delloye was entitled.

Sold with extensive and impressive quantity of copied research, including: Documents relating to Delloye’s awards (all in listing confirmed), detailed service records from Belgium, citations for D.F.M and Croix de Guerre/emblem, photo copies of 11 Great War photographs of Delloye in and around aircraft, R.A.F. service papers, copies of documents relating to the Belgian Air Force and British awards, citations for some of the same and many others too numerous to mention. Relating to above, there are a large number of copied letters and documents relating to Delloye from the Belgium archives, British Embassy in Belgium, fellow collectors, National Archives and many other sources. These collected between 1970 and the early 1990s in what is an extremely impressive long term research project by the previous owner of the group.