Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Second War A.F.C. group of five awarded to Squadron Leader E. S. Kennedy, Royal Air Force, who served as a Wellington and Stirling pilot with Bomber Command, and was also Mentioned in Despatches

Air Force Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated 1944; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf, mounted court-style for display, good very fine (5) £1,400-£1,800

A.F.C. London Gazette 1 September 1944.
The original Recommendation states: ‘This officer has served with the unit for 18 months and has been commanding a flight for the last 4 months. On one occasion he displayed great skill in bringing his aircraft to a safe landing despite the fact that, when at height of only 400 feet, the dinghy came adrift from its stowage shortly after take-off and wrapped itself around the tail plane. He had invariably insisted on the highest standard of instruction and his personal example, tact and patient manner in coaching backward pupils, have been invaluable. His fine example in the air and on the ground has had an outstanding influence on all his associates and has been a great asset to the Unit.’

M.I.D. London Gazette 2 June 1944.

Edwin Shaw Kennedy was born on 14 May 1911 and is listed in the 1939 Register as an Elementary School Teacher residing with his wife Doreen at Nook Home Farm, Thornton Cleveleys, Lancashire. Joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as an Aircraftsman 2nd Class, he was commissioned Pilot Officer on probation from Sergeant on 1 September 1941 and joined 101 Squadron (Wellingtons) for an operational tour on 2 January 1942. His first operational sortie was a bombing mission to Brest on 6 January; further targets included Munster, Cologne, Essen (twice), Dortmund (14 April: ‘heavy Flak and searchlights over target’), Hamburg, St. Nazaire (twice), Cologne (Operation Millennium - the 1,000 Bomber Raid, 30-31 May 1942: ‘returned from German border with rear turret w/s’); Essen (1 June 1942; ‘bombed target from 17,000 feet, accurate heavy Flak, much fighter activity’); and Bremen, 25 June 1942.

Joining 7 Squadron (Stirlings) on 5 July 1942, Kennedy’s first operational sortie with his new Squadron was a raid on Wilhelmshaven on 8 July (’bombed visually at 18,000 feet, much Flan and searchlights’); further targets included Duisburg (21 July: ‘tyre burst on landing and crashed no one hurt’), Hamburg, Saarbrucken (twice), Osnabruck, Flensburg, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, and Karlsruhe. His final operational sortie was a raid on Duisburg on 6 September 1942.

Subsequently joining 26 Operational Training Unit on 8 October 1942, Kennedy served as an instructor for the rest of the War, and was awarded the Air Force Cross having completed 360 instructional hours. He was promoted Flight Lieutenant on 1 September 1943, and relinquished his commission on the Emergency List with the rank of Squadron Leader on 14 May 1956. He died in Stockport, Lancashire, on 3 January 1981.

Sold with the recipient’s Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book covering the period 8 April 1941 to 22 August 1945; original Mentioned in Despatches Certificate; and copied research.