Great War Airships hero who also worked on the Dambusters raid and led the RAF – medals come to DNW

In the Great War, he won the A.F.C. (Air Force Cross) for his bravery on Airships. In the Second World War he worked with Barnes Wallis on the Dambusters project.
Now Dix Noonan Webb will offer for auction the Great War ‘Airships’ A.F.C. (Air Force Cross) group of ten awarded to Air Chief Marshal The Honourable Sir Ralph ‘Cocky’ Cochrane, [G.B.E., K.C.B.] Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force.

The sale is on 27 and 28 February, and the estimate is £6,000-8,000.

Cochrane had worked with Barnes Wallis during the Great War, flying his experimental airships and testing the world’s first airship mooring mast, which Wallis had designed. He later became first Chief of Air Staff of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in April 1937 and then AOC (Air Officer Commanding) No. 5 (Bomber) Group, February 1943 - February 1945.

Cochrane was to preside over, and plan, some of the most important air operations of the war. Just two days after being installed as AOC No. 5 Group, Cochrane was tasked by ‘Bomber’ Harris with the planning of Operation Chastise – the Dams Raid. Later on, Cochrane worked with Willie Tait, and together they masterminded the eventual sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz in 1944.

As Mark Quayle, Specialist and Associate Director at Dix, Noonan, Webb, said: “We are delighted to be offering this group in our first medal sale of 2019. Given the importance of Air Chief Marshal The Honourable Sir Ralph ‘Cocky’ Cochrane’s career, we feel that this particular group will appeal to all types of collectors on an international level.”

Also included in the sale is the excessively rare Boer War C.S.C. (Conspicuous Service Cross) pair awarded to Midshipman T. F. J. Livesey-Wardle of the Royal Navy for his gallantry at the Battle of Graspan, near Belmont, on 25 November 1900. Wardle’s C.S.C. was one of only eight ever awarded and is estimated at £15,000-20,000.

Among the Militaria in this two-day sale is probably the only surviving example of a Royal Horse Artillery Other Ranks First Pattern Light Dragoon Helmet dating from c.1793-1820. Estimated to fetch £600-800, the stout leather skull made up of two sections sewn along the crown and forming a raised seam. The helmet also has its original die-stamped copper title labels ‘Royal Horse’ & ‘Artillery’. As expert Dixon Pickup notes: “The helmet lacks its bearskin crest, turban and change chains likewise the front peak metal binding, however this is a remarkable item and well worthy of careful restoration!”

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Lot 45, Medals 27-28 February 2019