PREVIEW: ORDERS, DECORATIONS, MEDALS AND MILITARIA 15 MARCH

A fateful football match is thought to have been the only thing that prevented Philip Fullard becoming the highest scoring British Ace of the First World War. Even so, he ranks among the greatest.

Now his outstanding group of 11 medals forms a highlight of Noonans’ 15 March Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria auction, where it is expected to sell for up to £60,000.

A pilot of supreme skill and confidence, Fullard’s 40 victories were claimed in just eight months at the front, a staggering feat that far surpassed those Aces with higher scores, but
Fullard’s war was cut short, not by a German bullet but by a fracture of his leg sustained during an off-duty football match in November 1917.

Barely a week later after he was gazetted Second Lieutenant in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, 19-year-old Philip Fletcher Fullard was instructed to report to the School of Military Aeronautics, Oxford, to train as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. It was August 1916.

Passing his ‘dual’ and ‘solo’ tests in under two days of instruction, he was awarded his wings in December 1916 and shortly afterwards, due to his exceptional flying abilities, was appointed as an instructor at Central Flying School, Upavon.

In desperate need for pilots and demoralised by the devastating losses sustained by the Royal Flying Corps during ‘Bloody April’, later that month Fullard was ordered to the Western Front and in early May 1917, was posted to 1 Squadron.

Having flipped his aircraft during a practice flight, he soon settled in and was in combat within days of arrival.

During his first patrol he was so distracted by the “sight of the enemy in their brightly coloured liveries” that he stalled and spun “right down almost to the top of them”. His flight leader thought he was “a goner”. Days later he became embroiled in combat only to discover he was unable to use his gun due to an oil-covered sight. Worse still was the “rotten prospect” of a hazardous sortie against observation balloons that, following a “contour chasing” practice sortie flown over the trenches at heights of little more than “25 or so feet”, became a deadly reality late on 26 May.

Of the six assigned to hit a group of balloons with Le Prieur rockets, Fullard was one of only two to make it home. Two balloons had been destroyed at the cost of four pilots killed, wounded or captured.

During a frantic dogfight over Quesnoy, he spotted an Albatros D.III scout attacking a British machine. In what would become his trademark style, Fullard closed to 20 yards before opening fire. Half a magazine was enough to send it spiralling down and, with Fullard unable to follow, he was credited with having despatched it ‘out of control’.

Two days later, he was credited with a second Albatros Scout out of control. He reported firing 15 rounds at close range, the Albatros flying straight for some moments before going into a spin. On 4 June, he brought down one Albatros Scout crashed and a second out of control.

On 8 June, during an offensive patrol, pilots of 1 Squadron engaged six Albatros scouts near Becelaere and Fullard shot down one in flames, thereby raising his victory score to five. He had reached Ace status very rapidly, having little more than a month of frontline service. This, however, was just a taste of what to come from this extremely talented young pilot.

On 14 and 15 June and 7 July, Fullard claimed another three Albatros scouts and on 11 July, he was leading C Flight which first tackled 5 enemy scouts and then 9 enemy scouts; Fullard claiming a black “Albatros with green stripes”, out of control over Comines. Shortly after a further six enemy scouts were engaged, Fullard claiming a second Albatros out of control. He was now double Ace or a ‘Star Turn’.

In an interview in later life, Fullard describe how “My whole theory was to get so close that he couldn’t dare turn... I could see my shots moving up the fuselage. He would probably be so frightened at seeing those... I got most of my two-seaters that way. Getting in close, I could see their faces, goggles and everything.” He would further explain, “When one met a formation, I used to get one Hun and make sure of it, and this would shatter them. Then, I would pull out and go above my flight and circle round like... an old hen... to guard them and shoot, either effectively or warningly.”

Although rather surprisingly, he never regarded himself as an outstanding marksman, he did
his best to ensure he had the best possible chances in combat. He maintained and loaded his own guns and in combat, kept his rate of fire in check, giving himself valuable time before having to reload. He would later claim that having fired some 5,000 rounds, he never had an actual stoppage.

Between 15 and 16 August, Captain Fullard would not only reach a milestone of 20 aerial victories but increased his score to 24, claiming a remarkable 5 Albatros scouts in just over 24 hours. His score is all the more remarkable because it was reached in little more than three months since his first operational patrol.

In September, the Squadron’s doctor diagnosed a burst blood vessel in Fullard’s eye due to the extremely rapid alteration in pressure during a spin. Told he must rest, it would not be until the beginning of October that he returned to the Squadron. 

October 1917 would be Fullard’s highest scoring month, with his 31st victory coming on the 14th and his 35th on the 24th.

In late October 1917, for his gallantry and leadership, Fullard was recommended the Victoria Cross, but it was rejected. However, he was awarded the D.S.O., though like his earlier M.C. and M.C. Second Award Bar, these awards would not be gazetted until 1918.

Fullard’s 39th and 40th Victories came in quick succession just over two weeks later on 15 November.

On 17 November 1917, two days after claiming his 40th victory, Fullard suffered a compound fracture of his right leg during an off-duty football match and was out of action. After a short stay in hospital, he was returned home for more surgery and to convalesce.

Initially the rest away from the front was not all bad; with 40 aerial Victories, Fullard, still aged just 20, was the second highest British Ace by that point in the War and third highest R.F.C. Ace of any nationality. Only Albert Ball, V.C., who had 44 Victories before his death in May 1917 and the great Canadian Ace, Billy Bishop, V.C., who’s score then stood at 47, surpassed Fullard’s score. Consequently, every newspaper and magazine in the country carried pictures of Fullard and articles on his deeds, such was his fame, including appearing on the front cover of the 18 January 1918 edition of Tatler magazine.

It appears that he did not return to front line duty before the end of the War, but was awarded a permanent Commission as Captain on 1 August 1919, before being posted to America on ‘special duties’ touring with other successful Aces to promote the sale of Victory Loan Bonds.

He would also be one of eight British and Empire Pilots to be honoured with the award of the Aero Club of America’s Medal of Honor and Merit; other recipients included the V.C. winners Bishop, Mannock, McCudden, and Ball.

Fullard continued his career in the RAF, being promoted Squadron Leader, Wing Commander and, by the outbreak of the Second World war, Group Captain.
He became Officer Commanding No. 14 (Fighter) Group, an air component of the B.E.F. From November 1940 he served at Headquarters, No. 10 (Fighter) Group and having been appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in January 1941, was advanced to Air Commodore in March.

Serving at Headquarters, Fighter Command from June 1942 and Acting Officer Commanding No. 246 (Special Operations) Group in 1943, in August that year Fullard served as Secretary to the Military Mission to Portugal. He retired with the rank of Air Commodore shortly after the end of the Second World War.

He died on 24 April 1984, aged 86.

Christopher Mellor-Hill, Head of Client Liaison at Noonans, said: “We are very pleased to be selling the prestigious medals of Philip Fletcher Fullard, who by the end of the Great War was the seventh highest scoring British Ace and the second highest living.”

The lot at Noonans on 15 March incudes Fullard’s C.B.E., Great War D.S.O., M.C. and Bar, A.F.C. group of eleven.