A fine Second World War D.F.M. group of five awarded to Warrant Officer F. S. Eggo, Royal Air Force, a veteran of 39 operational sorties in Stirlings of No. 90 Squadron and Lancasters of No. 7 Squadron (P.F.F.), 19 of them in a marker crew, among them the famous Peenemunde raid in August 1943 and the controversial strike on Dresden in February 1945: his aircraft was damaged on three occasions, once by heavy flak and twice as a result of determined night fighter attacks

Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (575417 F./Sgt. F. S. Eggo, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, generally good very fine (5) £1700-1900

D.F.M. London Gazette 21 September 1945. The original recommendation states:

‘This N.C.O. has carried out 39 operational sorties of which 19 have been with the Path Finder Force, all with a marker crew. His strong sense of duty, and total fearlessness in the face of danger have instilled in those members of crew with which he flies the utmost confidence. He always shows coolness, skill and initiative and a dogged determination in action.’

Frederick Sturrock Eggo commenced his operational career on being posted as a Flight Engineer to No. 90 Squadron, a Stirling unit, in July 1943. It was to prove a busy tour, including three trips to Berlin and three to Mannheim; so, too, participation in the famous strike against the V-weapon site at Peenemunde on the night of 17-18 August 1943.

Nor was his tour incident free, his Stirling being hit by flak on a trip to Leverkusen on the night of 19-20 November - ‘Starboard outer engine and rear turret pressure pipe lines rendered u/s by heavy flak over target area’. Further damage was sustained in a brace of encounters with enemy night fighters, most notably on the night of 27-28 September 1943, when his aircraft was detailed to attack Hanover. The relevant combat report states:

‘Our a/c was coned by 25-30 searchlights just after the bombs had been dropped ... the captain immediately corkscrewed ... the R/G and M/U saw an Me. 110 on the starboard quarter above, which was firing when seen. This burst raked the fuselage from the R/T to the pilot’s cockpit and the R/G was wounded in the right foot. Both R/G and M/U opened fire immediately at 200 ft. with a long burst of 4-5 seconds. Strikes were observed on the E/A fuselage. E/A broke away to port at 50 feet and at the same time our a/c was corkscrewing to port putting E/A on port beam. The M/U raked him along the belly with a long burst and black smoke started to pour out of E/A. E/A then was seen to stall and went down in a steep dive still with black trail behind.

Another attack developed from starboard quarter by an unidentified T/E a/c and the first indication was a burst of tracer which passed to starboard of our a/c. M/U opened fire immediately at 400 ft. and E/A broke away immediately below our a/c and was lost. Our a/c was coned throughout the engagement. One Me. 110 claimed a destroyed.’

During Eggo’s final sortie with No. 90, a mining operation to the Baltic on the night of 1-2 December 1943, his aircraft was once more attacked and damaged by an E/A, a Do. 217 that was claimed as probably destroyed.

Tour expired, he returned to an operational footing on joining No. 7 Squadron (P.F.F.) in November 1944 and, on being recommended for his D.F.M. in April 1945, had completed another 19 sorties - the whole as a member of a marker crew. His targets included Julich, Osnabruck, Cologne, Bonn and Munich, in addition to Dresden on the night of 13-14 February 1945, one of five strikes on the city that created a devastating ‘firestorm’ - a firestorm that destroyed over 1600 acres of the city centre and over 20,000 people.