A Great War 1916 ‘Western Front’ D.S.O., M.C. group of seven awarded to Brigadier-General C. F. de S. Murphy, Royal Berkshire Regiment and Royal Flying Corps, who obtained his Aviator’s Certificate in 1913, commanded Second (Corps) Wing in France during the Great War, and was twice Mentioned in Despatches; he subsequently served as a Special Constable in Cambridge during the 1926 General Strike

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar, in Garrard, London, case of issue; Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued, in case of issue; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, South Africa 1902 (Lieut. C. F. de S. Murphy, R. Berks: Rgt:); 1914 Star (Capt. C. F. de S. Murphy., R.B.R. Attd: R.F.C.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Lt.Col. C. F. de S. Murphy. R.F.C.); Belgium, Kingdom, Order of the Crown, Officer’s breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband, in case of issue with named label attached addressed to ‘Lieut. Colonel Sir [sic] C. F. de S. Murphy, Officer Commanding Aerodrome Northolt (Ruislip, Mdx.)’; together with two Woolwich versus Sandhurst Prize Medallions, bronze, the first engraved ‘C. F. de S. Murphy. Half Mile.’; the other engraved ‘Gymnastic VIII R.M.C. Sandhurst. 1901. C. F. Murphy’, both in Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company, London, cases of issue; Royal Life Saving Society Bronze Medal, the reverse engraved ‘Lieut. C. Murphy, 2nd R. Bks. Rgt. Feb. 1910’, in George Collins, London, case of issue; a Comrades of the Great War lapel Badge, gilt and enamel; and the recipient’s Cambridge Special Police lapel Badge, silvered, the reverse officially numbered ‘336’, nearly extremely fine (lot) £3400-3800

Provenance: Buckland, Dix & Wood, October 1995; Dix Noonan Webb, September 2000.

D.S.O. London Gazette 1 January 1917.

M.C. London Gazette 3 June 1916.

Belgian Order of the Crown, 4th Class London Gazette 24 September 1917.

Cyril Francis de Sales Murphy was born in Cork on 17 May 1882 and was educated at Beaumont College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Berkshire Regiment on 18 January 1902, and served with the Regiment during the Boer War in the Cape Colony from April to 31 May 1902. He was promoted Lieutenant on 1 July 1904, and Captain on 3 June 1911, and was a member of the Army Gymnastic Staff from 1910 to 1913.

A pioneering flyer, Murphy obtained his Aviator’s Certificate, No. 599, at Bristol School, Salisbury Plain, on 20 August 1913, and was appointed a Flying Officer in the Royal Flying Corps (Military Wing) on 30 June 1914. He served on attachment to the Royal Flying Corps during the Great War on the Western Front from 9 September 1914, and served throughout the War on the Western Front at Ypres, Messines and on the Somme. Having been promoted Wing Commander (Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel) on 12 April 1916, in July of that year he was appointed to the Command of 13th (Army) Wing, comprising Nos. 11 and 23 Squadrons, and in April 1917 proceeded to the Command of 2nd (Corps) Wing, comprising Nos. 6, 21, 42, 46 and 53 Squadrons. He was appointed a Brigade Commander on 6 March 1918, and was promoted Temporary Brigadier-General on 25 March of that year. For his services during the Great War he was twice Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 22 June 1915 and 4 January 1917), was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order, and was created an Officer of the Belgian Order of the Crown. After the War he briefly commanded R.A.F. station Northolt, before resigning his commission on 17 September 1919, being granted the honorary rank of Brigadier-General.

Brigadier-General Murphy attested for the Cambridge Special Constabulary on 7 May 1926, and served as a Special Constable during the General Strike (5-12 May 1926). During the Second World War he was employed at the Air Ministry from 1939 to 1944. He died at Banaghan, Co. Offaly, Ireland, on 7 January 1961.

Sold with the recipient’s F.A.I. Aviator’s Certificate, No. 599, dated 20 August 1913; Royal Aero Club Competition Permit for 1913, No. 427; Invitation to attend Buckingham Palace Garden Party, 1924; Warrant Card of the Cambridge Special Police, issued during the General Strike of 1926; and various copied research.

For the recipient’s related miniature medals, see Lot 1155.