The Victory Medal awarded to D.H.9A observer Sergeant J. West, 110 Squadron, Royal Air Force, who was shot down and killed in one of the original complement of DH.9A’s gifted to the Squadron by His Exalted Highness, the Nizam of Hyderabad, whilst on an Independent Force raid to Mannheim, 16 September 1918

Victory Medal 1914-19 (114643. Pte 1. J. West. R.A.F.) very fine £100-£140

John West was a native of Birmingham, and initially served during the Great War as a Driver with the Army Service Corps on the Western Front from 5 October 1914. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps as a 2 A.M. in December 1917. West transferred as a Private 1 to the Royal Air Force in April 1918, and remustered as a Sergeant Mechanic. He served in France from 30 December 1917 until 28 April 1918, and returned as an Observer with 110 Squadron (D.H.9’s) at Bettoncourt as part of the R.A.F.’s Independent Force in September 1918. Crewed with Sergeant A. Haigh as a his pilot, West flew in the Squadron’s first raid on the German aerodrome at Boulay on 14 September 1918. They followed this up the next day carrying out a raid on the Buhl Aerodrome.

West and Haigh were shot down in D.H.9A. E8410 (one of the original complement of DH.9As gifted by His Exalted Highness, the Nizam of Hyderabad), whilst carrying out a bombing raid to Mannheim on 16 September 1918. The victory was claimed by Lt. A. Stephan of Jasta 70. Both West and Haigh were killed, and are buried together in the Niederzwehren Cemetery, Kassel, Germany.

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