Auction Catalogue

25 September 2008

Starting at 10:00 AM

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Orders, Decorations and Medals

Washington Mayfair Hotel  London  W1J 5HE

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Lot

№ 1680

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25 September 2008

Hammer Price:
£3,000

A rare Great War R.F.C. Squadron Commander’s D.S.O., R.A.F. Night Bombing Wing C.O’s O.B.E. group of seven awarded to Group Captain J. H. A. Landon, Royal Air Force, late Essex Regiment and Royal Flying Corps, a pre-hostilities pilot who flew operationally in 1915 and who was founding C.O. of No. 41 Squadron, which unit he took to France 1916: ‘the seemingly miraculous way he escaped from many exploits gained him the name of “Lucky” Landon among his friends’

Distinguished Service Order
, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamels; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1919; 1914-15 Star (Capt., Essex R. attd. R.F.C.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt. Col., R.A.F.); Jubilee 1935; Iraq, King Feisal’s War Medal, mounted as worn, the first with slightly chipped wreaths, generally very fine and better (7) £3500-4000

D.S.O. London Gazette 4 June 1917.

O.B.E.
London Gazette 3 June 1919.

Joseph Herbert Arthur “Lucky” Landon was born in Shenfield, Essex in December 1886, the son of a retired Colonel, and was educated at Haileybury. A solicitor by profession, he also served in the Volunteer Force, being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in March 1905 and advanced to Captain in the 4th Battalion, Essex Regiment in June 1908 - he served as A.D.C. to Viscount Byng of Vimy when the latter was G.O.C. East Anglian Division in 1911. In addition, according to one obituarist, he had from an early age ‘taken a keen interest in aviation and had been an enthusiastic balloonist’, and, indeed, qualified in a private capacity for his Aviator’s Certificate (No. 458) on Bristol Biplanes at Brooklands in April 1913.

Appropriately enough, therefore, he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps as a Flying Officer shortly after the outbreak of hostilities, and was embarked for France that December. Flying operationally in Vickers F.B. 5s of No. 5 Squadron - otherwise known as the “Gun Bus” - until the summer of 1915, he participated in an important chapter in the history of the Royal Flying Corps, namely the development of fighter tactics via numerous combats. However, it was back on the home establishment that October that Landon experienced his most serious “prang”, when engine failure caused his aircraft to nose-dive into the ground from 50 feet, ‘completely destroying the aircraft and rendering Captain Landon insensible’. In fact, as established at a subsequent Medical Board, he had suffered extensive bruising and a deep puncture wound over his left tibia.

Notwithstanding these injuries, he served as an instructor at the Central Flying School in the first half of 1916, where he was advanced to Squadron Commander in March, following which he was appointed C.O. of No. 41 Squadron, which unit he took to France that October. Initially based at Abeele, No. 41 Squadron commenced operational flying in F.E. 8s in support of the Somme offensive, but it was not until early 1917 that its combat successes started to mount - so, too, casualties, the month of June seeing four pilots killed in action, two wounded and two taken prisoner. Landon was awarded the D.S.O. and mentioned in despatches (
London Gazette 15 May 1917 refers), and relinquished his command in August 1917.

He next served as an Assistant Director at the War Office in the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, but in June 1918 he returned to France as a newly promoted Wing Commander to take up an appointment in 8th Brigade, Independent Force, as C.O. of Night Bombing, 83rd Wing. And it was while en route to that assignment, on the Foul to Ochey road, that his car was attacked by an enemy aircraft, tracer rounds kicking up the ground around the vehicle and forcing it off the road. The enemy aircraft then banked sharply and dropped two bombs, one of which exploded in a ditch 10 feet away - Landon was wounded in the head and his driver mortally wounded. Nonetheless, after a week or so in No. 14 General Hospital at Wimereux, he returned to duty, and added the O.B.E. and another “mention” to his accolades, the recommendation for the latter stating:

‘For consistent good work and devotion to duty as a Night Bombing Wing Commander during the period July-October 1918. He has shown a fine spirit to all his command and has set a good example to all ranks during attacks by enemy aircraft. His keenness and spirit have resulted in numerous very successful operations. This officer was awarded the D.S.O. in June 1917.’

In the immediate post-war era, Landon commanded R.A.F. Netheravon 1919-21 and had charge of the Air Ministry’s aircraft design department 1921-23. But in November 1924 he was embarked for Iraq, where he served on the Staff at Hinaidi until October 1926, and was awarded King Feisal’s War Medal. Back home, he was advanced to Group Captain in January 1928, his final appointment prior to being placed on half-pay in August 1935 was as General Air Staff Officer Defences of Great Britain. Sadly, however, Landon died at Maidenhead in December of the same year, aged 49 years.

Sold with the recipient’s original commission warrant for the rank of Lieutenant in the 1st (Volunteer) Battalion, Essex Regiment, dated 3 March 1905, together with his Great War period flying goggles,
both glass eye-pieces cracked, and most probably a souvenir of his “prang” in October 1915.