Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An extremely rare Second World War Norway 1940 operations D.S.C. and Bar attributed to Lieutenant-Commander E. W. T. Taylour, Fleet Air Arm, who qualified for the “Battle of Britain” clasp and gained ace status over the Mediterranean, prior to being killed in action in a combat during Arctic convoy PQ. 18 in September 1942

Distinguished Service Cross, G.VI.R., with Second Award Bar, hallmarks for London 1939, the reverse officially dated ‘1940’ and apparently officially engraved ‘E. W. T. Taylour, c/o Admiralty’, and the reverse of the Bar officially dated ‘1940’, together with related miniature dress D.S.C., G.VI.R., with Bar, this too with reverse inscription, ‘E. W. T. Taylour, c/o Admiralty’, and an old tunic riband, extremely fine (3) £1800-2200

Remarkably, the D.S.C., Bar and “mention” all appear on the front page of the London Gazette of 9 May 1940:

‘For daring and resource in the conduct of hazardous and successful operations by the Fleet Air Arm against the enemy, especially on the coast of Norway.’

Edward Winchester Tollemache Taylour was born in January 1915, the son of Captain B. R. H. Taylour, R.N., and was appointed a Midshipman in January 1933. Electing to join the Fleet Air Arm, he was granted a temporary commission in the Royal Air Force as a Flying Officer, on attending No. F.T.S. in early 1937, but relinquished this appointment on joining No. 800 (F.A.A.) Squadron at Hatston in the Orkneys in early 1940 - the opening chapter of a remarkable wartime career.

At 5.15 a.m. on 10 April 1940, Taylour took-off in one of 15 Skuas, the whole destined for a dawn attack on the German cruiser Konigsberg in Bergen harbour - as it transpired, he and his Gunner, Petty Officer (A.) Howard Cunningham, became separated from his fellow aircrew, and he didn’t reach the target until after the main force had attacked, leaving the Konigsberg in a sorry state indeed. Notwithstanding the fully alerted enemy defences, including flak positions on Kritiansholmen Island, Taylour dived to the attack, releasing his 500lb. bomb from 2,000 feet and adding to the carnage below - around two hours later the German cruiser heeled over to her port side and sank, a small portion of her stern remaining above water. Two days later, Taylour returned to Bergen for another anti-shipping strike, this time meeting particularly heavy flak and machine-gun fire as he attacked an enemy oiler from 2,000 feet. He was awarded the D.S.C.

Towards the end of April 1940, after a tussle with a formation of 10 Heinkels in the interim, Taylour was embarked in the Ark Royal, where his unit joined up with 801 Squadron, another Skua unit, and 810 and 820 Squadrons, equipped with Swordfish, the whole charged with providing fighter protection to the Army in the Norway campaign, and there they remained actively engaged until the withdrawal of June 1940 - amazingly, however, he had won a second D.S.C. and a “mention” long before then, rewards undoubtedly reflecting his part in the demise of an He. 111 of 4/KG54 over Romsdalfjord on 27 April, and a similar type of 4/KG26 over convoy TM. 1 on the following day: shortly afterwards, on 9 May 1940, the front page of the London Gazette listed all three of his distinctions, and he was invested with his D.S.C. & Bar by King George VI on 11 June.

About this time, Taylour transferred to 808 Squadron and converted to Fulmars, in which capacity he flew harbour defensive patrols out of Wick, and qualified for the “Battle of Britain” clasp, one of around just 30 Fleet Air Arm aircrew so honoured. Then in October 1940, he was embarked again in Ark Royal, bound for the Mediterranean, where he shared in the destruction of a Cant Z 506B over the sea off Bone, Algeria, on 27 November. It was the beginning of a successful period of operations, early 1941 witnessing him take a share in a Cant Z 1007 off Sardinia on 9 February, and claim a CR. 42 “probable” and Ju. 87 destroyed on 8 May - the CR. 42 engagement resulting in his Observer, Lieutenant (A.) L. G. J. Howard sustaining a severe leg wound, and the Ju. 97 combat, in the evening, with severe damage to his Fulmar. In his own modest words, ‘Things were pretty hectic for a few minutes, with everyone firing at everyone else, and the Junkers jettisoning bombs like a brood of frightened chickens’: in point of fact Taylour pursued the Junkers for 30 miles, breaking up the formation with regular bursts of fire, but his Fulmar took serious punishment in the process.

Having then damaged a Cant Z 506B on 23 August, he shared in the destruction of a Fiat BR. 20 on 27 September and another Cant Z 506B off Gibraltar on the following day. And since 808 was still embarked, it is likely he was present when Ark Royal was sunk on 13 November.

In April 1942, Taylour was appointed to the command of 802 Squadron, flying Sea Hurricanes from Avenger on the Arctic run, and it was during the course of convoy PQ. 18, on 13 September 1942, that he was shot down in flames, attempting to counter a heavy enemy attack. He left a widow, Dorothea Gatcombe, has no known grave and is commemorated on the Lee-on-Solent Memorial.

N.B. The recipient’s Royal Navy officer’s sword, by Henry Wilkinson (No. 29914), as originally ordered by his father but subsequently refurbished on his son being commissioned, was sold in these Rooms, together with an original investiture photograph, on 19 September 2003 (Lot 1022 - Hal Giblin Collection).