Orders, Decorations and Medals

A well documented Second War P.O.W. group of four to Sergeant (Pilot) C. R. Hague, No’s. 149 and 7 Squadron, Royal Air Force

1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals; together with box of issue addressed to recipient at Ecclesall, Sheffield; Pilot’s Flying Log Book, covering period 25 January 1941 to 16 August 1953, giving details of 25 operations in Wellington and Stirling bombers, including 13 September 1941, operations Brest, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau; 2 October 1941, operations Nurnberg, large fires, target bombed; 23 November 1941, operations, Dunkerque; 14 April 1942, operations ‘gardening’ Heligoland, enemy vessel attacked from 300ft.; 19 May 1942, war operation, Mannheim, a/c failed to return. Also included with the lot is the recipient’s ‘Stalag Luft 3’ identity tag, cloth insignia (5); related Victory Medal (40160 Cpl. C. W. Hague, W. York. R.); and a quantity of original documentation, much of it being correspondence from the British Red Cross, etc. regarding food parcels etc., extremely fine (5) £250-350

The following is an extract from a letter written to Hague’s mother by Wing Commander B. Sellick, commanding No. 7 Squadron on 22 May 1942. This letter is included with the lot. ‘It is with deep regret that I have to inform you that your son did not return from an operational flight on the night of 19 May, and has been posted as missing.
Your son was Captain of an aircraft detailed to attack a target in Mannheim, and I know that if he carried out his attack as he had done on previous operational flights he will have been successful. Your son came to us from a Wellington Squadron and since he started flying with us he had been outstanding in his skill and ability in handling Stirlings. He had done 12 operations in No. 7 Squadron and I found he was a Captain who I found I could rely on to find and bomb his target with the utmost care and precision and his crew was one of which we were all justly proud....’

Sergeant (Pilot) Charles Reginald Hague’s Stirling bomber crashed at 02:00 hours on 20 May 1942 at Oostakker, Belgium whilst returning from an operation against Mannheim. The entire crew were taken prisoner of war.