Orders, Decorations and Medals

Three: Pilot Officer H. Howard, a Spitfire and Mustang pilot who saw extensive action with 283 Wing over the Adriatic in 1944-45, in which period he flew 87 operational sorties and claimed one “kill

1939-45 Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45, the last with edge bruising, generally good very fine (3) £400-500

Howard enlisted in the Royal Air Force in London in September 1942 and was embarked for pilot training in Rhodesia and South Africa at the end of the year, initially attending No. 28 E.F.T.S. at Mount Hampden in May 1943. Having then been awarded his “Wings”, he was ordered to the Middle East in January 1944 and attended No. 73 Operational Training Unit at Abu Sueir, where, under the watchful eye of Squadron Leader Neville Duke, D.S.O., D.F.C., he gained experience in Spitfires.

Finally, in April 1944, Howard went operational in Spitfire IXs of No. 213 Squadron, his flying log book noting that he ‘bagged a Hun’ while on detachment to Cyprus on the 19th. Over the next few weeks, the Squadron converted to Mustang IIIs, but by mid-June its pilots were ready for regular operational employment, a bomber escort mission to Rhodes on the 15th being a case in point - ‘accurate flak’.

Then on moving to a new airfield at Biferno in the following month, as part of 283 Wing, 213’s operational agenda really got under way, a flurry of offensive sweeps being flown in the Adriatic, where targets in Yugoslavia were high on the list - Howard’s detailed flying log book notes the early loss of fellow pilots and close-calls of his own, among them a ‘cracked windscreen’ on a sortie to Zagreb on 16 July and a ‘bullet through tail unit’ on another sweep of the Pec-Kraljevo railway on the 26th.

Yet this ever growing tally of losses brought no respite to 213’s surviving or replacement pilots, fighter-bomber operations continuing apace against the retreating Germans in Yugoslavia and Northern Italy over the coming months, a way of life far more perilous than air-to-air combat, or certainly according to ex-Battle of Britain pilot George Westlake, D.F.C., a famous ace who was similarly employed: ‘A fighter-bomber’s life was far more risky than that of an ordinary fighter pilot ... We had to fly through flak on every sortie, and in some cases it was like flying down the gun barrels themselves. It wasn’t the heavy flak that did the damage, it was the light stuff – 40mm., 37mm. and 20mm. - we attacked everything from tanks, transport, railways, bridges, ships, patrol craft, airfields, gun positions, concentrations of troops, everything possible ... ’

Sentiments and actions undoubtedly shared by Howard, a classic entry in his flying log book for an offensive sweep over Uzice on 23 November simply stating, ‘Flak from everywhere’.

Equally revealing, and a useful summary of the varied nature of 213’s targets in the period of his operational tour from July 1944 to February 1945, is Howard’s list of the squadron’s total “bag” - thus 27 enemy aircraft destroyed, with four “probables” and six damaged; 366 locomotives severely damaged and 129 damaged; rolling stock 207 destroyed and 1253 damaged; motor transport 269 destroyed, 814 damaged; 43 A.A. gun positions destroyed, and 37 caiques sunk. And we may be sure he shared in many of these successes, for by February 1945 he had flown 87 sorties and 200 operational hours.



Posted to a communications unit that March, Howard transferred to 250 Squadron in July, and thence to 91 Squadron at Duxford on returning to the U.K. in June 1946. Having then gained experience in Spitfire XXIs, he would appear to have been released at the end of the year.

Sold with the recipient’s original R.A.F. Flying Log Book, covering the period May 1943 to September 1946, together with a rare silk translation sheet for presentation to Soviet troops (see illustration).