Auction Catalogue

31 March 2010

Starting at 10:00 AM

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British and World Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Washington Mayfair Hotel  London  W1J 5HE

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Lot

№ 746

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31 March 2010

Hammer Price:
£460

Three: Lieutenant-Commander (A.) P. B. Pratt, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, a Fleet Air Arm pilot who flew operationally in Walrus aircraft of 701 Squadron in 1941, prior to taking command of 728 Squadron in Malta in 1944

1939-45 Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45, good very fine and better (3) £180-220

Pratt commenced his pilot training at Elmdon in June 1940 and was posted to No. 775 Squadron at R.N.A.S. Dekheila in Egypt in July 1941, and he remained employed in the same unit removing to No. 1 F.R.U. at Gamil in August 1942, appointments that saw him piloting Albacores, Gladiators, Rocs and Swordfish.

Having then been advanced to Lieutenant (A.) and undertaken ground duties on attachment to No. 815 Squadron in early 1943, Pratt was posted to No. 701 Squadron at Beyrouth in Syria, in which capacity he piloted Walrus aircraft and participated in at least 15 operational sweeps, largely in a convoy escort role.

Then in May 1943 he was appointed C.O. of the F.R.U. at Hal Far in Malta, with whom he flew in Fulmars and Hurricanes, working on assorted “shoots” for the Royal Malta Artillery in addition to the Fleet. Returning to the U.K. via Gibraltar in November of the same year, he was again ordered to Malta on completion of his leave, this time taking command of No. 728 Squadron at Goldfinch, the Fleet Air Arm’s base at Takali, in the temporary rank of Lieutenant-Commander (A.), with effect from January 1944. And he served in the same capacity until the end of hostilities, operating in Defiants, Martinets and Seafires. Pratt’s final flight for 728 Squadron was an air to air photography trip in early December 1945.

Sold with the recipient’s original R.A.F. Pilot’s Flying Log Book, covering the period June 1940 to December 1945, with several interesting inserts including a Naval message and a photograph of 728 Squadron (F.A.A.) aircrew taken at Malta in June 1945, including the recipient.