Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War M.C. group of seven awarded to Lieutenant R. S. Herring, General List, late London Regiment, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, a worthy Observer to the ace pilots of No. 48 Squadron who drove down four enemy aircraft out of control before being severely wounded in March 1918 - returning to uniform in the 1939-45 War, he was taken P.O.W. on the fall of Singapore
Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; 1914 Star (1832 Pte. R. S. Herring, 1/9 Lond. R.); British War and Victory Medals (Lt. R. S. Herring, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45, the M.C. and 1914-15 Star trio all official replacements, good very fine or better (7) £600-800

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals to the Coldstream Guards, R.F.C., R.N.A.S. and R.A.F. formed by the late Tom Baugh.

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M.C. London Gazette 22 June 1918. The original recommendation states:
‘For conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in carrying out reconnaissances at low altitudes, and in the taking of photographs.
On 18 March 1918, while employed in taking photographs near Surfontaine, he was attacked by six enemy triplanes. After a hard fight all of these were driven off, and he returned safely with the photographs he had taken.
On 21 March 1918, he carried out a most valuable reconnaissance of the area St. Quentin-Bantouzelle-Busigny-Fresnoy obtaining valuable information, and engaging troops with machine-gun fire with good effect. Throughout he was under very heavy machine-gun fire from the ground. He has in combat driven down four enemy machines completely out of control, and has set an example of determination hard to suppress.’

Robert Samuel Herring, who was born in July 1896, enlisted in the 1/9th London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, and was embarked for France that November. Subsequently commissioned in the 20th London Regiment in March 1917, he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, qualified as an Observer and was posted in early 1918 to No. 48 Squadron, a crack Bristol Fighter unit - over the coming weeks, prior to him being severely wounded in late March, he served as Observer to several aces, including 2nd Lieutenants H. W. Elliott, F. C. Rawnsley and H. H. Hartley, and himself was credited with driving four enemy aircraft down out of control.

His first victim, with 2nd Lieutenant F. S. Herring as his pilot, was Leutnant Heinrich Kroll, Staffelfuhrer of Jasta 24, brought down after a combat over Sequehart on 25 January:
‘Whilst my Observer was taking photographs an Albatross Scout attacked from under my tail. I brought the machine round to enable my Observer to fire. He fired a short burst at about 200 feet range and the E.A. zoomed up towards me, firing. My Observer then fired another burst which caused the E.A. to turn on its back. Whilst the machine was upside-down, tracer was observed to still be coming from its gun. My Observer continued firing and the E.A., after hanging a second or so on its back, dropped in a spin, and then went down in falling leaf fashion, completely out of control. I could not see it crash into the ground owing to the haze.’

Kroll in fact managed to carry out a crash-landing back over the German lines.

Three days later, with 2nd Lieutenant F. C. Rawnsley as pilot, he claimed a Rumpler 2-seater:
‘While taking photographs at 18,500 feet over Beaurevoir, I observed four E.A. about 1,000 feet below flying N.E. I turned and dived into the middle of the formation and tried to fire into them, but my gun jammed. I pulled out above them and turned, my Observer then fired into one of the E.A. which was attempting to get under our tail. I rectified my gun and dived again, but it still refused to fire and I observed one E.A. commence to spin and then appear to fall right out of control. My Observer then fired into the remaining E.A. which were retiring east ... I consider that this combat was decisive.’

Then on 9 February, with 2nd Lieutenant H. H. Hartley as his pilot, he claimed a D.III Albatross:
‘Whilst on reconnaissance at about 12 noon, one D. III Albatross attacked us from the south. The combat commenced in the neighbourhood of Guise, the E.A. being 50 feet above us, and after a burst of about 50 rounds from the Observer, Lieutenant Herring’s gun, the E.A. turned on its nose and fell over, slowly dropping. I followed him down and in order to keep within range had to dive vertically and fired about 150 rounds into him. The last that was seen of the E.A. was going through the clouds apparently completely out of control before hitting the ground. It was impossible to see the crash owing to the cloud.’

Finally, in an observation patrol on 16 March 1918, with Lieutenant P. Burrowes as pilot, Herring claimed another D. III Albatross:
‘At 12.10 my Observer pointed out a hostile machine manoeuvring to attack artillery machines which, at the time, were being shelled by A.A. fire. I dived from 16,000 feet to 6,000 feet and achieved a surprise attack in the rear of their formation. I opened fire at 200 yards range. The machine on which I fired appeared to stall and fell down completely out of control. The remainder of the hostile machines turned round and commenced to gain height. By this time our artillery machines were out of range. It was impossible to watch the machine crash as the remaining machines dived on us. This enabled my Observer to fire and one of the E.A., which was diving, seemed to fall over the vertical and continued falling this way, out of control, till out of sight. I then turned to attack the remainder, but, as my gun jammed, the remainder of the flight was left to my Observer, who managed to get off 400 rounds, and forced three of the E.A. to turn away from our tail. Enemy A.A. opened up as we crossed the lines, but fell short.’

Ten days later, however, Herring’s active service career came to an end when he was severely wounded in another combat, and he relinquished his commission on account of his wounds in July 1919. Returning to uniform after the renewal of hostilities in September 1939, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the General Duties Branch, R.A.F.V.R. in December 1941, but transferred to the Army with an appointment as a Lieutenant on the General List in the following year and was embarked for the Far East, where he was taken P.O.W. at the fall of Singapore shortly afterwards - and lost his original M.C. and Great War campaign awards. Herring died in January 1973; sold with a file of research.