Auction Catalogue

22 September 2000

Starting at 12:00 PM

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Orders, Decorations and Medals

Grand Connaught Rooms  61 - 65 Great Queen St  London  WC2B 5DA

Lot

№ 819

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22 September 2000

Hammer Price:
£780

A good Second World War Immediate D.F.M. awarded to Flight Sergeant J. McNulty, No. 356 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (642779 F/Sgt., R.A.F.) very fine £600-700

D.F.M. London Gazette 17 July, 1945: ‘This airman has taken part in very many sorties as a Flight Engineer and has invariably displayed a high standard of devotion to duty. On one occasion, when attacking enemy positions on Ramree Island, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire during the bombing run. Flight Sergeant McNulty was heavily thrown and temporarily stunned. A fire started in the floor of the aircraft. Flight Sergeant McNulty, who had quickly recovered, promptly directed his energies towards quelling the flames. Disregarding the danger from bursting oxygen bottles and exploding bullets, this resolute airman subdued the flames by means of extinguishers and finally put out the remains of the fire by smothering it with his flying suit. He displayed courage, resolution and devotion to duty of a high standard.‘

No. 356 Squadron was formed at Salbani, India, on 15 January, 1944, as a heavy bomber squadron, equipped with Liberators and subsequently played a creditable part in the offensive against the Japanese in Burma. One of the highlights of its wartime history was on the 15th June, 1945, when it helped No. 159 Squadron destroy a 10,000-ton Japanese tanker in the Gulf of Siam; this was the biggest shipping prize of the war in South-east Asia. For the final weeks of the war the squadron was based in the Cocos Islands.