Auction Catalogue
A rare Great War pilot’s M.C. group of six awarded to Wing Commander H. A. Smith, Royal Air Force, late Coldstream Guards, Middlesex Regiment and and Royal Flying Corps, who, having been decorated for his gallant deeds during numerous bombing sorties, witnessed further action in the Southern Desert, Iraq in 1928
Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; 1914-15 Star (11812 Pte. H. A. Smith, C. Gds.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. H. A. Smith, R.F.C.); General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Southern Desert, Iraq (F./L. H. A. Smith, R.A.F.); Coronation 1937, contact marks and a little polished, otherwise generally very fine (6) £2500-3000
M.C. London Gazette 18 February 1918:
‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On five separate occasions during raids on points beyond the enemy lines he has found his objectives although on more than one occasion he was badly hampered by adverse conditions. He drove down an enemy plane out of control and engaged two others with indecisive results owing to the cloud. He has taken part in many bombing raids and his example of energy and determination had been of the utmost value to his squadron.’
Harry Augustus Smith originally enlisted in the Coldstream Guards and first went out to France in late January 1915. Subsequently selected for a commission, he was gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 10th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment in September 1915, but later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and qualified as a pilot. Seeing action out in France during the course of 1917, initially as a Flying Officer but from October of that year as an Acting Captain and Flight Commander, he was awarded the M.C. for the above cited deeds in early 1918.
Remaining in the Royal Air Force after the War, Smith was present as a Flight Lieutenant in the Southern Desert, Iraq operations in January-June 1929 (Medal & clasp), gained advancement to Wing Commander in July 1935 and was awarded the Coronation Medal in 1937 (the official roll refers). Tragically, however, he was killed in a flying accident while C.O. of No. 9 Squadron at Stradishall in November 1938, his aircraft undershooting the flare path, hitting a tree top and crashing into a field just outside the aerodrome.
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