Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The exceptional Second World War path finder pilot’s D.F.C. and Bar, North Africa operations D.F.M. group of seven awarded to Flight Lieutenant A. P. Mountain, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who completed 113 operational sorties, the vast majority of them in Mosquitos of No. 109 Squadron and many of these as marker

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., with Second Award Bar, the reverse of the Cross officially dated ‘1945’, and the reverse of the Bar ‘1945’; Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (944424 Sgt. A. P. Mountain, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Africa Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, together with the recipient’s Path Finder Force metalled badge, cleaned and lacquered, generally good very fine (8) £5000-6000

Just 16 R.A.F. aircrew were awarded the combination of a D.F.C. and Bar, and D.F.M. in the 1939-45 War.

D.F.C. London Gazette 17 July 1945. The original recommendation states:

‘Flight Lieutenant A. P. Mountain has flown a total of 105 sorties in Bomber Command. In his first tour he did 39 sorties on Wellingtons. Since then he has put in a further 66 operational flights in the Path Finder Force on Mosquitos. Of these, 49 were as target marker, and the remainder consisted of bombing attacks on small targets or as a leader of bombing formations. Most of his trips were done against heavily defended German strategical or tactical targets.

Flight Lieutenant Mountain has always shown a most commendable sense of devotion to duty and has coolly pressed home his attacks under the most difficult conditions. He has taken off and landed when weather conditions have been atrocious, and has generally shown a splendid example. I strongly recommend him for the non-immediate award of the Distinguished Flying Cross.’

Bar to D.F.C. London Gazette 26 October 1945 The original recommendation states:

‘Flight Lieutenant A. P. Mountain has flown a total of 113 sorties, comprising three operational tours. The first tour was flown in Wellingtons in the early days of the War. The second and third tours were completed in this squadron and consisted of 74 sorties. Of these, 55 were flights in which he was employed as target marker. Because of his exceptional operational experience, he was often chosen to open the more important heavy raids by marking the aiming point.

Flight Lieutenant Mountain held a consistently high record of successful sorties and produced outstandingly good results; he never allowed the enemy’s anti-aircraft fire - normally uncomfortably accurate - to affect his bombing run.

Flight Lieutenant Mountain was a fine captain and has been an invaluable asset to the Squadron. I strongly recommend for the award of the Bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross.’

D.F.M. London Gazette 7 April 1942. The original recommendation states:

‘This airman has carried out 34 long distance sorties, involving 393 hours flying. These raids include attacks on objectives in enemy occupied territory in France, Cyrenaica, Syria, Greece and the Dodecanese Islands. He also participated in a raid on the Corinth Canal area. Throughout he has displayed a high standard of skill and determination and he is regarded as one of the best of captains.’

Allan Percival Mountain enlisted in the R.A.F. in June 1940 and commenced pilot training at the E.F.T.S. Brough a month or two later. Having then qualified for his ‘Wings’ in Canada in February 1941, he returned to the U.K. and was posted to No. 15 O.T.U., where he converted to Wellingtons prior to joining No. 37 Squadron in the Middle East in May 1941. Here, then, as cited above, the commencement of a tour of operations encompassing well over 30 sorties against enemy targets in occupied territory in France, Cyrenaica, Syria, Greece and the Dodecanese Islands, the first dozen or so as 2nd pilot. He was awarded the D.F.M.

Tour expired, he returned to the U.K. was commissioned as a Pilot Officer, and served as an instructor at No. 22 O.T.U., in which capacity he piloted Wellingtons in the ‘Thousand Bomber Raids’ on Cologne and Essen in May-June 1942, and against Dusseldorf on 10 September - ‘Tanks holed. Elevator damaged. Wings riddled’ (his flying log book refers).

Having then attended a Mosquito conversion unit, he joined No. 109 Squadron, a component of No. 8 Group (Path Finder Force), at Little Staughton in June 1944, and flew his first mission before the month’s end. His next two sorties, flown in early July, were of the eventful kind - thus an outing to Homberg on the 1st, when his Mosquito was coned by searchlights on its bombing run and hit by flak, a piece of which entered through the nose of the aircraft ‘and passed between Freddie and I and disappeared through the roof over my head’; while on a trip to Schloven two nights later, his aircraft was ‘hit again by flak in odd places’.

Invariably detailed to attack a number of French targets around this time, Mountain averaged around eight sorties a month in the period leading up to the completion of his third operational tour, but it was the heavily defended German targets that made up much of 109’s operational agenda - thus two, three and even four trips to such targets as Cologne, Duisburg and Essen. And, as cited above, Mountain ended his wartime career with a tally of 113 operational sorties, 55 of them flown as marker - an exceptional record which resulted in the award of his D.F.C. and Bar.

Post-war, Mountain served in No. 162 Squadron and No. 98 Squadron, but he was killed while serving in Mosquitos of the latter unit in Germany on 23 September 1946. He is buried in Hanover War Cemetery.

Sold with the recipient’s original R.A.F. Pilot’s Flying Log Books (Form 414 types), covering the periods August 1940 to February 1944, and February 1944 to August 1946, both with official ‘Killed on Active Service’ and ‘Royal Air Force Central Depository, July 1947’ stamps; together with the recipient’s certificate of award for Path Finder Force badge, dated 19 May 1945, and a coloured wartime portrait photograph.