Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: 2nd Lieutenant J. Aitken, Royal Air Force, late Royal Flying Corps, who was killed in action on a daylight bombing mission while serving as a pilot in No. 49 Squadron on 16 July 1918

British War and Victory Medals (2 Lieut. J. Aitken, R.A.F.); Memorial Plaque (James Aitken), last with a metal plate soldered on to reverse, medals nearly extremely fine (3) £260-300

James Aitken, a native of Co. Galway, Ireland, was born in August 1898 and commenced pilot training with the Royal Flying Corps in June 1917. Duly qualified, he was posted to No. 49 Squadron, a D.H. 9 unit in France, in May 1918, in which capacity he completed around a dozen operational sorties prior to his death in action on 16 July. On that date, he and his fellow pilots were ordered to carry out a low-level attack on bridges at Treloupe and Dorman, the squadron’s history noting that several of their aircraft were ‘riddled through and through by heavy ground fire’. Aitken, who was 19 years old, was buried in the Dormans French National Cemetery, Marne, France; sold with one cloth and two metal badges added for display purposes, together with a quantity of copied research.