Orders, Decorations and Medals

A fine Second World War C.B.E., Iraq D.F.C., and Great War A.F.C. group of ten awarded to Air Commodore William Sowrey, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force
The Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Military) 2nd type neck badge, in its Garrard & Co. Ltd. case of issue; Distinguished Flying Cross, G.V.R.; Air Force Cross, G.V.R.; British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. (Capt., R.F.C.); General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Iraq, N.W. Persia (S/L, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; War Medal; Jubilee 1935, mounted Court style and sold with several related photographs, nearly extremely fine (10)

C.B.E. London Gazette 17 October 1941, ‘for distinguished services in Abyssinia and Eritrea’.

D.F.C. London Gazette 10 October 1922 (Iraq). The following recommendation was extracted from Air Ministry records: ‘For continuous devotion to duty and gallantry when flying. This officer was in command of No. 30 Squadron in 1920 and of No. 84 Squadron in 1921. He has continually led his officers on bomb raids and on demonstrations, and as a leader and as a pilot he sets an excellent example to all serving under his command.’

A.F.C. London Gazette 1 January 1919.
M.I.D. London Gazette 28 October 1921 and 24 September 1941.

William Sowrey attended King’s College and University of London O.T.C. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Berkshire Regiment and served in France with the Royal Flying Corps, Military Wing. Whilst flying with No. 60 Squadron he shared in two aerial combats in November and December 1916, destroying a Kite Balloon and a Roland D1, on both occasions flying a Nieuport Scout aircraft. He served on Home Defence from February 1917 to January 1918, returning to France from August to November 1918. He subsequently commanded No.’s 30 and 84 Squadrons during the operations in Iraq, and in 1927 took No. 2 Squadron to Shanghai to become part of the air element of the Shanghai Defence Force, collectively titled Royal Air Force China, during the emergency there. During the Second World War he was Air Officer Commanding the Royal Air Force, East Africa, during the Abyssinian Campaign 1940-42. Air Commodore Sowrey died on 15 February 1968.