Orders, Decorations and Medals

A fine ‘Photo Reconnaissance’ Spitfire Pilot’s D.F.C. group of five awarded to Flight Lieutenant Harold Reeves, Royal Air Force

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1943’ and additionally inscribed ‘P/O, 543 Squadron, July’; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals, together with the recipient’s two original Pilot’s Flying Log Books for the period September 1940 to March 1946, a good album of reconnaissance photographs, these all identified and dated for the period April 1942 to September 1943, other photographs and two official R.A.F. route maps, good very fine (5)

D.F.C. London Gazette 20 August 1943. The following recommendation was taken from official records: ‘Pilot Officer Reeves has been a successful photographic reconnaissance pilot since 20th March, 1942. His sorties have been longer than the average, and some have involved sea crossings of 480 miles in very difficult weather conditions in single engined aircraft. On one occasion, he took photographs from 13,500 feet. His photography has always been of a particularly high standard and he has invariably been a cheerful and willing influence in his flight.’

Harold Reeves began his operational flying in December 1941 with No. 220 Squadron, a general reconnaissance unit in Coastal Command, and flew his first seven sorties as 2nd Pilot on Hudsons. He joined No. 1 PRU (Photo Reconnaissance Unit) in March 1942 and quickly converted to the specially adapted unarmed Spitfires with their extra fuel capacity. Posted to “C” Flight the following month, Reeves began his long record of lonely photo-reconnaissance flights over enemy territory. These were often flown at altitudes of 30,000 feet, or more, over a wide variety of features and targets, looking for any new developement that could be of interest to the Intelligence boffins. At the end of May 1942, he took his Spitfire over Cologne to photograph the bomb damage after the first 1,000 bomber raid the night before. “C” Flight was amalgamated with other elements of No. 1 PRU to form No. 543 Squadron on 19 October 1942, Reeves being one of its founder pilots. This squadron was one of several formed at this time specifically for photo reconnaissance duties, and Reeves subsequently served with Nos. 542 and 541 Squadrons in the same capacity. By the end of May 1945 he had completed 149 operational sorties, all but the first seven flying Spitfires on reconnaissance missions. His log book entries often record instances of being intercepted or chased by enemy fighters, and towards the end of the war he encountered the Me-262 and Me-163 rocket plane, managing to hide from the latter by seeking refuge in thick cirrus cloud.