Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Pilot Officer F. A. Creighton, Royal Air Force, a gallant Tomahawk and Kittyhawk pilot who was killed in action over the Western Desert in June 1942, after participating in over 100 operational sorties and claiming several damaged or probable enemy aircraft

1939-45 Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45, in original card forwarding box addressed to ‘Mrs. Creighton’ at Farnborough, Hampshire, with Air Ministry condolence slip, extremely fine (3) £400-500

Frederick Albert Creighton commenced his pilot training in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in January 1941, graduating to experience in Hurricanes at No. 71 Operational Training Unit in Ismailia, Egypt, in July 1941. Posted from there to No. 250 (Sudan) Squadron in the Western Desert, a Tomahawk unit, in the following month, he was given just four hours to acquaint himself with this aircraft type before embarking on his first patrol, the beginning of a relentless schedule of operational flying. By the time of his death in action ten months later, he had flown in excess of 100 sorties, ranging from “Scrambles” and forward area patrols, to bomber escort duties and ground attacks, quite a few of which warranted additional remarks in his log book entries.

His first run-in with the Luftwaffe occurred on 26 August, his flight being attacked by a large formation of Me. 109s, three of which were shot down. And in the following month, while engaged in escorting Maryland bombers on the 27th and 28th, No. 250 once more ran into large numbers of enemy aircraft, some of which fell to their guns. October maintained the pace, Creighton noting that several Tomahawks were “punctured” by heavy A.A. fire on the 25th, while five days later, in a Wing Sweep over Gambut and Bardia, his own aircraft was hit in the left wing by an explosive shell from a 109, tearing out a large section. In return, Creighton noted that he may have damaged another 109.

In November, on the 11th, due to engine failure, he had to make a wheels up landing five miles south of El Alamein, and a week later, during a patrol over our troops advancing into Libya, a dust storm forced him down in the desert, two miles away from his base. And on a sweep over Tobruk towards the end of the same month, he was engaged by A.A. and small arms fire, his Tomahawk’s left aileron being shot away, and seat pillar damaged.

But December got off to a better start, Creighton recording a successful encounter with a 109 on the 1st, which he damaged and claimed as a probable. And again on the 5th, when he claimed a Ju. 87 destroyed and a 109 damaged, the latter also as a probable. Other big dogfights developed on the 11th and the 20th, and although Creighton had no personal success, No. 250 put a good-sized dent in the Lufwaffe’s ranks. And a successful ground attack was carried out against the enemy airfield at Magrun on the 22nd, Creighton’s log book entry recording ‘1 Ju. 87 destroyed, 3 Ju. 52 ablaze, approx. 7 others damaged’. But two days later he was hit by A.A. fire over the Halfaya Pass, damage being caused to his left wing and canopy, and on the following day, after taking off from Fuka, his engine seized, forcing a wheels up landing on a rocky escarpment. His operational flying hours, meanwhile, had climbed above the 100 mark.

The opening months of 1942 saw the pilots of No. 250 enjoying a quieter operational agenda, to recover from the stress of several months on the front line and make-up numbers from relatively high losses. Even so, a number of “Scrambles” took place. By May, however, with the arrival of some new Kittyhawks, operations recommenced in earnest, Creighton’s log book entries noting a positive flurry of activity, including a major engagement on the 13th, ‘The memorable Ju. 52 Do. We destroyed 11 Ju. 52s and 2 Me. 110s!’. But on the 30th, his flight was jumped by 109s out of the sun, the Kittyhawks being split up and one Sergeant Pilot shot down.

In early June, Creighton flew operationally on successive days, sometimes twice, nearly every entry in his log book noting A.A. fire of one degree or another. But it was to the 109s of III/JG 53 that he finally fell victim on the 14th. At 8.35 a.m., while flying in protection of a convoy over “Bomb Alley”, between Crete and the African mainland, the Kittyhawks of No. 250 were engaged by nineteen 109s, two of their number, including the gallant Creighton, failing to return to base after the subsequent dogfight.

Aged just 22 years, he is commemorated on the Alamein Memorial, Egypt.

Sold with the recipient’s original Flying Log Book, covering the period of his training in January 1941 through to his loss in action in June 1943, with official ‘Death Presumed’ and ‘R.A.F. Central Depository’ stamps to title page and by last entry; and two Desert Air Force embroidered shoulder patches.