Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria. To coincide with the OMRS Convention

An rare post-war A.F.C., successful Battle of Britain pilot’s group of six awarded to Squadron Leader P. H. Tew, Royal Air Force, who damaged or destroyed several enemy aircraft as a Spitfire pilot with No. 54 Squadron, one of his victims, a 109, hitting the home press in August 1940: the pilot, Oberleutnant Tiedmann, evaded capture for 12 hours after having crash landed in a Kentish field

Air Force Cross, G.VI.R., 2nd issue, the reverse officially dated 1948; 1939-45 Star, clasp, Battle of Britain; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals; Royal Air Force L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 2nd issue (Act. Sqd. Ldr., R.A.F.), mounted as worn, good very fine, together with related Second World War period badges (3), including a Spitfire lapel pin, and an old 1939-45 Star tunic riband with rosette (10) £5000-6000

A.F.C. London Gazette 10 June 1948.

Phillip Harry Tew, who was born in February 1913 and was educated at Finchley County School, entered the Royal Air Force as an Aircraft Apprentice (563697) in September 1929. Passing out of his course in August 1932 as a Fitter, Aero Engines, he later served as an Air Gunner with No. 600 Squadron at Hendon and applied for pilot training. Duly accepted, he attended No. 3 Flying Training School at Grantham between September 1935 and July 1936, and on graduation he was posted to No. 65 Squadron, a Gloster Gladiator unit, as a Flight Sergeant. In March 1939, with hostilities looming, the Squadron took delivery of its first Spitfires, and at the end of the same month, Tew gained his first experience in the type.

In the New Year Tew was employed with the Advanced Air Striking Force in operations over France and Belgium, following which the Squadron commenced operations out of Northolt and Hornchurch. On 17 May, flying as “Red 3”, Tew and two other pilots of No. 65 spotted a Ju. 88 west of Haamsteede Aerodrome. The ensuing engagement, fought out at an altitude of just 50 feet, ended in the enemy’s destruction, although Tew was not in at the final kill.

Joining No. 54 Squadron, also based at Hornchurch, in late May 1940, Tew quickly became embroiled in the hectic fighting over Dunkirk, flying alongside such Squadron personalities as Flight Lieutenant J. A. “Prof” Leathart, Flying Officers A.C. “Al” Deere, E.F.J. “Jack” Charles, Colin Gray and Dorian Gribble, and Pilot Officer J.L. “Dizzy” Allen, who was killed in action 24 July 1940.

In the afternoon of 24 May, on an offensive patrol over Boulogne-Calais-Dunkirk, one section of No. 54 Squadron, including Tew, engaged 12 109s at 3000 feet, and he claimed one enemy aircraft downed in flames. Three other certain claims were made by fellow pilots, but two of the Squadron’s number failed to return to Hornchurch.

Back over the same battleground on 26 May, Tew claimed an Me. 110 as a probable (‘I attacked the rear aircraft and saw my burst entering the enemy’s top cockpit ...’). It was one of several successes claimed by 54’s pilots in a protracted dogfight which was curtailed when 12 109s appeared on the scene. Tew also claimed a Do. 215 on the 28th, his Flying Log Book noting that the enemy aircraft was subsequently ‘confirmed crashed.’

June was a quieter month, No. 54 flying just five operational sorties, but in July, when the Battle of Britain commenced proper, the Squadron flew nearly 30 operational sorties, sometimes three of them in a single day . At the end of the month, over the Thames Estuary, the whole of No. 54 fought a major engagement with numerous Do. 215s, He. 113s and 109s, Tew, flying as “Green 2”, claiming a probable 109 after firing 160 rounds at 250 yards range (‘Glycol and smoke seen from aircraft which was diving through cloud to sea ...’).

August was a busy month too, Tew claiming a 109 destroyed and an Me. 110 shared on the 8th - according to Men of the Battle of Britain - and a shared Me. 110 and a 109 destroyed on the 18th, the latter after flying no less than four patrols over Kent. It was on the second of these, after being scrambled from Manston, that he gave active assistance to Colin Gray and others in sending an Me. 110 back across the Channel trailing flames and smoke. And on the third, in the early afternoon, he achieved his most memorable victory, a 109 without even firing a round. As the Squadron’s Intelligence Officer concluded in his report of the day’s activities, ‘the 109 has difficulty in pulling out of a dive at low altitude. An Me. 109 following on the tail of a Spitfire crashed through this failure.’ And that Spitfire was piloted by Tew. His combat report takes up the story:

‘During a patrol at approximately 1300 hours on 18 August 1940, I was attacked by one Me. 109 when I was at 2000 feet. I turned towards the enemy aircraft in a diving turn. The enemy aircraft half-rolled and followed me. I pulled out of the dive at low altitude but the enemy aircraft continued his dive and struck the ground bursting into flames.’

A few days later the actual fate of Tew’s victim was described in The Kent Messenger:

‘When a Messerschmitt 109 came down [in open country at Leeds, near Maidstone] only its undercarriage and propeller appeared damaged, but villagers said its engine spluttered badly as it lost height. Home Guard men rushed to the spot, and found the pilot’s parachute had not been used. This led to an intensive search, but more than 12 hours elapsed before the pilot, a flaxen-haired youngster of about 22 [Oberleutnant Tiedmann], was apprehended by the Home Guard. He spoke good English, and apparently hoped to make for the coast in the hope of getting a small boat. “The war is finished for me now,” he remarked on his way to County Police Headquarters. He had a small compass with him and iron rations for two days. Apparently he had been under the impression he would be tortured if captured.’

Nor was the end of the action for Tew on the 18th. Later that afternoon, on his fourth patrol, he used up all of his ammunition on a Do. 215, an aircraft claimed in his Flying Log Book as ‘since confirmed.’ Not surprisingly, perhaps, he was grounded on the 20th, and a few weeks later was posted No. 57 O.T.U. and thence to the Central Flying School, Upavon.

Tew, who was commissioned in May 1942, served for the rest of the War as a Flying Instructor, in which role he continued to excel after hostilities, winning his A.F.C. in June 1948 after a lengthy posting at the Central Flying School at Little Rissington. Grounded in the same year, having notched up over 3,000 hours flying time, he remained in the Royal Air Force until retiring as a Squadron Leader in February 1963. He died in 1984.

Sold with the recipient’s original Flying Log Books (6), covering the periods October 1933 to September 1935, with additional pencil entries for 1936; October 1935 to August 1937; September 1937 to August 1942; August 1942 to April 1944; May 1944 to January 1946 and February 1946 to January 1948; together with Buckingham Palace A.F.C. forwarding letter and Air Ministry retirement letter; and several photographs.