Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Four: Wing Commander H. Bannerman, Medical Branch, Royal Air Force, who was injured and disabled by an American Army truck in 1944

General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine (F/L. H. Bannerman. R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, light pitting, generally very fine (4) £100-£140

Hugh Bannerman was born at Stanhope in Weardale on 9 October 1908 and was educated at Durham University. After house surgeon jobs in Newcastle and Greenwich he took a commission in the medical branch of the Royal Air Force in January 1934. He obtained his pilot’s licence through the Central Flying School before being posted pre-war to the Sudan and Palestine. He was very athletic and accomplished at swimming, rugby, and golf. Posted to France in the autumn of 1939, he was based in the Champagne country where he made lifelong friends. He was among the last to leave France in June 1940, through Brest.

Promoted Wing Commander in the Medical Branch on 1 January 1943, Bannerman was severely injured in 1944 by an American army truck driven at night on the wrong side of the road, which left him disabled. On discharge from the Royal Air Force in 1953 he took up ophthalmology, initially in Sunderland and then in Bristol. He died on 1 March 2005.