Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Seven: Chief Airman (Air Mechanic (Engineering)) H. A. B. Smith, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy

Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1936-1939 (KX. 88000 H. A. B. Smith. Sto. R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, these last five in their named card box of issued; Imperial Service Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue (Humphrey Arthur Bruce Smith) in its Spink & Son case of issue, extremely fine (7) £140-£180

I.S.M. London Gazette 27 September 1977: ‘Principal Officer H.M. Prison and Remand Centre, Cardiff.’

Humphrey Arthur Bruce Smith was born in Plymouth, Devon, on 30 November 1917, and joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class in H.M.S. Drake II on 27 January 1936. He joined H.M.S. Adventure on 17 June 1936, serving in this minelaying cruiser until 17 January 1939, including the operations in Palestine. Whilst he was at Victory 2, he transferred to the Fleet Air Arm as an Air Mechanic (E) on 5 July 1939, being assigned to Lee on Solent with a new Official Number FX80003. After periods at Royal Naval Air Stations Daedalus, Peregrine, Heron and Merlin, he joined the Fleet Carrier Formidable in November 1940 and would have seen action during the battle of Cape Matapan on 28 March 1941, before joining H.M.S. Grebe, the Royal Naval Air Station Dekheila at Alexandria, on 6 April 1941. This became the base for all F.A.A. units operating in Egypt and the Western Desert and for fleet requirements of carriers in the Mediterranean. Having advanced to L.A.M. (E) in November 1941, he left Grebe in February 1942 to return to Daedalus, where he advanced to Acting P.O.A. (E) before joining Heron for 761 Squadron, May-August 1942. Further periods followed at R.N.A.S. Daedalus and Heron, during which period he advanced to P.O.A.M. (E) before joining Merlin for Waxwing, a shore base on the Clyde in August 1943. In September 1943 he transferred to Saker for 851 Squadron, and on 1 January 1944 the squadron joined the Escort Carrier Shah which later operated in the Indian Ocean. Shah was transferred to the East Indies Fleet and then refitted in Durban before taking part in the Burma campaign in 1945. Smith was advanced to C.P.O.A.M. (E) on 1 March 1945. During April and May 1945 she participated in Operation Bishop, launching patrols and strikes against Nicobar preparatory to the invasion of Rangoon. Soon after, she was tasked with the search for the Japanese cruiser Haguro. Mechanical problems with the catapult resulted in most of 851's Avengers being sent to H.M.S. Emperor in exchange for Hellcats from 800 and 804 Squadron. A serious landing accident by one of those Hellcats effectively removed Shah from operations on 11 May. Nonetheless 851's Avengers, flying from Emperor, were able to locate and damage Haguro, prior to her sinking by the 26th Destroyer Flotilla in Operation Dukedom. Smith remained in Shah until October 1945, after which he returned to various Royal Naval Air Stations based around the U.K. He was finally promoted to Chief Airman (A.M. (E)) on 1 October 1947 and left the service on 13 April 1948.

Sold with original Certificate of Service, History Sheet for Air Mechanics, certificate for Imperial Service Medal and some Home Office correspondence.