Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Six: Lieutenant R. N. W. Jeff, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, who flew as a Bristol F.2b Observer with 48 (Fighter) Squadron, and was forced to land behind enemy lines on the Western Front, 11 August 1917, where he and his pilot were taken prisoner of war by the Germans.

British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. R. N. W. Jeff. R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45; South Africa Medal for War Service, last four officially impressed ‘87554 R. N. W. Jeff’, mounted as originally worn, with frayed ribands, generally very fine or better (6) £300-£400

Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, March 2010.

Robert Nimmo Williamson Jeff was born in Linlithgow, Scotland in 1898, and was educated at Rochester Mathematical School and Sheffield Central Secondary School. Jeff then studied at Sheffield and Liverpool Universities, and subsequently resided in ‘Danesfield’, New Ferry, Cheshire. He enlisted in the Artists Rifles in October 1916, before joining the Royal Flying Corps as a Cadet in December of the same year. Jeff was commissioned Second Lieutenant in April 1917, and after training as an Observer was posted for operational flying with 48 Squadron (Bristol F.2b’s) from Bellevue in May 1917.

On 20 May 1917, as a 2nd Lieutenant and Observer, serving with No. 48 Squadron, his Bristol F.2b, flown by Captain R. Raymond-Barker, was in combat with a German Albatros D.III which was last seen going down out of control over Brebières.

On 11 August 1917, as a 2nd Lieutenant and Observer, serving with No. 48 Squadron, his Bristol F.2b, piloted by 2nd Lieutenant G. College, on a photo-reconnaissance flight to Ostende, was forced to land on enemy held territory and the two were made prisoners-of-war. Jeff was held in a POW camp in Germany, was repatriated 14 December 1918, and demobilised in May 1919.

After the war Jeff was employed by the Hydraulic Engineer Company Ltd Chester. Lieutenant Jeff later saw service with South African Forces during the Second World War.