Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An interesting Knight Bachelor’s group of three awarded to Lieutenant Sir Sydney C. T. Littlewood, Royal Flying Corps, later Chairman of the Legal Aid Committee of the Law Society, who, tasked with delivering a brand new F.E. 2D aircraft to the Western Front on 1 June 1916 on what was his first operational flight, lost his way and inadvertently landed at a German aerodrome, where he was captured and taken Prisoner of War- an episode that was raised and debated in the House of Lords

Knight Bachelor’s Badge, 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel; British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. S. C. T. Littlewood. R.A.F.) mounted for display purposes in a display frame, together with a Royal Flying Corps silver and enamel sweetheart’s brooch, good very fine (3) £600-£800

Knight Bachelor London Gazette 7 June 1951: Sydney Charles Thomas Littlewood, Esq., Chairman, Legal Aid Committee of the Law Society.

Sir Sydney Charles Thomas Littlewood was born at Bournemouth, Hampshire, on 15 December 1895 and following schooling embarked upon legal training. A keen pilot, he gained his Royal Aero Club Certificate (no. 1755) at Hendon on 16 September 1915, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps on 17 May 1916. Whilst waiting for a Squadron posting, the War Office sent a message that two FE pilots were required to ferry planes to Squadrons already in France. There was a misunderstanding somewhere, and the planes to be ferried were not ordinary F.E.’s, but the brand new F.E. 2D. When Littlewood discovered this he pointed this out, explained that he was an inexperienced pilot, and that he was unsure of the way to France, never having been there before. Told that there were no spare pilots available, he was given a map and told to get going.

On 31 May 1916 Littlewood and his observer, Lieutenant D. L. Grant, left Farnborough for France. They were reported flying over the Allied lines at Armentieres, before disappearing in the direction of Lille. The plane and the crew were posted missing, but on the evening of 1 June 1916 a German wireless communiqué stated, somewhat sarcastically, that an FE had crossed German lines and had descended undamaged at a German aerodrome near Lille after the pilot had lost his way, and that both the pilot and observer were in the hands of the Germans. The enemy further thanked the British for the aircraft, which they said would be ‘most useful’.

Imprisoned as a prisoner of War in Holziminden for the remainder of the War, Littlewood was finally repatriated on 3 January 1919. The whole episode surrounding the loss of Britain’s newest aircraft, in enemy hands barely three hours after it had left the factory, was subsequently debated in the House of Lords.

Resuming his legal training on the cessation of hostilities, Littlewood was admitted as a Solicitor in 1922, and served as Senior Partner in the firm of Wilkinson, Howlett & Moorhouse. He was a member of the Council of Law Society from 1940, and served as Chairman of the Legal Aid Committee from 1946 to 1952, receiving a Knighthood for his services in 1951. He was appointed vice President of the Law Society in 1958, and died on 9 September 1967.

Sold with a large quantity of copied research, and various photographic images of the recipient.