Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Lieutenant C. N. Silvester, Royal Air Force, late Royal Flying Corps, Royal Field Artillery and Royal Engineers

1914-15 Star (1266 Spr. C. N. Silvester. R.E.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. C. N. Silvester. R.A.F.) good very fine (3 ) £200-£300

Colin Norman Silvester was born on 25 September 1895, and was a pupil engineer with London & South West Railway at Eastleigh, Hampshire, from 1912 to 9 August 1914, when he enlisted into the Hampshire Royal Engineers. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery (Special Reserve) on 16 October 1915. He was attached to the Royal Flying Corps and served as an Observer with 34 Squadron, flying RE8s. He later transferred to the Royal Air Force and was afterwards appointed to a commission in the Indian Auxiliary Force as a Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, North Western Railway Regiment.

Sold with various original documents and photographs including:
i. Army Commission as Second Lieutenant, Special Reserve of Officers, 16 October 1915.
ii. Royal Air Force Temporary Commission as Lieutenant from 1 April 1918, dated 1 November 1918.
iii. Indian Auxiliary Force Commission as Lieutenant, 1st Bn. The North Western Railway Regiment from 1 October 1922.
iv. Graduation Certificate for completing a course ‘on the Military Wing’ at Central Flying School, Upavon, Wilts, and is qualified for service in the Royal Air Force, dated 19 May 1918.
v. Portrait photograph of Silvester in R.F.C. uniform.
vi. Photograph of Silvester as Observer in a RE8 with Lieut. F. W. Mathias, 34 Squadron, Flanders 1916.
vii. Photograph captioned ‘Self swinging a prop RE/8 Flanders 1916’, together with several aerial photographs and a group photograph of R.F.C. officers.
viii. Contemporary magazine cuttings featuring British aces and V.C. winners McCudden, Ball, and Bishop, together with Baron Richthoven and Max Immelmann, these mostly with ink captions, possibly by Silvester; together with other cuttings and ephemera.