Orders, Decorations and Medals

A rare and unusual M.B.E. group of ten awarded for services as a P.O.W. to Flight Lieutenant P. A. L. G. Libert, a Belgian fighter pilot who joined the Royal Air Force, and who was made a Prisoner of War after his Spitfire was shot down over France

The Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) 2nd type; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals; Belgium, Croix de Guerre 1940, with palm; Escaper’s Cross 1940-44; Resistance Medal 1940-45; Commemoration Medal 1940-45, with crossed swords on ribbon; Prisoners of War Medal 1940-45, all unnamed as issued but sold with original M.B.E. Warrant, Official Citation for M.B.E., Certificates for the first four Belgian awards, four Belgian Commission documents, and three Identity Cards including his P.O.W. Card from Stalag Luft III, extremely fine (10) £600-800

Honorary M.B.E. (Military) approved 15 October 1948. The following official citation accompanied the award: ‘Flight Lieutenant Libert joined the Belgian Section of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1942, after having escaped from enemy occupied territory. He has endured many vicissitudes. In 1940, as a fighter pilot, he was severely wounded and burned and, while serving with No. 349 Squadron, his aircraft was shot down over France and he was captured. He again sustained severe burns but with great courage and fortitude he refused treatment because he would not divulge information which might be useful to the enemy. As a prisoner of war Flight Lieutenant Libert has set an example to all his fellow prisoners.’

The translation of the citation for his Croix de Guerre reads: ‘A young, courageous flying officer; already badly burnt on 10th May 1940 during the attack on the airfield at Schaffen, not having completely recovered from his burns, did not hesitate in leaving Belgium to rejoin the Belgian Airforce in England, where he arrived with his old wounds unhealed. After a long stay in hospitals, he set out again in active service with the 610 and then the 349 Squadron. He distinguished himself in the course of multiple actions and ground attacks, was shot down on the 10th May 1944, seriously injured again and taken prisoner.’

Lieutenant Paul Libert flew Hurricanes with the Belgian Air Force. When he joined No. 610 Squadron as a Sergeant Pilot in April 1943, he flew Spitfires in a great many operations until June 1943 when he was posted to No. 349 (Belgian) Squadron. Still flying Spitfires and now a Flying Officer, Libert continued to increase his tally of operational sorties for the next eleven months until the fateful day in May 1944 when he became a prisoner. The Squadron Operations Record Book carries the following entry: ‘May 10th is a very unlucky day for F/O Libert, four years ago to the day he was badly burnt when a german bomb set fire to his hurricane at Schaeffen. Luckily it seems he has every chance to make good an escape.’ Libert was imprisoned at Stalug Luft III, at Sagan and Belaria, for the duration of the war.