Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Five: Flying Lieutenant N. F. Wenzel, Royal Air Force, late Royal Canadian Air Force, a Coastal Command veteran who completed 321 trips during “Operation Plainfare”, the Berlin Airlift 1948-49

1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Defence Medal, silver; Canadian Voluntary Service Medal, with overseas clasp; War Medal 1939-45, silver, good very fine (5) £300-350

Norman Ferdinand Wenzel enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in August 1941 and qualified as an Air Observer / Navigator in June of the following year.

His first operational posting was in October 1943, when he joined No. 269 Squadron, an Anson unit of Coastal Command operating out of Reykjavik. Thereafter, until the end of 1944, when he was posted as an instructor to an O.T.U., he flew operationally, additional postings including 1407 (Met.) Flight and 279 and 251 Squadrons. The majority of his sorties were “Magnum Met” trips but his flying log book also notes more classic Coastal Command A.S. patrols. Wenzel was released from the R.C.A.F. in the rank of Flying Officer in June 1946, having latterly been attached to No. 426 Squadron, a Liberator unit of Transport Command.

In the following year, however, he obtained a commission in the R.A.F. and joined No. 242 Squadron, a unit of Transport Command operating in York aircraft. Still with the Squadron in the summer of 1948, he went on to complete a remarkable tally of 321 trips during the Berlin Airlift, his final such sortie being flown at the end of June 1949. Interestingly, the pilot of his aircraft for most of these flights was his brother, Flight Lieutenant C. L. Wenzel, D.F.C., A.F.C. Wenzel transferred to No. 83 Squadron, a Lincoln unit, in May 1950 but would appear to have resigned his commission as a Flight Lieutenant in March 1952.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including the recipient’s Flying Log Books (2), covering the periods March 1942 to February 1950, and March 1950 to March 1952, the latter also containing numerous civilian travel entries for 1971-2001; certificate of issue for R.C.A.F. “Operational Wings”, dated 13 June 1945; and a contemporary crew photograph.