Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, to include the Brian Ritchie Collection (Part I)

Six: Group Captain W. N. Elwy-Jones, Royal Air Force

General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Palestine, Malaya (Flt. Lt., R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals; Coronation 1953, mounted court-style as worn, good very fine and better (6) £400-500

Walter Nigel Elwy-Jones, who was born at Llanishen, Cardiff in August 1912, attended Loughborough Technical College before joining the Royal Air Force on a short service commission in April 1931.

Having gained his “Wings”, he was initially posted to No. 54 Squadron at Hornchurch in March 1932, but, in the following year, he commenced a tour of duty in the Middle East that would include active service in Palestine. Originally, however, he joined No. 45 Squadron at Kelwan in Egypt, with whom he served on “aerial policing” duties which involved the occasional bombing run. He also flew a couple of times as ‘Escort to H.E. The Governor General of Sudan’. Then in March 1934, he joined No. 47 Squadron at Khartoum, another Fairey IIIF unit, this time flying patrols in conjunction with the Sudan Defence Force.

In early 1936 Elwy-Jones transferred to No. 216 Squadron, famed for its Cairo-Baghdad mail run, but in the following July, on gaining a permanent commission as a Flight Lieutenant, he was ordered to attend the Air Armament School back in the U.K. This latter course led to his appointment, in December 1938, in the rank of Squadron Leader, to Senior Armament Staff Officer of No. 1 Group, and, in September 1939, and by now an Acting Wing Commander, he joined the Advanced Air Striking Force out in France as its Senior Armament Officer.

Elwy-Jones returned to the U.K. at the end of the year, and, according to accompanying documentation, was hospitalised. In February 1940, however, he returned to duty in the appointment of Senior Armament Staff Officer at H.Q. No. 41 Group, where he remained until May 1944, when he joined H.Q., A.D.G.B. Then, in the following October, he was appointed Command Armament Officer, Fighter Command, a position of great responsiblity at the best of times, but even more so with the North-West Europe operations in full swing.

During the course of the War Elwy-Jones flew many aircraft types, including Spitfires on a regular basis, and, more unusually, in March 1941, he even piloted a captured Me. 108.

His post-war career, which witnessed his advancement to Group Captain in March 1952, included service as Command Weapons Officer Far East in Malaya 1948-50, and Command Armament Officer of Bomber Command 1951-54. Elwy-Jones retired in November 1957.

Sold with the recipient’s original Flying Log Books (4), covering the periods April 1931 to March 1932, March 1932 to July 1934, January 1938 to October 1945, and November 1945 to July 1955, and a fifth “Rough Log” with assorted entries from the 1930s; together with other original documentation, including Air Ministry pilot’s licence, with portrait photograph, issued in May 1938, assorted career photographs and an admission ticket for the funeral of George VI.