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

Three: Sergeant K. Mellership, Royal Air Force

1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; War Medal 1939-45, with original Air Ministry condolence slip in the name of ‘Sergeant K. Mellership’, extremely fine (3) £180-220

Kenneth Mellership, who was a native of Bridlington, Yorkshire, was killed in action on 12 May 1940, while serving as a Sergeant Observer in a Blenheim of No. 107 Squadron. On that date, the squadron was despatched on a suicidal mission to destroy two bridges over the Albert canal at Maastricht, a mission that resulted in the loss of seven of its aircraft to flak and another three to enemy fighters. The multi-decorated Basil Embry was given the unenvious task of leading No. 107 into the attack, his autobiography Mission Accomplished describing the horrific reception that awaited them:

‘We now turned on to our final approach and after flying for two or three minutes on our bombing run a tornado of fire met us from the ground. One could hear the continuous crash of bursting shells all about us and see the tracer coming up at us from every direction. So intense was the enemy’s fire that the whole earth seemed to be erupting. The sky was filled with hundreds of black puffs intermingled with the flash of bursting shells and the criss-cross pathways of the tracer. Every few seconds my aircraft shook as it was struck by flying splinters, and I wondered how the others in my formation were faring and as I did so two aircraft burst into flames and went crashing down like meteors. Three more were to follow almost immediately ... As we turned away I noticed German fighters above us and to one side, waiting to pounce on us as soon as we were clear of the anti-aircraft defences ...’

Mellership, who was 25 years of age, is interred in a collective grave at Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium.