Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare and well-documented Second World War P.R.U. Mosquito pilot’s D.F.C. group of seven awarded to Flight Lieutenant W. K. Watson, Royal Air Force, late Royal Australian Air Force: returning from a mission to Munich in September 1944, his aircraft was set-upon by two Me. 262 fighter jets, and in the ensuing 30 minute combat - much of it at ground level - his Mosquito hit a Bavarian pine: but pilot, navigator and a quantity of pine needles got home safely to an Allied base
Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated 1945, with its Royal Mint case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, clasp, France and Germany; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals; Australia Service Medal 1939-45, these last six, with the exception of the Italy Star which is unnamed, all officially inscribed ‘404874 W. K. Watson’, mounted as worn, very fine and better (7) £2500-3000

At other times adverse weather has forced him down to almost ground level. On one occasion, in the Munich area, his aircraft was intercepted by two Me. 262 jet fighters. Nevertheless, he completed his allotted task although a running fight ensued which lasted thirty minutes during which he manoeuvred his aircraft with such skill that it was not hit.’

William Kenneth Watson enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in December 1940 and commenced his pilot training at Tamworth in February 1941. Awarded his “Wings” in July of the same year, and commissioned in March 1942, he became a staff pilot at No. 2 A.F.U. in England, where he served until August 1943, but, having attended an Operational Training Unit towards the end of the latter year, he was posted to No. 540 (Photographic Reconnaissance ) Squadron in February 1944.

Teaming-up with Flying Officer K. Pickup as his Navigator, he flew his first mission - over Northern Holland - on 21 February 1944, and between that date and April 1945 notched up well over 50 more, his “targets” also including sites in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and Norway.

As evidenced by his relevant Flying Log Book (see below), some of these sorties developed into the hair-raising kind, not least the occasion referred to in his D.F.C. recommendation, when his Mosquito PR IX LR429 was “jumped” by a brace of Me. 262 jet fighters during a mission to photograph Munich and Nurnburg on 4 September 1944.

Not related in the recommendation is the fact that Watson was compelled to bring his Mosquito down to 1500 feet, as a consequence of which he hit the tip of a Bavarian pine - it shattered the nose perspex and filled the cockpit with pine needles, making it very cold and uncomfortable. Nonetheless, with considerable skill and calm, he piloted the damaged aircraft on through the Brenner Pass to San Severo, Italy, where he accomplished a safe and welcome landing - it is perhaps for this unexpected visit that he laid claim to an Italy Star.

Indeed Watson was no stranger to low altitude flying, poor weather and the intervention of enemy aircraft being among the main causes for such desperate measures - it was, of course, the Mosquito’s capability to climb to around 40,000 feet - and its great speed - that made it such a perfect vehicle for photographic reconnaissance.

Yet, as was the case on 6 July 1944, when Watson was briefed to photograph the V. 1 site at St. Pol Saintcourt, he had to dive to 2000 feet to obtain the best footage, before returning home at ground level. Not surprisingly for such consistent and daring work, he was duly gazetted for a D.F.C. Released from the R.A.A.F. in January 1946, Watson opted to join the Royal Air Force in May 1949. Tragically, however, after a test flight to Cuxhaven in June 1953, he was killed when a night-photo-flash exploded in the bomb bay of his Canberra while landing.

Sold with the recipient’s original Flying Log Books (3), covering the periods February 1941 to May 1945; May 1945 to July 1951 and August 1951 to June 1953; together with a superb and quite unique wartime photograph / scrap album, featuring a vast array of the “target” photographs taken by the recipient in his time with No. 540 Squadron, the whole dated, captioned and with cut-out map locations (and including such notable sites as the V. 1 rocket station at St. Pol Saintcourt), together with a variety of other inserts, chief among them a ‘a bit of Bavarian pine from a forest near Munich’ and a vivid account of the same action, and a certificate marking the award of the “Order of Photo Freddies” to Watson on completion of 25 sorties, the same annotated with the award of a Bar for an additional 25 trips completed by March 1945; and other assorted documentation, including an illuminated College of Arms 540 Squadron crest, three silk wartime “evasion” maps and embroidered uniform “Wings” (3), one R.A.F. and the others R.A.A.F.