Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine post-war military division O.B.E., Second War ‘1944’ night fighter Radar Operator/Navigator’s D.F.C. group of six awarded to Flight Lieutenant K. Dear, Royal Air Force, who flew on many operational sorties in Beaufighters and Mosquitoes with Nos 125, 141 and 239 Squadrons - the latter two being Special Duties Squadrons, flying Serrate operations. Dear is credited with 3 enemy aircraft destroyed, 2 damaged, and 2 trains also damaged. Both he and his pilots frequently suffered heavy damage to their aircraft - and on 10 April 1944, Dear and Squadron Leader J. S. Booth had to parachute to safety after their Mosquito’s starboard engine had caught fire

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 2nd type, breast badge, silver-gilt; Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ‘1944’; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, generally good very fine (6) £2,600-£3,000

Dix Noonan Webb, September 2000 (another incorrectly assembled group which was possibly named up with the intent to deceive, lacking original documentation, and has been subsequently discredited, appeared for sale in 2007)

O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1959.

D.F.C. London Gazette 14 November 1944. The original recommendation states:

‘‘Flight Lieutenant K. Dear joined this Squadron on 11.12.44 and has flown as Navigator/Radio with S/Ldr. J. S. Booth, D.F.C., on 23 operational sorties since that date. Prior to joining No. 239 (B.S.) Squadron, F/Lt. Dear has completed a tour with No. 125 Squadron and commenced a 2nd tour with 141 Squadron. His record on arrival here comprised one Ju.88 destroyed, one Ju.88 damaged and one Me.110 damaged. His two victories with S/Ldr. Booth on 7.7.44 when two Me.110’s were destroyed near Meaux and Compiegne bringing his total to three enemy aircraft destroyed and two damaged.’

Kenneth Dear was born in 1909 at Teddington, Middlesex, and was educated at Kingston Grammar School. He commenced aircrew training in October 1941 and joined 125 (Newfoundland) Squadron in February 1942, flying as a Beaufighter Radio Observer. A night fighter squadron, Dear was primarily crewed with Flight Lieutenant (later Squadron Leader) J. R. A. Bailey as his pilot. Despite frequently flying on Ops, Dear’s log book often states ‘No Trade’ at this point of the war. Commissioned into the R.A.F.V.R. on 1 July 1942, he was credited with damaging a Ju.88 20 miles west of Swansea on 20 September, and shortly after 0830 hours on 10 November 1942 shot down a Ju.88 in to the North Sea 118 miles east of Montrose with his pilot Flight Lieutenant Bailey, but not without the following battle damage to their own aircraft: ‘Hole in each wing inboard of engine - both spars damaged. Two bullets in port engine. Hole in starboard side of tail plane - spar damaged. Two holes in starboard perspex, and one through hydraulic tank and instrument panel. Three holes also in nose ...’ Spitfires of 164 Squadron’s Blue Section escorted the crippled Beaufighter safely home to Peterhead.

Completing his first tour in March 1943, Dear was rested with attachments to the 415th Squadron, U.S.A.A.C., at Cranfield, and 488 (New Zealand) Squadron at Ayr. In October 1943 he joined 141 Squadron at Wittering, and on 16 December 1943, with Squadron Leader F. Lambert piloting Mosquito 659, damaged an Me.110 in the Berlin area whilst on bomber escort duty.

Serrate Radar operations had begun with 141 Squadron in September 1943, with modifications being made all the time:

‘On 7 January the first Mosquito with the new modifications was flown to Hatfield from West Raynham for final approval by de Havilland, while Wing Commander Roberts drove to Radlett to expedite the delivery of new equipment. Three days later, a completed Mosquito went to each of the three Serrate squadrons. Nos. 239 and 169 were still under training but two Mosquitoes in 141 Squadron were aloft on Serrate duty on 14/15 January when 498 bombers hit Brunswick, of which a staggering total of thirty-eight failed to return. Almost predictably there were problems with the Serrate Mosquitoes. The Mk II crewed by Squadron Leader Freddie Lambert and Flying Officer Ken Dear suffered a port engine failure 20 miles inland of the Dutch coast and was forced to land on one engine at Coltishall.’ (Confounding The Reich, The RAF’s Secret War of Electronic Countermeasures in WWII, The Story of 100 (Special Duties) Group RAF Bomber Command 1943-45, by M. W. Bowman and T. Cushing refers)

In February 1944, Dear was posted as Navigator to 239 (Special Duties) Squadron - a Serrate and Perfectos unit of 100 ‘Confound and Destroy’ Group, which waged war by scientific as well as conventional means. On 10 April 1944 Squadron Leader J. S. Booth ordered him to bale out at 6,000 feet over Walsingham when their Mosquito’s starboard engine caught fire. Both pilot and navigator landed safely to continue their ‘extra-routine’ activities with 239. Dear flew in a large number of Serrate operations in June 1944, including on D-Day itself: ‘Serrate - Support of Bombing Behind Beachhead. Patrol: Dunkirk - Paris - Chartres - Granville - Rouen - Abbeville - Calais’ (Log Book refers).

On the night of 7 July 1944, during a sixty minute patrol of the Paris area in support of raids on Vaires and St Leu, Dear and Booth pulled off their celebrated double Me.110 kill, and on 1 September added to their tally by inflicting ‘Cat. B’ damage on trains north of Meppel and south of Leeuwarden, Holland. Squadron Leader Dear remained in the R.A.F. until retirement in 1959.

Sold with the following original documentation: 2 Royal Air Force Observer’s and Air Gunner’s Flying Look Books (20 October 1941 - 26 February 1945 and 19 April 1945 - 17 September 1960); Original Combat Report for Interception Raid, 10 November 1942; Buckingham Palace Investiture Ticket, dated 14 November 1944; with copied research.