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

The outstanding Second World War bomber and fighter pilot’s D.S.O. and ‘Triple’ D.F.C. group of seven awarded to Squadron Leader K. F. “Jimmy” Thiele, Royal New Zealand Air Force, one of just 15 aircrew to achieve this combination of gallantry awards in the 1939-45 War: having completed a brace of operational tours in Bomber Command, he flew around 150 sorties in Spitfires and Tempests, gaining two confirmed “kills” before himself falling victim to ground fire over Germany in February 1945, when he baled out at 2000 feet with serious burns

Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., 1st issue, the reverse of the suspension bar officially dated ‘1943’, with its Garrard, London case of issue; Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., with Second and Third Award Bars, the reverse of the Cross officially dated ‘1942’ and the Bars ‘1943’ and ‘1945’; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, copy clasp, Atlantic; Defence and War Medals; New Zealand War Service Medal 1939-45, together with related Caperpillar Club Membership Badge, the reverse officially inscribed ‘S. Ldr. K. F. Thiele, D.S.O., D.F.C.’, good very fine or better (8) £15000-20000

D.S.O. London Gazette 14 April 1943. The original recommendation states:

‘This officer has, at all times, displayed outstanding keenness and determination during operations. The majority of his sorties have been attacks on well-defended and distant targets which have all been highly successful. On one occasion, during an attack on Berlin, his Rear-Gunner lost consciousness from lack of oxygen, but Flight Lieutenant Thiele proceeded with the mission although two of the crew were fully occupied with the unconscious man. Later he returned to this country at a very low altitude, in an attempt to succour the Gunner.

While on a flight to Nuremburg in March 1943, the port engine caught fire early on the outward journey. The flames were extinguished however, and the whole flight accomplished with success. His outstanding courage and devotion to duty and confidence have earned the admiration of all.’

D.F.C. London Gazette 11 August 1942. The original recommendation states:

‘Squadron Leader Thiele has been attached to this squadron for eight months during which time he has completed 25 successful sorties. On every occasion he has shown great skill and has pressed home his attacks regardless of opposition. His keenness and efficiency have been an inspiration to other members of the Squadron. He has always been a leader and has just proved a thoroughly courageous and skilled Flight Commander. In view of this officer’s excellent record and number of operational trips, it is strongly recommended that he be awarded the D.F.C.’

First Bar to D.F.C. London Gazette 28 May 1943. The original recommendation for an immediate award states:

‘Squadron Leader Thiele was Captain of a Lancaster of No. 467 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron detailed to attack Duisburg on the night of 12-13 May 1943. While over enemy territory, and nearly at the target, the Lancaster was badly hit by a shell bursting right underneath the fuselage, severely damaging the aircraft. This did not in any way deter Squadron Leader Thiele from carrying on to bomb his target. While doing his final bombing run-up, the aircraft was caught in a cone of searchlights at about 16,000 feet. Despite this, Squadron Leader Thiele maintained his straight run-up to the target, in order to ensure accurate bombing by his Bomb-Aimer, thereby displaying courage, determination and devotion to duty of the highest order.

Just as the Bomb-Aimer had let the bombs go, the aircraft was again severely damaged by shell bursts all round, one burst completely destroying the starboard outer engine. Squadron Leader Thiele, however, by expert airmanship, managed to feather this airscrew. Almost immediately afterwards the starboard inner engine was hit and put out of action. Again this officer showed complete coolness and airmanship of the highest order in managing to feather the second engine. The bursting flak had also smashed the entire perspex on the starboard side of the pilot’s cabin and Bomb-Aimer’s cabin, a shell splinter hitting Squadron Leader Thiele on the side of the head and dazing him.

Despite being hit himself, with both starboard engines useless and being still in the searchlight cone, Squadron Leader Thiele, in a dazed condition, managed by his coolness and skill to get out of this perilous position and bring his aircraft and crew back safely. He was unable to maintain height once over the British coast, but, in a display of utmost skill, crash-landed his aircraft at an aerodrome, without injury to any of his crew.

Squadron Leader Thiele throughout this entire sortie showed determination, exceptional valour, skill and devotion to duty which, it is strongly recommended, should be recognised by the immediate award of a Bar to the D.F.C.’

Second Bar to D.F.C. London Gazette 8 May 1945. The recommendation states:
‘This officer, who has already completed two tours on Bomber Command, during which time he was awarded the D.S.O., D.F.C. and Bar, has, in a very short period, proved himself to be an outstanding fighter pilot. Despite very heavy enemy opposition, Flight Lieutenant Thiele has, by his courageous and skilful leadership and determination, destroyed and damaged 14 locomotives, numerous barges and vitally needed rolling stock and M.T. of the enemy’s hard pressed lines of supply. He has personally destroyed two enemy aircraft in aerial combat, one on the ground and shared in the destruction of another. His complete disregard for his own safety and his boundless energy have been an inspiration to the whole Squadron. I strongly recommend that he be awarded a Second Bar to his D.F.C.’

Keith Frederick “Jimmy” Thiele was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in February 1921 and worked as a reporter for the Star-Sun newspaper prior to enlisting in the Royal New Zealand Air Force at Levin in December 1940. Commencing his pilot training at Harewood in January 1941, Thiele was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on gaining his “Wings” that April, and was embarked for the U.K. where he was posted to No. 22 Operational Training Unit and thence to No. 405 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron at Pocklington, Yorkshire.

Commencing his operational tour on the last day of October 1941, Thiele went on to complete 32 sorties in the Squadron’s Wellingtons and Halifaxes, his outings including the first “1000 Bomber” raid on Cologne in May 1942 and the second such operation against Essen two nights later, in addition to a wide variety of other targets in Germany and France, among them Berlin, Hamburg, St. Nazaire and Cherbourg - on the latter occasion, on the night of 6-7 January 1943, Thiele’s Wellington crash-landed at Holme. But of all of his sorties with No. 405 Squadron, it was the “1000 Bomber” raid on Cologne that was probably the most memorable. Sergeant A. J. Campbell, an American and fellow crew member, afterwards spoke of that night, and his admiration for Thiele, in an interview with The New York Times Magazine:

‘ ... Then there is my skipper, I mean our skipper Keith Thiele, who is about the same age as myself and comes from Christchurch in New Zealand. He is the best little old bomber pilot in the whole Air Force and every one of us looks up to him as a little tin God. I have made fifteen trips with him. More than once he has got us out of the ticklish spots when we have been caught in a cone of German searchlights and had enemy A.A. Gunners pumping everything they had all around us. I would not like to go out in any kite now that did not have Keith at the controls ... Old Keith just weaved in and out of the barrage, tossing our “Halibag” around as if it were a baby. Once or twice the German shells burst fairly close underneath our kite but they did not do us much harm other than scratching our aileron. We could hear those shells going off above the roar of our four motors. The explosions sounded like big steel doors being slammed shut with a hell of a bang ... As we stooged around we got caught in a big cone of searchlights. Then things began to get really hot. The Germans kept their searchlights trained on us while on the ground the Gunners tried to take our range and let us have it. The skipper gave them a good run for their money, diving, twisting and weaving in and out of the barrage, and finally wriggled out. All the while we could hear Keith singing - at least he calls it singing; we don’t. But he had some New Zealand song in his bean that night and he kept singing it over and over, stopping every once and a while, when ack-ack came quite close, to shout “Look at those so and sos trying to get us!” ’

With his first tour of operations - and first D.F.C. - under his belt, Thiele was “rested” for just a month or two before volunteering for a second tour and being posted to No. 467 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron, a Lancaster unit based at Botesford, Leicestershire, at the end of 1942. Quickly back in action, in the rank of Acting Squadron Leader, he went on to complete another 24 sorties, his tour including no less than four trips to Berlin, four to Essen, two trips apiece to Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Nuremburg and Stuttgart, and single visits to other heavily defended targets such as Bremen, Dortmund, Duisburg and La Spezia, the latter as part of one of Bomber Command’s inaugural “shuttle” bombing raids. And, as verified by his D.S.O. and immediate second D.F.C. recommendations, these trips were genuinely completed in the face of heavy opposition, his remarkable handling of his crippled Lancaster over Duisburg on the night of 12-13 May 1943 being a case in point - having been compelled to make a forced-landing at Coltishall after getting back on two engines, he plucked from the right ear-piece of his flying helmet the flak splinter that had given him a ‘terrific clout’ on impact and left him with an ear ‘swollen like a cauliflower’; but Thiele was no stranger to such emergencies, his flying log book revealing another forced-landing at Ford - ‘2 engines. 1 Wheel’ - after the raid on Stuttgart on the night of 14-15 April 1943. On this occasion his aircraft had been hit by a ‘chance rifle shot’ that cut the cooling pipe of the starboard outer engine and also put out of action part of the hydraulic system.

Once more “rested” with an appointment at Ferry Command - a posting that included the occasional cross-Atlantic flight - Thiele next made moves to realise his ambition to join Fighter Command, and, following a conversion course on Spitfires at No. 57 Operational Training Unit, he was posted to No. 41 Squadron - motto “Seek and Destroy” - in February 1944. Thereafter, over the next six months, operating out of such airfields at Friston, Tangmere and West Malling, he flew nearly 100 operational sorties, sometimes on convoy or Mitchell bomber escort duties, and on other occasions in cross-Channel “Rhubarbs” and “Rodeos”, one of the latter including an outing on D-Day. Ultimately, however, he was employed in the hazardous and extremely difficult pastime of “Buzz Bomb” and “Doodle Bug” patrols, claiming at least one confirmed V-1.

In October 1944, following a conversion course to Tempests, Thiele transferred to No. 486 (R.N.Z.A.F.) Squadron, part of 2nd Tactical Air Force, at Venlo, and, in January 1945, assumed command of No. 3 Squadron, appointments that witnessed him completing another 50 sorties, mainly over Holland and Germany, his flying log book recording many successes by way of destroyed or damaged enemy transport (and a brace of Ju. 52s on the ground at Detmold on 14 January 1945). No less impressive was Thiele’s mounting tally of successful air-to-air combats, 109s being claimed over Malmedy on 24 December 1944 and over Munster just five days later:

‘ ... When I had closed to about 250 yards, the No. 2 stopped turning and climbed again. I fired a short burst from about 50 yards dead astern. I saw pieces fly off the starboard wing, the outer half of which crumpled. The enemy aircraft turned over to starboard and spun slowly down, pouring white smoke from the engine. I was unable to follow as the first Hun was getting on my tail. The enemy aircraft I attacked was seen to crash by 274 Squadron, and I claim one Me. 109 destroyed’ (original combat report for this action over Malmedy, 24 December 1944, refers).

‘ ... As I broke I saw another gaggle of 20-plus Huns coming down out of the sun. In the ensuing mix-up I lost the rest of my section and in endeavouring to out-turn three Me. 109s on my tail I spun. I regained control and continued to aileron-turn, down to the deck. I straightened out and found that I had shaken off the pursuit. At the same time I saw an Me. 109 flying low ahead and to starboard about 500 yards away. My speed was so great that I overshot and pulled up to starboard. He saw me and began weaving violently still flying N.E. very low. I turned and pulled in about 30 yards behind him and fired a short burst dead astern, seeing strikes on the starboard wing-root and pieces flying off from under the engine cover. Immediately the Hun pulled up in a steep climbing turn to port with white smoke pouring from the engine. I tried to follow but he was out-climbing and out-turning me. When he had climbed to about 1500 feet the pilot baled out and the aircraft crashed into a wood and exploded. The chute opened. I claim one Me. 109 destroyed’ (original combat report for this action over Munster, 29 December 1944, refers).

Inevitably, perhaps, Thiele’s luck ran out in the new year, when, during an armed reconnaissance on 10 February 1945, his Tempest was hit by flak and he was compelled to take up membership of the Caterpillar Club by baling out east of Dorsten, where he was captured. In his subsequent official debriefing report, he wrote:

‘On 10 February 1945, I was flying a Tempest I on an armed reconnaissance. I attacked a train north of Dortmund and as I climbed after the attack I was hit in the engine and main petrol tank. The engine failed immediately and the aircraft caught fire in the cockpit. I baled out at about 2000 feet and was severely burned on the face, eyes and wrists. I landed 200 yards from a small railway station in which was the flak battery which had shot me down. They picked me up immediately I touched down. I was marched across the station where there was considerable demonstration and then shut me up in a locker on a flak truck under guard - my boots were taken off. Green police arrived about one hour later and took me to a police station nearby. Here I was kept for nearly two days without food or any form of covering. It was bitterly cold. I was only given two drinks of water. My burns were not treated and my eyes became completely stuck up. I was taken to Dortmund aerodrome where I was locked up in solitary confinement for five days. My wounds were dressed and I had a mattress but no blankets. I left Dortmund by train for Oberursel which we reached in 24 hours. Here I was searched, but not thoroughly owing to my bandages. I was placed in solitary confinement. I went before interrogators and gave my number, rank and name adding that I was under orders not to converse further. I was threatened with the Gestapo and returned to my cell. Interrogated again by a Major, I was told that I could not go to hospital, which he described in glowing terms, until I had given the particulars wanted. I refused to talk and was shown a book with particulars of all other fighter pilots shot down and then a diagram on the wall behind me showing a complete layout of 2nd T.A.F. I couldn’t study my Wing closely for fear of giving a clue but glancing around I saw the layout and names were pretty accurate. As I still refused to talk I was taken back to my cell. I was taken to hospital with seven other P.O.Ws at Hohemark - half an hours walk from Oberursel. I stayed there until 6 March 1945. I was then taken with other P.O.Ws to Dulag Luft at Wetzlar. Here I was isolated as I had a sore throat and was suspected of having diptheria. With the aid of Captain Griffiths, Dental Officer Para. I, I avoided being evacuated to Nuremburg and left with Squadron Leader Spencer on 31 March 1945.’

Squadron Leader Spencer takes up the story in his own debriefing report:

‘Squadron Leader Thiele, Father Dan McGowan, G.F.R.C., and I decided to leave the camp which was open and make our way back. Just before we left, the Senior Air Officer, Colonel Stack, U.S.A.A.F., threatened to put us under arrest if we tried. I left the camp with Squadron Leader Thiele on the morning of 31 March 1945 on two bicycles. These we exchanged for a motor bike and rode unquestioned to Honigon Bridge at Remagen, where we were detained for identification by the U.S.A. police. We managed to contact an R.A.F. Balloon unit near Bonn, who signed for us and returned us to our unit [No. 3 Squadron]. We reported at 1700 Hours on 2 April 1945.’

At No. 3 Squadron Thiele was immediately declared unfit for further operational duty and “grounded”, but was heartened no doubt by news of the announcement of the award of his third D.F.C. in the London Gazette just four weeks later, a distinction equalled by only 46 other aircrew in the entire War: with the addition of his earlier award of the D.S.O., Thiele became one of just 15 aircrew to receive a similar combination of four gallantry awards in the same conflict - and he was just 24 years old.

“Jimmy” Thiele returned to New Zealand after the War and was discharged from the R.N.Z.A.F. in April 1946, but, as a result of his remarkable wartime career and earlier experience as a journalist, he was offered the honour of writing the official history of the R.N.Z.A.F. in the 1939-45 War - and returned to England to carry out some provisional research. Yet, as one newspaper would later report, his yearning for adventure resulted in him abandoning his research in favour of the joys of becoming a civil charter pilot, and by April 1947 he was embarked in a Halifax freighter of the London Aero Motor Services Ltd. on a “tramp” flight around the world. This latter challenge complete, Thiele joined Qantas in 1948 and remained employed as one of the airline’s pilots until 1964, when he retired to Sydney, Australia, and thence back to New Zealand. Among other claims to fame in this post-war era, he became a yachtsman of international repute, and flew alongside a pilot by the name of “Freddie” Laker.

Sold with a good quantity of original documentation, including the recipient’s Flying Log Book, covering the period January 1941 to February 1946, with a superb array of operational entries; Caterpillar Club membership card; three wartime copies of combat reports for actions over Malmedy (dated 24 December 1944), Munster (dated 29 December 1944), and Detmold (dated 14 January 1945); a telegram reporting the recipient “missing in action” (dated 13 February 1945); his first letter home from a P.O.W. camp (dated 24 February 1945 - ‘I got slightly scorched before I was able to bale out but am being well looked after and am almost healed ...’); a wartime silk evasion map for the French theatre of war; and No. 3 and No. 486 (R.N.Z.A.F.) Squadron lapel badges, in gilt and enamel.