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

A rare Second World War D.S.O., D.F.C. group of ten awarded to Wing Commander A. H. Burton, Royal Air Force, late Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, a three-tour bomber pilot who never failed ‘to take advantage of any opportunity to attack the enemy with machine-guns from a low altitude’

Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., 1st issue, silver-gilt and enamels, the reverse of the suspension bar officially dated ‘1944’; Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1942’; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star; Defence and War Medals; General Service 1918-62, E.II.R., 1 clasp, Malaya (Wg. Cdr., R.A.F.); Coronation 1953; Air Efficiency Award, G.VI.R., 1st issue (Act. Sqn. Ldr., R.A.F.V.R.); the G.S.M. in original card box of issue and the remainder mounted court-style as worn, the first with slightly chipped wreaths, otherwise good very fine (10) £4000-5000

D.S.O. London Gazette 26 September 1944. The original recommendation states:

Squadron Leader Burton has now carried out 12 sorties on his third tour of operations, bringing his total operational hours flying to just short of 400. As a Captain of heavy bomber aircraft, he has invariably displayed the utmost determination and skill to press home his attacks to a successful conclusion, and his quiet and calm efficiency has always been an inspiration to his crew and fellow captains. Having recently been appointed to command a Flight, he shows obvious promise of carrying out his new duties with the same ardent enthusiasm and efficiency which have typified his work up to date. This officer’s unstinted devotion to duty is worthy of the highest praise, and I very strongly recommend that he be awarded the Distinguished Service Order.’

D.F.C. London Gazette 7 April 1942. The original recommendation states:

‘This officer has completed 55 sorties against the enemy of which the last 10 have been made after he had been taken off flying but was recalled owing to a shortage of crews. Throughout his operations Flying Officer Burton has consistently shown an aggressive spirit well up to the best tradition of the Service. He plants his bombs to the very best advantage. His results are hard to assess owing to his modesty in his claims but such results have been consistently good. Flying Officer Burton uses his imagination during the whole operation and never fails to take advantage of any opportunity to attack the enemy with machine-guns from a low altitude from the least expected direction. Burton, who is now asking to be posted to heavier types, is most averse even to taking a rest though he was put up as requiring a change six weeks ago.’

Alec Herbert Burton, a native of Bournemouth, was born in December 1914 and enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in 1937. Called up on the outbreak of hostilities, he qualified as a pilot and was commissioned in 1940, in which latter year he received his first operational posting, to No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron, a Wellington unit operating out of Feltwell, Norfolk. Between November 1940 and March 1941 he completed 16 sorties to assorted targets in France and Germany, including two trips to Cologne and another brace to Mannheim, but in the latter month he transferred to No. 70 Squadron, another Wellington unit, in the Middle East. Operating out of the Squadron’s base at Kubrit in Egypt, between April and December 1941, he went on to complete another 39 sorties, the vast majority of them against Benghazi, but also against targets on the Tobruk-Gazala Road, in addition to equally hazardous supply missions to Crete and Greece. Burton was awarded the D.F.C.

In May 1944, having served at a Bombing Trial Unit in Scotland, Burton commenced his third operational tour, flying Stirlings - and shortly afterwards Lancasters - of No. 90 Squadron, based at Tuddenham, Suffolk. Recommended for his D.S.O. after a dozen or so sorties against targets in France, including three “Special Duties” trips in June at the time of the Normandy landings, he went on to complete another 8 operational flights before being posted on attachment to the U.S.A.A.F., with whom he ended the War at Brunswick. According to a local newspaper source, he was a reluctant hero who shunned publicity and never spoke of his exploits. Indeed when his mother first heard of his D.S.O. and asked him what it was for, he replied “Really, I have not the slightest idea.”

Burton obtained a regular commission in the Royal Air Force after the end of hostilities, attended Staff College in 1950 and served in Far Eastern Command from 1956-59, including the Malaya operations. His final appointment was in the rank of Wing Commander as Deputy Commandant of the Aircrew Selection Board back in the U.K., and immediately following his retirement in 1960, he joined Rolls Royce as a Security Controller.

Sold with a quantity of original documentation, including wartime photographs dated 1940 and 1943, both including Burton; congratulatory Postagram from “Bomber” Harris on the award of his D.S.O., dated 16 August 1944, with related envelope addressed to Burton at No. 90 Squadron; Air Ministry letter addressed to his mother, confirming that her son had been awarded the D.S.O., dated 26 September 1944; Coronation Tattoo pamphlet, dated June 1953, for the garrison at Gibraltar, where Burton was serving at that time; an official “Emergency Certificate” authorising the recipient’s journey between Colombo and Singapore, dated 6 April 1957, with portrait photograph; original R.A.F.V.R. wartime I.D. tags (2); and the Royal Mint case of issue for his D.F.C.