A SCARCE "BURMA OPS" (HURRICANE & THUNDERBOLT) DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS (1945) "BURMA STAR" GROUP OF FIVE:
To:
Flt Lt PETER STEAD. 258 SQUADRON. RAF.

PETER STEAD was born in HUDDERSFIELD U.K. on 6th APRIL 1922 and joined the RAF in 1940 aged 18.

[258 SQUADRON World War II]
The squadron was reformed on 20 November 1940 at RAF Leconfield, Yorkshire as a fighter squadron equipped with Hawker Hurricanes. First based at RAF Acklington they relocated to RAF Jurby, Isle of Man. By April 1941, No. 258 Squadron's time had Jurby had come to an end, and they transferred to RAF Valley and thence to RAF Kenley in preparation to take the offensive to the enemy. In October they were stood down to prepare for a move to the Far East. After a few days in Singapore they were withdrawn to Sumatra and then Java, where they suffered many losses either killed or captured by the Japanese. The survivors transferred their aircraft to No. 605 squadron and most attempted to escape by ship to Australia, but unfortunately all the ships were sunk en route with no survivors.
The squadron was again reformed 1 Mar 1942 from G Squadron at Ratmalana Airport, near Colombo, Ceylon but suffered severe losses during the Japanese carrier strike on 5 April 1942. After a spell in Burma (under Neil Cameron) the squadron was withdrawn to be re-equipped with American Republic P-47 Thunderbolts.

PETER STEAD'S THUNDERBOLT

Ratnapalong, Arakan. 1944-12-06. 413097 Warrant Officer Russell K. Precians, RAAF of Petersham, NSW, sits on the engine cowl of his Thunderbolt aircraft.This aircraft, THUNDERBOLT Mk1 HD133 ("Y") was later flown by Peter Stead. W/O Precians was flying with No. 258 Squadron RAF from an advanced airfield on the Burma front.

In June 1945 it then began training for the invasion of Malaya but on the Japanese surrender the squadron was finally disbanded on 31 December 1945.The squadron was largely manned by RNZAF pilots from New Zealand.

After the war he became a pioneering architect & urban designer. He created "Farnley Hey" the Bauhaus inspired house built near his hometown of HUDDERSFIELD in Yorkshire.



He became visiting professor of architecture at CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY, PITTSBURG, U.S.A.







A very accomplished pilot, and upon leaving the RAF, he gained his ROYAL AERO CLUB, F.A.I. 'BRITISH EMPIRE' AVIATORS CERTIFICATE (No.26,096) which was issued on 11th August 1949. This original licence is included with the group

The DFC is 'MINT' in it's original case and has clearly never been worn. Also included is the original Buckingham Palace issue letter.

SOLD ( EXPORT )