&His Father’s WW1 Medals.
British War and Victory Medals
2 Lieut. C. A. Wickham-Jones
Defence Medal. (WW2 ARP Service)
Territorial Force Efficiency Medal, G.V.R.
703 L. Cpl. C. A. Wickham-Jones, Surrey Yeomanry.
[BIOGRAPHY]Thomas Anthony Wickham-Jones was born in 1922, the son of Charles Alfred Wickham-Jones, who’s medals are also included in this grouping.Tony, as he was known,was posted to No. 77 Sqd RAF as a Sergeant Pilot. This was a Halifax unit based at RAF Elvington, Yorkshire. He began his operational flying career with No. 77 Squadron on 7th May 1943 at age 21 with a sea search mission of 4 hours, followed by his first bombing raid on Mannheim on 18th November.
Two days later he and his new crew experienced a baptism by fire with a 7 hour return trip to Berlin followed by two more on 29th December 43, and 15th February 1944. He continued his tour until 2nd August 1944 when he completed his 35th sortie with a trip to FORET DE NIEPPE. His total flying time to that point being 175.37 hrs.On 5th & 6th JUNE 1944 (D-Day) he completed a 5.14 hour sortie to MAISE, and a 5.08 hour sortie to St LO where he bombed the German coastal defences.As well as taking part in extensive mining operations, he flew numerous bombing sorties over occupied France & Germany in the period March-August 1944, where he attacked both railway marshalling yards and V1 flying bomb sites. His tour expired at the end of August 1944, at which time he was posted to an Operational Training Unit.
[THE GALLANTRY MEDALS]DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, G.VI.R. (1944) The 1939-45 Star, Aircrew Europe Star, Defence & War Medals, DFC (U.S.A.) D.F.C. London Gazette 17 November 1944. [ORIGINAL RECOMMENDATION READS]
‘This officer, a Captain of Aircraft, has completed his first operational tour of 35 Sorties, the opening phase of which included three attacks on Berlin, and was marked throughout by a good photographic record containing numerous aiming point photographs, revealing consistency of accuracy.
A striking note of Flight Lieutenant Wickham-Jones’s tour is that he never failed to take off on any operation in which he was detailed to take part. It can be said that the methodical preparation which he invariably made, did much to ensure his very fine performance, that of 100% operational effort without failure.
This officer has displayed fine leadership, being possessed with a bright and cheery personality which has served as a good tonic to his crew and contributed in no small measure to the high standard of morale throughout the Squadron as a whole.
In recognition of this Captain’s splendid all round ability, I strongly recommend that he be granted the award of the D.F.C.’
DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS, (United States of America) London Gazette 15 May 1945. [ORIGINAL RECOMMENDATION READS]
‘This officer has had an outstanding operational record. His first two sorties were completed, in the capacity of 2nd Pilot, against Mannheim and Berlin in November 1943. He has carried out successful attacks on Berlin and other important targets as Captain of Aircraft. Flight Lieutenant Wickham-Jones has participated in extensive mine-laying operations in the Baltic and has also completed mine-laying sorties to Kiel Bay. He has taken a leading part in attacks on marshalling yards and, on the eve of D-Day, participated in the attack on a coastal battery covering the beachhead area. Latterly he has been engaged in attacks against flying bomb sites. Flight Lieutenant Wickham-Jones has brought back excellent photographs of the target areas and has been a very courageous Captain of Aircraft.’
[CIVILIAN CAREER]Thomas Anthony Wickham-Jones was a child actor who by 1936 ‘had appeared in 26 plays under his stage name of Tony Wickham. His best known part was Bombo Faringdon, the boy twin in Ian Hay’s play The Housemaster, at the Apollo’. He became a well known pre-and post war stage & film performer who used the stage name ‘Anthony Wickham. He was also one of the country’s youngest theatre managers and producers. He appeared in many well known plays and latterly in films with a notable performance in the movie, “Goodbye Mr Chips”
On demobilization, Tony Wickham-Jones again took up theatre management and production, presenting Better Late at the Garrick in 1946 and several plays on tour.Tragically, however, his promising career was curtailed by his death in an air disaster on 2 March 1948, when a Dakota of Sabena Airlines crashed in thick fog at Heathrow. Of the passengers and crew, numbering 22, all but three were killed.
[THE FATAL CRASH AT HEATHROW on 3rd MARCH 1948]
Tony Wickham-Jones was tragically killed, aged only 26, in the infamous post-war civil airline disaster at London Heathrow on 3rd March 1948. A Sabena Airlines Douglas DC-3 “DAKOTA” OO-AWH in which he was a passenger crashed in thick fog. The aircraft was operating an international scheduled passenger flight from Zaventem Airport, Brussels, Belgium to Heathrow.
Twenty of the 22 passengers and crew perished in what right up until today is the second most serious accident at Heathrow.
This pivotal crash led to a complete revision of the U.K. civil meteorological flying minima, visibility criteria and associated GCA flying regulations.Two airport workers received GEORGE Medals for their bravery in attempting to rescue passengers.
[THE MEDALS TO HIS FATHER]
British War and Victory Medals.
Lieut. C. A. Wickham-Jones
Defence Medal. (WW2 ARP Service)
Territorial Force Efficiency Medal, G.V.R.
703 L. Cpl. C. A. Wickham-Jones, Surrey Yeomanry.
Charles Alfred Wickham-Jones, who was born in Croydon, Surrey in June 1886, died at Pulborough, Sussex in March 1977, with copied MIC details confirming his entitlement to the British War & Victory Medals.
[A LONG RUNNING & HAUNTING HEATHROW AIRPORT GHOST STORY]One afternoon in 1970, Inspector Leslie Alton and the crew of a police patrol car received an instruction to proceed to Block 6, as a man wearing a bowler hat with a briefcase had been reported being seen wandering on the main instrument runway at Heathrow. The airfield radar (ASMI) had also clearly identified the man but when the police car arrived at the scene, the man had vanished. The runway controller confirmed that the police car must have passed over him as the ASMI contact was now behind the car. An hour later the same patrol car & crew received instructions to return to the same runway as the man had been seen again. Again, on arrival, the police officers could find nothing. On several occasions during that day reports were received of the same man being seen on the runway, and on each search the police found nothing.In October, 1971, cleaners at the airport reported that they were experiencing strange happenings on certain jumbo-jet aircraft. Some complained that they had been thrown about by an invisible presence and others reported that at times they were unable to move, as if being held down by something.Many staff at London airport think that the ghostly man, who has now been seen many times on the runway, and possibly the cause of the troubles experienced by the cleaning staff on the aircraft, dates back to the Sabena Dakota DC3 crash on 2nd March, 1948 which killed 22 on board. As the rescue crews searched the aircraft wreckage for possible survivors, a man in a bowler hat and wearing a business suit, described as being “ex-Guards” in his late-40’s and six feet tall, appeared out of the fog and asked each in turn if they had found his briefcase. This was exceptionally odd as the very same man was actually found dead in the wreckage, but he is still seen from time to time, walking on the main Runway......apparently still looking for his briefcase !
AN UNUSUAL FAMILY GROUP WITH MUCH RESEARCH & DOCUMENTS INCLUDING A COPY OF TONY WICKHAM-JONES DEATH CERTIFICATE.
As verified by official card index records, both his British and American D.F.Cs were sent to his next of kin in March 1949.
The group comes with various interesting photocopies and details of all his sorties from the 77 Sqd Ops books.
A SUPERB RAF / USA “DOUBLE D.F.C. with family medals
SOLD