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Lot Essay
M.C. London Gazette 22.6.1918 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On several occasions he has successfully carried out observations on hostile Batteries, has under the most adverse weather conditions bombed and engaged with machine-gun fire hostile troops and transport, and has on twelve occasions fought and driven away superior numbers of enemy machines, two of which he succeeded in bringing down out of control. He has at all times set a most magnificent example of dash and daring, and has accomplished most valuable and successful work'.
Mention in Despatches London Gazettes 20.5.1918 and 14.1.1944.
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Kenyon Twist, M.C., was born in Glasgow in October 1895 and served in the 14th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry prior to transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. Qualifying as an Observer in August 1916, he went on to attend a Pilot Training Course at Reading in early 1917 before joining No. 16 Squadron on the Western Front. Although admitted to hospital in July of the same year, Twist appears to have remained on active service with the Squadron until April 1918, services that resulted in the award of his M.C. and a Mention in Despatches. Posted to No. 19 Wing, H.Q. in May 1918, and subsequently as a Flying Instructor in the North East, he was finally transferred to the Unemployed List with the rank of Captain in early 1919.
Little is known of his activities in the Inter-war period, but it is likely that he returned to Argentina, from which country he had travelled to enlist on the outbreak of hostilities. Sometime thereafter, he settled in Kenya, and was again Mentioned in Despatches for his services as a Flight Lieutenant, R.A.F.V.R., in the 1939-45 War. More uniquely, however, he went on to qualify for a 'Kenya' Africa General Service Medal for his subsequent services as a Police Inspector in the Mau Mau troubles and a 'Kenya' Efficiency Medal and Bar for services in the local Defence Force - both awards being gazetted in July 1955.
Mention in Despatches London Gazettes 20.5.1918 and 14.1.1944.
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Kenyon Twist, M.C., was born in Glasgow in October 1895 and served in the 14th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry prior to transferring to the Royal Flying Corps. Qualifying as an Observer in August 1916, he went on to attend a Pilot Training Course at Reading in early 1917 before joining No. 16 Squadron on the Western Front. Although admitted to hospital in July of the same year, Twist appears to have remained on active service with the Squadron until April 1918, services that resulted in the award of his M.C. and a Mention in Despatches. Posted to No. 19 Wing, H.Q. in May 1918, and subsequently as a Flying Instructor in the North East, he was finally transferred to the Unemployed List with the rank of Captain in early 1919.
Little is known of his activities in the Inter-war period, but it is likely that he returned to Argentina, from which country he had travelled to enlist on the outbreak of hostilities. Sometime thereafter, he settled in Kenya, and was again Mentioned in Despatches for his services as a Flight Lieutenant, R.A.F.V.R., in the 1939-45 War. More uniquely, however, he went on to qualify for a 'Kenya' Africa General Service Medal for his subsequent services as a Police Inspector in the Mau Mau troubles and a 'Kenya' Efficiency Medal and Bar for services in the local Defence Force - both awards being gazetted in July 1955.