Lot Essay
Sold with the recipient's original Flying Log Book, covering the period August 1939 to August 1944.
D.F.M. London Gazette 22.10.1940. Recommendation states 'This N.C.O. has taken part in some 30 operational flights over enemy territory. His quiet efficiency as a Wireless Operator Air Gunner and the consistently high standard of his work have been of the greatest value, contributing largely to the success of these raids'.
A.F.M. London Gazette 8.6.44. Recommendation states 'This airman has served as a Wireless Operator (Air) Instructor at No. 10 Operational Training Unit for one year. During the first year of the War he completed 38 operational sorties and, in September 1940, was posted to No. 19 Operational Training Unit for service as a screened Wireless Operator. Here he sustained an injury to a hand which resulted in his permenent medical limitation. He has shown keenness and energy in performing his present duties and has not allowed his disappointment at being prevented from taking part in further active operations to interfere with his efficiency. He has handled his pupils with ability and has rendered valuable service'.
Warrant Officer Thomas William Donoghue, D.F.M., A.F.M., was born in Glasgow in May 1918 and enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an Aircraftsman 2nd Class in September 1938. Posted as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner to No. 51 ("York's Own") Squadron at Hemswell in the Summer of 1939, he participated in the second ever Nickel (or leaflet) raid on Germany on the night of 3-4.9.1939. Early in the New Year, No. 50 started to drop bombs as well as leaflets, and on the night of 19-20.3.1940, Donoghue took part in Bomber Command's first ever attack on a land target, namely the Minelaying Seaplane Base at Hornum on the Island of Sylt. In late June 1940, having completed some 20 sorties with No. 51, he was posted to No. 78 ("Preston's Own") Squadron, another unit operating with Whitleys. By the time he was posted to No. 19 Operational Training Unit at Kinloss three months later, he had completed another 20 sorties, many of them against such heavily defended German targets as Magdeburg, Mannheim and Munich. During this period he also participated in no less than five raids on Berlin, not least on the night of 25-26.8.1940, the first ever strike on the German capital, an outing occasioned by the Luftwaffe's first raid on London the previous night. Gazetted for a well merited D.F.M. in the following month, he attended an Investiture at Buckingham Palace in March 1941. Donoghue spent the remainder of the War as an Instructor, mainly with No. 10 O.T.U., work which resulted in the award of his A.F.M. in June 1944, an award which he again collected from the hands of the King in July 1945.
D.F.M. London Gazette 22.10.1940. Recommendation states 'This N.C.O. has taken part in some 30 operational flights over enemy territory. His quiet efficiency as a Wireless Operator Air Gunner and the consistently high standard of his work have been of the greatest value, contributing largely to the success of these raids'.
A.F.M. London Gazette 8.6.44. Recommendation states 'This airman has served as a Wireless Operator (Air) Instructor at No. 10 Operational Training Unit for one year. During the first year of the War he completed 38 operational sorties and, in September 1940, was posted to No. 19 Operational Training Unit for service as a screened Wireless Operator. Here he sustained an injury to a hand which resulted in his permenent medical limitation. He has shown keenness and energy in performing his present duties and has not allowed his disappointment at being prevented from taking part in further active operations to interfere with his efficiency. He has handled his pupils with ability and has rendered valuable service'.
Warrant Officer Thomas William Donoghue, D.F.M., A.F.M., was born in Glasgow in May 1918 and enlisted in the Royal Air Force as an Aircraftsman 2nd Class in September 1938. Posted as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner to No. 51 ("York's Own") Squadron at Hemswell in the Summer of 1939, he participated in the second ever Nickel (or leaflet) raid on Germany on the night of 3-4.9.1939. Early in the New Year, No. 50 started to drop bombs as well as leaflets, and on the night of 19-20.3.1940, Donoghue took part in Bomber Command's first ever attack on a land target, namely the Minelaying Seaplane Base at Hornum on the Island of Sylt. In late June 1940, having completed some 20 sorties with No. 51, he was posted to No. 78 ("Preston's Own") Squadron, another unit operating with Whitleys. By the time he was posted to No. 19 Operational Training Unit at Kinloss three months later, he had completed another 20 sorties, many of them against such heavily defended German targets as Magdeburg, Mannheim and Munich. During this period he also participated in no less than five raids on Berlin, not least on the night of 25-26.8.1940, the first ever strike on the German capital, an outing occasioned by the Luftwaffe's first raid on London the previous night. Gazetted for a well merited D.F.M. in the following month, he attended an Investiture at Buckingham Palace in March 1941. Donoghue spent the remainder of the War as an Instructor, mainly with No. 10 O.T.U., work which resulted in the award of his A.F.M. in June 1944, an award which he again collected from the hands of the King in July 1945.