拍品专文
Sold with a superb array of original wartime photographs (18), these including portrait and crew subject matter, in addition to some target images; together with an equally impressive quantity of original documentation, including the recipient's Flying Log Book, covering the period August 1943 until September 1945, with several photographic inserts; Buckingham Palace investiture letter (dated 24.7.1945); congratulatory 'Postagram' from "Bomber" Harris for the D.F.M. (dated 11.6.1944); Path Finder Force Membership Certificate (dated 25.5.1945); a notebook with a 14pp. account of the recipient's enlistment and training period, together with related typescript; a 156 Squadron blazer badge; and a silk escape map.
D.F.M. London Gazette 7.7.1944. Recommendation states 'On the night of 21-22 May 1944, Sergeant Reynolds was Mid-Upper Gunner of a Lancaster detailed to attack Duisburg as a supporter aircraft. After leaving the target area and when on the homeward journey at a position 10 miles North-West of Tilburg, the aircraft was attacked by two enemy fighters. The first intimation of an impending attack was given to the Pilot by the Rear-Gunner, who told the Pilot to stand by. Before any other directions were given, fire was opened upon the Lancaster from dead astern and then from the starboard quarter below. These two attacks seriously damaged the aircraft, the rear-turret was damaged, the intercommunication, oxygen system and mid-upper turret were rendered unserviceable. The wireless, Gee and H2S were also badly damaged by cannon shells and splinters. Both Gunners opened fire during the attack and observed strikes on one enemy aircraft which they claimed as damaged. Sergeant Reynolds was hit during the engagement and wounded in the neck and face by cannon shell splinters. Sergeant Reynolds refused to leave his turret although weak from loss of blood, lack of oxygen and severe shock, maintained a continuous search until he collapsed in his turret when the aircraft was circling R.A.F. Dunsfold preparatory to landing. On three previous occasions Sergeant Reynolds has co-operated with his Rear-Gunner in beating off fighter attacks and, in this instance, displayed a standard of courage, fortitude and devotion to duty which would be hard to excel. I have no hesitation in recommending Sergeant Reynolds for the immediate award of the D.F.M.'
Flight Lieutenant Leslie Ewart Reynolds, D.F.M., who was from South Wales, commenced his wartime career as an R.A.F. chef, his pre-war occupation. By early 1943, however, when aged 30 years, and following an undesirable posting to a Mess in Scotland, he applied for Aircrew duties, an application made possible by the recent increase in age limit for active service.
Reynolds subsequently qualified as a Gunner and was posted to No. 626 Squadron in February 1944, his first sortie being flown at the end of the month to Augsburg, where his Lancaster was coned by searchlights for ten minutes (Flying Log Book refers). On 1.3.1944, on only his second mission, to Stuttgart, an enemy aircraft had to be driven off and at the end of the month he participated in the disastrous strike against Nuremburg, an outing that cost Bomber Command nearly 100 aircraft and several hundred Aircrew.
Following this somewhat sharp introduction to the operational scene, Reynolds was posted to No. 156 Squadron, a Path Finder unit based at Upwood, flying his first sortie from there on the night of 30-31.4.1944, one of several trips to France in the lead up to D-Day.
It was, however, on the Squadron's return from Germany on the night of 21-22 May, after an attack on Duisberg, that Reynold's displayed the 'unbeatable courage' that won him an immediate D.F.M. - such was the damage inflicted on his Lancaster, 'G for George', that a crash-landing had to be made back in England, Reynolds himself being found buried up to his neck in debris and earth when rescue parties reached the scene of impact in some woodland.
'Off Games' for over a month, the gallant Reynolds was soon back in harness, participating in around 20 trips back to France (or Belgium) between July and August, targets including V.1 Rocket sites and a number of marshalling yards, the whole in support of the Normandy Campaign. By no means were these outings uneventful, the recipient noting occasional damage to his Lancaster from flak.
By September the emphasis was back on Germany, Reynolds going on to bring his tally of operations to nearly 60 by April 1945, sometimes as a crew member to the Master Bomber, and once again at the cost of flak damage and the occasional run-in with enemy night fighters. These latter targets included such heavily-defended places as Bottrop, Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Emden, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Madgeburg, Saarbrucken and Stettin.
Reynolds, who had been commissioned in April 1945, was eventually released as a Flight Lieutenant at the end of the year, meanwhile having participated in at least two trips to collect returning P.O.Ws.
D.F.M. London Gazette 7.7.1944. Recommendation states 'On the night of 21-22 May 1944, Sergeant Reynolds was Mid-Upper Gunner of a Lancaster detailed to attack Duisburg as a supporter aircraft. After leaving the target area and when on the homeward journey at a position 10 miles North-West of Tilburg, the aircraft was attacked by two enemy fighters. The first intimation of an impending attack was given to the Pilot by the Rear-Gunner, who told the Pilot to stand by. Before any other directions were given, fire was opened upon the Lancaster from dead astern and then from the starboard quarter below. These two attacks seriously damaged the aircraft, the rear-turret was damaged, the intercommunication, oxygen system and mid-upper turret were rendered unserviceable. The wireless, Gee and H2S were also badly damaged by cannon shells and splinters. Both Gunners opened fire during the attack and observed strikes on one enemy aircraft which they claimed as damaged. Sergeant Reynolds was hit during the engagement and wounded in the neck and face by cannon shell splinters. Sergeant Reynolds refused to leave his turret although weak from loss of blood, lack of oxygen and severe shock, maintained a continuous search until he collapsed in his turret when the aircraft was circling R.A.F. Dunsfold preparatory to landing. On three previous occasions Sergeant Reynolds has co-operated with his Rear-Gunner in beating off fighter attacks and, in this instance, displayed a standard of courage, fortitude and devotion to duty which would be hard to excel. I have no hesitation in recommending Sergeant Reynolds for the immediate award of the D.F.M.'
Flight Lieutenant Leslie Ewart Reynolds, D.F.M., who was from South Wales, commenced his wartime career as an R.A.F. chef, his pre-war occupation. By early 1943, however, when aged 30 years, and following an undesirable posting to a Mess in Scotland, he applied for Aircrew duties, an application made possible by the recent increase in age limit for active service.
Reynolds subsequently qualified as a Gunner and was posted to No. 626 Squadron in February 1944, his first sortie being flown at the end of the month to Augsburg, where his Lancaster was coned by searchlights for ten minutes (Flying Log Book refers). On 1.3.1944, on only his second mission, to Stuttgart, an enemy aircraft had to be driven off and at the end of the month he participated in the disastrous strike against Nuremburg, an outing that cost Bomber Command nearly 100 aircraft and several hundred Aircrew.
Following this somewhat sharp introduction to the operational scene, Reynolds was posted to No. 156 Squadron, a Path Finder unit based at Upwood, flying his first sortie from there on the night of 30-31.4.1944, one of several trips to France in the lead up to D-Day.
It was, however, on the Squadron's return from Germany on the night of 21-22 May, after an attack on Duisberg, that Reynold's displayed the 'unbeatable courage' that won him an immediate D.F.M. - such was the damage inflicted on his Lancaster, 'G for George', that a crash-landing had to be made back in England, Reynolds himself being found buried up to his neck in debris and earth when rescue parties reached the scene of impact in some woodland.
'Off Games' for over a month, the gallant Reynolds was soon back in harness, participating in around 20 trips back to France (or Belgium) between July and August, targets including V.1 Rocket sites and a number of marshalling yards, the whole in support of the Normandy Campaign. By no means were these outings uneventful, the recipient noting occasional damage to his Lancaster from flak.
By September the emphasis was back on Germany, Reynolds going on to bring his tally of operations to nearly 60 by April 1945, sometimes as a crew member to the Master Bomber, and once again at the cost of flak damage and the occasional run-in with enemy night fighters. These latter targets included such heavily-defended places as Bottrop, Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Emden, Essen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Madgeburg, Saarbrucken and Stettin.
Reynolds, who had been commissioned in April 1945, was eventually released as a Flight Lieutenant at the end of the year, meanwhile having participated in at least two trips to collect returning P.O.Ws.