Personnel and aircraft
Title
Personnel and aircraft
Description
Reports of operations with Wing Commander John Randall Braham, Group Captain John Cunningham who was awarded the Soviet Order of Patriotic War, Flight Lieutenant W H Maguire and Flying Officer Jones. The second page has a cutting of six Defiant aircraft, two with airmen seated in the cockpits. It is annotated ' Nearest camera Flight Officer Kay - W Malling Futherest [sic] camera Flight Sergeant Bewer -W Malling'.
Language
Type
Format
Five newspaper cuttings in an album
Publisher
Rights
This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
PCrossK22010011
Transcription
[photograph]
Group Captain J. Cunningham, D.S.O AND 2 BARS, D.F.C. and BAR
Group Captain John Cunningham, late Commanding Officer of 85 Squadron, R.A.F., also holds six decorations – D.S.O. and two Bars, D.F.C. and Bar and the Soviet Order of Patriotic War. He was also mentioned in Dispatches.
[page break]
[photograph]
Wing-Commdr. Braham
FIGHTER COMMAND intruders operating over North-West Germany and Holland during the night set up a new record, destroying seven enemy aircraft.
By shooting down a Dornier, Wing Commander J.R.D. Braham brought his personal score of destructions at night to 18, tying with Wing Commander John Cunningham, of Croydon, until last night the leading night fighter pilot.
Wing Commander Braham, who is only 23, and is a native of Bath, holds the DSO and Bar and the DFC and two Bars.
The Bar to the DSO was awarded only a few days ago, when the citation described him as “a brilliant leader of exceptional skill and gallantry.”
[page break]
Night Flyer Wins Fourth Award
Flight Lieut. Cecil F. Rawnsley is the first night fighter observer in the R.A.F. to receive four decorations. It was announced last night that he had been awarded the D.S.O. for “brilliant work in more than 200 sorties,” which resulted in the destruction of 17 enemy aircraft.
He gave up engineering to join the R.A.F. in 1936 when he was 22. He won the D.F.M. in April 1941, in the following month a bar to the D.F.M., and in September 1942 the D.F.C.
[page break]
Got His Third Raider In Eight Nights
By shooting down one of the three enemy raiders which were destroyed in small scale attacks on this country last night, a Hertfordshire squadron leader scored his third interception success in the past eight nights.
Squadron Leader W.H. Maguire, who is a native of Merseyside, and now lives at Ware, Herts, was on night patrol off South-east England when he saw a Messerschmitt 2000 feet away.
“The enemy apeared [sic] to see our airplane at the same time,” said Squadron Leader Maguire to-day, “and he began to take violent evasive action.
“Closing to 150 yards, I gave him a burst which set his starboard engine on fire. A second burst increased the fire and down he went in flames.”
Squadron Leader Maguire had as navigator last night, Flying Officer Jones, who has been his colleague in previous interceptions.
[page break]
[photograph]
Defiant long distance two seater fighters.
[inserted] Nearest Camera: F/L Kay – W. Malling
Furthest Camera: F/L Bowen – W. Malling [/inserted]
Group Captain J. Cunningham, D.S.O AND 2 BARS, D.F.C. and BAR
Group Captain John Cunningham, late Commanding Officer of 85 Squadron, R.A.F., also holds six decorations – D.S.O. and two Bars, D.F.C. and Bar and the Soviet Order of Patriotic War. He was also mentioned in Dispatches.
[page break]
[photograph]
Wing-Commdr. Braham
FIGHTER COMMAND intruders operating over North-West Germany and Holland during the night set up a new record, destroying seven enemy aircraft.
By shooting down a Dornier, Wing Commander J.R.D. Braham brought his personal score of destructions at night to 18, tying with Wing Commander John Cunningham, of Croydon, until last night the leading night fighter pilot.
Wing Commander Braham, who is only 23, and is a native of Bath, holds the DSO and Bar and the DFC and two Bars.
The Bar to the DSO was awarded only a few days ago, when the citation described him as “a brilliant leader of exceptional skill and gallantry.”
[page break]
Night Flyer Wins Fourth Award
Flight Lieut. Cecil F. Rawnsley is the first night fighter observer in the R.A.F. to receive four decorations. It was announced last night that he had been awarded the D.S.O. for “brilliant work in more than 200 sorties,” which resulted in the destruction of 17 enemy aircraft.
He gave up engineering to join the R.A.F. in 1936 when he was 22. He won the D.F.M. in April 1941, in the following month a bar to the D.F.M., and in September 1942 the D.F.C.
[page break]
Got His Third Raider In Eight Nights
By shooting down one of the three enemy raiders which were destroyed in small scale attacks on this country last night, a Hertfordshire squadron leader scored his third interception success in the past eight nights.
Squadron Leader W.H. Maguire, who is a native of Merseyside, and now lives at Ware, Herts, was on night patrol off South-east England when he saw a Messerschmitt 2000 feet away.
“The enemy apeared [sic] to see our airplane at the same time,” said Squadron Leader Maguire to-day, “and he began to take violent evasive action.
“Closing to 150 yards, I gave him a burst which set his starboard engine on fire. A second burst increased the fire and down he went in flames.”
Squadron Leader Maguire had as navigator last night, Flying Officer Jones, who has been his colleague in previous interceptions.
[page break]
[photograph]
Defiant long distance two seater fighters.
[inserted] Nearest Camera: F/L Kay – W. Malling
Furthest Camera: F/L Bowen – W. Malling [/inserted]
Collection
Citation
“Personnel and aircraft,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed June 14, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/collections/document/42125.