GVI Cased Distinguished Flying Cross; 1939 to 45 Star; Aircrew Europe Star; Defence Medal; War Medal; Condition NEF (large rings on stars, potentially slightly later issues); sold with miniature medals; two logbooks covering his full service; together with a photograph of the recipient and photo of him at the US mess in Rheims after the German surrender. Higton is in the background looking at General Eisenhower and Marshal of the Royal Air Force Arthur William Tedder.
Estimate: | £1,400 - £1,800 |
Hammer price: | £1,800 |
George Highton was commissioned as Pilot Officer in the Royal Airforce on the 14th of December 1943. He had completed his pilot training at RCAF Penhold, in Alberta, Canada, which explains him being issued with a Canadian Logbook.
He was posted to 192 Squadron, which operated Wellington Bombers and Mosquitos. The role of 192 Squadron was to track and monitor enemy radar systems and record radio traffic; operations were often carried out by single aircraft.
During bombing raids, 192 Squadron provided aircraft to fly ahead of the primary bomber wave, to circle the target and block enemy radar and radio.
P/O Highton flew Wellington Bombers and took part in 35 Operations; his log book shows he carried out Special Operations to the Dutch and French Coasts and down to the Bay of Biscay. Other operations were conducted over the English Channel and one Op to Heligoland. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, gazetted on the 15th of September 1944, for his service with 192 Squadron. He had 210.40 hours of flying time on the 35 Operations.
After his tour of operations, he spent a period as an instructor and was later posted to Bomber Command HQ in High Wycombe. He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on the 16th of November 1945. George's son David, remembers;
'My father's role was to fly people and despatches etc, between Bomber Command HQ and the Supreme HQ Allied Forces in Europe though I do remember him saying he flew some racehorses back to England one time!. There he flew some VIPs around, including Richard Dimbleby.'
George left the Royal Air Force in 1946.