xtangomikeNeville duke remembered
“One of the Great’s”
Fighter ace sells medals to spare wife long wait for hip replacement
By Neil Tweedie
One of the most decorated British fighter pilots of the Second World War has sold his medals, diaries and other memorabilia partly to pay for a hip replacement operation for his wife who faced at least a six-month wait on the National Health Service.
Sqn Ldr Neville Duke, 83, the Royal Air Force’s top-scoring ace in the Mediterranean theatre who set a world air speed record of 728 mph in 1953, put the collection up for auction rather than subject his wife Gwen to months of pain and discomfort while she waited for an operation.
Squadron Leader Neville Duke
The standard waiting time for hip replacements in the orthopaedic department at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, one of the nearest facilities to the Dukes’ home, is six months.
Mrs Duke, who has been in pain with her hip for eight months, was told by her chiropractor that the wait might be 15 months.
Before the sale Mrs Duke, 85, explained: “It is very likely I will need a new hip and that is something we just cannot afford. If I went on a NHS waiting list I would have to wait forever, and at my age that’s no good.
‘By selling Neville’s things we will be able to pay for the hip. We pulled out of BUPA because they practically doubled the rate when we reached 60.
“There are other important reasons, such as security, for selling. He’s very upset about it.”
In the event, the auction at Dix Noonan Webb in Mayfair raised £138,000, some £8,000 of which would be required for an operation. The medals went to a private British collector.
Sqn Ldr Duke’s DSO, awarded in the field after he shot down seven enemy aircraft in seven days, DFC and two bars, Air Force Cross and OBE for his achievements as a test pilot for Hawker form one of the finest collections of medals accrued by a pilot of his generation.
The lots also included the ripcord he pulled when he baled out for the second time in the war and came near to drowning in an Italian lake after almost falling out of his harness.
Sqn Ldr Duke said the decision to sell the medals was a hard one but had been forced upon him by worries about his wife’s condition, security at the family home following three burglaries, the cost of insuring the collection and the desire to keep it together, the couple having no children.
The couple lost silverware in the break-ins including cups won in air races, but the thieves missed Sqn Ldr Duke’s silver Hunter marking his record.
“It was never going to be easy to make a decision about the future of my flying career memorabilia, but following careful consideration I decided that it would be best to sell everything at auction in my lifetime,” he said.
Still an active pilot after 65 years, Sqn Ldr Duke flew 485 sorties in the war, shooting down 27 aircraft and sharing two more kills, a performance that placed him in the league of pilots such as “Bob” Stanford Tuck and second only to “Johnnie” Johnson.
During his tour in North Africa he was shot down by the Luftwaffe ace Otto Schulz, but managed to crash land.
In September 1953 he took the world air speed record from the Americans when his all-red Hawker Hunter reached 728 mph over Tangmere, Kent.
The helmet he wore during the flight was among the items sold.
The most entertaining lots are his diaries, recording a Boys Own career.
One entry from North Africa records his shooting down of a Me109: “Got in a burst from the stern quarter and its hood and pieces of fuselage disintegrated. Machine went into vertical dive and pilot baled out. Flew round and round the pilot until he landed, then went down to look at him. I waved to him and he waved back.
“Poor devil thought I was going to strafe him as he initially dived behind a bush.”
One entry on being shot down: “Saw the ground rushing up and then kicked the rudder and pushed the stick forward and prayed. Got control just in time and the machine hit the ground on its belly.
“Hopped out jolly quick and then darted behind some scrub and lay on my belly.
“The Hun came down and shot-up my machine. Horrible crack and whistle of bullets near me and I thought I was going to be strafed but the Hun cleared off.”
And in happier times in London: “Released for the day (7 October 1941). Went up to town in the CO’s car with Hunk and babe Whitmore. Called on Burberry’s, visited the Crackers and saw usual females.
“Had tea at the Trocadero and then saw film Man Hunt. Went along to the Ritz ‘Rivoli’ Bar and had a few snifters.
“Beetled into the Berkeley for dinner then staggered along to Hatchett’s for a nightcap.”
xtangomikeinteresting recoveries
A couple of pics taken during my Russian visit in 1991 to Murmansk,Archanglis, and Obninsk.
Lots and lots of interesting ww11 and cold war hardware. These are just a couple.
Hope to have a full article with many photos reasonably soon.
xtangomikeSome interesting pics of the last Viscount simulator, recently offered for private sale at about £1800.00. It is possible that it was broken up after the instruments were removed.
Watch out on Ebay.
xtangomikeFound these in amongst my books.
A captured Mk XI apparently operated by Sonderstaffel Wanderzirkis to demonstrate to German fighter schools.
Also a Stirling (N3705) with oddly repaired nose. It was on a mine laying run 16th Aug.1942. Landed in Holland waith slight nose damage and put to work by the Luftwaffe. I’ll bet they wished they had even Stirlings in ’42.
xtangomike2 Firebrands, 2 Barracuda’s, and a Short Sion??
xtangomikeSlingsby Grasshopper
Seeing the immortal name of Singsby Grasshopper took me back to my days in the CCF at Churchers College during the early 1950’s. Below is a small part from a chapter of my as yet unpublished book:
I joined the RAF section of the Combined Cadet Force. There was one deciding factor – they had a glider called a Grasshopper. On Wednesday afternoons, the first fires of real, rather than imaginary, aviation were being kindled in me. It was not what we today would recognise as a glider. For a start, it was kept in pieces in a shed at the top corner of one of the largest and most steeply sloping playing fields that almost surrounded the school. The pieces were skeletal, apart from the wings. It was very basic and took about an hour to put together. First, the frame was erected and held steady by many willing hands. Then each of the wings were attached and secured by wires to the fuselage. When the controls were attached, and the machine was anchored to the ground, it was ready. To launch it, two long elastic ropes were attached, and two lines of boys marched away down the field in a V-formation until the rope had been stretched to its maximum tension. The lucky pilot, when he was ready, released the anchor and the aircraft shot forward down the hill at what seemed breakneck speed towards the hedge-lined lane at the bottom. Sometimes it made an altitude of several feet, to loud cheering from onlookers and sometimes to the surprise – or even sheer terror – of the rope teams. On at least one occasion it reached the bottom of the field before touching down – one such time having been launched during a lunch time without permission of the CO. The CO was ‘Pop’ Grainger, the art master, who was also my godfather, a kindly man normally, but one who could hand out a severe ‘balling out’ on occasions such as this.
We decided one day to get ‘Pop’ airborne as we knew that although he was head of the ‘Air Force’ cadets at the school his knowledge and experience of flying were akin to that of the school cat. When the Grasshopper was assembled, we had to place a compensating weight behind the pilot’s seat to maintain centre of gravity. Too little and the aircraft would bury its nose in the ground, too much and the nose would point to the sky. One fine Wednesday afternoon, we managed to cajole ‘Pop’ into the pilot’s seat. I clamped on double the number of weights required and called for the other cadets to pull the bungy ropes as tight as possible. Pop was quite a heavy built man and about six feet tall so we needed all the power from the elastic ropes we could muster. Pop let go the release and after a hop and skip, he soared, nose up, about ten feet into the air. An ominous silence followed as he held the stick back to his chest only to stall and smack the ground with a rending crack. The wings drooped as the supporting wires gave way under the strain and the rather tired looking Grasshopper slewed sideways to a halt. Smiles and laughter behind hands gave way to alarm as Pop struggled free of the seat belts and wires entangling him, swearing loudly as he did so. He was so angry at his debacle that he never seemed to realise that he had been set up for what had happened. He stormed off to his office, unhurt physically, but we were to pay a price for a broken glider in that the spare parts needed to fly again took several months to arrive, and so we missed the rest of the summer weather.
Later that year(1958), I earned my glider ‘wings’ on RAF T20 and T21 Sedburg gliders, under the instruction of a Wing Cmdr. Hayter at Christchurch (Hants). I received my A & B gliding certificate (no 2596 from the Royal Aero Club), signed by Lord Brabazon of Tara.
The Grasshopper was my first initiation to what turned out to be a varied and fascinating semi flying career.
xtangomikeMB 5
Interesting similarities between MB 5, Mustang, and the best of all of them,
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TELL ME DIFFERENT!!!!
xtangomikeMosquito Photo’s
These were taken in the late ’80’s when Nick Grace’s OU-V was using hanger space at Benson over a weekend I think.
Can anyone recognise the Mosquito ?
xtangomikeBader Spin off
And there’s more.
xtangomikeBader Spin off
Try these for size! Fingers crossed.
xtangomikeSorry guys, uploading on this site is not as straightforward as all the other sites I use. Probably finger trouble + a new computer set up. Anyhow Mark is doing his best for me as we speak.
When I asked Andy, he said he would ask his son to help. Dumkoff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xtangomikeBader Spin off
More Me 110 pics from France, showing pond recovery first, then onto the nearby crash site, and the ‘final finish’ picture.
It rained hard all morning but the afternoon was perfect for outdoor activities.
(Andy, shall we show the DB crash site picture as a ‘Spot the impact point’ competition ?)
xtangomikeOK, one more to help Herr Oberst !!
xtangomikeThanks Mark. Got me out of the poo again!! Computer sorted for the next installment.
xtangomikeDamn pics are to big !! but coming soon Mmmmmmm
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