Dec. 2023 Militaria & Collectibles Auction
Lot 154:
Description
Heavy corduroy WWII khaki tunic with brass Royal Air Force buttons, embroidered RAF Pilot’s wings (with snaps to remove for laundering) and DFC ribbon. Tunic is attributed to Air Vice-Marshal Robert Norman Bateson, CB, DSO, DFC. Bateson received the DFC in 1941 while Acting Squadron Leader of No. 113 Squadron. Perhaps his finest hour, though, was when he led six Mosquitos of No. 613 Squadron across Holland at incredibly low altitudes, to successfully bomb the Gestapo HQ in the Hague on April 11, 1944. For his gallant leadership, Bateson was awarded a bar to his Distinguished Service Order. Before he retired in 1967, he was promoted to Air-Vice Marshall. No name in tunic but it originally came with a Cape Town, South Africa, receipt in pocket and a wartime press photo of Bateson, however it has since been lost by the previous owner. This was sold by Advance Guard Militaria in 2010. Some slight glue or grease residue on the upper right shoulder strap that the photo does not depict.
Condition: See Description for Condition Report.
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