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Auction: 25003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 229

A poignant Second World War pathfinder's D.F.M. awarded to Flight Sergeant J. Worsdale, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who was killed in action on returning from a strike on Berlin in January 1944 - his seventh trip to the 'Big City'

Earlier, as a bomb aimer in the period June-November 1943, latterly in Lancasters of No. 97 Squadron, he participated in the Hamburg 'firestorm' raids and the famous strike on Peenemunde

Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (1111874 F./Sgt. J. Worsdale, R.A.F.), good very fine

D.F.M. London Gazette 8 May 1945, with effect from 1 January 1944.
The original recommendation states:

'This N.C.O. has completed 29 operational sorties against the enemy. He has taken part in most of the recent operations against German targets, including three to Berlin, and others to Kassel, Hanover and Munich.

He is the Air Bomber of a reliable crew who have made a valuable contribution to the squadron's operational effort.

By his accurate bombing he has contributed largely to the success of the attacks made by his crew.'

Jack Worsdale was born in January 1920 in Sculcoates, a suburb of Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Enlisting in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, he qualified as an air observer and commenced his operational career in June 1943, with a sortie to Elberfeld on the night of the 24th.

A brace of trips to Cologne followed in quick succession, as did three sorties to Hamburg at the time of the notorious 'firestorms' in July-August. And - having flown to Milan on two occasions in the middle of the latter month - Worsdale and his crew participated in the famous strike against the v-weapon establishment at Peenemunde on the Baltic coast.

Then in late September 1943, after two sorties to Berlin, he volunteered for the Path Finder Force and transferred to No. 97 (Straits Settlements) Squadron, a Lancaster unit based in Bourn, Cambridgeshire.
A flurry of sorties to Germany ensued over the coming weeks, including trips to Frankfurt, Hanover, Mannheim and Munich, and three strikes on Berlin in mid-to-late November 1944. Recommended for the D.F.M. in the latter month, Worsdale and his crew were yet again detailed to attack the 'Big City' in mid-December, a disastrous outing for 97 Squadron that became known as 'Black Thursday': on returning to the U.K. after the raid, several of 97's Lancasters were prevented from landing on account of thick fog and had to be abandoned - or crash landed - with heavy loss of life.

Worsdale's aircraft - Lancaster 'S-Sugar' - was among them, he and his crew having to take to their parachutes at 1235 hours. They were at first reported as missing, lost at sea. Eventually, however, they all turned up safely.

Tragically, having survived that ordeal, Worsdale and his crew were all killed on 2 January 1944, when their Lancaster was hit by flak after a yet another sortie to Berlin. It crashed at Neu-Moresnet, near Kelmis, Belgium, where they were buried locally and a memorial was raised to their memory - a memorial that stands to this day. Later, their remains were removed to a collective grave in Rheinberg War Cemetery.


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Estimate
£1,000 to £1,400

Starting price
£800