The outstanding and rare Great War ‘immediate’ M.C., immediate ‘V.C. action’ D.F.C....
The outstanding and rare Great War ‘immediate’ M.C., immediate ‘V.C. action’ D.F.C. and Waziristan 1925 M.I.D. group of seven awarded to Group Captain J. A. G. Haslam, Royal Air Force and Royal Field Artillery - ‘Freddie’ West’s Observer in 8 Squadron for both awards including the D.F.C. action, for which West was awarded the Victoria Cross, and during which epic engagement both airmen were wounded
Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; Distinguished Flying Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. J. A. G. Haslam. R.A.F.); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Waziristan 1925, with M.I.D. oak leaves (F/L. J. A. G. Haslam. R.A.F.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted on card for display, lightly polished, generally very fine (7) £10,000-£15,000
Footnote
M.C. London Gazette 26 July 1918 (jointly listed with his pilot, Lieutenant F. M. F. West):
‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. While on patrol, he, with another officer, observed fifteen motor lorries. As these could not be engaged by artillery by zone call, these officers flew 8,000 yards over the enemy lines, at a height of 3,800 feet, in the face of strong opposition from the ground, and dropped four bombs, obtaining direct hits on the lorries and doing considerable damage to their personnel. They then proceeded to attack them with machine-gun fire as they sought cover. A fortnight later they carried out, at a height of 150 feet, a reconnaissance of their corps front, on which an attack was expected. Despite the fact that the clouds were at 200 feet, and there was a thick mist, they obtained most valuable information. During this flight they directed and located the fire of our artillery on a concentration of enemy infantry. Throughout the operations their work in co-operation with our artillery was always of the greatest value, and their enterprise in attacking enemy troops and transport with bombs and machine-gun fire was splendid.’
The original recommendation states:
‘For conspicuous bravery and devotion in carrying out low reconnaissances, and in co-operation with our artillery.
While on patrol near Wiencourt L’Equipee on the morning of April 22nd, 1918, they observed fifteen motor lorries on the Guillancourt Road. As these could not be engaged by our artillery by zone call, they flew 8,000 yards over the enemy lines at a height of 3,800 feet, in the face of strong opposition from the ground, and dropped four bombs, obtaining direct hits on the lorries and doing considerable damage to their personnel. They then proceeded to attack them with machine gun fire as they sought cover.
On April 5th, 1918, they carried out, at a height of 150 feet, a reconnaissance of their Corps front, on which an attack was thought to be about to be made. Despite the fact that the clouds were at 200 feet, and there was a thick mist, they obtained most valuable information. During this flight they located and directed the fire of our Artillery on a concentration of enemy infantry East of Morlancourt.
Their work in co-operation with our artillery has always been of the greatest value, and their enterprise in attacking enemy troops and transport with bombs and machine gun fire, hard to surpass.’
D.F.C. London Gazette 3 December 1918:
‘On 10th August this officer performed a very gallant action. While carrying out a contact patrol he was attacked by seven enemy scouts. Although wounded in the leg at the outset of the engagement, Lt. Haslam, with rare courage and determination, continued to serve his machine gun. One of the enemy aeroplanes was driven down, and the remainder dispersed.’
The original recommendation states:
‘For courage and determination in the face of a vastly superior force of enemy aircraft.
On August 10th, 1918, while carrying out a Contact Patrol Reconnaissance for our Tanks, he and his pilot were attacked near Roye by seven enemy scouts. Lieut. Haslam, although wounded in the leg at the outset of the combat, continued to serve his machine gun, with the result that one of the enemy machines went down with its engine damaged, and the remainder were driven off.
Throughout the days of the 8th, 9th and 10th of August, 1918, he carried out work of sterling value while on Contact Patrol, and his pluck in maintaining the fight on the 10th, after being wounded, is worthy of high praise.’
Haslam’s pilot, ‘Freddie’ West, was awarded the Victoria Cross for the above action. His award appeared in the London Gazette 8 November 1918, thus:
‘In recognition of his outstanding bravery during aerial combat. Captain West, while engaging hostile troops at a low altitude far over the enemy lines, was attacked by seven enemy aircraft. Early in the engagement one of his legs was partially severed by an explosive bullet, and fell powerless into the controls, rendering the machine for the time unmanageable. Lifting his disabled leg, he regained control of the machine, and, although wounded in the other leg, he, with surpassing bravery and devotion to duty, manoeuvred his machine so skilfully that his observer was enabled to get several good bursts into the enemy machines, which drove them away. Captain West then, with rare courage and determination, desperately wounded as he was, brought his machine over our lines and landed safely. Exhausted by his exertions, he fainted, but on regaining consciousness insisted on writing his report.’
M.I.D. London Gazette 20 November 1925 (Waziristan).
James Alexander Gordon ‘Alec’ Haslam was the son of Mr and Mrs J. B. Haslam of 3 Bilton Road, Rugby, and was born in September 1896. He was educated at Rugby, and was awarded an exhibition at Corpus Christi, Cambridge - but in 1915 he opted to enter the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. Haslam was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in February 1916, and served with the 125th Brigade, R.F.A. in the French theatre of war. Securing a secondment to the flying service in 1918, he trained as an observer and was posted to 8 Squadron (F.K.8’s) in Spring of that year.
Haslam was crewed up with Lieutenant F. M. F. West as his pilot, the latter’s biography Winged Diplomat gives the following:
‘I had one unfailing source of uplift at this time, in the shape of my new observer, Lt. James [sic] Haslam. He was seconded from the Royal Artillery and was invaluable on artillery reconnaissance and range-spotting. He was finally allotted to me personally, and it was a comforting thought, when up above the lines with shrapnel flying around and enemy aircraft in the offing, that he was behind me. Haslam had been a Rugby scholar at Cambridge. Silent and shy, he oozed scholarship although he tried to hide it beneath a cloak of simplicity. He had been doing brilliantly at Cambridge and hoped to return there.’
The pair immediately hit it off in the air, and were to survive many scrapes together as Chaz Bowyer relates in For Valour - the Air VC’s:
‘A particularly dangerous low-level sortie for West and Haslam came on 23 April [sic], when they set out to bomb a concentration of German transport well behind the enemy lines. Reaching their objective, the F.K.8 crew made an accurate bombing run and then strafed the target from near zero height before turning for home. As they reached the front line again their aircraft was hit repeatedly by an intense barrage of ground fire, suffering hits in its engine and having an aileron shot away. By skill and good judgement, West scraped across the Allied front lines and accomplished a safe landing only 100 yards west of the trenches. This sortie typified many of West’s patrols during the fierce air activity of April 1918, and it became almost a common sight for 8 Squadron’s F.K.8’s to return from the battle scarred and tattered, victims of the unceasing ground barrage through which they were constantly required to operate. On 1 May, West and Haslam were each awarded a Military Cross for their own parts in the struggle.’
West takes up the story in Winged Diplomat:
‘On May 1st L-M [Leigh-Mallory] sent for Haslam and myself. “I’ve got a written communication from General Rawlinson about you two chaps,” he said. “He congratulates you on the award of the Military Cross by Field Marshal Sir John Haig, Commander-in-Chief, for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Well Done!”
Haslam and I came in for several rough passages on patrol flights in July. Bitter fighting was everywhere, on the ground and in the sky. On July 15th the Second Battle of the Marne opened and on the 18th Foch counter-attacked. The great last act of the war was in full swing and both sides were throwing everything they had into the conflict. Army Corps Headquarters got wind of a pending attack on their front and were desperate for information on concentration of troops, guns and ammunition. The trouble was that the weather was appallingly bad. The low rain clouds would not break up, and if the rain stopped a steamy mist intervened. Our artillery were in dire straits, unable to locate targets without air reconnaissance. To fly along the Corps front, over the German lines, under the cloud bank, was an unwelcome task. At two hundred feet a plane would be a wonderful target, and there were the German balloons to cope with.
Headquarters’ anxiety grew with every day. It became clear that the fate of many lives depended on the ability of a few airmen to provide information. Leigh-Mallory was worried. I must have caught his eye. I was one of his experienced pilots now. He gave Haslam and me the task. Next morning, in a long sortie in wet, misty weather, Haslam and I flew up and down the Corps’ front while I directed our artillery fire. All personal fear vanished in the tremendous thrill and fascination of the task. The lines of moving troops were spotted, the map location determined and then tapped out in code on the transmitter in the cockpit, with the wind whistling past and the fragile machine bumping from the shrapnel...
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The outstanding and rare Great War ‘immediate’ M.C., immediate ‘V.C. action’ D.F.C. and Waziristan 1925 M.I.D. group of seven awarded to Group Captain J. A. G. Haslam, Royal Air Force and Royal Field Artillery - ‘Freddie’ West’s Observer in 8 Squadron for both awards including the D.F.C. action, for which West was awarded the Victoria Cross, and during which epic engagement both airmen were wounded
Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; Distinguished Flying Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. J. A. G. Haslam. R.A.F.); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Waziristan 1925, with M.I.D. oak leaves (F/L. J. A. G. Haslam. R.A.F.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted on card for display, lightly polished, generally very fine (7) £10,000-£15,000
Footnote
M.C. London Gazette 26 July 1918 (jointly listed with his pilot, Lieutenant F. M. F. West):
‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. While on patrol, he, with another officer, observed fifteen motor lorries. As these could not be engaged by artillery by zone call, these officers flew 8,000 yards over the enemy lines, at a height of 3,800 feet, in the face of strong opposition from the ground, and dropped four bombs, obtaining direct hits on the lorries and doing considerable damage to their personnel. They then proceeded to attack them with machine-gun fire as they sought cover. A fortnight later they carried out, at a height of 150 feet, a reconnaissance of their corps front, on which an attack was expected. Despite the fact that the clouds were at 200 feet, and there was a thick mist, they obtained most valuable information. During this flight they directed and located the fire of our artillery on a concentration of enemy infantry. Throughout the operations their work in co-operation with our artillery was always of the greatest value, and their enterprise in attacking enemy troops and transport with bombs and machine-gun fire was splendid.’
The original recommendation states:
‘For conspicuous bravery and devotion in carrying out low reconnaissances, and in co-operation with our artillery.
While on patrol near Wiencourt L’Equipee on the morning of April 22nd, 1918, they observed fifteen motor lorries on the Guillancourt Road. As these could not be engaged by our artillery by zone call, they flew 8,000 yards over the enemy lines at a height of 3,800 feet, in the face of strong opposition from the ground, and dropped four bombs, obtaining direct hits on the lorries and doing considerable damage to their personnel. They then proceeded to attack them with machine gun fire as they sought cover.
On April 5th, 1918, they carried out, at a height of 150 feet, a reconnaissance of their Corps front, on which an attack was thought to be about to be made. Despite the fact that the clouds were at 200 feet, and there was a thick mist, they obtained most valuable information. During this flight they located and directed the fire of our Artillery on a concentration of enemy infantry East of Morlancourt.
Their work in co-operation with our artillery has always been of the greatest value, and their enterprise in attacking enemy troops and transport with bombs and machine gun fire, hard to surpass.’
D.F.C. London Gazette 3 December 1918:
‘On 10th August this officer performed a very gallant action. While carrying out a contact patrol he was attacked by seven enemy scouts. Although wounded in the leg at the outset of the engagement, Lt. Haslam, with rare courage and determination, continued to serve his machine gun. One of the enemy aeroplanes was driven down, and the remainder dispersed.’
The original recommendation states:
‘For courage and determination in the face of a vastly superior force of enemy aircraft.
On August 10th, 1918, while carrying out a Contact Patrol Reconnaissance for our Tanks, he and his pilot were attacked near Roye by seven enemy scouts. Lieut. Haslam, although wounded in the leg at the outset of the combat, continued to serve his machine gun, with the result that one of the enemy machines went down with its engine damaged, and the remainder were driven off.
Throughout the days of the 8th, 9th and 10th of August, 1918, he carried out work of sterling value while on Contact Patrol, and his pluck in maintaining the fight on the 10th, after being wounded, is worthy of high praise.’
Haslam’s pilot, ‘Freddie’ West, was awarded the Victoria Cross for the above action. His award appeared in the London Gazette 8 November 1918, thus:
‘In recognition of his outstanding bravery during aerial combat. Captain West, while engaging hostile troops at a low altitude far over the enemy lines, was attacked by seven enemy aircraft. Early in the engagement one of his legs was partially severed by an explosive bullet, and fell powerless into the controls, rendering the machine for the time unmanageable. Lifting his disabled leg, he regained control of the machine, and, although wounded in the other leg, he, with surpassing bravery and devotion to duty, manoeuvred his machine so skilfully that his observer was enabled to get several good bursts into the enemy machines, which drove them away. Captain West then, with rare courage and determination, desperately wounded as he was, brought his machine over our lines and landed safely. Exhausted by his exertions, he fainted, but on regaining consciousness insisted on writing his report.’
M.I.D. London Gazette 20 November 1925 (Waziristan).
James Alexander Gordon ‘Alec’ Haslam was the son of Mr and Mrs J. B. Haslam of 3 Bilton Road, Rugby, and was born in September 1896. He was educated at Rugby, and was awarded an exhibition at Corpus Christi, Cambridge - but in 1915 he opted to enter the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. Haslam was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in February 1916, and served with the 125th Brigade, R.F.A. in the French theatre of war. Securing a secondment to the flying service in 1918, he trained as an observer and was posted to 8 Squadron (F.K.8’s) in Spring of that year.
Haslam was crewed up with Lieutenant F. M. F. West as his pilot, the latter’s biography Winged Diplomat gives the following:
‘I had one unfailing source of uplift at this time, in the shape of my new observer, Lt. James [sic] Haslam. He was seconded from the Royal Artillery and was invaluable on artillery reconnaissance and range-spotting. He was finally allotted to me personally, and it was a comforting thought, when up above the lines with shrapnel flying around and enemy aircraft in the offing, that he was behind me. Haslam had been a Rugby scholar at Cambridge. Silent and shy, he oozed scholarship although he tried to hide it beneath a cloak of simplicity. He had been doing brilliantly at Cambridge and hoped to return there.’
The pair immediately hit it off in the air, and were to survive many scrapes together as Chaz Bowyer relates in For Valour - the Air VC’s:
‘A particularly dangerous low-level sortie for West and Haslam came on 23 April [sic], when they set out to bomb a concentration of German transport well behind the enemy lines. Reaching their objective, the F.K.8 crew made an accurate bombing run and then strafed the target from near zero height before turning for home. As they reached the front line again their aircraft was hit repeatedly by an intense barrage of ground fire, suffering hits in its engine and having an aileron shot away. By skill and good judgement, West scraped across the Allied front lines and accomplished a safe landing only 100 yards west of the trenches. This sortie typified many of West’s patrols during the fierce air activity of April 1918, and it became almost a common sight for 8 Squadron’s F.K.8’s to return from the battle scarred and tattered, victims of the unceasing ground barrage through which they were constantly required to operate. On 1 May, West and Haslam were each awarded a Military Cross for their own parts in the struggle.’
West takes up the story in Winged Diplomat:
‘On May 1st L-M [Leigh-Mallory] sent for Haslam and myself. “I’ve got a written communication from General Rawlinson about you two chaps,” he said. “He congratulates you on the award of the Military Cross by Field Marshal Sir John Haig, Commander-in-Chief, for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Well Done!”
Haslam and I came in for several rough passages on patrol flights in July. Bitter fighting was everywhere, on the ground and in the sky. On July 15th the Second Battle of the Marne opened and on the 18th Foch counter-attacked. The great last act of the war was in full swing and both sides were throwing everything they had into the conflict. Army Corps Headquarters got wind of a pending attack on their front and were desperate for information on concentration of troops, guns and ammunition. The trouble was that the weather was appallingly bad. The low rain clouds would not break up, and if the rain stopped a steamy mist intervened. Our artillery were in dire straits, unable to locate targets without air reconnaissance. To fly along the Corps front, over the German lines, under the cloud bank, was an unwelcome task. At two hundred feet a plane would be a wonderful target, and there were the German balloons to cope with.
Headquarters’ anxiety grew with every day. It became clear that the fate of many lives depended on the ability of a few airmen to provide information. Leigh-Mallory was worried. I must have caught his eye. I was one of his experienced pilots now. He gave Haslam and me the task. Next morning, in a long sortie in wet, misty weather, Haslam and I flew up and down the Corps’ front while I directed our artillery fire. All personal fear vanished in the tremendous thrill and fascination of the task. The lines of moving troops were spotted, the map location determined and then tapped out in code on the transmitter in the cockpit, with the wind whistling past and the fragile machine bumping from the shrapnel...
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