Medal query

[HagarTheHorrible]

Does anybody know what the square thing is, in the medal ribbon line, just below the centre of his wings ?

 

He was in Africa, Malta, Italy and NE Europe  plus awarded a DFC   (Torpedo bombers)

[BOO]

It looks to be a second row of ribbon rather than a single large one. Given the DFC is promiently there as the senior medal, it would make no sense to have a lesser ribbon taking up twice the space. A date of when the picture was taken may help narrow down the what some of the rest are as would his service record I guess. 

 

Taking a wild and uneducated stab in the dark  DFC, 39-45 Medal and under it perhaps the Aircrew Medal??? The ones to the right being other campaign medals?

[HagarTheHorrible]

Cheers.  Yes, I think you’re right.  DFC ( probably for just being alive, which was no mean feat), followed, I think, by the 39-45 star, not sure after that, but bottom row (medal) is possibly the France Germany Star, it seems to have the correct proportions.  The others on the top row will include Africa star, Italy Star and possibly Defence medal ( depending on date of photo and when issued) for which I have the ribbons. For some reason, and again this just might be to do with date of issue and that of the photo, there is no Aircrew star.  I’d originally thought it might have been some weird, or wonderful, clasp, maybe Coastal Command, torpedo pilot or some such.  He also took part in the Syrian campaign, but I suppose you don’t get medals for fighting against, what is nominally, a friend. 

I’ve got a local (amateur) historian looking into his background, so might find out from the gazette as to reason for his award of the DFC.  
 

I believe he flew Beaufort torpedo bombers.

Edited September 6, 2022 by HagarTheHorrible

[BOO]

23 minutes ago, HagarTheHorrible said:

I believe he flew Beaufort torpedo bombers.

Isnt that reason enough for a DFC!!

 

Wasnt the Aircrew star for UK based operations thinking about it? Not sure if torpedo bombing is viewed as maritime but I dont think that counted either. 

 

Good luck with the research. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by BOO

[LukeFF]

46 minutes ago, BOO said:

Isnt that reason enough for a DFC!!

 

Wasnt the Aircrew star for UK based operations thinking about it? Not sure if torpedo bombing is viewed as maritime but I dont think that counted either. 

 

Good luck with the research. 

 

Yes, the Aircrew Europe Star was for missions flown from the UK up to 5 June 1944.

 

Speaking of those campaign stars, my wife's maternal grandfather was awarded the Burma Star for his Royal Navy service as a diver in southeast Asia.

[HagarTheHorrible]

8 minutes ago, LukeFF said:

 

Yes, the Aircrew Europe Star was for missions flown from the UK up to 5 June 1944.

 

 

That might explain the absence of a ribbon.  I suspect he was still busy in he Med up until D-day.

 

1 hour ago, BOO said:

Isnt that reason enough for a DFC!!

 

 

God yes, and then some.

[HagarTheHorrible]

Obituary of Ewen Gillies

Obituary of Ewen Gillies 
Author: KeithBryers 
Time Stamp:  
19:17:53 Sunday, September 28, 2003 
Post: 
I thought the undernoted obituary would be of interest to RAF Command adherents. Unfortunately, it doesn't mention what unit(s) he served with: 

 

 

From "The Scotsman", Thu 31 Jul 2003 

 

Ewen Gillies 

 

CONTRIBUTED 

 

 

Ewen Gillies, wartime RAF pilot 

Born: 20 August, 1920, in Cromarty 

Died: 12 July, 2003, in London, aged 82 

 

EWEN Gillies was a modest Black Isle hero, who carried out more than 100 daring mast-height sorties against enemy shipping during the Second World War. 

 

Cromarty-born Gillies had already completed more than 40 missions as captain of a Beaufort torpedo bomber in the Mediterranean when he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in April 1943. He later carried out 60 sorties in Northern European waters as pilot of a "Torbeau" - a fast Beaufighter aircraft that had been modified to carry torpedos. This led to the award of a bar to his DFC in January 1945, and he was invested with both decorations by the King later that year. 

The former Ross County and Inverness Thistle centre-forward, who had netted four times in a classic tussle with Inverness Caledonian less than six months before the outbreak of war, later won an enviable reputation for scoring with his torpedos in a deadlier game. 

 

In January 1943, flying from Malta as a newly-promoted pilot officer, he successfully attacked and hit an enemy tanker, despite intense flak from its five escort vessels. The following month he attacked and achieved a direct torpedo hit on another large tanker, which was finished off by following aircraft. 

 

His DFC citation in the London Gazette stated: "This officer has invariably displayed great courage and keenness." 

 

He was also described in a contemporary newspaper report as "an outstanding torpedo bomber pilot, who has at all times displayed outstanding keenness, courage and determination." 

 

The young hero was quoted in another report, after a raid on shipping off Germany in September 1944, as saying: "I dropped my torpedo, then saw the ship go up in a big red flash, and a pall of black smoke, as if it were hit in the engine room." 

 

In a letter to Gillies�s family after his death, Len Ornellas, from Devon, the navigator on his second tour of operations, wrote: "Ewen was an exceptional pilot, to whom I owed my life. 

 

"We were very close during 1944-45, during which time we completed 60 operational sorties together. Ewen, of course, had already completed a tour on Beauforts in the Med, and a pilot completing two tours on torpedo aircraft was a rarity." 

 

Ewen Gillies was the third of six children, and the youngest of three sons, of Hugh and Jessie Gillies, originally from Skye. He was educated at Cromarty School and Fortrose Academy, before beginning his apprenticeship as an architect with R Carruthers Ballantyne, of Inverness. 

 

He and a fellow apprentice, Iain Cameron, of Telford Road, Inverness, joined the RAF together at the outbreak of war. They both trained as sergeant pilots and were posted to Coastal Command. Both were later commissioned but, sadly, Iain was listed as missing on operations, as a flying officer, aged only 21. 

 

After the war, Gillies received a permanent commission and remained in the RAF, reaching the rank of squadron leader before retiring to take up a civilian post with the Ministry of Defence. 

 

A bachelor, he lived in his later years at Maidenhead in Berkshire. 

 

Gillies is survived by three sisters, Hannah Cameron, Florence Cran and Catriona, and by his close friend of many years, Deborah Jane Sansom, whom he met while serving with the MoD. 

 

He was predeceased by his older brothers, Neil, a former maths teacher and wartime RAF meteorology officer, and John, a former Cromarty postman and Royal Artillery veteran of the desert war. All three brothers played football for Ross County, while Neil also turned out for Motherwell during his student years. 

 

Catriona, who still lives in the family home at Cromarty, was the burgh�s sub-postmistress for 44 years until her retirement in 1994. She holds the distinction of being the last person in Britain to be awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to the community. 

 

She said: "Ewen was a very modest man. He would never boast about his exploits. He would never push himself forward in that way. 

 

"When he and his brothers were away during the war, my mother prayed every night for their safe return, and her prayers were answered."

 

 

This article: 

 

http://www.news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=823452003 

 

 

 

---

RE: Obituary of Ewen Gillies 
Author: Ross_McNeill 
Time Stamp:  
20:20:14 Sunday, September 28, 2003 
Post: 
Hi Keith,

 

F/Sgt Gillies was with No.39 Sqn flying out of Malta in Feb 1943.

 

Regards

Ross