Beschreibung:

The Ron Penhall Collection Family group: The Second World War test pilot’s A.F.C., fighter ace’s D.F.M. group of eight awarded to Squadron Leader R. V. “Monty” Ellis, Royal Air Force, who as a Flight Sergeant in Hurricanes of No. 73 Squadron first saw action during the fall of France, when he was credited with arranging General de Gaulle’s flight to England: he afterwards shared in several victories in the Battle of Britain and downed three Ju. 87s in a single day over North Africa - all of which achievements are cited in the recommendation for his D.F.M. Air Force Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ‘1946’; Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (566445 F./Sgt. R. V. Ellis, R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star, clasp, Battle of Britain; Air Crew Europe Star; Africa Star, clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Defence and War Medals; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Cyprus (Flt. Lt. R. V. Ellis, R.A.F.), contact marks, generally very fine or better The Boer War and Great War campaign service group of five awarded to Acting Staff-Sergeant W. S. F. Ellis, Army Service Corps, late Royal Army Medical Corps, the father of Squadron Leader R. V. “Monty” Ellis Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Natal, Orange Free State, Transvaal (13987 Pte. W. S. F. Ellis, R.A.M.C.); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (13987 Pte. W. S. F. Ellis, R.A.M.C.); 1914-15 Star (T1SR-1163 Sjt. W. S. Ellis, A.S.C.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (T1SR-1163 A.S. Sjt. W. S. Ellis, A.S.C.), mounted as worn, two clasps on the first tailor’s copies, generally very fine (13) £10,000-12,000 Footnote Libya: since November 1941, this pilot has aggregated operational flying hours over the areas where things were toughest, Sidi Barrani, Tobruk, Derna, Gazala, etc., during the period of the advance and again for the defence of Tobruk, during which time the squadron lost many pilots. In one raid on Tobruk on 14 April or 30 April 1941, by Ju. 87s with a mixed fighter escort, this pilot destroyed two Ju. 87s in one scramble by head-on attacks. He landed and took-off in another aircraft and downed a further Ju. 87 by a long burst from astern. His total for the day, three Ju. 87s. Sorties: total 186, mainly hazardous ground strafing of M.T. columns and aerodromes to stem the enemy advance from Benghazi. Included are frequent and long protective shipping patrols along the Libyan coastline. Hours: total 702, 302 hours operational. This pilot has served with fine distinction in a squadron which has only three original pilots left. He is temperamentally unaffected by these periods of warfare and losses. Flight Sergeant Ellis has retained both his skill and zest. In a recent call for volunteers to return to the Western Desert, he unhesitatingly asked to go. It was, however, felt that this pilot merited a rest from a unique record of devotion and skilful duty.’ Ronald Vernon “Monty” Ellis was born in February 1917 and was educated at Chatham Junior Technical School prior to entering the Royal Air Force as a Halton Apprentice in January 1933. Gaining selection for pilot training in the course of 1938, he attended No. 6 Operational Training Unit at Sutton Bridge in May 1940 and was ordered to France to join No. 73 Squadron at Raudin in the rank of Sergeant Pilot early in the following month. The Fall of France and the Battle of Britain Arriving there on 7 June, the very day that the squadron lost one of its most colourful and successful pilots, “Cobber” Kane, Ellis quickly gained combat experience, but a mere week later, after latterly flying in support of personnel being evacuated from St. Nazaire, he won distinction of a different kind, when he arranged the flight of General de Gaulle from Bordeaux to England in a Rapide of No. 24 Squadron on 14 June, an aircraft, as Churchill put it, that carried “the honour of France.” Moreover, an accompanying wartime newspaper cutting actually credits Ellis with piloting the very same aircraft, the sho