The scarce experimental flying Distinguished Flying Cross

The scarce experimental flying Distinguished Flying Cross, and Double Air Force Cross to Group Captain Harry Alexander Purvis R.A.F.:

D.F.C., for mine destruction, reverse dated 1940, cased (LG: 20/02/1940); A.F.C., reverse dated 1940, cased (LG: 11/07/1940); Bar to A.F.C., on separate piece of ribbon (LG: 02/06/1943); Coronation Medal 1953, boxed; mounted miniature group comprising: D.F.C.. A.F.C. and Bar, 1939-45 Star, Atlantic Star with Air Crew Europe Bar, Defence Medal, 1939-45 War Medal with oak leaf, Coronation Medal 1953; Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Award of Merit, award for 1960-61, reverse inscribed (H.A. PURVIS/ UPPER FREEMAN), cased; the recipient's flying logbooks (10) from 23rd September 1924 to 14th April 1965; his commission a uniform tunic, ribbon bar, RAF wings and ID tags; and a good quantity of associated biographical material, lists of aircraft, photographs including studies of various aircraft types. Offered with copy research. All medals extremely fine.

"We are getting a new C.O., it is 'Bruin' Purvis. He is the best pilot in the R.A.F."*

The vital and sometimes overlooked contribution of test pilots to the 1939-45 war effort is well illustrated by the superb combination of a Distinguished Flying Cross with an Air Force Cross and Bar awarded to Squadron Leader (later Group Captain) Harry Alexander Purvis R.A.F. Accompanied by the recipient's flying log books and his dress miniature medals, they represent part of the career of an extraordinarily courageous and skilful aviator.

The A.F.C. was, of course, the natural reward for those fearless individuals who risked injury and death in the effort to develop vital aerial weaponry, in an era when the boundaries of aviation technology were being advanced with hazardous rapidity. Purvis was at the forefront of this work, and became one of only 26 men** in this period to be awarded the A.F.C. not once, but twice, as denoted by the bar.

It is further testament to the breadth of his wartime service that he was also awarded the D.F.C. - the reward for bravery whilst flying on active operations against the enemy. In late 1939 the RAF developed an aerial countermeasure to Nazi Germany's magnetic influence sea mines, which posed a grave risk to our vital sea lanes. A Vickers Wellington (P2518) was fitted with a huge balsa wood hoop that housed a powerful electromagnetic coil. The intention was to fly low over the sea, so that the downward pointing magnetic field would detonate the mines lurking beneath the waves. 'Bruin' Purvis, having tested the functional capabilities of this unconventional aircraft, then took the further - and extremely hazardous - step of trialling its mine destroying ability in January 1940. The Operations Record Book for No.1 G.R. Unit, R.A.F. Manston, records that a mine was successfully destroyed on the 8th or 9th of that month and notes that 'Aircraft's Height was 25-30 feet'. Neither the possibility that the huge upsurge of water resulting from the explosion might bring the aircraft down, nor the interference of the enemy in later trials, were any deterrent to this steely nerved man.

His remarkable story also includes the testing of prototype Spitfires, and in May 1942 he was posted to the Aeroplane and Aeronautical Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe down in Wiltshire. We are reminded of the dangerous nature of his work by the fact that his predecessor had been killed in a crash, and that "there had been so many fatal accidents…. that there was a need for a great personality to revive the general spirits of the comparatively inexperienced survivors."*** Bruin Purvis, described at the time by Lieutenant Commander Denis Campbell F.A.A. (himself an operational and test pilot of great stature) as 'the best pilot in the R.A.F.', was just such a personality. Whilst testing the new Lancaster Mk VI in 1944, he suffered an engine fault that forced him to crash land. With consummate skill he avoided the destruction of life and property in the land below him, and preserved the lives of his crew, before strolling to his home (coincidentally nearby) and announcing to his wife "I was in Amesbury so I thought I would pop in for a cup of tea." ****

* Lieutenant Commander Denis Cambell quoted in 'Men with Wings' by Wing Commander H.P. 'Sandy' Powell A.F.C., A.F.R.Ae.S.

** Abbott & Tamplin, 'British Gallantry Awards'

*** Wing Commander H.P. 'Sandy' Powell, 'Men With Wings'

**** Derek Collier Webb, 'Bruin Purvis, Test Pilot Extraordinary'