The outstanding and rare Second War C.B.E., Great War D.S.O., M.C. and Bar, A.F.C. group of...

‘Far too much has been made about “knights of the air” and chivalry... you couldn’t have operated like that... I just felt that I wanted to survive... and my best way of doing it was to kill the other fellow. I had no qualms about going down again and shooting him to pieces, I mean, I wasn’t going to be insulted in that way... But if you met 12 or 24 of them, as you did sometimes, well then discretion is the better part of valour. It’s no use just fighting and killing one and then being killed... You want to fight another day.’ The recipient’s own recollections refer The outstanding and rare Second War C.B.E., Great War D.S.O., M.C. and Bar, A.F.C. group of eleven awarded to Air Commodore P. F. Fullard, Royal Air Force and Royal Flying Corps, who with 40 confirmed aerial victories during 1917 would at the War’s end be the seventh highest scoring British Ace of the Great War and the second highest living. A pilot of supreme skill and confidence in his ability as a pilot, his 40 victories were claimed in just eight months at the front, a staggering feat that far surpassed those Aces with higher scores; indeed, his score would have been more had several balloons been added to this number which, whilst recorded by the squadron, were not by granted by a higher authority. Fullard’s war was cut short, not by a German bullet but by a fracture of his leg sustained during an off duty football match in November 1917. What could have been, had he not broken his leg, can only be guessed, but Fullard’s ratio for front line flying time to the number of aerial victories obtained would be unsurpassed by any of the British Aces who had more victories during the Great War. Had Fullard carried on flying, it is quite possible he could have surpassed the victory score of any Ace of any nation The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Military) Commander’s 2nd type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with neck riband, in Garrard, London, case of issue; Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; Military Cross, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar, unnamed as issued; Air Force Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Capt. P. F. Fullard. R.F.C.); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1935 (S/L. P. F. Fullard. R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Belgium, Kingdom, Croix de Guerre, A.I.R., with bronze palm, the pre-Second War awards all mounted as worn; the Second War medals loose, generally good very fine (11) £40,000-£60,000 --- C.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1941 D.S.O. London Gazette 16 September 1918: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. As a patrol leader and scout pilot he is without equal. The moral effect of his presence in a patrol is most marked. He has now accounted for fourteen machines destroyed and eighteen driven down out of control in a little over four months’ M.C. London Gazette 9 January 1918: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when engaged in aerial combat. He has on four occasions attacked and destroyed enemy aircraft, and has in addition engaged in 25 indecisive combats, in which he has shown fine leadership, great dash and determination to close with the enemy.’ M.C. Second Award Bar London Gazette 9 January 1918: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He has on many occasions displayed the utmost dash and fearlessness in attacking enemy aircraft at close range and in destroying at least eight hostile machines during a period of about ten days. His determination and fine offensive spirit have in almost every instance resulted in disaster to the enemy.’ A.F.C. London Gazette 3 June 1919. M.I.D. London Gazette 5 June 1919. Belgium Croix de Guerre London Gazette 1 April 1919. Philip Fletcher Fullard was born in Wimbledon on 27 June 1897 and was educated at the King Edward VI School, Norwich. Here he developed a reputation as an accomplished sportsman and played for Norwich City Reserves football team. Still at school on the outbreak of the Great War, he enlisted into the Inns of Court Officers Training Corps in 1915 and was gazetted Second Lieutenant, Royal Irish Fusiliers on 5 August 1916. Barely a week later he was instructed to report to the School of Military Aeronautics, Oxford, to train as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps. Passing his ‘dual’ and ‘solo’ tests in under two days’ of instruction, he was awarded his wings in December 1916 and shortly afterwards, due to his exceptional flying abilities, was appointed as an instructor at Central Flying School, Upavon. An extremely confident young man, he described himself “as good a pilot as there was” and remarked: “I had a total lack of fear. I was very conscious of what I could make the machine do.” In desperate need for pilots and demoralised by the devastating looses sustained by the Royal Flying Corps during ‘Bloody April’, later that month Fullard was ordered to the Western Front and in early May 1917, was posted to 1 Squadron. Based next to Bailleul Asylum, a few miles southwest of Ypres in Flanders, 1 Squadron had recently been fully equipped with French Nieuport 17 fighters. Initially Fullard found the Nieuport to be “frightfully heavy-handed” and “unwieldy”, with a cramped cockpit and experienced his first ‘flip’ during a practice flight. Once mastering, his views changed and he came to regard the Nieuport with supreme respect, describing it as “immensely strong” and capable of withstanding “the most enormous strains and dives and spins and rolls”. Into Combat Fullard’s first combat flight came just days after his arrival at 1 Squadron, with an offensive patrol on 5 May. For all his self-assurance and ability, Fullard’s introduction to the Western Front was a difficult baptism of fire. During his first patrol he was so distracted by the “sight of the enemy in their brightly coloured liveries” that he stalled and spun “right down almost to the top of them”. His flight leader thought he was “a goner”. Days later he became embroiled in combat only to discover he was unable to use his gun due to an oil-covered sight. Worse still was the “rotten prospect” of a hazardous sortie against observation balloons that, following a “contour chasing” practice sortie flown over the trenches at heights of little more than “25 or so feet”, became a deadly reality late on 26 May. Of the six assigned to hit a group of balloons with Le Prieur rockets, Fullard was one of only two to make it home. Two balloons had been destroyed at the cost of four pilots killed, wounded or captured. Landing after a fruitless search for a balloon that had already been hauled down, Fullard vented his frustration. The outburst was indicative of a trait and did little to endear him to senior officers. The headstrong youngster soon exacted partial revenge with his first victory. During a frantic dogfight over Quesnoy, he spotted an Albatros D.III scout attacking a British machine. In what would become his trademark style, Fullard closed to 20 yards before opening fire. Half a magazine was enough to send it spiralling down and, with Fullard unable to follow, he was credited with having despatched it ‘out of control’. Two days later, Fullard was credited with a second Albatros Scout out of control. He reported firing 15 rounds at close range, the Albatros flying straight for some moments and then went into a spin, it...