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The Caterpillar Club Badges presented to Flight Lieutenant R. E. Knights, D.S.O., D.F.C.,...
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Description
The Caterpillar Club Badges presented to Flight Lieutenant R. E. Knights, D.S.O., D.F.C., 619 and 617 (Dambusters) Squadrons, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who was twice forced to bale out, and was awarded the D.S.O. for the sinking of the Tirpitz
Caterpillar Club Badge (2), gold caterpillar with ‘ruby’ eyes, the reverse inscribed ‘F/L R. E. Knights’, with original pin suspension; together with a second, in gilt metal with enamel eyes, similarly named ‘F/L R. E. Knights’, with original pin but replacement hook suspension; and a small 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force, charm badge, gold (9ct., total weight 1.52g) and enamel, about extremely fine (3) £800-£1,000
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D.S.O. London Gazette 12 January 1945:
‘This officer has displayed the highest qualities of devotion to duty in operations against the enemy. Since being awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross, Flight Lieutenant Knights has completed a large number of sorties, many of them against well defended and difficult targets. He has invariably pressed home his attacks with great determination and precision and his coolness and courage under enemy fire has been most inspiring.
Flight Lieutenant Knights took part in all three attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. In the final operation, during which the vessel was
sunk, this pilot pressed home his attack with great resolution. His was one of the several bombs which straddled the vessel.’
D.F.C. London Gazette 21 April 1944.
Robert Edgar Knights was born in Fulham, London, on 18 January 1921 and was educated at Fulham School for Boys, where he excelled at football, playing for the London Schoolboys’ XI that won the Schoolboys’ Cup at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea. Volunteering for service as a Pilot he was called up in March 1941, and trained in America under the Arnold Scheme. ‘When flying over Florida, his instructor managed to get them lost and Knights was forced to bale out – a farmer thought he was a German. After returning to England to complete his training, he was forced to bale out again, badly injuring his hand, when his aircraft crashed through the roof of a barn.’ (The recipient’s obituary in the Daily Telegraph refers).
Knights was commissioned Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 10 June 1943. Posted to 619 Squadron as a Lancaster Pilot that same month, he undertook 30 operational sorties over the next six months, including no fewer than 8 to the ‘Big City’, Berlin, and for his services was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Promoted Flying Officer on 10 December 1943, he subsequently volunteered along with his crew for service with 617 (Dambusters) Squadron, and flew a further 37 operational sorties with his new unit, including in Operation Taxable, a deception operation for the D-Day landings, and, most notably, the mission to destroy the Tirpitz under Willie Tait on 21 November 1944, his last operational sortie of the War. Promoted Flight Lieutenant on 10 June 1945, he relinquished his commission the following year, and joined B.O.A.C., ultimately flying the Boeing 747 for British Airways. He retired in 1976, and died on 4 December 2004, aged 83.
Caterpillar Club Badge (2), gold caterpillar with ‘ruby’ eyes, the reverse inscribed ‘F/L R. E. Knights’, with original pin suspension; together with a second, in gilt metal with enamel eyes, similarly named ‘F/L R. E. Knights’, with original pin but replacement hook suspension; and a small 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force, charm badge, gold (9ct., total weight 1.52g) and enamel, about extremely fine (3) £800-£1,000
---
D.S.O. London Gazette 12 January 1945:
‘This officer has displayed the highest qualities of devotion to duty in operations against the enemy. Since being awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross, Flight Lieutenant Knights has completed a large number of sorties, many of them against well defended and difficult targets. He has invariably pressed home his attacks with great determination and precision and his coolness and courage under enemy fire has been most inspiring.
Flight Lieutenant Knights took part in all three attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. In the final operation, during which the vessel was
sunk, this pilot pressed home his attack with great resolution. His was one of the several bombs which straddled the vessel.’
D.F.C. London Gazette 21 April 1944.
Robert Edgar Knights was born in Fulham, London, on 18 January 1921 and was educated at Fulham School for Boys, where he excelled at football, playing for the London Schoolboys’ XI that won the Schoolboys’ Cup at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea. Volunteering for service as a Pilot he was called up in March 1941, and trained in America under the Arnold Scheme. ‘When flying over Florida, his instructor managed to get them lost and Knights was forced to bale out – a farmer thought he was a German. After returning to England to complete his training, he was forced to bale out again, badly injuring his hand, when his aircraft crashed through the roof of a barn.’ (The recipient’s obituary in the Daily Telegraph refers).
Knights was commissioned Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 10 June 1943. Posted to 619 Squadron as a Lancaster Pilot that same month, he undertook 30 operational sorties over the next six months, including no fewer than 8 to the ‘Big City’, Berlin, and for his services was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Promoted Flying Officer on 10 December 1943, he subsequently volunteered along with his crew for service with 617 (Dambusters) Squadron, and flew a further 37 operational sorties with his new unit, including in Operation Taxable, a deception operation for the D-Day landings, and, most notably, the mission to destroy the Tirpitz under Willie Tait on 21 November 1944, his last operational sortie of the War. Promoted Flight Lieutenant on 10 June 1945, he relinquished his commission the following year, and joined B.O.A.C., ultimately flying the Boeing 747 for British Airways. He retired in 1976, and died on 4 December 2004, aged 83.
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The Caterpillar Club Badges presented to Flight Lieutenant R. E. Knights, D.S.O., D.F.C., 619 and 617 (Dambusters) Squadrons, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who was twice forced to bale out, and was awarded the D.S.O. for the sinking of the Tirpitz
Caterpillar Club Badge (2), gold caterpillar with ‘ruby’ eyes, the reverse inscribed ‘F/L R. E. Knights’, with original pin suspension; together with a second, in gilt metal with enamel eyes, similarly named ‘F/L R. E. Knights’, with original pin but replacement hook suspension; and a small 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force, charm badge, gold (9ct., total weight 1.52g) and enamel, about extremely fine (3) £800-£1,000
---
D.S.O. London Gazette 12 January 1945:
‘This officer has displayed the highest qualities of devotion to duty in operations against the enemy. Since being awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross, Flight Lieutenant Knights has completed a large number of sorties, many of them against well defended and difficult targets. He has invariably pressed home his attacks with great determination and precision and his coolness and courage under enemy fire has been most inspiring.
Flight Lieutenant Knights took part in all three attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. In the final operation, during which the vessel was
sunk, this pilot pressed home his attack with great resolution. His was one of the several bombs which straddled the vessel.’
D.F.C. London Gazette 21 April 1944.
Robert Edgar Knights was born in Fulham, London, on 18 January 1921 and was educated at Fulham School for Boys, where he excelled at football, playing for the London Schoolboys’ XI that won the Schoolboys’ Cup at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea. Volunteering for service as a Pilot he was called up in March 1941, and trained in America under the Arnold Scheme. ‘When flying over Florida, his instructor managed to get them lost and Knights was forced to bale out – a farmer thought he was a German. After returning to England to complete his training, he was forced to bale out again, badly injuring his hand, when his aircraft crashed through the roof of a barn.’ (The recipient’s obituary in the Daily Telegraph refers).
Knights was commissioned Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 10 June 1943. Posted to 619 Squadron as a Lancaster Pilot that same month, he undertook 30 operational sorties over the next six months, including no fewer than 8 to the ‘Big City’, Berlin, and for his services was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Promoted Flying Officer on 10 December 1943, he subsequently volunteered along with his crew for service with 617 (Dambusters) Squadron, and flew a further 37 operational sorties with his new unit, including in Operation Taxable, a deception operation for the D-Day landings, and, most notably, the mission to destroy the Tirpitz under Willie Tait on 21 November 1944, his last operational sortie of the War. Promoted Flight Lieutenant on 10 June 1945, he relinquished his commission the following year, and joined B.O.A.C., ultimately flying the Boeing 747 for British Airways. He retired in 1976, and died on 4 December 2004, aged 83.
Caterpillar Club Badge (2), gold caterpillar with ‘ruby’ eyes, the reverse inscribed ‘F/L R. E. Knights’, with original pin suspension; together with a second, in gilt metal with enamel eyes, similarly named ‘F/L R. E. Knights’, with original pin but replacement hook suspension; and a small 617 Squadron, Royal Air Force, charm badge, gold (9ct., total weight 1.52g) and enamel, about extremely fine (3) £800-£1,000
---
D.S.O. London Gazette 12 January 1945:
‘This officer has displayed the highest qualities of devotion to duty in operations against the enemy. Since being awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross, Flight Lieutenant Knights has completed a large number of sorties, many of them against well defended and difficult targets. He has invariably pressed home his attacks with great determination and precision and his coolness and courage under enemy fire has been most inspiring.
Flight Lieutenant Knights took part in all three attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. In the final operation, during which the vessel was
sunk, this pilot pressed home his attack with great resolution. His was one of the several bombs which straddled the vessel.’
D.F.C. London Gazette 21 April 1944.
Robert Edgar Knights was born in Fulham, London, on 18 January 1921 and was educated at Fulham School for Boys, where he excelled at football, playing for the London Schoolboys’ XI that won the Schoolboys’ Cup at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea. Volunteering for service as a Pilot he was called up in March 1941, and trained in America under the Arnold Scheme. ‘When flying over Florida, his instructor managed to get them lost and Knights was forced to bale out – a farmer thought he was a German. After returning to England to complete his training, he was forced to bale out again, badly injuring his hand, when his aircraft crashed through the roof of a barn.’ (The recipient’s obituary in the Daily Telegraph refers).
Knights was commissioned Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 10 June 1943. Posted to 619 Squadron as a Lancaster Pilot that same month, he undertook 30 operational sorties over the next six months, including no fewer than 8 to the ‘Big City’, Berlin, and for his services was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Promoted Flying Officer on 10 December 1943, he subsequently volunteered along with his crew for service with 617 (Dambusters) Squadron, and flew a further 37 operational sorties with his new unit, including in Operation Taxable, a deception operation for the D-Day landings, and, most notably, the mission to destroy the Tirpitz under Willie Tait on 21 November 1944, his last operational sortie of the War. Promoted Flight Lieutenant on 10 June 1945, he relinquished his commission the following year, and joined B.O.A.C., ultimately flying the Boeing 747 for British Airways. He retired in 1976, and died on 4 December 2004, aged 83.
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