BB2 RAF DFM FDC signed 5 Battle of Britain pilots Start Price GBP 19.99 Current Price GBP 19.99 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, August 29, 2008 End Time Monday, September 08, 2008 Location Croydon See more about 'BB2 RAF DFM FDC signed 5 Battle of Britain pilots' Description   Welcome to an Aviation Collectables item ...      About   Visit my eBay Shop:  Aviation Collectables  |  Battle of Britain items  |  WWII themed covers  |  Concorde items  |  Post WWII aircraft covers Search my eBay Shop:    Battle of Britain First Day Cover signed by five Battle of Britain pilots JS(CC)82 RAF Battle of Britain cover, dual numbered JS(BB)2 as part of our Battle of Britain mini-series, depicting Supermarine Spitfires of No 92 Squadron above the skies of RAF Biggin Hill during the Battle of Britain engaging Bf 109s. Along side the Distinguished Flying Medal & Bar, which was instituted in 1918 and awarded to NCOs and men of the RAF for courage or devotion to duty while flying on active operations against the enemy. During the Second World War it was extended to the equivalent ranks of the Army and Fleet Air Arm personnel engaged in similar operations. A bar was awarded for a second award.The Cover bears 65c Bahamas Hurricane stamp showing Squadron Leader Stanford-Tuck's aircraft cancelled on first day of issue 15.05.2000.This cover has been hand signed by five Battle of Britain Pilots (4 RAF and 1 Luftwaffe) when they all attended the Biggin Hill International Air Fair as our guests and kindly signed to help out fund-raising. Flight Lieutenant Richard Leoline Jones AEJones joined the RAFVR in early July 1938 as an Airman u/t Pilot (741850) and carried out his flying training at 8 E&RFTS, Woodley flying Magisters and Harts.   He was called to full-time service on September 1 1939 and in November went to 10 FTS, Tern Hill  flying North American Havards. In May 1940 Jones was posted to 5 OTU, Aston Down, to convert to Spitfires and left with 18 hours experience on the Mk 1.  Commissioned in early July, he joined 64 Squadron at Kenley later in the month. On September 12 1940 Jones was posted to 19 Squadron at Fowlmere, part of Bader's Duxford Wing. In November he rejoined 64 Squadron, now based at Hornchurch.  In January 1941 he went with the squadron to Rochford before being posted to the Ministry of Aircraft Production in April 1941.  He was then seconded to the De Havilland Aircraft Company, as a test pilot. He was the only RAF pilot to be based at the Witney De Havilland factory, mainly testing repaired or rebuilt Spitfires and Hurricanes.  His duties also included testing all De Havilland  aircraft, both military and civil.  During his four years test flying he only suffered one engine failure and two forced landings in over 2,000 flight tests.He was awarded the Air Efficiency Award and in 1944 he was awarded the King's Commendation for valuable service in the air.  Jones remained on test duties until his release from the RAF in January 1946, as a Flight Lieutenant. He rejoined the RAFVR in January 1948, he then started a long and successful career in the motor car industry, spending over twenty-five years as the sales director of Hartford Motors, Oxford before retiring in 1982.  Wing Commander James Gilbert Sanders DFCSanders was born in Richmond, Surrey on June 19 1914. He was educated in Italy until the age of 19. Realising war was coming he returned to the UK and joined the RAF on a short service commission in late 1935. He was posted to 10 FTS, Tern Hill on February 1 1936 and joined 111 Squadron at Northolt on August 10, along with M.L Robinson and R.P.R. Powell.  In December 1937 the RAF’s first Hurricanes arrived and Sanders was the third pilot on the Squadron to fly one. In October 1939 Sanders joined 615 Squadron at Croydon as a Flight Commander. On November 15 he led his flight when 615’s Gladiators flew to Merville in company with those of 607. Sanders was flying a weather test on December 29 1939 when he sighted a He 111 and having chased it up to 23,000 feet and used up all his ammunition, he lost it in cloud. So ended 615 Squadron’s first encounter with the Luftwaffe. On May 17 1940 Sanders destroyed a Ju 88 near Lille, one of three enemy aircraft he claimed whilst in France for which he was awarded the DFC (4.6.40). The squadron withdrew to UK on the 21st but still operated over Dunkirk.  He destroyed a Bf 110 and damaged another on June 22.  He was decorated by the King at Kenley on the 27th and shot down a Bf 109 on the 30th. Sanders damaged two He 111s on August 16, destroyed a He 111 and a Ju 88 and shared another Ju 88 on the l8th, shot down a Ju 88 and damaged a He 111 during the night of August 24/25.  On 29 August 615 Squadron was withdrawn to Preston for a rest, however, Sanders stayed at Kenley and borrowed Hurricanes from 253 Squadron to operate at night. During the night of September 23/24 he destroyed a He 111. On October 14 1940 Sanders was given command of 422 Flight, attached to FIU at Shoreham. The Flight formed the nucleus of 96 Squadron at Cranage and on its formation on December 18 1940, Sanders was made a Flight Commander in the new squadron. In January 1941 he went to 257 Squadron but moved to 255 Squadron at Kirton-in-Lindsey in February flying Defiants.  During the nights of March 11/12 and 13/14th, Sanders probably destroyed He 111s and on April 7/8 he damaged a Ju 88. On June 23 1941 he was posted away to 60 OTU. In September 1941 he became Squadron Leader Flying at the OTU at East Fortune and in June 1942 he was made Wing Commander Flying at OTU, Llandow and later at 61 OTU, Rednal.  Sanders was later Station Commander at Hunsdon, Zeals and Hutton Cranswick. Sanders was part of the SHAFE mission in 1944/5 and was in Brussels at the end of the war.  He left the RAF in 1947.   Squadron Leader Cyril Stanley Bamberger DFC*Bamberger joined 610 Squadron, AuxAF in 1936, on the ground staff (810024). Accepted for pilot training with the RAFVR in late 1938, he soloed in mid-1939.  He was called up at the outbreak of war and on October 23 1939 was posted to 8 EFTS, Woodley and later went to 9 FTS, Hullavington to complete his training. He rejoined 610 at Biggin Hill on July 27 but with no experience on Spitfires, he was sent to 7 OTU, Hawarden for three weeks. Back with 610, Bamberger claimed a probable Bf 109 on August 28. He was posted to 41 Squadron at Homchurch on September 17 1940 and on October 5 he claimed a Bf 109 destroyed. After volunteering for Malta, Bamberger left 41 in mid-October 1940. He sailed from Glasgow in the aircraft carrier HMS Argus, eventually reaching Malta on November 28 on the destroyer HMS Hotspur and on arrival he joined 261 Squadron. On January 18 1941 he destroyed a Ju 87 and another the next day. 261 Squadron was disbanded on May 21 1941. Bamberger had moved on the 12th to the newly-formed 185 Squadron at Hal Far. He was posted back to England on June 12 and sent to Central Gunnery School at Sutton Bridge. Commissioned in February 1942, he was posted to Northern Ireland as a Gunnery Officer, with Americans who were converting to Spitfires. In March 1943 Bamberger volunteered for North Africa, where he joined 93 Squadron at Hal Far, Malta in May. On July 13, operating over Sicily, he shot down a Ju 87. In August Bamberger joined 243 Squadron in Sicily, as a Flight Commander. He was awarded the DFC (28.9.43). On October 16 Bamberger damaged a Bf 109, his first success after 243 crossed to Italy. On May 25 1944 he claimed a Bf 109 destroyed and on June 15 a Mc 202 damaged. Bamberger came off operations in July for medical reasons and returned to the UK. He was sent on an instructor's course and in early 1945 was posted to the Gunnery School at Catfoss. Awarded a Bar to the DFC (14.11.44), Bamberger received it from the King at Buckingham Palace on July 3 1945.Released in 1946, Bamberger returned to Lever Brothers and rejoined 610 Squadron at Hooton Park, becoming its CO in 1950. When the Korean crisis came, he was recalled to the RAF. In February 1951 he was granted a Permanent Commission and in May 1952 moved to an Intelligence unit, assessing strike capabilities of the Chinese and Koreans.  Bamberger retired on January 29 1959, as a Squadron Leader, and became Managing Director of a small packaging materials company he had started in 1954.   Flight Lieutenant Lesley Walter Harvey He joined the RAF in October 1938 as Airman u/t Pilot. He was called up on September 1st 1939 and completed his training at 8 EFTS, 10 FTS and was then posted to 5 OTU Aston Down in early August 1940. He crashed in Master N7781 on the 6th unhurt. He joined 54 Squadron at RAF Hornchurch on August 22nd and moved to 245 Squadron at Aldergrove on September 22.Commissioned from Warrant Officer in April 1944 he was released from the RAF in 1946 as a Flight Lieutenant.   Oblerleutant Ulrich Steinhilper Ulrich Steinhilper was born near the end of World War I in the midst of an air raid on Stuttgart. He spent his early childhood in a small village and then moved to a town where his father was a teacher. In 1936 he successfully tested for Luftwaffe flight training and was granted his high school diploma early. As a cadet, he mastered the Heinkel 72 Cadet and the Focke Wulf 44 Goldfinch, received his pilot's badge and then went to an operational unit. In early 1939, he was assigned to Jagdgeschwader (fighter-wing) 433 and served as adjutant to Condor Legion veteran Adolf Galland. Steinhilper "volunteered" to command the group's radio communications unit and worked hard to integrate this new technology into flying operations. In April 1939, the group was redesignated I/JG 52 and in the summer moved to an airfield east of Bonn. During the blitzkrieg into Poland, the group defended the Ruhr industrial region. In September 1939, Steinhilper was assigned a Messerschmitt 109 numbered "yellow 16." During the sitzkrieg or "phoney war," the group moved south and engaged in sporadic combat over France until May 1940 when a new blitzkrieg to the west began. In early August Steinhilper's group began operations across the English Channel. In early August 1940, I/JG 52 returned to combat in the opening days of the Battle of Britain. Steinhilper destroyed his first three enemy fighters, Spitfires, during a ground attack on RAF Manston. On 19 September, he achieved an aerial victory and by month's end counted four. Nearing the end of October, he had logged over 150 sorties across the Channel and had become an ace. On 27 October he was shot down-his flying war was over and the tide had turned against the Luftwaffe! In two exhausting months, Steinhilper became an ace before being shot down and captured. In January 1941 he was shipped to POW Camp 30, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. On 23 November 1941, he escaped and after a two-day odyssey by foot, truck, and train was captured in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Steinhilper had actually spent 30 minutes clinging to a locomotive as it sat in a railyard in the then neutral United States. In less than three weeks, he escaped again and made it to Montreal, Quebec. On 18 February 1942, Steinhilper and a friend, disguised as painters, used a ladder to escape; they made it to Watertown, New York, but after four days, a policeman detained them. Steinhilper was soon sent to Camp 20, Gravenhurst, further north in Ontario. He escaped twice more, but in March 1944, hoping to be repatriated to Germany via Sweden, began to act "crazy." He was finally returned to Germany and freed in late 1946. Within days he had a job driving a truck for the American army. In 1948, he began work at Pan American Airways in Stuttgart. In 1953 he moved to IBM-Germany and became an "ace" salesman. He soon made a suggestion on ways to make a thought audible, visible, and distributable." In 1972, IBM finally credited Steinhilper for the concept of "word processing." Now retired, he has written three autobiographical books - Spitfire on My Tail, Ten Minutes to Buffalo, and Full Circle. Click here to see our hand signed photographs in our shop We usually have lots of other items up for sale so why not have a look at our other auctions   Why not visit our ebay shop for more items? 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