Orders, Decorations & Medals - British

Lot 3940    SESSION 13 - 2.30PM Thursday 31 July    Orders, Decorations & Medals - British

Estimate $5,000
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $8,000

FAMILY GROUP: Father. Group of Nine: Air Force Cross (GRI) with horizontal striped ribbon; 1914-15 Star; British War Medal 1914-18; Victory Medal 1914-19 with MID; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45 with MID; Africa Service Medal 1939-45; Jubilee Medal 1935 with Imperial crown attachment. First medal unnamed, Pte J.D. Mail 4th Infantry on second medal, Lieut. J.D. Mail. R.A.F. on third and fourth medals, 103125 J.D. Mail on fifth to eighth medals, last medal unnamed. Son. War Medal 1939-45. 99001 D.D. Mail. All named medals impressed. Very fine - uncirculated.

Together with South Africa Memorial Plaque WWII with inscription, 'Died of Wounds - World War/1939/1945/103125 Capt. J.D. Mail/S.A.A.F./Aan Gevegswonde Gesterf - Wereldoorlog', also corresponding Memorial brooch/lapel badge, reverse impressed 9796; original WWI Mention in Despatch certificate; John Pinches case for AFC; fitted case for J.D. Mail's other four medals to 1935; book, General Dan Pienaar His Life and His Battles by Eric Rosenthal, 1943, pp210 (with details of plane crash that killed him and Captain Mail and others on pp194/197; book, Fields of Air, Triumphs, tragedies and mysteries of civil aviation in Southern Africa by James Byron, 2001, pp308 (with details of Capt Mail on pp16/17 with his photo).

AFC: Supplement to LG 10/10/1919, p12527 to Flying Officer James Douglas Mail, also 01Apr1918, AF List Nov1919 as Flg Off (Observer)

MID (WW1): Supplement to LG 12/1/1920, p510, to Lt J.D. Mail, RAF, mentioned in a Despatch from General Sir E.H.B. Allenby GCB, GCMG dated 5th March 1919 for gallant and distinguished services in the Field.

MID (WWII): A record of service from SA Defence Force dated February 1993 shows that Captain J.D. Mail was Mentioned in Despatches twice.

James Douglas Mail: born 10Jul1892 at Estcourt, Natal; educated at Estcourt Government School; father ran a grocery business under the name of Mail and Trotter.

WWI: Enl.1914 serving with South African Field Telegraph Corps; 1915-16 in ops with East African Expeditionary Force as despatch rider; 1916 transfer to Royal Flying Corps and later to Royal Air Force serving as Captain flying on ops in the Middle East; one newspaper article states that he was twice shot down; MID 1919; Disch.Feb1919.

Post WWI: In 1919 James Mail formed Aerial Stunts in Durban. In 1920 he formed and operated Natal Aviation Syndicate with DH6B, known as the 'Baby Tank', that was purchased from obsolete war stores and restored in a backyard in Bulawayo. He served in the RAF Reserve Aug1927-Jul1931. In 1928 he joined the Aircraft Operating Company and carried out the 60,000 square miles aerial survey of Northern Rhodesia, mainly on the Zambesi mostly with a DH9. He formed 'Mail's Aerial Service - Bulawayo and flew Cirrus Moth 'Sir Charles' on A.O.C. Special Tour in Northern Rhodesia and also ran the first inter-city aerial mail service between Bulawayo and Salisbury. On 12Mar1930 he was admitted as a member of The Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators of the British Empire. In 1931 James joined Imperial Airways and flew Argosy aircraft on London-Paris run. Also as British Air Transport he flew Puss Moth G-ABIU from Croydon to Bulawayo taking about 8 days for the trip. This aircraft operated on charter work in Rhodesia and South Africa and in March 1932 was re-registered as ZS-ADO under the banner of Douglas Mail Air Transport. He was also Service Manager of D.H.Saker & Co in Johannesburg. In 1937 he was appointed Chief Pilot of African Flying Services at Grand Central Aerodrome where he instructed on Tiger Moths, Buckers, Dragon Rapides, Wacos, and Fairchilds. He flew the DH twin-engine Rapide aircraft for Kerr's record breaking parachute jump on 01Dec1937 from 22,395 feet. This jump had been organised to raise money to help a paralysed man regain his health. Then in 1939 in a Dragon Rapide he carried out the first aerial crop spraying against bagworm infestation of wattle in the Cedera plantations outside Pietermaritzburg.

WWII: Enl.17Jun1940 in SAAF and flew Envoys, Valencias, Audaxs, Ansons, Fairey Battles, Marylands, Lodestars, Oxfords, Venturas and others, mainly on transport flights; 19Dec1942 Killed in Flying Accident.

The official report on Mail's service file reads - Lockheed No. K248 (B) SAAF (C) 215 degrees 8 mls from Kisumu aerodrome Kenya, night 0510 hours crashed in Lake Victoria presumed totally destroyed, later amended to all crew and passengers killed when the aircraft exploded and crashed into Kavirondo Gulf, Lake Victoria.

The soldiers and civilians who had come to see the plane depart from Kisumu were shattered when shortly after take-off the plane suddenly plunged downward and to their disbelief there was a mighty splash into the lake. Those on board included Major General Dan Pienaar CB, CBE, DSO and Bar, regarded as the greatest South African soldier of WWII. The pilot was Captain J.D. Mail who was 51 years old and had logged a massive 15,000 flying hours. The other passengers were Colonel Frederick Thereon, Lt-Colonels E.V. Frykberg and E.L. Mackenzie both of the First Division, Major J.W.A. Bull Chief Press Officer for the South African Army in Egypt, Major F. Rawlins, Captain P. Cloete, Lieutenant W.B. Lloyd, Air Sergeant C.B. Flusk, Sergeant A.F. Weldon and Air Corporal L.B Lafayette. General Pienaar was returning to a heroes reception from commanding the First South African Brigade at El Alamein. Following the crash, an American corespondent report in the Chicago Tribune stated, 'British and Allied forces of every rank to-day mourned the loss of Major-General Dan Pienaar, acknowledged by all the military here as one of the best fighting leaders the British have found in this war.'

General Pienaar, whose death had caused sorrow and deep emotion throughout South Africa equal to that when President Kruger passed away, was given a State Funeral at Roberts Heights and the whole country plunged into mourning. It was decided that as Pienaar was a 'soldier's soldier' he would wish his staff and crew of his last flight to be accorded the same honour as himself and so the twelve who died were laid to rest in a row with equal honour from General to Air Corporal. At Thaba Tshwane (Old No. 1) Military Cemetery, Gauteng, South Africa in grave 8 just a few feet from the General he served so well rests Captain J.D. Mail AFC, the aircraft commander.

One tribute to Captain James Douglas 'Duggie' Mail AFC under the heading 'A Pal to All' reads, 'Your flying courage has inspired thousands. You have written a chapter in aviation history which will never be forgotten. The old crowd, who had the privilege of knowing you salute you as the one and only Duggie Mail, straight forward, trustworthy, and above all, a pal to all. I have just saluted your remains, Duggie, old man, en route for the Rand. This time you were a passenger; someone else was up in the "office" having the worries and "flaps" over the latest reports of the weather and "muck" you had mastered for thirty odd years. You have earned your rest... Until then happy landings, pal. '

Son: Denys Douglas Mail, mechanic, born 23Jan1921 at Pietermaritzburg, Natal; served from 01Aug1940 - 11Sep1945 with SAAF with 5 Wing Op HQs; Entitled to Italy Star, War Medal 1939-45, Africa Service Medal 1939-45.

With research, photos and documents.