A good Second War 'Noball - attack on V1 rocket sites' D.F.C. group of six awarded to...

A good Second War ‘Noball - attack on V1 rocket sites’ D.F.C. group of six awarded to Mustang and Mosquito pilot Squadron Leader W. J. ‘Bill’ Boddington, 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron, Royal Air Force and Major, Cameronians. Having been credited with shooting down an F.W. 190 in a Mustang over Great Yarmouth, 11 May 1943, Boddington went on to fly in Mosquitoes with the same squadron on precision low-level raids under the command of Roger ‘Pinpoint’ Bateson

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ‘1944’; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Palestine 1945-48, Malaya (Sqn. Ldr. W. J. Boddington. D.F.C. R.A.F.) 2nd clasp loose on riband, as issued, with R.A.F. cloth wings, mounted as worn, contact marks overall, therefore nearly very fine or better (6) £1,800-£2,200

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D.F.C. London Gazette 29 December 1944. The original recommendation states:

‘F/Lt. Bodington [sic] has completed a total of 68 operations - 15 on Mustangs and 53 on Mosquitoes. While on Mustangs he carried out escorts and shipping reconnaissance duties, being credited with one F.W. 190 confirmed destroyed following a raid on Folkestone in 1943. F/Lt. Bodington has carried out 38 night and 15 daylight sorties on Mosquitoes in No. 2 Group. The daylight sorties included Ranger Operations and attacks on Flying Bomb sites.

Attacks against enemy aerodromes, and a large number of sorties in support of the Army in search of enemy transport, were carried out by night. F/Lt. Bodington has shown the greatest perseverance and determination on Operations over a period of 18 months and has added greatly to their success.’

William James Boddington was born in Birmingham in March 1921. He was the son of P. J. Boddington, a Surgeon who saw service in the Second Boer War, and also served as a Surgeon Captain with the Royal Horse Guards during the Great War (wounded, 5 October 1915). Boddington was educated at Haileybury and R.M.C. Sandhurst, prior to being commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Cameronians in December 1939. He served with the 7th Battalion in France, prior to joining the Headquarters Staff, 156 Brigade. Boddington escaped the fall of France, and advanced to Lieutenant in July 1941. He was seconded to the Royal Air Force in October 1941, and carried out training as a pilot.

Boddington’s pilot training was eventful, especially whilst on Mustangs 15 December 1942. On the latter date he was flying in a formation exercise over the Yorkshire Moors, when he became lost in thick fog. Running low on fuel Boddington attempted to land on Fountains Earth Moor, Nidderdale. The terrain made this impossible, and he was forced to climb to a safe height and bale out.

Despite the loss of the aircraft, Boddington was still posted for operational flying with ‘A’ Flight, 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron at Ringway in 1943. The Squadron flew Mustangs and were tasked with tactical reconnaissance and flying escort for Coastal Command anti-submarine strikes. Boddington was credited with one F.W. 190 destroyed (see D.F.C. recommendation above), when his formation of Mustangs intercepted an enemy force over Yarmouth following a raid on Folkestone, 11 May 1943.

Boddington advanced to Flight Lieutenant in October 1943, and was with the Squadron when it transferred to No. 2 Group as a light-bomber squadron flying Mosquitoes under the command of Robert ‘Pinpoint’ Bateson. Throughout the remainder of 1943, and into 1944, Boddington flew on the Squadron’s precision daylight attacks at low-level. His aircraft was damaged by flak whilst carrying out an attack on a Noball target close to Maintenay, 31 December 1943. Targets included V1 launch sites in Northern France, and flak positions and other such targets in the lead-up to D-Day.

Boddington advanced to Squadron Leader, prior to returning to service with the Cameronians after the war:

‘After the war he returned to the Regiment and served with the 1st Battalion in Gibraltar and Triesle.... He served at the Depot in Winston Barracks, Lanark between 1949 and 1951 and thereafter as a GSO 3 at GHQ Farelf. He rejoined the Regiment in Germany in 1955 and went with them to Bahrein in 1957 and thence to Kenya... He retired [Major] in 1958 and after a period with Charrington’s Brewery in London, went to live in Somerset [Manor Farm, Beercrocombe]...’ (Obituary refers)

Major Boddington died in Somerset in 1985.

Sold with a file of copied research, including photographic image of recipient in uniform.