December 10, 2019 Edged Weapon, Armor & Militaria
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/10/2019
Tunic displays RAF Air Marshal cuff insignia, RAF wing and sewn-on ribbon bars. Interior pocket with Gieves London label, named "Wing Cdr. W.D. Hodgkinson, RAF, 10/5/54". Trousers with RAF issue tag. CONDITION: Excellent, showing minor wear. Sir William Derek Hodgkinson, KCB, CBE, DFC, AFC (27 December 1917 – 29 January 2010), who as a bomber pilot in the Second World War, was shot down and spent time in Stalag Luft III as "Big S", responsible for the security of the escape committee. The city of Bremen was attacked on the night of 25 June 1942 and Hodkinson's Hudson was shot down by a night fighter on the return trip over the Dutch coast. Wounded, Hodgkinson was taken to a hospital as a prisoner of war. He was later transferred to Stalag Luft III, where he was made responsible for security under the leader of the escape committee "Big X". Stalag Luft III was made famous by the daring mass break-out through tunnels depicted in the film The Great Escape. After several unsuccessful escape attempts, the camp was evacuated ahead of the Russian advance of January 1945 and the prisoners marched 50 miles through severe winter weather to the naval POW camp near Bremen. They were again transferred to Hamburg where they were liberated by the British in April 1945. After the war, Hodgkinson was appointed Officer Commanding No. 210 Squadron and then joined the Directing Staff at the Australian Joint Anti-Submarine School before becoming Officer Commanding No. 240 Squadron in 1957. He was appointed Station Commander at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall in 1958 before joining the staff of Lord Louis Mountbatten, then Chief of the Defense Staff, in 1961. He went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters Training Command in 1969 and was then appointed as Commander-in-Chief Near East Air Force before finishing his career as Air Secretary in 1973.
Condition: (Very Good - Excellent).