AWARD OF V.C.

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21195, 19 August 1940, Page 7

AWARD OF V.C.

GALLANT AIRMAN HONOURED STORY OF GREAT BRAVERY INDIFFERENCE TO DANGER i United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, August 17 The award of the third Victoria Cross of the war to an airman is announced. The King has conferred the Victoria Cross on acting-Flight Lieutenant R. A. B. Learoyd, of Folkestone. The official citation states: “This officer, as first pilot of a Hampden aircraft, has repeatedly shown the highest conception of his duty and complete indifference to personal danger in making attacks at the lowest altitudes, regardless of opposition. “On the night of August 12 he was detailed to attack a special objective on the Dortmund-Ems canal. He had attacked this objective on a previous occasion and was well awgrc of the risks entailed. To achieve success it was necessary to approach from a direction well known to the enemy through a lane of especially well disposed anti-aircraft defences and in the face of the most intense point-blank fire from guns of all calibres. The reception of preceding aircraft might well have deterred the stoutest heart, all being hit and two lost. Airman Almost Blinded “Flight-Lieutenant Learoyd, nevertheless, made his attack at 150 ft., his aircraft being repeatedly hit and large pieces torn away. He was almost blinded by the glare of many searchlights at close range, but pressed home this attack with the greatest resolution and skill. He subsequently brought his wrecked aircraft home, and, as the landing flaps were inoperative and the undercarriage indicators out of action, he waited for dawn in the vicinity of his aerodrome before landing, which he accomplished without causing injury to his crew or further damage to the aircraft. “The high courage, skill and determination which this officer has invariably displayed on many occasions in the face of the enemy sets an which is unsurpassed.” Flight-Lieutenant Learoyd, who is 27 years of age, is likely to be the only surviving Royal Air Force recipient of the Victoria Cross, the two earlier recipients having been posted as missing for some time. GALLANTRY AT NAMSOS RESERVIST IN TRAWLER 'United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright) LONDON, August 18 Lieutenant Richard Bean Stannard, Royal Naval Reserve, has been awarded the ’Victoria Cross for outstanding valour and signal devotion to duty in H.M.S. Arab, a naval ] trawler, at Namsos, Norway. When enemy bombings had set on I fire many tons of hand-grenades on i Namsos wharf, where the water sup- \ ply from the shore was not available, i Lieutenant Stannard ran the Arab’s j bow against the wharf and held the 1 ship there. Sending all but two of \ the crew aft, he attempted for two ; hours to extinguish the fires with I the ship’s hoses and persisted until I the attempt had to be given up as 1 hopeless.

While the Arab was later leaving port, Lieutenant Stannard brought down a bomber which ordered the ship to steer east or be sunk, continues the cablegram. The Arab was subjected to 31 bombings in five days, but Lieutenant Stannard was consistently arranging protection and heartening his men while ashore. A member of the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve, SubLieutenant Ernest Thomas Lees, of H.M.S. Arab, was awarded the D.S.O. for devotion, to duty in the Namsos incident.