A SCARCE 1914 STAR AND BAR ROYAL FLYING CORPS AIRMAN WHO SERVED IN FRANCE WITH 5 SQUADRON FROM 14 AUGUST 1914, 8 DAYS LATER HIS SQUADRON LOST THE FIRST BRITISH AIRCRAFT SHOT DOWN DURING THE WAR

1914 STAR, WITH CLASP ‘1205 2/A.M. A. STILES. R.F.C.’, BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS ‘1205 1.A.M. A. STILES. R.F.C.’

From ‘A Contemptible Little Flying Corps’

“1205 Archibald Stiles. A recruit, a direct entrant into RFC 29 April 1914. As 2AM with No. 5 Squadron served in France from 14 August 1914, earning a 1914 Star and bar. Promoted 1AM (Blacksmith) 1 June 1915 and retained that rank and trade in April 1918, RAF Muster Roll…”

At the outbreak of the Great War, 5 Squadron was one of four Royal Flying Corps squadrons deployed to France between 12 and 14 August 1914. The first British aircraft lost during the Great War was from 5 Squadron, shot down on 22 August 1914.

The medals to Archibald’s son, who also served in the RAF but was killed in 1940, appear elsewhere on the Jager Medals website.

Condition GVF. Sold with copy 1918 RAF roll and 1988 correspondence with the author of ‘A Contemptible Little Flying Corps’. A good very early R.F.C. group.