Medals of wartime fighter ace who attacked Venice are to be auctioned - Telegraph Group Captain George Westlake DSO DFC was put in charge of Operation Bowler in March 1945. The code name was selected by Air Vice Marshall "Pussy" Foster as a warning to airmen that any collateral damage would lead to their being "bowler hatted", or dismissed from the service. Westlake, in his Kittyhawk, led more than 100 fighter bombers which attacked German shipping from 10,000 feet in a near-vertical dive. So accurate was the raid that the only damage sustained to Venice was the odd shattered window pane and the locals of the city even climbed onto the rooftops and cheered them on. Westlake, who lived in Stratford-upon-Avon until his death two years ago aged 87, was a veteran of the Battle of Britain, the Syrian and Tunisian campaigns, the defence of Cyprus, and had seen service in Egypt. In the spring of 1945 the Nazis were using Venice because its road and rail network had been destroyed. By that time Westlake had already established himself as an ace having flown hundreds of sorties with ten confirmed "kills". He later recalled: "It was a great success because apart from every vessel in the harbour, we hit a stockpile of their mines... and blew a hole in the dockside about 100 yards across... "The other bonus...was destroying their underwater establishment where they did all the training for their frogmen and two-men submarines." Westlake was immediately awarded the Distinguished Service Order after the "show" to add to the Distinguished Flying Cross he won in 1942 for "continuous gallantry". His citation noted that he had always shown "exceptional daring and tenacity when engaging the enemy." His medals - 11 in total - are expected to raise up to £22,000 when they go under the hammer at Dix Noonan Webb in London on Dec 4. David Erskine-Hill, of the auctioneers, said: "Group Captain Westlake was by any standards a most courageous and highly successful fighter ace. "Prior to that memorable day, he had already completed around 300 operational sorties, many of them ending in violent air-to-air combat, but others in low-level strafing of enemy airfields and positions."
Think we could all club together? Picture of him, and of the medals Revealed: The RAF bomber whose precision run on Venice destroyed enemy ships but left city unscathed | Mail Online
450 Sqn RAAF was also on Operation Bowler. Met a couple of 450 guys when I was in Perth. The Wiki site refers to Westlake as leading the raid in a Kittiwake seaplane. Typo? Operation Bowler - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bahahaha, classic. He led them in the near-vertical dive in a Kittiwake? Classic. Good ol' Wiki. Kyt, your link provided has some good quotes from GW about the raid. A manuscript?! :becky: We had better all chip in! I know exactly what that means having driven with a former fighter pilot in his Jag! A jaunty wave at the policeman on the radar and away we went! The photo caption: In plane? In Sptifire! Looks a late-model one too.
The medals went for £23,000 Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1945’, silver-gilt and enamel; Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., the reverse officially dated ‘1942’; 1939-45 Star, clasp, Battle of Britain; Air Crew Europe Star; Africa Star, clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45, M.I.D oak leaf; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Cyprus (Wg. Cdr. G. H. Westlake, R.A.F.); Campaign Service 1962, 1 clasp, Malay Peninsula (Gp. Capt. G. H. Westlake, R.A.F); Coronation 1953; Air Efficiency Award, G.VI.R (A./Sqn./Ldr. G. H. Westlake, R.A.F.V.R), the first with slightly chipped enamel, generally good very fine
Hi All, Thanks for the link Kyt. That's certainly a distinguished collection of decorations. Cheers Owen
