Air Force Cross GVIR reverse dated 1945; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star clasp North Africa 1942-43; Defence Medal; War Medal 1939-45 with M.I.D. Oakleaf - all unnamed as awarded. Sold with original award warrant for AFC, M.I.D. and Log books.
A Historically Important and Iconic Royal Air Force AFC Group awarded to Flight Lieutenant Robert Walton who was Communications Wireless Operator on the flight that took the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, to the Meeting with Stalin in Moscow in August 1942.
Robert Walton was born on 17th January 1922 in Alston, Cumberland. Aged 14, he left school to work as an apprentice electrician in the local lead mine. However, his long‑held ambition was to join the Royal Air Force and in June 1939, aged 17½, he voluntarily enlisted. Initially, he was trained as an air gunner and then as a wireless operator flying Wellington bombers and Liberators with Coastal Command, 221 and 120 Squadrons, patrolling the North Atlantic, protecting shipping convoys against sea‑ and air‑borne attacks.
He was subsequently posted to 511 squadron, Lyneham, employed on VIP duties and had the privilege of flying Sir Winston Churchill. On one such trip, after a night stop, he awoke early to check the aircraft’s radio equipment, only to find Churchill wandering around the airfield by himself. Much to Churchill’s amusement and pleasure, he retorted to my father that he had managed to slip his security guards!
On a trip to Moscow, the UK Intelligence Services requested that he note the Russian radio frequencies used because there was a dearth of information about these. He faithfully recorded them in his log and hid the log book in the middle of the Westinghouse generator on board the plane because the crew were searched before disembarking and embarking. On start‑up for the return flight home, he recovered the hidden log book only to discover that all the pages which recorded the frequencies had been meticulously cut out with a razor.
Flt Lt Walton was mentioned in dispatches for brave conduct in May 1943 and was awarded the AFC in 1945. He continued to serve after the war and transferred to the Secretarial branch in 1952. He resigned his commission in January 1971 and, after a short spell working for Barclays, he was employed by the NHS managing groups of hospitals up until his retirement. He married Jean in December 1946 and they had two children a daughter, Jennifer and a son, Philip, who also served in the RAF for almost 20 years. Jean’s father, Charles Hayman was a former founding member of the RAF on 1st April 1918, having served as an aircraft engineer in the RNAS during WW1.
He went on to attain the rank of Wg Cdr and after leaving the service, became a member of the Air
Accidents Investigation Branch. Three family generations served with the RAF from its inception in 1918 to June 1989, when Philip resigned his commission to take up employment in the commercial sector. Robert Walton died on 13th September 2002, aged 80 years in Ledbury, Herefordshire, where he had retired with his wife who subsequently died on 24th April 2016 aged 95 years.
Awarded AFC, London Gazette, 3rd of April 1945: ‘Air Force Cross Robert Walton (51040) R.A.F.V.R.’
MiD, London Gazette, 2nd June 1943: ‘The King has been graciously pleased to give orders for the publication of the names of the undermentioned personnel in the London Gazette as having been commended:‑
For Valuable Service in the Air – 648781 Sergeant R. Walton’
Examples of Log Book Entries: Aug 1942 – 1425 Flight: ‘Liberator AM922 ‑ 11th August 1942 – Communications W/Op – Kilo 26 ‑ Teheran – Moscow 10 hours 30 mins Liberator AM922 - 16th August 1942 – Communications W/Op – Moscow -Teheran – 9 hours 45 mins Generals Wavell and Brooks.’
Within a few hours of arriving in Moscow on the 12th of August 1942, Churchill was meeting Stalin in
the Kremlin. Churchill was quick to confirm the depressing news that there would be no D‑Day in 1942.
He did say the British and Americans were preparing for a ‘very great operation’ in 1943; however,
this information did little to cheer Stalin. British minutes of the meeting record that Stalin looked ‘very
glum.’
Medals are in good condition unless indicated otherwise. Sold with copied research and a vast quantity of photos and personal documentation.
