Distinguished Flying Cross reverse dated 1943 and inscribed C.C.A. FUCHS 12th March; 1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; War Medal 1939-45 - all unnamed as awarded with original medal condolence slip, a photograph of the recipient and the ticker tape slip confirming the award of the medals. A CD of research is included.
D.F.C. London Gazette 20 April 1943. The original Recommendation states:
'Pilot Officer Fuchs joined the Squadron in April 1942 as a Sergeant Pilot and was commissioned in July the same year. During this period Pilot Officer Fuchs has carried out 24 sorties which include 6 Searches, 1 Low Level, 2 Night and 15 Circus operations. This Officer is a good operational pilot and a first class leader. Very shortly after joining the Unit he was leading his Flight in Circus operations and recently he has led the Squadron. His hard work, and keenness is beyond praise. He is an asset to the Unit and Service, and he deserves recognition for his efforts.'
Cecil Carl Albert Fuchs - or Jimmy to his friends and comrades - was born in Kent on 4 June 1920, the son of Carl and Cathleen Fuchs, of Hendon. He joined No. 226 Squadron in mid-April 1942 when they were flying from RAF Sydenham. The unit's motto was Non sibi sed patriœ (For country and not self), something he would come to embody to the full.
With this unit he flew a total of 26 Ops, mainly of the 'Circus' variety from April 1942-February 1943. 'Circus' was the codename given to operations where bombers, with a mass escort of fighters, were sent over continental Europe to bring Luftwaffe fighters into combat. These were usually formations of 2030 bombers escorted by up to 16 Squadrons of escort fighters. Bomber formations of this size could not be ignored by the Luftwaffe.
Continuing to fly after the award of his decoration, Fuchs was killed during a training flight on 12 March 1943. As Pilot of Boston III AL269 which took off from Swanton Morley for 'Exercise Spartan', the aircraft crashed at Burtonwood airfield in Lancashire. He is commemorated at the Golders Green Crematorium, London. Fuchs left behind his parents and a fiancee, Betty, who left various notices of longing and affection in newspapers on what would have been his 24th birthday in June 1944.
According to the 1939 Register Fuchs was an Insurance Clerk living at Danehurst Gardens in Hendon, London. His initial "K" for "Karl" seems to have been anglicised to Carl between the 1921 census and the 1939 Register - given the anti-German sentiment this would have been a wide precaution to take.
Medals are in good condition unless otherwise indicated. Sold with copied research
