*A Rare and Unusual ‘R101’ Interest Family Group to the ‘Johnston’ Family, comprising: a) The O.B.E. and A.F.C. Group of Six awarded to Squadron Leader Ernest Livingston Johnston, Navigator and Second-in-Command of the R101 airship who was tragically killed during its final flight on 5 October 1930. Intending to reach its planned destination of Karachi, it came down under difficult weather conditions near Beauvais, France, setting off a devastating fire which killed 48 of the 54 passengers and crew on board, in one of the worst airship disasters of the 1930s, comprising: Order of the British Empire, Type 1 Civil Division, Officer’s breast badge, in silver gilt, bearing hallmarks for London dated 1929; Air Force Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; 1914-15 Star (S. Lt. E.L. Johnston, R.N.R.); British War Medal (Major E.L. Johnston. R.A.F.); Mercantile Marine War Medal (Ernest L. Johnston); Victory Medal (Major E.L. Johnston. R.A.F.), mounted for display, very fine or better. A.F.C.: London Gazette: 2 November 1918 (General citation) - ‘… In recognition of valuable flying services performed in their various capacities — Flying Instructors, Test, Ferry, and Experimental Pilots.’ O.B.E.: London Gazette: 3 June 1927 (Assistant Royal Airship Works, Cardington). b) The O.B.E. & WW2 Group of Five awarded to Group Captain Ernest Alfred ‘Johnnie’ Johnston R.A.F, son of Ernest Livingston Johnston, author of the book ‘Airship Navigator’ detailing the life, and fate, of his father, as well as a historical review of the R101 disaster, and the Court of Inquiry which followed comprising: Order of the British Empire, Type 2, Military Division, Officer’s breast badge; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Stars, Defence and War Medals, all unnamed as issued; Group mounted for display, extremely fine, with two sets of related miniatures. O.B.E.: London Gazette: 9 June 1955. c) A Canadian WW2 Service Pair to Lieutenant Isobelle Harvey Johnston, Canadian Women’s Auxiliary Force, wife of Ernest Alfred Johnston: Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, War Medal, Canadian issue in silver, mounted for display, extremely fine (23). Ernest Livingston Johnston was born in South Shields in November 1891. In 1906 he was apprenticed to the Stag Line of North Shields with whom he was to spend the next 11 years. Early in 1914 he took up a Sub-Lieutenant’s commission in the Royal Naval Reserve and in July 1914 he obtained his Board of Trade Master’s certificate. When his ship returned from the east in June 1915, he took his discharge to seek active service with the fleet. Promoted to Lieutenant, R.N.R., he was appointed Navigating Officer of an elderly torpedo-gunboat, H.M.S. Spanker, which was then doing duty as a minesweeper out of Harwich. Early in 1916 he responded to a call for volunteers to train as pilots of the new fleet of non-rigids, with which the Admiralty had decided to equip the R.N.A.S. for anti-submarine duties. Following training he proceeded to the Naval Airship Station in Llangefni, Anglesey, to assume the duties of a First Lieutenant. The main tasks of the airships stationed on Anglesey were anti-submarine patrols covering the Holyhead-Dublin mail route and the approaches to Liverpool Bay. In April 1917 Johnston was posted to R.N.A.S. East Fortune as captain of a much larger Coastal Class non-rigid. East Fortune’s remit ran beyond anti-submarine patrols and convoy duties to include providing air cover for the Grand Fleet. Johnston’s arduous tour of duty in East Fortune, marked by two extremely hazardous flights, a great deal of flying in bad weather and more than his fair share of mechanical trouble, was carried out with distinction; his leadership, persistence and courage earned him the Air Force Cross. He was now appointed to command the air station at Luce Bay, near Stranraer, with the rank of Major. In spring 1919 Luce Bay was closed and he moved north to take command of Longside, near Peterhead, where a small clutch of ships was still operating. When the R.A.F. finally disbanded its airship service in January 1921, the R33 and R36 were handed over to the Civil Aviation department for evaluation of their commercial potential. This gave Johnston many opportunities to fly in both ships. After the R38 disaster in August 1921, the government cancelled the remaining airship programme. His post was abolished and his R.A.F. short term commission came to an end; he was forced to return to the sea. In 1922 a new British airline, Daimler Airways, appeared on the scene to pioneer a service between Manchester and Berlin, attempting to reach Berlin by way of London, Amsterdam, Hamburg and Bremen. It was soon realised that a specialist navigator was required and Johnston was invited to take up the post, which he accepted in August 1923. Over a period of 8 months during that year he put in 393 flying hours, in addition to his many responsibilities for navigational matters on the ground. On 1 April 1924 he transferred to the newly-formed Imperial Airways, but the resumption of the airships project soon afterwards saw Johnston assume a new role as Technical Assistant at the Royal Airship Works at Cardington. The first stage of the civil air service between London and India was to be the Cairo-Basra sector, scheduled to begin in 1926. Johnston was borrowed to act as the navigator for the whole of the flight to India and back to Egypt where he was to stay for a few months to oversee navigation procedures on the route, and to act temporarily as the Air Ministry Superintendent of the sector. On his return to England he received the O.B.E. for his services. Soon afterwards, at the first General Meeting of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators of the British Empire in 1929 - a body which Johnston himself had worked to create - he was elected its first Deputy Master and Chairman of its Court. On 14 October 1929, three years late, R101 embarked on her maiden flight. Her initial lift and trim trials made it clear that she was incapable of long distance flight without considerable modification. The Secretary of State for Air, Lord Thomson, agreed to the modification programme but he over-ruled Cardington’s strong preference for not starting the India flight before November 1930, insisting on the end of September for the target date. Meanwhile R100 made her maiden flight two months after than R101, leaving on 16 December 1929. The Standing Orders for Airship Crews had laid down that the First Officer was Second-in-Command, but at the end of March 1930, these were amended as follows: ‘If, however, Squadron Leader Johnston is on board as Navigator, this Officer will assume command in the absence of a Captain or if, for any reason, the Captain is unable to perform his duties.’ At 0248 hrs on 29 July 1930 the R100 left for Montreal with Johnston as navigator, arriving there at 1am on 1 August. She remained at Montreal for 12 days and made the return trip in 57 hours and 36 minutes. Early the following morning the officers and crew assembled to bring her down from the mooring tower and into the shed. She never flew again. Work on enlarging and modifying the R101 was completed by 26 September. Although there were strong reasons for further trials of the substantially modified ship, the senior staff at Cardington were united in their determination to meet the schedule demanded by Lord Thomson. The R101 slipped from the mooring tower at 18.24 on 4 October, but at about nine minutes past two in the morning she came down at Allone, near Beauvais, caught fire and was destroyed. 48 of her complement died in the disaster, including Johnston. The lot is offered with a copy of his biography (Airship Navigator, by his son Ernest Alfred Johnston) as well as a large quantity of documentation, letters, commissions, original photographs, newspaper and magazine cuttings, navigational instruments and memorabilia relating to his career, including a doll which is reputed to have been carried by Johnston as a good luck charm on many of his flights. Ernest Alfred Johnston was born on 9 October 1918. Brought up amongst the airship hangars where his father worked, he originally saw airships as a future career. The death of his father in the R101 crash caused a change of heart, but he was still decided on a career in the air. In 1932 his mother died and Captain Frederick Tymms, a close friend of his father’s, became his guardian. Tymms nurtured his interest in flying and in September 1936 Johnston was enrolled as a Flight Cadet at Cranwell, receiving his commission as a Pilot Officer in December 1938. During the Second Word War he was posted to Canada, Northern Ireland, the Bahamas and Scotland. His wife Isobelle Harvey Johnston joined the C.W.A.F. to be able to join him in Canada, and various of her commissions and certificates relating to her service are also offered with the lot. Following the war Johnston worked in a wide range of navigational and experimental roles as well as being employed with the British Joint Service Mission in Washington, D.C. between 1960 and 1962. He retired from the R.A.F. in 1968. The lot is offered with a quantity of documentation, badges and buttons and a partial draft of his autobiography, as well as an early autograph book signed by many famous airmen, including Charles Lindbergh. Ex Morton & Eden, 1 December, 2011, lot 1465

Estimate: GBP 8000 - 12000