The search for new information and illustrations is constant. A photograph recently acquired, but not yet uploaded, came though the good offices of Adrian Cork who runs the website, The Merseyside Few. It is a picture of an officer with one of the most distinctive CVs amongst Battle of Britain airman.
Flying Officer Thomas Daniel Humphrey Davy was a Spitfire pilot in the Battle, but had, however, been among the Fairey Battle pilots to volunteer for Fighter Command.
On 12 May 1940 Pilot Officer Davy was the pilot of one of five Battles of No 12 Squadron whose crews carried out a suicidal attack on heavily defended bridges over the Albert Canal, across which German troops and equipment were pouring. The bridges were not destroyed.
Posthumous VCs were later awarded to Flying Officer Donald Garland and Sergeant Thomas Gray, the pilot and observer, respectively, of the aircraft that led the formation. Their wireless operator/air gunner, Leading Aircraftman Lawrence Reynolds, also did not survive.
Davy and crew lived, though his wireless operator/air gunner, Leading Aircraftman G N Patterson, became a Prisoner of War. Davy received the DFC and Patterson, who had fought off a Bf 109, was awarded the DFM.
The VCs for ‘Judy’ Garland and ‘Dolly’ Gray were gazetted a month after the attack and Davy was quoted in the citation (though not by name) as saying: “Besides being subjected to extremely heavy anti-aircraft fire, through which they dived to attack the objective, our aircraft were also attacked by a large number of enemy fighters after they had released their bombs on the target.”
Flight Lieutenant Davy was killed in a flying accident in 1942 while serving with the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit.
