David Lord
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Flight Lieutenant David Samuel Anthony Lord VC DFC RAF (18 October 1913 – 19 September 1944) was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Lord was born St Mary's Avenue, Cork, Ireland.
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[edit] Details
He was 30 years old, and a flight lieutenant in 271 Squadron, Royal Air Force during the Second World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
On 19 September 1944 at Arnhem, the Netherlands, the British 1st Airborne Division were in desperate need of supplies. Flight Lieutenant Lord, flying Dakota KG374 through intense enemy anti-aircraft fire was twice hit and had one engine burning. He managed to drop his supplies, but at the end of the run found that there were two containers remaining. Although he knew that one of his wings might collapse at any moment he nevertheless made a second run to drop the last supplies, then ordered his crew to bail out. A few seconds later the Dakota crashed in flames with its pilot.
[edit] Memorials
- Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Arnhem Plot 4, row B Grave 5.
- Wrexham Memorial Hall, Wrexham, Wales.
- A Vickers VC-10 Serial 'XR810' of 10 Squadron was named 'David Lord VC' between 1967 and 2005.
- A Douglas Dakota at the RAF Museum Cosford is painted as KG374 coded YS-DM the aircraft flown by Flight Lieutenant Lord DFC on his final mission.
[edit] The medal
The medal is part of the Lord Ashcroft VC Collection [1]
[edit] References
Listed in order of publication year
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
- The VCs of Wales and the Welsh Regiments (W. Alister Williams, 1984)
- The Irish Sword (Brian Clarke 1986)
- Irelands VCs ISBN 1-899243-00-3 (Dept of Economic Development 1995)
- Scotland's Forgotten Valour (Graham Ross, 1995)
- British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
- Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)
- Frank Cassidy
[edit] The medal
The medal is part of the Lord Ashcroft VC Collection [2]
[edit] External links
- Flt. Lt. David S.A. Lord VC. DFC.
- VC at Arnhem (Arnhem operation details and photos)
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission
