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| Signatures on this item | |
| *The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
| Name | Info |
  Squadron Leader Leonard H Rochford DSC* DFC (deceased) *Signature Value : £95 | A World War One Ace with 29 aerial victories, he flew with No.3 Royal Navy Air Squadron and No.203 Sqn during the war. He died on 17th December 1986. The following was written about Rochford by Leslie Hunt soon after his death in 1986 : During WWII it was my privilege to serve under Air Vice Marshal Raymond Collishaw whose decorations were only exceeded in number by those worn by King George VI. I sometimes flew, at his invitation, in his aircraft on staff visits and but for 'Collie', with whom I corresponded until his passing, I would never have known much about Sqn Ldr Rochford. Leonard H Rochford - known always as 'Tich' since he stood just over five feet in height - was born in Enfield, Middlesex, on the 10th of November, 1896. During his time at a Sussex preparatory school Bleriot flew the English Channel (25th July 1909) and from that moment Leonard Rochfort wanted to fly. During holidays from Ampleforth College in Yorkshire, he often made his way to Hendon aerodrome where, in early 1914, he paid two guineas to have a circuit of the area in a Boxkite. At the age of eighteen he tried to enter the Royal Naval Air Service but was told to apply again when nineteen. This did not deter him and he immediately started taking flying lessons at his own expense at Hendon, obtaining his 'ticket' - flying license - in October. He again applied to Admiralty and although selected for training in the RNAS he was not called until May of 1916. Flying training was at Chingford, Essex, then Cranwell, Lincolnshire, Eastchurch on the Isle of Sheppey and Detling, Kent. Following a short course at RNAS Dover, 'Tich' was posted to No.3 (Naval) Squadron, a unit about to move from St Pol to Vert Galant, on the Doullens-Amiens road. The aircraft were Sopwith Pups and many of the pilots were Canadians, some of whom had experience of action in the air. Now a Flt/Sub-Lieutenant, 'Tich' was placed in C Flight along with Collishaw and although in the hectic air-fighting which followed, only two enemy machines were credited to 'Tich' out of some eighty claimed by No.3 (Naval) Squadron and Royal Flying Corps units, he was gaining vital experience, which stood him in very good stead later on. When Collishaw was promoted to command the squadron he made 'Tich' one of his flight-commanders. Now re-equipped with the Bentley-engined Sopwith Camel - regarded by 'Tich' and others as the Allies' outstanding fighter - the squadron's total was increased by thirty enemy machines, of which 'Tich' claied six Fokker D.VIIs. >br>On 1st April 1918, when the RFC and RNAS merged to form the Royal Air Force, No.3 (Naval) Squadron became No.203 Sqn RAF, and in June 'Tich' was summoned to Buckingham Palace to receive from King George V both Distinguished Service Cross and the Bar to the DSC which had followed. On 21st July, leading his flight of five Camels 'Tich' sighted a like number of Fokker D.VIIs, all of them shot down, two by 'Tich', after his flight had dropped bombs on an enemy aircraft hangar, setting it ablaze. A few days later King George V visited the squadron, making a special point of chatting to 'Tich' and, of course, Major Collishaw. The Distinguished Flying Cross - an RAF award - was made to 'Tich' who, at the end of WW1 was credited with some thirty victories and many 'probables' and 'damaged', plus the bombing of ground targets. He left the RAF in 1919 and - marrying in 1920 - became an engineer, only to tire of this and take up farming in Sussex. In 1939 he rejoined the RAF and, after a flying refresher course, instructed and commanded a station flight. He again returned to farming after WWII but never lost touch with old comrades, flying to reunions of World War One 'Aces' in Paris and Canada and, in 1982, taking part in the Albert Hall's Festival of Remembrance as part of the small RNAS contingent. After a fall in his house, a month after his 90th birthday 'Tich' died in December 1986 and, we hope, is chatting about old times with 'Collie' in that officers' mess in the sky. 'A quiet, gentle, unassuming officer, 'Tich' was 'absolute hell on wings' when in the cockpit in pursuit of the enemy.' So said Air Vice Marshal Collishaw in one of his letters. |
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Rochford, Leonard 
(signed in person)
