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Flight Lieutenant R G (Bob) Large, DFC, Legion d Honneur (deceased)
Learned to fly in Scotland in 1940 and in 1941 joined 616 Squadron as part of the Tangmere Wing, commanded by the famous legless pilot Wing Commander Douglas Bader. The Squadron flew Fighter and Bomber sweeps over Northern France. The remains of Bobs Spitfire lie at the bottom of the sea ten miles off Hythe (where he now lives) after being bounced by eighty plus ME 109Gs over the English Channel. Having learned of the activities of 161 SD Squadron he was interviewed by the CO, Wing Commander Lewis Hodges, and joined the Lysander Flight. He then flew many important missions into occupied France in single, double and a memorable treble pickup when his excuse for being late at the rendezvous was that he had had a haircut in the firms time because it grew in the firms time! After D-Day he returned to Fighter Command and later flew Meteors. (Bobs dog, Patrick, became the first dog in the Allied Forces to fly in a jet which took place in a Meteor 3 on 11th May 1946 and is now recorded in the Guinness Book of Records!) We have learned that Bob Large died on 29th December 2015.
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Items Signed by Flight Lieutenant R G (Bob) Large, DFC, Legion d Honneur (deceased) |
 | Only the Brave by Philip West. SOLD OUT | A Lysander prepares to leave its base on yet another dangerous and secret mission to drop agents into occupied France during WWII. Agents and Pilots alike, took great personal risk during these operations. Pilots having to navigate by map, timing an...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
| | Only the Brave by Philip West. (AP) SOLD OUT | A Lysander prepares to leave its base on yet another dangerous and secret mission to drop agents into occupied France during WWII. Agents and Pilots alike, took great personal risk during these operations. Pilots having to navigate by map, timing an...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
  | Tally Ho! by Philip West. (AP) Price : £195.00 | Flt. Lt. Geoffrey Wellum of 92 Squadron once again takes his trusted Spitfire into attack high over southern England. Any moment now both he and one other Spitfire pilot will be flying into hell amongst at least a dozen Luftwaffe He111s on their wa...... | |
  | Loire Rendezvous by Philip West. Price : £145.00 | Lysanders of 161 Special Operations Squadron turn onto their final course to a clandestine landing field somewhere in central occupied France during a full moon period in 1943. Based at Tempsford, Bedfordshire and often operating from Tangmere to sho...... | |
| | Loire Rendezvous by Philip West (AP) SOLD OUT | Lysanders of 161 Special Operations Squadron turn onto their final course to a clandestine landing field somewhere in central occupied France during a full moon period in 1943. Based at Tempsford, Bedfordshire and often operating from Tangmere to sho...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
  | Winter of 41 by Philip West. (APB) Price : £105.00 | Heavy snow during the winter of 1941 often kept pilots and their aircraft grounded, despite the best efforts of the ground crew. Spitfire G George - based at RAF Manston and assigned to Flt. Lt. Geoffrey Wellum, could only resume combat sweeps over ...... | |
| | Winter of 41 by Philip West. (B) SOLD OUT | Heavy snow during the winter of 1941 often kept pilots and their aircraft grounded, despite the best efforts of the ground crew. Spitfire G George - based at RAF Manston and assigned to Flt. Lt. Geoffrey Wellum, could only resume combat sweeps over ...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
  | Spitfires - High Patrol by Philip West. (AP) SOLD OUT | A gathering section of 124 Squadron Spitfires led by Peter Ayerst climbs for height above the bomber stream and a lone Mosquito. This squadron plus many others was tasked with protecting the bombers over occupied Europe. For these long range mission...... | NOT AVAILABLE |
  | Top Cover by Philip West. (AP) Price : £170.00 | Flt/Lt John Dundas, having already notched up eleven victories to his name during the Battle of Britain 1940, is viewed out on the last patrol of the day off the Isle of Wight. In a few moments he will be heading back to his base at Middle Wallop. ...... |
Packs with at least one item featuring the signature of Flight Lieutenant R G (Bob) Large, DFC, Legion d Honneur (deceased) |
 | Pack 966. Pack of two Lysander Aircraft prints by Graeme Lothian and Philip West. Pack Price : £185.00 Saving : £105 | Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Lysander Pick Up by Graeme Lothian. Loire Rendezvous by Philip West. | |
| | Pack 967. Pack of two Lysander Aviation Prints by Graeme Lothian and Philip West. Pack Price : £210.00 Saving : £120 | Aviation Print Pack. ...... Titles in this pack : Lysander Pick Up by Graeme Lothian (B) Loire Rendezvous by Philip West. |
| Squadrons for : Flight Lieutenant R G (Bob) Large, DFC, Legion d Honneur (deceased) | ||
| A list of all squadrons known to have been served with by Flight Lieutenant R G (Bob) Large, DFC, Legion d Honneur (deceased). A profile page is available by clicking the squadron name. | ||
| Squadron | Info | |
Country : UK Founded : 1st November 1938 Fate : Disbanded 10th March 1957 South Yorkshire (Auxiliary) Nulla rosa sine spina - No rose without thorns | No.616 Sqn RAF 616 squadron was formed at Doncaster on 1st November 1938 as the last of the Auxiliary Squadrons. Formed initially as a bomber squadron equipped with Hawker Hinds, it was re-equipped with Gloster Gauntlets in June 1939 and transferred to Fighter Command. The squadrons first Spitfires arrived in late October. 616 first saw action and claimed its first victories whilst covering the evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940. Returning to Yorkshire, the squadron claimed further enemy victims with 15th August standing out as a memorable day. 616 intercepted a large force of unescorted German bombers off the Yorkshire coast and claimed eight enemy aircraft destroyed. They moved to Kenley to join 11 Group at the height of the Battle of Britain, and destroyed 15 aircraft and claimed a further 15 as probables or damaged. During February 1941, 616 joined the Tangmere Wing led by Wg Cdr Douglas Bader. Flying Spitfire II fighters, they flew circus and ramrod sweeps over Northern France, and re-equipped with Spitfires Vb during July 1941. For the next two years 616 continued as a front line fighter squadron and was heavily engaged during the Dieppe expedition and later flying beach-head patrols on D-Day. In July 1944, 616 re-equipped with Gloster Meteor jet fighter thus becoming the first and only Allied squadron to operate jet aircraft in World War II. The squadron destroyed a number of V1 flying bombs whilst operating from Manston before joining the 2nd Tactical Air Force. In January 1945, 616 moved to the continent and operated in the ground attack role before being disbanded at Lubeck on 29th August. The squadron was re-formed at Finningley on 31st July 1946 equipped with Mosquito NF XXX night fighters which were replaced with Meteor F 3 day fighters a few months later. 616 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force was finally disbanded at RAF Worksop on 10th March 1957 whilst equipped with Meteor F8 aircraft. | |
| Aircraft for : Flight Lieutenant R G (Bob) Large, DFC, Legion d Honneur (deceased) | |||
| A list of all aircraft associated with Flight Lieutenant R G (Bob) Large, DFC, Legion d Honneur (deceased). A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
| Squadron | Info | ||
Manufacturer : Westland Aircraft Production Began : 1938 Retired : 1946 Number Built : 1786 | Lysander The first Lysanders entered service in June 1938, equipping squadrons for army co-operation and were initially used for message-dropping and artillery spotting. When war broke out in Europe, the earlier Mk Is had been largely replaced by Mk IIs, the older machines heading for the Middle East. Some of these aircraft, now designated type L.1, operated with the Chindits of the British Indian Army in the Burma Campaign of the Second World War. Four regular squadrons equipped with Lysanders accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to France in October 1939, and were joined by a further squadron early in 1940. Following the German invasion of France and the low countries on 10 May 1940, the Lysanders were put into action as spotters and light bombers. In spite of occasional victories against German aircraft, they made very easy targets for the Luftwaffe even when escorted by Hurricanes. Withdrawn from France during the Dunkirk evacuation, they continued to fly supply-dropping missions to Allied forces from bases in England; on one mission to drop supplies to troops trapped at Calais, 14 of 16 Lysanders and Hawker Hectors that set out were lost. 118 Lysanders were lost in or over France and Belgium in May and June 1940, of a total of 175 deployed. With the fall of France, it was clear that the type was unsuitable for the coastal patrol and army co-operation role, being described by Air Marshal Arthur Barratt, commander-in-chief of the British Air Forces in France as "quite unsuited to the task; a faster, less vulnerable aircraft was required." Nevertheless, throughout the remainder of 1940, Lysanders flew dawn and dusk patrols off the coast and in the event of an invasion of Britain, they were tasked with attacking the landing beaches with light bombs and machine guns.[9] They were replaced in the home-based army co-operation role from 1941 by camera-equipped fighters such as the Curtiss Tomahawk and North American Mustang carrying out reconnaissance operations, while light aircraft such as the Taylorcraft Auster were used to direct artillery. Some UK-based Lysanders went to work operating air-sea rescue, dropping dinghies to downed RAF aircrew in the English Channel. Fourteen squadrons and flights were formed for this role in 1940 and 1941. In August 1941 a new squadron, No. 138 (Special Duties), was formed to undertake missions for the Special Operations Executive to maintain clandestine contact with the French Resistance. Among its aircraft were Lysander Mk IIIs, which flew over and landed in occupied France. While general supply drops could be left to the rest of No. 138's aircraft, the Lysander could insert and remove agents from the continent or retrieve Allied aircrew who had been shot down over occupied territory and had evaded capture. For this role the Mk IIIs were fitted with a fixed ladder over the port side to hasten access to the rear cockpit and a large drop tank under the belly. In order to slip in unobtrusively the Lysanders were painted matte black; operations almost always took place within a week of a full moon, as moonlight was essential for navigation. The aircraft undertook such duties until the liberation of France in 1944. The Lysanders flew from secret airfields at Newmarket and later Tempsford, but used regular RAF stations to fuel-up for the actual crossing, particularly RAF Tangmere. Flying without any navigation equipment other than a map and compass, Lysanders would land on short strips of land, such as fields, marked out by four or five torches. They were originally designed to carry one passenger in the rear cockpit, but for SOE use the rear cockpit was modified to carry two passengers in extreme discomfort in case of urgent necessity. The pilots of No. 138 and from early 1942, No. 161 Squadron transported 101 agents to and recovered 128 agents from Nazi-occupied Europe. The Germans knew little about the British aircraft and wished to study one. Soldiers captured an intact Lysander in March 1942 when its pilot was unable to destroy it after a crash, but a train hit the truck carrying the Lysander, destroying the cargo | ||
Manufacturer : Gloster Production Began : 1944 Number Built : 3947 | Meteor The Gloster Meteor was the first British jet fighter and the Allies' first operational jet. Designed by George Carter, and built by the Gloster Aircraft Company, Armstrong-Whitworth, the Meteor first flew in 1943 and commenced operations on 27 July 1944 with 616 Squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The Gloster Meteor was not an aerodynamically advanced aircraft but the Gloster design team succeeded in producing an effective jet fighter that served the RAF and other air forces for decades. Meteors saw action with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in the Korean War and other air forces used the Meteor. The Royal Danish Air Force, The Belgian Air Force and Isreali Air Force kept the Meteor in service until the early 1970's. A Total of 3947 meteors were built and two Meteors, WL419 and WA638, remain in service with the Martin-Baker company as ejection seat testbeds. | ||
Manufacturer : Supermarine Production Began : 1936 Retired : 1948 Number Built : 20351 | Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954. | ||
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