RAF hero’s Victoria Cross sells for world record price
A VICTORIA Cross awarded to an RAF pilot who landed his plane despite being mortally wounded in a near-suicidal raid has sold for a world record £682,000.
Sqd Ldr Arthur Scarf took off for a mission to attack a Japanese air base just as enemy planes arrived to divebomb the RAF aerodrome in Malaya.
Despite seeing all the other aircraft that were due to accompany him on the raid get destroyed and several of his colleagues get killed, he carried on alone and encountered enemy planes lining up to fire at him.
He used his brilliant flying skills to complete a successful bombing run on the Japanese air base in Thailand but was shot several times by close-range cannon and machine gun fire.
Barely conscious, he somehow kept his grip on the controls and crossed back over the Malay-thai border.
He carried out a “miraculous” forcedlanding in a paddy field, allowing his two crew members to escape without injury.
Sqd Ldr Scarf was rushed to the nearby hospital where his wife Sally, a nurse who was pregnant with their child, was based.
She donated two litres of blood to try and save him. As he was wheeled into theatre for surgery, he told her: “Don’t worry, keep smiling, chin up.”
He died a short time later, aged 28, from wounds to his back and chest.
He was posthumously awarded the VC, the highest decoration for gallantry, which his widow received from King George VI after the war.
The medal was sold by her family with London-based auctioneers Spink & Son to raise awareness of his heroic service.
It was bought by an anonymous bidder for £550,000, with extra fees taking the final figure to £682,000.
Only 26 VCS have been awarded to RAF personnel, half of which were following the death of the recipient.
Sqd Ldr Scarf’s medals set a world record for an RAF VC, eclipsing the £290,000 hammer price for Flt Lt Bill Reid’s in November 2009.
“He thought only of his duty and put himself last,” said Marcus Budgen, head of the medals department.