Gents,

This is the item I was referring to on the HWH thread.

It is a silver cigarette box which was presented to F/O J.J O'Meara at the height of the Battle of Britain by his Squadron colleagues. Knocked about a bit but that is unimportant given the significance and I feel privileged to be the custodian. The cedar wood lining still imparts its fragrance even after a 70 year exposure to cigarettes.
They must have thought a good deal of him to fork out but for what purpose? It wasn't his birthday on the 7th Sept., but he moved on to 72 Squadron on the 19th Sept. The Squadron had already been withdrawn from Kenley to Leconfield on the 19th August so the presentation was probably at Leconfield.

He moved again to 421 Flight on the 3rd Oct., to Hawkinge and was still with 421 Flight in a further move to West Malling on the 15th November. 421 eventually became 91 Squadron.
Among his 12 victories was a He59 which he pranged while flying a high-performance pale blue Spitfire on the 26th November 1940.

'Orange' O'Meara was awarded the DSO and DFC&Bar.

Much more info and pics at www.jjomeara.com

Folks,

Dux:

Lucky you. Indeed it is both an honor and a considerable responsibility to possess such an artifact. Those who know you as I do are confident that you will take very good care of it.

I wonder why such an heirloom becomes available? It might have originally been in an estate sale of course. I suppose that after 70 years it had lost some of its sentimental value to relatives. At the current price the cash value hasn't decreased. if it's Sterling the smelting value of the silver alone must be considerable.

A very nice and personal bit of memorabilia.

You should fill it with ciggies Dux, don't worry, in these non-smoking times they can be of the paper wrapped chocolate variety.

Chaps,

I can't even begin to estimate what his medals are worth. Pics of those are on the website. Hopefully, they are still in the possession of the family.

I often wonder why family military items are disposed of especially those with such profound, historical significance.

You might think that the fates would have been kind to him in view of his services but he experienced marital problems, lost his daughter in a car accident and a failed, hotel business venture in Cornwall. He didn't live long enough to enjoy his 'golden years'

All my on-line medal bids failed today at the Dix Noonan auctions in London. That's where the money is. Some Great War fighter pilot gongs went for up to £30,000. Among other things, I was hoping for a medal pair to an RFC officer who had the dubious honour of being wounded by Goering. Nothing for it but to re-mortgage the stately pile and release some funds...

Folks,

Dux:

At least he survived the war even though he may not have lived long enough to enjoy the fruits of his sacrifice. By rights, according to their just deserts, in a perfect world they all should have come home safe to enjoy their golden years. On the other hand, in a perfect world there would be no wars.

The man was shot by no lesser light than H. Goering you say? Goering was shot too. During the time of the "Beer Hall Pustch" he was shot in the groin area. He was in great pain for some time and became addicted to morphine.

So it was that Hermann Goering, the great war hero, much endeared himself to his Fuhrer. A distinction gained not without, shall we say, a certain sacrifice. After recovering from his terrible wound I understand he took to wearing fancy duds and makeup and that he could even have sung falsetto in the Luftwaffe boy's choir.