2nd Lt RWC Burgess

Links of Long Standing

Second Lt RWC Burgess, the youngest and most junior SAAF recipient, was awarded an immediate DSO for his actions as the co-pilot of a Liberator after the pilot in command baled out during a Warsaw sortie and at around the same time in 1944, Wing Commander Maton a South African RAF Air Gunner, the first to command a Coastal Command squadron became another recipient. An award he only became aware of several weeks later as he was by then a Stalag III “POW”.

SAAF Airmen in RAF Squadrons

Whether Prime Minister Churchill’s remarks “…. the missions must go on if only to boost the morale of the inhabitants of Warsaw…. You of course are correct from the military point of view, but from the political aspect you must carry on. Good morning,” were addressed to Durrant or Slessor differs according to source but at least 100 airmen from No’s 31, 34 and 178 Squadrons did not return from Warsaw in the five weeks between August 14th and September 22nd. A young No 31 squadron pilot 2nd Lt RCW Burgess earned an immediate DSO on the 14th for his actions after the aircraft’s captain inexplicably baled out over Warsaw and he was able to make a successful forced landing in Russian held territory