Medals awarded to the Doodlebug Destroyer go to auction

A collection of medals awarded to the World War II hero known as ‘The Doodlebug Champion' are due to go under the hammer in Newcastle.

The medals, awarded to RAF Squadron Leader Joseph Berry, who grew up in County Durham and Northumberland, will go to auction at the Anderson on June 16 and 17, along with medals dating from the Battle of Waterloo and World War I.

Berry was born in Quarrington, County Durham. He moved to Stampeth near Alnwick where he attended The Dukes School. His name still stands on their roll of honour for lives lost during the Second World War.

The collection includes the Distinguished Flying Cross and double bar, War medal, War star, The Air Crew Europe star with France and Germany clasp, The Italy star, The Africa star with North Africa clasp and Defence medal, all with ribbons, and a Gregory and Quilter parachute survivor lapel badge, inscribed to Berry.

Doodlebug was the nickname given to the German V1 flying bomb, an early pulsejet-powered predecessor of the cruise missile.

Many were aimed at London and so the British launched a defence programme against the long-range weapons named Operation Crossbow.

Towards the end of the war about 80 per cent of V-1s were being destroyed.

Anderson and Garland militaria specialist Fred Wyrley-Birch said: “Joseph Berry really was an unsung hero and this collection is as rare as it gets. He shot down twice as many Doodlebugs as anybody else.

“They were night time flyers, because this was the only time you could see the Doodlebugs. One night, there was bad cloud cover and no one wanted to go up. Berry got fed up of waiting, jumped into his plane and flew a mission where he shot a couple of Doodlebugs. He came back, walked into the bar and said: ‘That’s how it’s done.’

“His heroics are commemorated in a museum near where he was shot down in Holland.”

The collection has been stored in a suitcase for decades and Berry’s niece Chris Cann now wants more people to learn about her uncle’s life and heroic deeds.

Mrs Cann from Rothbury, said: “We were very lucky to take Aunty Joyce, Uncle Joe’s widow, to Holland where he was shot down. We laid flowers on his grave and joined in the celebration given by the village of Scheemda for him. It was touching to hear how people there felt about him and learn more about how brave he was. They clearly viewed him as a hero.

“Aunty Joyce wore the medal there and after that, it was put away in a suitcase.”

Berry was her father’s brother and the family remained close to Joyce after her husband’s death. She left the collection to Mrs Cann’s son Alex.

Mrs Cann added: “My son thought long and hard about selling the collection but I think it’s absolutely the right thing to do.

“It’s a lovely collection with a lot of history. I think people need to know about it and we’d like to share it.

“It still makes me feel emotional thinking about Uncle Joe; he had such as a short life. I said to my son, ‘We need to learn from him and try to live as fearlessly and bravely as Uncle Joe did.’”