Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph 'Cocky' Cochrane
Wartime medals awarded to the man who masterminded the Dambusters Raid have sold for more than £20,000.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph 'Cocky' Cochrane planned in minute detail the audacious RAF operation to destroy three German dams using inventor Sir Barnes Wallis' 'bouncing bomb'.
It was the highly respected officer who chose Victoria Cross hero Guy Gibson to lead the daring 1943 raid.
He also oversaw the formation of the now-famous 617 Squadron for the successful mission that flooded Germany's industrial Ruhr Valley by breaching the dams.
Two years later he came up with the idea of how to bomb the formidable Nazi battleship the Tirpitz - while sat in his bath.
He again worked closely with Wallis' on his latest development, the 12,000lbs Tallboy bomb.
Cochrane's plan succeeded and the menace to the Allied Arctic convoys was sunk in a Norwegian fjord in 1944.
From left to right: Air Force Cross, 1914-15 Star, British War and Victory Medals, General Service 1918-62, 1939-45 Star, France and Germany Star, Defence and War Medals 1939-45, Coronation Medal 1937
Group picture of the Dambusters squadron. The 1943 raid was masterminded by Air Chief Marshall Sir Ralph Cochrane
Image depicting a bomber aircraft in flight. The raid on German dams is famous in war history
His medals, which include the Air Force Cross, have now been sold in London by a private collector for £17,000.
With fees added on the total price paid by the anonymous buyer was £20,400.
Mark Quayle, of auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, said: 'Given the importance of Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph 'Cocky' Cochrane's career, we feel that this particular group would appeal to all types of collectors on an international level.
'Cochrane had close links to Barnes Wallis throughout his long career - working together on experimental airships in the Great War, and on several high profile raids during the Second World War.
'The most high profile of all being the planning of Operation Chastise - the Dams Raid.
'Cochrane, a brilliant and meticulous planner, also masterminded the eventual sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz in 1944.'
Cochrane, from Springfield, Fife, Scotland, first joined the Royal Navy before the First World War but transferred to the newly-formed Airship branch in 1915 and served as an airship pilot.
He then joined the RAF in 1918, served in Iraq and Aden in the 1920s and worked his way up to Group Captain before he was appointed aide-de-camp to King George VI in 1939.
He became the Air Officer Commanding in the RAF's No 5 Bomber Group.
Then in March 1944 he was chosen to take command of the top secret Dams raid due to his reputation for being a perfectionist, a keen advocate of precision bombing and his relationship with Wallis.
Aerial photo showing the destruction caused by the Dambusters' raid on the Edersee Dam, 17th March, 1943
The heavily defended Tirpitz sheltering in an Norwegian fjord seen from the air
Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph 'Cocky' Cochrane planned in minute detail the audacious RAF operation to destroy three German dams using inventor Sir Barnes Wallis' 'bouncing bomb'
After spending two months painstakingly planning for Operation Chastise in total secrecy, Cochrane gathered at 617 Squadron's HQ in Grantham, Lincolnshire, and listened to the mission unfold.
When word came back that the first dam had been breached, Wallis is said to have danced around the room while Cochrane grinned and shook him by the hand.
He later masterminded the demise of the Tirpitz with three carefully orchestrated raids in November 1944.
According to RAF pilot and journalist Paul Brickhill, Cochrane decided to go for the high-risk sortie while having a bath.
In his 1950 non-fiction book The Dambusters, which paved the way for the 19654 movie, Brickhill wrote: 'In his waking moments work was rarely absent from his mind; he had been thinking of the Tirpitz for a long time and it was in his bath one morning that he finally made up his mind to get permission for 617 to sink her. He climbed out, dried, dressed and flew down to see (Sir Arthur 'Bomber') Harris and Harris said yes.'
Cochrane retired from the RAF as Air Chief Marshal in 1952 and became managing director of Atlantic Shipbuilding Company and of Rolls Royce Ltd.
He lived in Oxford and died in 1977 aged 82.
The Dambusters: How bouncing bombs - and incredible flying by RAF pilots - flooded the Ruhr valley and delivered a crucial blow to the Nazi war machine
On May 16, 1943, 19 Lancaster bomber crews gathered at a remote RAF station in Lincolnshire for a mission of extraordinary daring - a night-time raid on three heavily defended dams deep in Germany's industrial heartland.
The dams were heavily fortified and needed the innovative bouncing bomb - which bounced on the water over torpedo nets and sank before detonating.
To succeed, the raiders would have to fly across occupied Europe under heavy fire and then drop their bombs with awesome precision from a mere 60ft above the water.
19 Lancaster Bomber crews armed with Bouncing Bombs set off to attack several dams in Germany on May 16, 1943
The Eder Dam, pictured, was destroyed as part of Operation Chastise on the early hours of the morning on May 17, 1943
The Mohne and Eder Dams in the industrial heart of Germany were attacked and breached by mines dropped from specially modified Lancasters of No. 617 Squadron.
The Sorpe dam was was also attacked by by two aircraft and damaged.
A fourth dam, the Ennepe was reported as being attacked by a single aircraft (O-Orange), but with no damage.
Up to 1,600 people were estimated to have been killed by floodwaters and eight of the 19 aircraft dispatched failed to return with the loss of 53 aircrew and 3 taken prisoner of war.
Wg Cdr Guy Gibson, Officer Commanding No. 617 Sqn, is awarded the VC for his part in leading the attack.
The raid, orchestrated by Guy Gibson and the RAF's 617 'Dambuster' Squadron, was seen as a major victory for the British, and Wing Commander Gibson is recognised as one of the war's most revered heroes.
Their success was immortalised in the classic 1955 film The Dambusters, its thrilling theme tune and gung-ho script evoking the best of British derring-do.
Eight of the bomber crews were lost while a further three were forced to turn back. Of the 133 men sent out, 53 were killed and three were taken prisoner by the Nazis
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/28/wwii-medals-of-dambusters-hero-air-chief-marshal-sir-ralph-cocky-cochrane-sell-for-20400/
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Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph ‘Cocky’ Cochrane
Wartime medals awarded to the man who masterminded the Dambusters Raid have sold for more than £20,000.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph ‘Cocky’ Cochrane planned in minute detail the audacious RAF operation to destroy three ...
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Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
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