Canada. A Commission Document To Canadian Fighter Ace, 401 Squadron, Rcaf

Canada; Embossed with the Royal coat-of-arms with The Earl of "Athlone" (Governor General of Canada) overprint in black at the upper left, hand-numbered in black ink "7998" at the upper right, inscribed: "George the Sixth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India, Vc. / To Our Trusty and well beloved William Richard Tew, Greetings. We, reposing special Trust and Confidence in you Loyalty, Courage, and good Conduct, do by these Presents Constitute and Appoint you to be an Officer in Our Active Air Force of Our Dominion of Canada from the Twenty-fifth day of September 1941. You are therefore carefully and diligently to discharge your Duty as such in the Rank of Pilot Officer or in such other Rank as We may from time to time hereafter be pleased to promote or appoint you to, of which a notification will be made in the Canada Gazette, or in such other manner as may for the time being be prescribed by Us in Council, and you are in such manner and on such occasions as may be prescribed by Us in Council, and you are in such manner and on such occasions as may be prescribed by Us to exercise and well discipline in. Arms, both the inferior Officers, and Men serving under you and use your best endeavours to keep them in good Order and Discipline. And We do hereby Command them to Obey you as their superior Officer, and you to observe and follow such Orders and Directions as from time to time you shall receive from Us, or any your superior Officer, according to the Rules and Discipline of War, in pursuance of the Trust hereby reposed in you. In Witness Whereof Our Governor General of Our Dominion of Canada hath hereunto set his hand and Seal at Our Government House in the City of Ottawa this Tenth day of December in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Nine Hundred and Forty-one and in the Fifth Year of Our Reign. By Command of His Excellency The Governor General", signed by the Secretary for the Minister of National Defence, James Layton Ralston",  with the handwritten inscription in black ink "Pilot Officer William Richard Tew / Royal Canadian Air Force / Special Reserve" at the lower left, printed in black with the handwritten entries in black ink, on a white linen stock, 397 mm (w) x 320 mm (h), near extremely fine.

 

Footnote: William Richard "Bill" Tew was born on on April 19, 1918 in Toronto, Ontario. He was a former member of the Royal Canadian Artillery and had worked as an apprentice mechanic from 1936 to 1940, when he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force on December 7, 1940. He began his training at No. 1 Manning Depot in Toronto before being sent to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia from January to April 1941. He was then posted to No. 3 Initial Training School at Sacred Heart College in Victoriaville, Quebec, where he graduated on May 16, 1941. His training continued at No. 11 Elementary Flying Training School in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec aboard Finch and Cornell aircraft, graduating on July 3, 1941. This was followed by a posting to No. 14 Service Flying Training School in Aylmer, Ontario, where he would complete his training aboard Anson, Harvard, Yale and Supermarine Walrus aircraft. It was here that he qualified as a pilot, at the same time obtaining a promotion to the rank of officer on September 25, 1941. Wing Commander G.N. Irwin pinned the pilot's wings on Sergeant William Richard Tew in the official ceremony, as he was the first man to graduate from No. 14 Service Flying Training School, the school having opened only a few months earlier. Tew was the top man in his class and was the first to have his wings pinned on his uniform. Present for the graduation of the class was Wing Commander L.W. Dickens, D.F.C., A.F.C. in charge of training in No. 1 Command. He addressed the class briefly before the presentation: "I won't say anything about the war, you'll find out about that soon enough. It will be a more serious proposition when you get to England." Dickens cautioned the class members not to consider receiving their wings as the end of their training period and informed them there would be more training in England with a different type of plane. He stated: "I am certain you will be able to meet any requirements you may be up against. I think an airman is like a captain of a ship; he wants an open sea; so, if you are going to go mucking around in a plane and stunting give yourself plenty of room; it doesn't matter so much then," he warned. "However," he added, "if you have to bail out, don't blame me for telling you to go ahead." The graduating class and other airmen marched onto the field while the band from No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School in Fingal, Ontario played. A large crowd of friends and relatives of the graduating airmen attended the ceremony. There were twenty-three graduates in his class of student fliers who trained as single-seater fighter pilots, which included eighteen Canadians (fifteen from Ontario: W.R. Tew, Toronto; H.K. Lefroy, Oakville; C.S. Yarnell, Toronto; J.W. Hicks, Niagara Falls; J.H. Ryan, Toronto; I.C. Carson, Hamilton; H.T. Mossip, Thorndale; W.C. Wigston, Whitby; E.A. Glover, Toronto; N.C. Pow, Toronto; E.F. Horton, Owen Sound; S.M. Scott, Toronto; N.C.H. Howe, Toronto; R.H. Lean, Toronto; R.A. Frith, Toronto; along with three others from outside Ontario: A.H. McLaren, Montreal; A.D. Melville, Winnipeg; J.M. Brodie, Saint John, N.B.; and five Americans: W.E. Dunsmore, Pittsburgh, PA; E.L. Gimbel, Chicago, IL; S.B. Walcott, Providence, RI; E. Ives, Springwater, NY; and R.L. Alexander, St. Anne, IL. Tew was sent overseas to Great Britain the following month, where he made his operational conversion to No. 56 Operational Training Unit from November 18, 1941 to February 20, 1942. He was then assigned to No. 3 Squadron from February 20 to August 29, 1942. On September 1st, he was posted to No. 534 Squadron (a Havoc equipped unit with searchlights for night fighter units). Tew was transferred to No. 132 Squadron, on January 21, 1943, where he would remain for nine days, until being transferred again, this to No. 401 Squadron on January 30th. He was promoted to Flying Officer on September 25, 1942 and promoted to Flight Lieutenant, becoming Flight Commander on September 25, 1943. On July 24, 1944, Tew's Spitfire MJ231 was hit by Flak over Lisieux, France, forcing him to parachute. He managed to escape capture and reached American lines, where he was reported "safe" on August 24th. He returning to Canada for a rest period in November, then returned to the United Kingdom on December 5, 1944, re-joining No. 401 Squadron on January 11, 1945, where he would serve with the unit for another five and a half months, until June 23rd.

 

It was during this period with No. 410 Squadron that he received the Distinguished Flying Cross, his citation stating: "Now on his second tour of operational duty, he has completed a large number of exits. During his first tour of duty he destroyed two enemy aircraft and damaged two others, and in addition he destroyed or damaged seventy-five enemy vehicles. Since then, Flight Lieutenant Tew has been destroyed at least to a greater extent by the enemy. At all times he has displayed a fine fighting spirit and a high standard of skill, courage and devotion to duty." J-7597 Flight Lieutenant William Richard Tew, No. 401 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the announcement appearing in the Fourth Supplement to the London Gazette 37187 of Tuesday, July 17, 1945, on Friday, July 20, 1945, page 3784, the award later sent to him by registered mail on June 28, 1949. He returned to Canada on August 6, 1945, where he was released from service fifty-seven days later, on September 26th. Tew attained 1,132 wartime flying hours: Finch (77 hours), Harvard II (114 hours), Master (6 hours), Hurricane (253 hours) and Spitfire (682 hours). He was credited with four victories (destroying: a Fw 190 on June 28, 1944 while piloting Spitfire IXb-MJ231, ten miles east of Domfort; a Me109 on July 7, 1944 while piloting Spitfire IXb-MJ231 at Cliff; and two Me109's on April 20, 1945 while piloting Spitfire IXb-MJ456 south of Schwerin); along with damaging three aircraft (a Fw190 on November 29, 1943 while piloting Spitfire IXb-MJ127 at the Chievres Airfield; a Fw190 on July 6, 1944 while piloting Spitfire IXb-MJ231, the location not stated; and an Ar231 on January 23, 1945 while piloting Spitfire IXb-MK795 north of Osnabruck). Tew re-enlisted on May 10, 1946 in Trenton, Ontario and served there until December 1948, when he joined No. 1 Operational Training Unit in St. Hubert, Quebec. He was posted to No. 410 Squadron in January 1949, where he was promoted to Squadron Leader on June 1, 1950. Tew had an extensive and brilliant postwar career in fighter and fighter control duties in Canada, the United States and in Europe. He was promoted to Wing Commander on July 1, 1957 while in Europe with No. 427 Squadron. William Richard Tew retired from the RCAF on April 19, 1967 with the rank of Wing Commander. (C:197)