The indomitable spirit of an RAF hero shortly before his death has been revealed in moving letters from his widow amid urgent calls to keep his Victoria Cross in the UK.
Pilot Arthur ‘Pongo’ Scarf was honored with the highest award for bravery for single-handedly attacking an enemy airfield after all other aircraft in his squadron had been destroyed.
He was the only RAF member to receive the Far East VC during the Second World War. But his medal was bought by an overseas buyer last year for a record £660,000.
Now, with only weeks left to raise the remaining funds needed to save his medal for the nation, letters have been unearthed from his widow Sallie who recounts how he cried out his last words to her: “Don’t worry , chin up!’ , as – mortally wounded – he was wheeled to the operating room after miraculously completing his mission.
She was pregnant and a nurse at the hospital in Malaya where he died after his selfless act. She donated blood for him as doctors fought to save him.
Pilot Arthur ‘Pongo’ Scarf was the only RAF member in the Far East in World War II to receive the highest award for bravery – the Victoria Cross
Pictured (L-R): The Victoria Cross with engraved detail on the back: ‘S/Ldr. ASK Scarf. 62 Sqdn. RAF’ and ’11 June 1946.’; The Star of 1939-1945; The Pacific star; The Defense and War Medals 1939-45
Pictured LR: Norman Irving and Sqd Ldr Scarf en route to Singapore in 1939. It was Mr Irving who wrote the recommendation for Scarf’s posthumous VC award on 1 March
A painting of Arthur Scarf, single-handedly attacking an enemy airfield after all other aircraft in his squadron had been destroyed
She later wrote to a close friend, Pat Boxall, who was also a nurse at the same hospital, and recalled Squadron Leader Scarf’s last words to her.
Sallie, who was off duty when he arrived at the hospital, also shared how she ran to be with him and was told his arm was injured.
“I felt very depressed when I heard it was his left hand since he was left handed and once said to me that flying was all his life and I thought how is he going to manage if he can’t fly?” she wrote in the early 1980s.
“When he was taken off the stretcher, the severe wound in his back was bleeding profusely and you put an IV on and I gave two liters of blood. What cheered me up was hearing him say to you, “Pat, don’t worry about my mammary glands!”
Pictured: Sqd Leader Scarf VC Medal
But Sqd Ldr Scarf fell unconscious before the stun set in. He died before the blood transfusion was completed due to extreme bleeding and shock.
He was 28 and he and Sallie had been married for seven months. Heartbroken and traumatized, she lost their unborn baby. Both he and his wife lived in Wimbledon, South West London, but had only met in Malaya. She later remarried and died in 1985.
Sqd Leader Scarf was posthumously awarded the VC for ‘supreme heroism’ against ‘enormous odds’ for his actions on 9 December 1941.
He attacked a Japanese airbase in Thailand in his Bristol Blenheim bomber after all other aircraft in his squadron were destroyed or damaged on the ground in a surprise Japanese airstrike before they could take off.
His VC citation said it would have been “reasonable” for him to abandon his mission, but he decided to continue on his own because he “appreciated the moral effect it would have on the rest of the squadron, who watched helplessly how their plane was on fire. to the ground.’
He successfully completed his mission despite continuous attacks from enemy fighters and despite his wounds he returned to Malaya and managed to force land his bullet riddled plane in a paddy field near his base without causing any injury to his two crew members, both of whom survived.
Sqd Leader Scarf’s VC was awarded posthumously in 1946 and presented to his widow by George VI at Buckingham Palace.
In another letter seen by the Mail, she wrote of how she was “bottled up” after hearing the King say, “Your late husband has done a great deed for which this country will be eternally grateful.”
As previously reported, his VC was put up for sale by relatives last year and bought at auction by an anonymous buyer. It was subsequently embargoed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, preventing it from being taken abroad provided a UK-based buyer or institution matches the sale price.
Arthur Scarf depicted in his flying gear and his widow Sallie
Pictured: 62 Squadron RAF Tengah in 1940
The RAF Museum has so far raised £478,205, including donations from the public. The target must be reached by April 30.
The letters from Sqd Ldr Scarf’s late wife were shared with the Mail by the recipient’s daughter, Sallie Hammond. She is named after his wife, who was her godmother.
Ms Hammond, 78, a grief counselor in London, Ontario, Canada, who is secretary of her branch of the Malayan Volunteers Group that researches the history of the Malayan Campaign, told the Mail: ‘This fundraiser is noble and generous. To do. I sincerely hope it will work.
“Never give up,” would have been Arthur Scarf’s philosophy.
‘He did not give up his mission for RAF 62 Squadron, even though he knew the enormous risks involved.
“He didn’t give up his two crew members. He did not give up hope that he would recover from his injuries – and see his wife again.
“He did not give up life until his death.”
Pictured LR: Sallie, Arthur Scarf and Harley Boxall
Pictured: Sallie Hammond, Sallie’s goddaughter, Sqd Ldr Scarf’s widow
Colonel Piers Storie-Pugh, a vice president of The Not Forgotten, a Services charity, also urged others to support the campaign, saying: ‘Arthur Scarf is a fantastic role model, especially for today’s youth, and it is essential that his medal stays in the UK.”
RAF Museum Historian and Head of Collections, Dr Harry Raffal said: ‘Squadron Leader Scarf’s Victoria Cross not only represents his extraordinary devotion to duty and supreme act of bravery, it is also a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by all British and Commonwealth have been brought. service personnel fighting in the Far East.
‘If we succeed, the medal will hang in the Museum, in the heart of our collection.’
To donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/save-the-scarf-vc