Beschreibung:

Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Macdonald "Bob" Hodges. An E.II.R. Blouse, No 2 circa 1958 belonging to Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Macdonald "Bob" Hodges, Special Operations Executive (SOE) pilot during WWII and Senior Commander in the RAF and NATO, the blue cloth jacket with R.E. City Ltd tailors label printed 'G/Capt Hodges, Order No B154, Date 12.11.58.' with RAF cloth brevet and medal ribbon bar representing a long and distinguished service, the shoulder cords with Air Chief Marshal stripes, black composite buttons and RAF Museum card label inscribed Hodges with code 78/U/78, the same code is attached to the lining of the jacket, 56cm long, chest 46cm, inner arm 41cm Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Macdonald "Bob" Hodges, KCB, CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar (1918-2007), was born in Richmond, Surrey, he was educated at St Paul's School, Barnes and joined the RAF in 1937. On 4 September 1940 whilst serving with No 49 Squadron Hodges aircraft was bady damaged in an air raid on Stettin and he crashed in Brittany. He and his gunner attempted to escape to Spain but were arrested by the Vichy police near Marseilles. Hodges escaped from custody and cross the border into Spain but was arrested again and imprisoned at Miranda del Ebro. He was released a few weeks later and returned to England in June 1941. In February 1942 Hodges commanded the squadron in operations which included attacks on the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau for this he was awarded the DFC. He later went on to be a pilot for No 161 Squadron, Special Operations Executive (SOE) and became the commander for the squadron. He performed various duties whilst with the squadron including parachute drops, and landing Westland Lysanders and Lockheed Hudsons behind enemy lines. Later on in the war he took part in special duties with No 357 Squadron flying SOE operations in Thailand and Malaya.