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(x) A rare and impressive post-war C.B., Second World War C.B.E., inter-war test pilot's A.F.C. group of nine awarded to Air Vice-Marshal R. L. Ragg, Royal Air Force, one of a handful British recipients to be awarded the 'Special Cravat' grade of the Chinese Order of the Cloud and Banner The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (C.B.), Military, Companion's neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (C.B.E.), Military, Commander's 2nd type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; Air Force Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Kurdistan, Malaya (F./O. R. L. Ragg, R.A.F.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, M.I.D. oak leaf; Coronation 1953; Iraq, King Feisal's War Medal; China (Republic), Order of the Cloud and Banner, 'Special Cravat' Class, neck badge, silver, silvered-metal and enamel, local manufacture with impressed number '1048' to reverse, mounted court-style as worn where applicable, enamel damage to the last, otherwise generally very fine or better (9) C.B. London Gazette 9 June 1949. C.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1945. A.F.C. London Gazette 30 December 1927. Robert Linton Ragg was born on 9 April 1901, the son of Robert Stewart Ragg, M.A. (Oxon) and Margaret Elizabeth Christie. Young Robert was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford and Dulwich College. Active service in Kurdistan Commissioned Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force in January 1921, he quickly saw active service as a pilot in No. 45 Squadron in the Kurdistan operations of 1922-24 (Medal & clasp), the future 'Bomber' Harris flying regularly as his Bomb Aimer. Equipped with Vernon bombers, the unit used them to great effect in transporting troops to trouble spots, in addition to attacking rebel villages. 'Experimental Pilot' On his return home, Ragg served as an experimental pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough in 1925-29, in which role he won the A.F.C. and the Royal Aeronautical Society's Pilcher Memorial Prize in 1926. A glimpse of Ragg's gallant experimental work is to be found in Lighter Than Air: The Life and Times of Wing Commander N.F. Usborne, R.N. , by Guy Warner. This includes mention of a memorable 'parasite flight' from the airship R. 33 in a Gloster Grebe fighter in October 1926. He was also joint winner - with Flight Lieutenant J. S. Chick, M.C., A.F.C. - of 2nd Prize in Daily Mail Light Aeroplane Competition in the same year; see the Journal of The Royal Aeronautical Society , Vol. 30, No. 191 (November 1926), for an article written by Ragg - 'Experimental Flying from the Pilot's Point of View'. Iraq In February 1931, Ragg joined No. 203 Squadron at Basra in Iraq. Equipped with Short Rangoons, the unit undertook anti-piracy and policing duties in the Persian Gulf and led the way forward in establishing new bases, local rulers being entertained in the capacious cabins whenever trouble was brewing. However, as described in an article by Tony Webb, such arrangements were prone to complications; see: http://ukmamsoba.org/raf%20on%20masirah.htm 'The association of the Royal Air Force with Masirah Island began in April 1933, with the arrival of a party of R.A.F. officers who had come to survey the island with a view to using it as a site for a transit airfield, fuel dump, and seaplane anchorage. Early in 1931, Flight Lieutenant R. L. Ragg (later Air Vice-Marshal) landed his 'Rangoon' flying boat near Umm Rasays and, to quote from a letter ' … we went ashore in a rubber dinghy under cover of our machine-guns while the Sheikh and his braves came down to the beach to meet us and the old men, women and children retired behind the village among the hillocks. But eventually we made friends with the aid of a few bags of rice - and before my tour at Basra was finished two hard working years later we had established a petrol dump and cleared a landing strip for Wapiti aircraft. On arrival at Umm Rasys, Flight Lieutenant Ragg, Flying Officer Sarel and Flying Officer Crosbie we