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Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)

The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) was established on June 3rd, 1918, the birthday of King George V, and is awarded to Officers and Warrant officers for "an act or acts of valour and courage or devotion to duty performed whilst flying in active operations against the enemy". A straight silver bar is a further enhancement of the DFC, awarded for additional acts under the same terms as the cross.

The award has the shape of a silver cross and was designed by Edward Carter Preston. On the obverse aeroplane propellers are superimposed upon the vertical arms of the cross. Within a central winged roundel, encircled by a wreath of laurels and surmounted by a Imperial Crown, appear the letters RAF. In the central circle on the reverse the Royal Cyphers, GV, GVI, EIIR, appear above the date 1918. The year of issue is engraved on the lower arm of the award. The DFC is issued unnamed.
The ribbon is 1.25 inches wide, and consists of alternating violet and white stripes, each 0.125 inches wide, leaning at 45 degrees from the vertical. Until 1919, the stripes were horizontal.

From the entire period of the award from it’s inception in 1918 until 1939 when the award changed to the GVI type, only 1,217 GV DFC's were issued.

During the Second World War a total of 20,354 DFCs were awarded, with approximately 1,550 first bars and 42 second bars. Honorary awards were made on 964 occasions to aircrew from other non-commonwealth countries.
A total of 4,018 first DFC's were awarded to RCAF personnel, plus 213 first bars and 6 second bars and also 358 to FAF/RAA/RNZAF persons in RCAF, plus 23 first bars. Also there were 247 DFC's awarded to Canadians in the RAF, plus 34 first bars.
New Zealand RNZAF personnel received 1,032 DFC Crosses, eighty four first bars and four second bars, one Cross was awarded to a member of the Royal New Zealand Navy.
A total of 44 Dutch airmen received the DFC.

Aanjesen, Ola Gert* August 30th, 1918
† September 2nd, 2002

Grid List
Aanjesen, Ola Gert* August 30th, 1918
† September 2nd, 2002

Abbey, James Ernest* January 5th, 1916

Abecassis, George Edgar* March 21st, 1913
† December 10th, 1991

Abraham, Ernest Joseph* February 26th, 1920
† March 15th, 1994

Acworth, Richard Alvin "Acky"* December 19th, 1916
† March 1st, 1971

Adams, Jack Sylvester* May 11th, 1917

Adams, Norman Thomas* 1921
† July 24th, 2004

Adams, William Houghton* 1917
† August 17th, 1989

Addison, William Nathan* August 12th, 1919
† October 1989

Aduckiewicz, Marian* August 2nd, 1917
† November 21st, 2005

more
Agrios, James Edward† October 8th, 1990

Ahalt, Roy Mathias* February 6th, 1918
† March 15th, 2009

Aikman, Alan Frederick* March 5th, 1919

Ainslie, Allan Stuart* April 1st, 1913
† June 29th, 1940
Row: panel Grave: 4

Ainslie, Thomas Edgar Craig* 1917
† December 28th, 2007

Ainsworth, Sydney† October 21st, 1978

Aitken, John William Maxwell, 2nd Baronet* February 15th, 1910
† May 1st, 1985

Albert, Earl Thomas* March 1st, 1920

more
Aldred, Elwood Morton* June 26th, 1914
† May 27th, 2006

Aldridge, Kenneth Arthur† November 21st, 1943

Aldwinckle, Robert Morrison* July 28th, 1920
† 2003

Alexander, Edward Sudbury† January 14th, 1944
Plot: 29 Row: B Grave: 2

Alexander, Robert Wilfred* August 20th, 1920
† September 21st, 1944
Plot: 24 Row: C Grave: 1-3

Alger, Clifford Tompkins† August 1st, 2008

Allan, George Ingram* 1908
† January 22nd, 1945

Allan, James Llewellyn* 1921
† November 5th, 1944

Allan, John Watson "Iain"* May 6th, 1918
† July 9th, 1988

Allard, Geoffrey* August 20th, 1912
† March 13th, 1941
Plot: 40 Grave: 9

Allcroft, Frederick Charles* 1923
† January 3rd, 1944
Plot: 7 Row: h Grave: 1-7

Allen, Derek Hurlstone† May 18th, 1940

Allen, Hubert Raymond "Dizzy"* March 19th, 1919
† May 31st, 1987

Allen, John Laurence† July 24th, 1940
Plot: 50 Grave: 15936

Allen, Lawrence Arnold* 1917
† April 28th, 1944

Allen, Michael Seamer* March 15th, 1925
† June 6th, 2001

Allen, Robert Swinton* July 24th, 1914
† 1982

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Alverson, James Rees* 1920
† 2000

Ameresekere, Ekanayake Edward Rohan* May 21st, 1916
† March 20th, 1974

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Amsterdam, van, Andreas Antonius Johannes* November 13th, 1917
† March 27th, 1945

Anderson, Alan Ford* November 21st, 1910
† December 19th, 2002

more
Anderson, Albert Erik* 1920
† 1971

Anderson, Gordon Doak* January 22nd, 1923
† November 27th, 2006

Anderson, John Alan† March 23rd, 1965

Anderson, Leslie Scofield* 1917
† October 22nd, 1910

Anderson, Peter Murray "Andy"* April 9th, 1922
† April 11th, 1945
Plot: X Row: 21 Grave: 5

Anderson, Robert Thomas* December 30th, 1919
† October 5th, 2001

Anderson, Willard Leslie* 1916
† October 27th, 2004

Anderson, William Andrew* 1918
† February 12th, 1942

Anderson, William Brodie* 1914
† June 8th, 1944
Plot: 49 Row: G Grave: 9

Andersz, Tadeusz* October 27th, 1918
† October 29th, 2007

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Andlauer, Louis Jacques Victor* November 6th, 1919
† December 1st, 1999

Andrewartha, Charles Donald "Andy"* April 15th, 1916
† September 6th, 1973

more
Andrieux, Jacques Marie Anne* August 15th, 1917
† January 21st, 2005

Anemaet, Ricardo Antonio Dionicio "Cardo"* April 21st, 1912
† December 29th, 1991

Angell, Henry Ellis* 1916
† December 5th, 2010

Angus, Allen Benjamin* May 10th, 1918
† May 16th, 1940

Angus, Thomas Anderson* 1915
† June 16th, 2005

Annan, Douglas Bruce* May 5th, 1917
† July 1990

Arbon, Paul Wade* February 8th, 1921
† November 21st, 1968

Arbuckle, George Frederick* 1921
† March 2nd, 1994

Archer, Gordon Walter* 1918
† January 13th, 1982

Arciuszkiewicz, Eugeniusz* February 7th, 1907
† December 10th, 1983

more
Ardis, Beverley Donn "Joe"* 1922
† May 6th, 1997

Arens, Hermanus Josephus Aloysius Caecilia* November 22nd, 1914
† October 22nd, 2005

Armitage, Dennis Lockhart* March 28th, 1912
† March 5th, 2004

Armitage, Robert Munday* 1914
† June 19th, 1997

Armstrong, Frederick Finlay* 1918
† November 4th, 1997

more
Armstrong, Hugo Throssell "Sinker"* June 9th, 1916
† February 5th, 1943

Armstrong, Lloyd George* 1917
† January 9th, 1994

Armstrong, William Albert* 1916
† December 25th, 1992

Arne, Ira Clifford† February 23rd, 2008

Arnfield, Stanley John* October 3rd, 1913
† September 24th, 1954

Arnold, Charles Keever* November 2nd, 1913
† December 6th, 1961

Arnot, Donald MacKenzie* September 11th, 1918
† January 21st, 1944
Plot: 2 Row: K Grave: 10

Arriens, Jan Willem* June 27th, 1922

Arthur, Charles Ian Rose "Duke"* June 4th, 1918
† October 13th, 1998

Arthur, Wilfred Stanley* December 7th, 1919
† December 23rd, 2000

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Ashcroft, Alfred Edward David† October 6th, 1944
Plot: X Row: 23 Grave: 25

Ashfield, Glyn† December 12th, 1942

Ashworth, Arthur 'Artie'* May 3rd, 1920
† February 19th, 1994

more
Asjes, Dirk Lucas* June 21st, 1911
† February 1st, 1997

more
Aston, Frederick Cuthbert* September 12th, 1919
† March 2003

Atcherley, David Francis William* January 12th, 1904
† June 8th, 1952

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Atkins, Eric Granville* March 19th, 1921
† November 22nd, 2011

more
Atkinson, Gordon Barry* February 7th, 1921

Atkinson, Harold Derrick* August 19th, 1918
† August 25th, 1940
Row: 1R Grave: 7

Aubertin, Pierre Gaston* March 22nd, 1915
† March 7th, 1949

Auckland, Ronald James* January 18th, 1922
† July 22nd, 2016

Audet, Richard Joseph "Dick"* March 13th, 1922
† March 3rd, 1945
Plot: 278 

Austin, John Beech* July 17th, 1917
† January 12th, 2012

Ayerst, Peter Vigne* November 4th, 1920
† May 15th, 2014

Sources