David Lord

David Samuel Anthony Lord, (18 October 1913 – 19 September 1944) was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. A transport pilot in the Royal Air Force, Lord received the award posthumously for his actions during the Battle of Arnhem while flying resupply missions in support of British paratroops.

Early life David Lord was born on 18 October 1913 in Cork, Ireland, one of three sons of Samuel Beswick Lord and Mary Ellen Lord (née Miller). One of Lord's brothers died in infancy.

After the First World War the family were posted to British India and Lord attended Lucknow Convent School.

Battle of Arnhem

The Battle of Arnhem was part of Operation Market Garden, an attempt to secure a string of bridges through the Netherlands. At Arnhem, the British 1st Airborne Division and Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade were tasked with securing bridges across the Lower Rhine, the final objectives of the operation. However, the airborne forces that dropped on 17 September were not aware that the 9th SS and 10th SS Panzer divisions were also near Arnhem for rest and refit. Their presence added a substantial number of Panzergrenadiers, tanks and self-propelled guns to the German defences and the Allies suffered heavily in the ensuing battle. Only a small force managed to hold one end of the Arnhem road bridge before being overrun on 21 September. The rest of the division became trapped in a small pocket west of the bridge and had to be evacuated on 25 September. The Allies failed to cross the Rhine, which remained under German control until Allied offensives in March 1945.

Resupply flights

Lord was 30 years old, and a flight lieutenant serving with No. 271 Squadron, Royal Air Force during the Second World War when he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Only the navigator, Flying Officer Harold King, survived, becoming a prisoner of war. It was only on his release in mid-1945, as well as the release of several paratroops from the 10th Parachute Battalion,

Victoria Cross citation

The full citation for Lord's VC appeared in a supplement to The London Gazette on 9 November 1945, reading:

Legacy

After Arnhem was liberated in April 1945, Grave Registration Units of the British 2nd Army moved into the area and began to locate the Allied dead. Lord was buried alongside his crew in the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery. There are many plaques in memory of him, including one at Wrexham Cathedral in Wales.

Several aircraft have carried tributes to Lord. Between 1993 and 1998, the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's Dakota, serial "ZA947", was painted in the colours of Lord's aircraft during the Arnhem battle, and bore the same code letters: YS-DM. Between 1973 and 2005, the Dakota displayed at Royal Air Force Museum Midlands, Cosford was similarly painted and coded to represent Lord's aircraft. From 1966 until its disbandment in 2005, No. 10 Squadron RAF was equipped with Vickers VC-10s, each of which was named after a Royal Air Force or Royal Flying Corps VC recipient. Aircraft serial number 'XR810' was named David Lord VC.

Lord's Victoria Cross was presented to his parents at Buckingham Palace in December 1945. In 1997, Lord's VC, along with his other decorations and medals, were sold at auction by Spinks to Lord Ashcroft. As of 2014, the medal group was on display at the Imperial War Museum.