RAF Sword Inscription.

[Whenurhappy]

As you can see, a quiet day in the office, clearing out stuff.

Perhaps slightly older RAF PPruners can help me with this one (Really Annoyed - this doesn't apply to you - swords have really sharp points and you wouldn't be allowed to play with it).

I have an RAF sword that was given to me by a relative - who found it in a second-hand shop in Great Malvern some years ago - with the inscription 'To Max Peck from Scriptio - May 1976'

I presume that this is a private graduation present. If anyone has more details, please PM me.

[jamesdevice]

does this story point in the right direction?

Fallen astronauts: heroes who died ... - Google Books (http://books.google.com/books?id=iJ8WwRBNgk0C&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=max+peck+nasa&source=bl&ots=p7R1ahkS7l&sig=4BU0ApziegqNGIuX8hcT-WFV6vM&hl=en&ei=3IAwTpK5G9C3hAfA3fwu&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=max%20peck%20nasa&f=false)

[Whenurhappy]

I googled the name and this link to astronauts did turn up, but I can't see what a US astronaut would have been given an RAF sword in 1976. If there is anyone else who can shed light on the inscription:

Max Peck from Scriptio May 1976


I'd be most appreciative. Any other clues? Unusually the Wilkinson Sword has been plated, rather than burnished steel, and was sans scabbard.

[Pontius Navigator]

I have a Max Peck, b 22 May 11 in Aston and d May 2002 in Malvern, Worcestershire. In 1976 he would have been 65.

In Jul Q 1936 a Max Peck married Mabel Rayner in Birmingham.

[hval]

@Whenurhappy,

My apologies for what I am about to suggest as you may well have done it already.

Have you got access to the passing out ceremony lists for RAF Cranwell during 1976?

[Whenurhappy]

PN - thanks - that could be a link, in that the sword in question was purchased in a shop in Great Malvern in c 1997 for about GBP20. Max Peck would have been of the right age to have served in the RAF during World War II and perhaps later, and one could surmise that this was given to him as a momento by a friend or former colleague on his 65th birthday (May 1976).

More digging required but Power to PPRuNe!

[hval]

Not relevant, but there was a Pilot Officer George Richard Hamilton Peck of No. 419 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron awarded the DFC May 1944.

Most of these mining expeditions were in the areas around Heligoland, the Frisians, and Kiel Bay. For the rookie crew of Halifax "W"-William an operation over the last-named vegetable patch provided more than the usual measure of excitement. Not many crews enjoyed the privilege of qualifying for membership in the Goldfish Club on their first operation. This one did. Over the Danish coast enroute to the garden the port outer engine of "William" caught fire. The flames were quickly doused by the engine's extinguisher system, and skipper Pilot Officer R.H. ("Rich") Peck continued on three engines to the dropping area, where the vegetables were successfully planted. On the return trip over the North Sea, at a position some 20 miles closer to Denmark than to England, the port inner engine took fire and also had to be feathered. With both engines gone on one side, Peck could no longer maintain safe flying speed without losing height, and at the 5000-foot level it became obvious that the Hally would not be touching down on any aerodrome. SOS signals, along with position reports provided by the navigator, Flying Officer A.T. ("Archie") Paton, were transmitted, and none too soon, for ten minutes after the first SOS was rattled off by Flying Officer Aubrey Winch, "William" was waterborne, almost on the stroke of midnight.
The ditching was extremely well organised throughout, its every phase being executed with calm precision. The touch-down was smooth and the dinghy was boarded by all seven of the crew without difficulty, even though the last to leave were knee-deep in water. After a considerable period they saw star shells off in the distance, and at once fired a Very light. Presently an Air-Sea Rescue kite from Thornaby appeared and ringed the dinghy with flame floats. Approximately 3 1⁄2 hours after the ditching the seven dinghy mariners were picked up by a converted trawler, H.M.S. Kurd, and returned to England next morning.
The ditching was not all grim drama; it did have its touches of comedy relief. The first comic bit centered on the strenuous efforts of the crew to paddle away from their stricken Halifax. They had been straining for several minutes to do this and were getting nowhere when one of them finally analysed the cause. The dinghy line was still attached to the aircraft! After the rescue Pilot Officer Peck was being asked some routine questions by a senior naval officer. With a twinkle in his eye the latter inquired of the pilot why in blazes he had complicated rescue proceedings by landing in the middle of a mine-field! When this incident became known on the squadron, the crew quickly acquired a collective term of reference — "Peck's Bad Boys".
For his inspiring leadership in a moment of extreme emergency Pilot Officer Peck was awarded an immediate D.F.C. Peck was further rewarded with an appointment to the position of 419's O.C. Dinghy Drill. For their individual skill and highly effective team-work, which were largely responsible for the quickness of the rescue, Flying Officers Paton, Winch and bomb-aimer Eric McRorie were also gonged on completion of their tour.

[Whenurhappy]

Great story!

No, I haven't got access to Graduation lists (my first port of call), and being outside the UK for another couple of months, I don't have access to DII or DFTN to ask mates to help out. I have searched the London Gazette, but nothing has turned up.