Medal Bar of Group Captain Geoffrey Brunner

During the Battle of Britain Geoffrey Brunner served with No. 43 Squadron. On 26 August 1940 in a raid off Portsmouth he was attacked by a Messerschmitt Bf 109. With no radio, engine or hydraulics, covered in petrol and wounded in the ankle, he successfully made a wheels-up landing at RAF Tangmere.

Brunner joined the RAF as an Aircraft Apprentice in 1926 and later trained as a pilot. He took part in Hendon Air Displays in the 1930s, performing aerobatics. He then became a test pilot at the Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE). In 1943, back at the A&AEE, he successfully landed a prototype Westland Welkin after its engine broke up and caught fire at 43,500 feet. Medals, from left to right: Air Force Cross and bar, 1939–1945 Star with Battle of Britain clasp, Air Crew Europe star, 1939–1945 Defence medal, 1939–1945 War Medal, General Service 1918–1962 (ERII) medal with Cyprus clasp.