Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), Wednesday 11 February 1942, page 4
R.A.A.F. PILOTS
Two Gallantry Awards
Decorations for two Australians serving with the R.A.A.F. overseas for courage and leadership were an-nounced yesterday by the Minister for Air (Mr. Drakeford).
Wing-Commander Howard Clive Mayers, 31, of Sydney. with 11 ene-my aircraft to his credit, has won the immediate award of a bar to his D.F.C., and Squadron Leader Ernest Wingfield Murray, 24, of Blackhall (Qld.) has been decorated
with the D.F.C.
Wing-Commander Mayers has led his wing on a large number of sor-ties during the Libyan campaign, where his mastery of tactics and skilful planning of operations have contributed largely to his many suc-
cesses.
The official citation states that Wing-Commander Mayers has shown
great courage and leadership. Dur-
ing a machine-gun attack in Decem-ber against an enemy column he saw a member of his formation brought
down by anti-aircraft fire; when the
attack was concluded he skilfully landed his machine near the crashed aircraft and flew safely to his base with his colleague.
Squadron-Leader Murray has taken part in many raids during re-cent operations in Libya and at all times has shown great skill and re-
source.
During an attack on enemy con-centrations in the Mekili area in De-cember, his aircraft received a direct hit from a small shell which cut off the aileron control and bent the throttle control. Despite this, Mur-ray maintained formation, returned
to his base and landed his aircraft.