AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Back to Top

Info LogoAdd to or correct this story with a few clicks.
Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
Check our Research databases: Database List

.

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.

Arthur Scarf VC
Sqd. Ldr. Arthur Scarf VC Solo Attack on Japanese Forces

Scarf joined the RAF in 1936. On gaining his wings he was posted to No.9 Squadron, operating the Handley Page Heyford. In 1937 he transferred to No.62 Squadron, a light bomber unit which received the Bristol Blenheim in February 1938. Just prior to the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Squadron was detached to bases in northern Malaya. From July 1941 No.62 was based at Alor Star near the Thailand border and at the outbreak of hostilities in December 1941 the squadron came under heavy air attack. On 9 December it was withdrawn to RAF Butterworth in order to regroup.

On 9 December 1941 in northern Malaya, near the Siam border, the RAF had been ordered to make a daylight raid on Singora, an important locus for the Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula, then underway.

Let the Citation for Scarf's VC, published in the London Gazette on 21 June 1946 tell the story:

"The KING has been graciously pleased to confer the posthumous award of the VICTORIA CROSS to the undermentioned Officer in recognition of most conspicuous bravery:-

Squadron Leader Arthur Stewart King Scarf (37693), Royal Air Force, No. 62 Squadron

On 9th December, 1941, all available aircraft from the Royal Air Force Station, Butterworth, Malaya, were ordered to make a daylight attack on the advanced operational base of the Japanese Air Force at Singora, Thailand. From this base the enemy fighter squadrons were supporting the landing operations.

The aircraft detailed for the sortie were on the point of taking off when the enemy made a combined dive-bombing and low level machine gun attack on the airfield. All our aircraft were destroyed or damaged with the exception of the Blenheim piloted by Squadron Leader Scarf. This aircraft had become airborne a few seconds before the attack started.

Squadron Leader Scarf circled the airfield and witnessed the disaster. it would have been reasonable had he abandoned the projected operation which was intended to be a formation sortie. He decided, however, to press on to Singora in his single aircraft. Although he knew this individual action could not inflict much material damage on the enemy, he, nevertheless, appreciated the moral effect which it would have on the remainder of the squadron, who were helplessly watching their aircraft burning on the ground.

Squadron Leader Scarf completed his attack successfully. The opposition over the target was severe and included attacks by a considerable number of enemy fighters. In the course of these encounters Squadron Leader Scarf was mortally wounded.

The enemy continued to engage him in a running fight, which lasted until he had regained the Malayan border. Squadron Leader Scarf fought a brilliant evasive action in a valiant attempt to return to his base. Although he displayed the utmost gallantry and determination, he was, owing to his wounds, unable to accomplish this. He made a successful forced landing at Alor Star without causing any injury to his crew. He was received into hospital as soon as possible, but died shortly after admission.

Squadron Leader Scarf displayed supreme heroism in the face of tremendous odds and his splendid example of self-sacrifice will long be remembered."



Left: Scarf's Blenheim. Centre: Scarf's headstone at Taiping War Cemetery. Right: Taiping War Cemetery (courtesy roll-of-honour.com)

Because of the chaotic nature of the Malayan campaign, the facts concerning Scarf's actions were not known until after the war which is why his action was not gazetted until 1946. At the time of his death he was about to become a father for the first time. His pregnant wife was a nurse based at the Alor Star hospital, but had just been evacuated south. The two other crewmen from Scarf's Blenheim were also given awards after the war for their courage during this action; Sergeant Paddy Calder (later Squadron Leader) was awarded a Distinguished Flying Medal and Sergeant Cyril Rich (KIA in 1943) received a posthumous Mentioned in Despatches.


Scarf's Victoria Cross (shown left) is displayed at the Royal Air Force Museum London, England.

A fine memorial site to Arthur Scarf is to be found here.

Some notes on geography

The point of Scarf's attack was the harbour at Singora, now known as Songkhla (A on map). On December 8, 1941 local time, hours before the December 7 (Hawaii time) attack on Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese army landed here, invading Thailand. It then proceeded south through the Malay peninsula towards Perlis and Penang as part of the Malayan campaign which culminated in the capture of Singapore. This area was of high strategic importance because of Malaya's position as the world's predominant supplier of rubber, essential to the war effort. At the very foot of the Malay Peninsula lay Singapore, a vast British Army, Navy and Air Base from which the British could control huge areas of the Pacific.

Alor Star, properly known as Alor Setar, housed an RAF base, located 93 kilometers north of RAF Station Butterworth at Penang and 45 km from the southern border of Thailand.

Researched by Stefan Pietrzak Youngs from The Forgotten Air Force by Air Commodore Henry Probert, private sources, London Gazette and Wikipedia



SPY 2 July 2014

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
Click any image to enlarge it

Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to buy research books from Amazon •Click to explore the entire site
If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2024
Last Modified: 13 March 2021, 13:23

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor