Riddle Of Missing Battle Of Britain Locomotive Nameplate: Ex-RAF Officer And Dealer In Dock

Philip Angus

An RAF officer stole a valuable commemorative Battle of Britain steam train nameplate and sold it to a crooked railway memorabilia dealer for £12,000, a court heard today.

Squadron Leader Philip John Morley Angus, 66, took the metal ‘Lord Dowding’ nameplate from the secure Fine Arts Store at RAF Bently Priory, Harrow Crown Court was told.

It was sold years later to expert David Ewart Jones, 62, boss of Great Central Railwayana and identified when it came up for auction.

Angus, of Morecambe Lodge, Archenfield Road, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire has pleaded not guilty to one count of stealing the nameplate between January 1, 1999 and January 1, 2000.

Jones, of 14 School Street, Woodford Halse, Daventry, Northamptonshire, has pleaded not guilty to one count of dishonestly receiving stolen goods between May 24, 2010 and December 31, 2011.

Now retired, Angus was President of the Officers’ Mess Committee when he admits taking the nameplate home for restoration over twenty years ago, but sold it to Jones in 2011.

Jones sold it to a collector, along with a matching metal crest in 2013 for £65,000, but when that buyer ran into financial difficulties it ended up in a November, 2017 Tennants auction and was identified to the police.

The nameplate was a tribute to WW2 military leader Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding and two of them adorned either side of one of 44 official 1947 ‘Battle of Britain’ Class steam locomotives.

Lord Dowding’s step-son David Whiting loaned the nameplate and accompanying crest to RAF Bentley Prior in 1990 for their Battle of Britain 50th anniversary exhibition.

Bently Priory, in Stanmore, north London was the HQ of Fighter Command during the successful defeat of Germany’s Luftwaffe in 1940.

A copy was made of the nameplate and it was eventually secured to the wall outside the officers’ mess, with the original held in a secure vault in the Fine Arts Store.

Prosecutor Mr James Keeley told the jury Mr. Whiting requested the return of his family heirlooms in 2006.

“The crest was returned, but the nameplate could not be found and it was reported stolen and the RAF conducted their own investigation, without identifying a suspect or the location of the nameplate.”

However, the nameplate was identified at the auction and police found the last owner was a railway memorabilia collector, who had bought it from Jones.

David Jones

Jones had assured the customer of the item’s provenance, reeling off a long list of seemingly genuine previous owners in Brighton, Devon and north London.

“He told the customer it had taken him several years to reunite the nameplate and the crest,” the prosecutor told the court.

“The customer was interested, but was concerned because he was aware that there had been a Lord Dowding nameplate stolen from Bently Priory.

“Mr Jones went through a list of people who had owned the nameplate, the last being a north London collector, who had screwed it to the side of his garage.

“The name of the first private owner of the nameplate was still visible, painted on the inside, said Mr Jones, who said there were no worries the nameplate was legitimate with a chain of owners.”

When police visited Jones he revealed he had bought it from Angus, who was questioned by officers at Charing Cross Police Station on May 15, 2018.

“He said in 1999 he served at Bently Priory as the President of Officers’ Mess Committee and agreed to dispose of some old memorabilia.

“He found the Lord Dowding in a storeroom and asked a senior officer if he could take the nameplate home to restore it.

“It was kept in a store area, he said, but due to work pressures and medical issues he did not complete the restoration and retired in 2000.

“He told the police he had a clear-out of his garage in 2011 and found the nameplate, which he said no-one wanted and had been lying around in an RAF storeroom for a long time.

“The prosecution say you can be sure he stole the nameplate and Mr. Jones bought it and knew he was dealing in stolen goods,” Mr. Keeley told the jury.

Coincidentally, Jones was approached in 2010 by the nameplate’s owner Mr. Whiting for a valuation as he sought compensation from the RAF for losing the heirloom.

“We know that in 2011 Mr. Jones buys it from Mr. Angus and in 2013 sells it, knowing it is the same nameplate he gave a valuation for as it was either lost or stolen.

“When he was interviewed by the police he said he did not inform Mr. Whiting about it because he did not think he would be interested anymore.

“He also denied giving a verbal chain of previous owners of the nameplate to the customer who purchased it.”

The trial continues and is expected to last four days.