Squadron Leader Arthur Stewart King Scarf VC

S/L A S K Scarf, date of photo estimated as n ot given by IWM - Taken by © Ruth Mansergh (WMR-64065) 12 Jul 2018

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S/L A S K Scarf, date of photo estimated as n ot given by IWM - Taken by © Ruth Mansergh (WMR-64065) 12 Jul 2018

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Reference WMO/291091

Address:

King's College School

Woodhayes Road

Wimbledon

SW19 4TT

England

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Status: On original site

Type: Non freestanding

Location: Internal

Setting: Inside a building - public/private

Description: Painting

Materials:

Metal Brass
Other Canvas
Timber Timber (any)

Lettering: Inscribed on a plaque

Conflicts:

Second World War (1939-1945)

About the memorial: Painting with brass name plaque below. Squadron Leader Scarf was killed in action in Malaya in 1941, and was retrospectively awarded the VC in 1946 when details of the action became known. The dates on the plaque are his years at Wimbledon Grammar School. The CWGC also say that his wife, full name Elizabeth Norah Mary Scarf, later lived at Olton. Olton does not appear to have any WW2 memorial for him to be commemorated on. On his probate in 1946 he has an address in Lincoln. Given that the book noted in the comments has different information than the CWGC (the book was compressed at sub-editing stage at the publishers) there has been a due diligence check undertaken again (it was done originally in 2017), and both sources are correct in their own way. That comment has now been written in such a way to 'join the dots' between the two and provide the most authoritative account there is. According to the Stratford upon Avon Herald newspaper dated 7 May 2022 he is also commemorated on the Stratford upon Avon war memorial (WMO/85897). There is also a memorial to him at the National Memorial Arboretum and his parents donated a sum of money shortly after his death to the RAF to create the Scarf Trophy, to be awarded to the Far East Air Force Squadron considered best in weaponry (it is unknown what happened to this).

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Comments:

Extract from pages 153 to 154 of Ruth Mansergh's book-"Wimbledon, Merton and Morden at War 1939-45", which was produced in conjunction with me [compiled from various original sources].
He "joined the RAF in 1936, and was accepted for pilot training. On gaining his wings, he was posted to No. 9 Squadron, operating the Handley Page Heyford biplane bomber of the 1930's. He was a squadron leader in 62 Squadron, RAF during the second world war when he was awarded the (posthumous) VC. A painting by Edward Neatby,... unveiled in 1947, is in memory of [him]. On 9 December 1941, in Malaya, near the Siam border, all available aircraft had been ordered to make a daylight raid on Singora (where the Japanese army was invading) in Siam. Squadron Leader Scarf, as leader of the raid, had just taken off from the base at Butterworth, Penang, Malaysia., when enemy aircraft swept in destroying or disabling the rest of the machines. Scarf decided nevertheless to fly alone to Singora. Despite attacks from roving fighters, he completed the bombing run and was on his way back when his aircraft became riddled with bullets and he was severely wounded. His left arm had been shattered, he had a large hole in his back and was drifting in and out of consciousness. He managed to crash-land the Blenheim at Alor Setar, a city and the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia, without causing any injury to his crew, and was rushed to hospital where he died two hours later. Scarf's wife Elizabeth Scarf (nee Lunn) known as Sally, was a nurse at the General Hospital in Alor Setar. But during the previous day, she had left Alor Setar, so Scarf died without seeing her again. Phyllis Thom (1908-2008) or Phyllis Briggs as she was then, was one of four nursing sisters at the General Hospital in Alor Setar. She told the BBC on 29 December 2004, of her memories at the beginning of December 1941;
"I was determined that Pongo (Scarf) would be buried properly. We managed to get a coffin from the jail. Another sister came with me in my Morris 8 and we followed the ambulance bearing his coffin to the local cemetery, where a grave had been dug. On our way, we met two Army padres, driving towards us. I stopped the car and asked if they would come with us to say a prayer".
Scarf's VC was not gazetted until June 1946. The facts concerning his actions were not known until after the war because of the chaotic nature of the Malayan campaign. His VC is displayed at the RAF Museum, London. He was buried at Taiping War Cemetery in Malaysia, which was created by the Army after the defeat of Japan..... The London Daily Mail of 22 June 1946 printed a comment by one of the masters of King's College School: 'A pleasant boy, maybe not frightfully bracing, but a fine ordinary chap. He never reached the Rugger 15 but played a steady unsensational game in the second team and he was mad about aeroplanes'.
ADDED NOTE FOR THIS REPORT-The full maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Norah Mary Lunn. She was not born in this country (probably in India where her father would have been on Army Service), but the record of her marriage gives a 'home' of Goring-on-Thames. They married overseas (an Army wedding at Penang in 1941, so not to be found on line- it is on page 492 of that register), she had qualified as a nurse on 26 May 1937 at Aldershot. The CWGC states, correctly, that she had remarried and became 'Gunn'. That marriage to Stuart Daniel Gunn of the Royal Signals was at Calcutta on 10 July 1943. She died at Rotherfield, Kent on 22 April 1985. Thus she was born 'Lunn' and died 'Gunn'.

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Squadron Leader A S K Scarf VC/1922-1930

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