Collecting WW2 Gallantry and Campaign Medals Hints and Tips

Discussion in 'WW2 Militaria' started by Drew5233, Aug 26, 2014.

  1. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Wonder how much of that was for the - original copy of the weekly magazine – The War Illustrated, Volume 2, No.32 for 12th April 1940, can't be many of those about either

    TD
     
  2. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

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  3. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Relevent to the MM action involving the Lancs Fusiliers

    Kyle

    fusilier mm.jpg fusilier2.jpeg
     

    Attached Files:

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  4. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Keeping an eye on such things, I've noticed over the last year or so, there are more and more WW2 groups coming onto the open market. I suppose this is to be expected and if you can be sure of the validity (which is not always so easy), there will be some rich pickings for those who have an interest.
     
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  5. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Could you imagine having Hudson's rack as well. Now that would be pretty awesome.
     
  6. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

  7. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Ebay offering (inflated price due to D-Day? )
    D-Day Military Medal Gallantry Medal Group - RAMC Attached Durham Light Infantry | eBay

    medals ramc.jpg

    Kyle
     
  8. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    A Dunkirk related Military Medal which the dealer cannot find the citation ? I bet someone here could find it or at least the circumstances behind its award ? London Gazette 11 July 1940 ? No number listed either? I bet with the circumstances revealed the resale value would possibly triple?

    Military Medal (GV1) Beds & Herts for the retreat to Dunkirk | British Medals by Rennie Alcock

    [​IMG]

    Kyle
     
  9. gmyles

    gmyles Senior Member

    Hi

    Slight confusion online as he can be found with two versions of his surname.

    Service number is 5949252.

    1939-1945 Casualty records say Private "G Johnston" was wounded in France on 29 May 1940.

    He is mentioned as Private "G Johnson" in "Cap Badge: Story of Beds and Herts" as a MM recipient but no more details. Award date is stated as 11 July 1940 but that was when it was gazetted.

    He is in LG 11 July 1940 but as Private "G Johnson" https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34893/supplement/4267/data.pdf

    Gus
     
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  10. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Be better if they showed the back of the medal as well so we could see his name etc wouldnt be difficult for an auction house to do that to give buyers the full picture

    TD
     
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  11. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    More confusion as the local press reported ;-
    No. 5949252 Private G. Johnson, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment.
    No. 5947606 Private R. Lambert, The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment.
    were awarded D.C.M`s ?
    beds.jpeg

    Kyle
     
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  12. ernie j

    ernie j Member

    Im looking to id this medal please. upload_2019-8-20_12-32-29.png

    I was thinking DCM going by the ribbon, but mounting style and lack of the name G. Potter as a DCM recipient has me wondering ???

    Thanks in advance for any info. It is held alongside Territorial Efficiency, 39-45 Star and War medal.
     
  13. pierce09

    pierce09 Member

    Looks like the Imperial Service Medal. It's not a gallantry award and is awarded to civil servants. Post military career service is my guess. It has the ERII effigy so it's post 1952.
     
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  14. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    I agree, it is probably an Imperial Service Medal ER11;

    34.jpg
     
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  15. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Imperial Service Order - Wikipedia
    Imperial Service Medal
    Civil servants who complete 25 years' service are eligible for the Imperial Service Medal (ISM) upon retirement. The medal is a silver circular medal bearing the effigy of the reigning monarch on the obverse, and the motif of a man resting after work with the legend 'For Faithful Service' on the reverse. The ribbon or bow pattern is the same as the Imperial Service Order.

    [​IMG]
    Obverse
    [​IMG]
    Reverse

    TD
     
  16. ernie j

    ernie j Member

    Cheers Fellas. I can tell his son now
     
  17. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

  18. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Ex DLI - Glider Pilot M.C Sicily / Wounded and Captured at Arnhem .Captain Foster Robson
    captain foster robson.jpg
    Military Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ‘1943’; 1939-45 Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted court-style for display, nearly extremely fine (6) £6,000-£8,000

    An outstanding and well documented ‘Sicily Landings’ Immediate M.C. and Arnhem casualty group of six awarded to Captain F. Robson, Glider Pilot Regiment, Army Air Corps, who not only successfully landed his glider 250 yards short of the beach, 9 July 1943, but also, having swum ashore under fire, took part in ‘a crawl through 20’ of barbed wire covered by a pill box... marched 10 miles collecting 3 men of the ATk detachment and 6 of E Coy, and captured 2 pillboxes, 21 prisoners, 3 MGs and 1 ATk gun and reached Ponte Grande in the evening.’ Robson subsequently piloted a Horsa as part of the airborne element of Operation Market Garden, 16-17 September 1944, and was wounded in both legs and taken prisoner of war at Arnhem three days later

    Military Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ‘1943’; 1939-45 Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted court-style for display, nearly extremely fine (6) £6,000-£8,000 .

    M.C. London Gazette 21 October 1943.

    The original Recommendation states: ‘Sicily 9 July 1943. This officer has shown outstanding gallantry and leadership in his first glider-borne operation. He landed his glider safely in the sea. He then helped those who were unable to swim to reach the shore. He showed the utmost coolness and leadership for 15 hours during which time he was an example to all. Although he was unarmed, he took two grenades and took part in the capture of a pill box in which 20 Italians were captured.’

    Foster Robson was educated at Altrincham Grammar School, ‘before joining up in June, 1940, was employed by the United Kingdom Gas Corporation as a pupil-engineer. His father is secretary and accountant to Altrincham Gas Company.’ (newspaper cutting refers)

    Robson was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Durham Light Infantry, in April 1941. He transferred to the Glider Pilot Regiment, Army Air Corps, and carried out pilot training at No. 21 Elementary Flying Training School, R.A.F. Booker from August 1942. Having advanced to Lieutenant in the same year, he progressed from training in Tiger Moths and Magisters, to the Hotspur Glider at No. 2 Glider Training School. He was posted to the Heavy Glider Conversion Unit in March 1943, where he converted to the Horsa.

    Robson was posted for overseas operational flying to 2 Squadron, 1st Battalion at the end of May 1943. Having arrived in North Africa, he served as part of the 1st Airborne Division, Army Air Corps, during Operation Ladbroke, 9 July 1943. The latter being the glider landing by British airborne troops near Syracuse, Sicily, as part of Operation Husky - the Allied invasion of Sicily.
    Responsible for three members of Battalion HQ, including the 2nd in command Major Brennan, and a number of men of the 2nd Battalion South Staffs (Air Landing Brigade), this was to be Robson’s first glider-born operation and is given the duty description in his log book ‘Sousse “A” Sicily “Op 1.” (Air Landing Brigade)’.

    After a successful departure from Sousse in Tunisia, Robson’s Waco Hadrian glider was towed by a Dakota of the U.S. Transport Command to a position off the coast of Sicily south of Syracuse where it was released for the glide in towards the shore. Although a number of the 136 Wacos and 8 Horsas were released too early by the towing craft and crashed too far out to sea, Robson was amongst those that successfully landed 250 yards from the beach. Immediately coming under fire and taking casualties, they swam for shore, with Robson assisting those unable to swim. Despite these exertions, he then joined the other five survivors in snaking through a twenty-foot belt of barbed wire, avoiding enemy fire, before embarking on a ten mile march punctuated by adventures. By the time they reached their parent element, they had taken twenty-one prisoners, three machine guns and an anti-tank gun, as the War Diary of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment records:

    ‘Battalion HQ was carried in 4 Waco gliders, 3 of which landed in the sea. The first glider containing Lieutenant-Colonel McCardie, Captain Connellan and Lieutenant Roberts crashed in the sea 2 miles offshore; the party swam ashore losing 2 men drowned and the C.O. and Major Murray, the senior glider pilot after running the gauntlet of enemy patrols and fire reached Ponte Grande which was then held by us. The remainder were picked up by naval craft and taken to Suez... The second glider carrying the 2nd i/c - Major Brennan, the R.M.O. Captain Miller and Lieutenant Austin, crashed in the sea 250 yards offshore; Lieutenant Austin was killed by machine gun fire while on the glider. They swam ashore and Major Brennan, Captain Miller, the 2 glider Pilots, Lieutenants Impey and Robso,n and 2 men moved off to join the Battalion. This involved a crawl through 20 feet of barbed wire covered by a pill box; clear then of the beach defences, they marched 10 miles collecting 3 men of the Anti-Tank detachment and 6 of E Company, and captured 2 pillboxes, 21 prisoners, 3 machine guns and 1 Anti-Tank gun and reached Ponte Grande in the evening. Lieutenant Impey accidentally shot himself with an enemy rifle and subsequently died. The 3rd glider carrying S Company Commanded by Major Hargroves and Captain the Rev. A. A. Buchanan landed on Cape Murro di Porco, surrounded by enemy machine gun posts and were captured... They rejoined the Battalion on 11 July. The 4th glider crashed in the sea 4 miles out. Lieutenant Warneford and 2 other ranks were drowned. Lieutenant Ashburnham, the R.S.M. and remainder of the party were picked up by naval craft and taken to Malta.’

    Robson made a return to operational flying on 22 July 1943, and continued to serve at Sousse, Tunisia, throughout August. He returned to the UK, and was posted to R.A.F. Shrewton in January 1944. Advancing to Temporary Captain in March 1944, he served at R.A.F. Brize Norton before being posted to 19 Flight, F Squadron, Glider Pilot Regiment, at R.A.F. Broadwell. He transferred to 16 Flight in April 1944, and was appointed to the command of the Flight prior to it’s participation in Operation Market (the airborne element of the Operation Market Garden).

    On the night of 16-17 September 1944, Captain Robson piloted Horsa Glider No. 589 as part of the airborne landing at Arnhem. On 20 September he was wounded in both legs and taken prisoner, his Log Book records ‘17 Sept 1944 Op. Market. Arnhem. [and later annotated] Sept 20 (Wounded L & R Legs & Taken Prisoner).’

    In his book, I Was A Stranger, General Sir John Hackett recalls sharing a room with the recipient at Gronau Hospital, although ‘he was moved out before too long.’

    A newspaper cutting included in the lot offers the following on Robson:

    ‘As a glider pilot of the 1st Airborne Division, he was wounded at Arnhem on September 20th, 1944, where he was picked up by the Germans and taken to Gronau Hospital, where he stayed for about 10 days, during which time he was operated upon. In an undermined condition, he was removed by cattle truck to Stalag 11B, where he had to wait for two days before being taken to Oflag IX/AH.
    “The distance between these two camps,” Captain Robson said, “was approximately 100 miles, and, due to the R.A.F.’s handiwork, the painful journey lasted 31 hours. There were 10 in my party, all of whom were in a grim state - we were just barely able to crawl along. We were placed in the camp hospital, where we stayed until well enough to hobble about. In this camp, there were more than 2,000 British prisoners, some of whom were the oldest inhabitants of any German prison camp, having been captured at Dunkirk in 1940...”
    In the teeth of the Western onslaught, Captain Robson was hastily removed from his camp and marched 20 miles a night for three consecutive nights, penetrating further into the heart of Germany. Most of the men forced to march were well over 45 years of age, and many dropped by the wayside, unable to go any further in their weakened state. Negotiations were in progress for the continuance of their “flight,” when the Americans overran them.
    “They just went mad, so crazed were they with relief and joy,” Captain Robson told the Guardian.’

    After his release from captivity by the 261st Infantry, U.S. Army, Captain Robson served as part of a Defence Unit at Eschwege, under the command of Colonel R. T. Holland, D.S.O., M.C., and thus qualified for ‘the special award of the France and Germany Star’ (War Office letter refers). Robson eventually returned to the UK on leave, and was able to see his new-born son for the first time.

    Sold with the following original documents:

    Two Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Books (13 August 1942 - 30 January 1944 and 6 February 1944 - 17 September 1944 respectively); prisoner of war identity card, complete with photograph of recipient and dated 11 January 1945; three P.O.W. camp postcards all sent from Oflag IX A, two of which are dated 10 October 1944 and 21 November 1944, and all are addressed to the recipient’s wife at ‘Colvin, Woodlands Road, Handforth, Cheshire, England’; a contemporary news cutting ‘Arnhem Hero is Home Again’; several photographic images of recipient, and various other related documents, including a cutting from a magazine which has an image of the recipient shortly after being taken P.O.W. at Arnhem

    Kyle
     
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  19. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Lovely group there Kyle. The medal auctions at DNW and Spinks are coming thick and fast as they battle to keep interest up during the pandemic and no prospect of live auctions etc. Generally, I'm trying not to look!!

    :seeno::moh:
     
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  20. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

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