138605 Derek William Douglas BOND, MC, 3 Grenadier Guards

Personal Number: 138605
Rank: Captain
Name: Derek William Douglas BOND, MC
Unit: Grenadier Guards


London Gazette : 5 July 1940
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34888/supplement/4080/data.pdf
The undermentioned Cadets, from Officer Cadet Training Units, to be 2nd Lts. except
as otherwise stated
4th July 1940: —
FOOT GUARDS.
Gren. G'ds
Derek William Douglas BOND (138605).

London Gazette : 11 February 1943
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/35898/supplement/744/data.pdf
The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the following awards in recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North Africa:—
The Military Cross.
Lieutenant Derek William Douglas Bond (138605). Grenadier Guards (Bristol).

London Gazette : 7 June 1949
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38634/supplement/2846/data.pdf
FOOT GUARDS.
Gren. G'ds.
The undermentioned Lts. from Emerg. Commns. to be Lts., 1st Jan. 1949, and are granted the hon. rank of Capt.:—
D. W. D. BOND, M.C. (138605).

 

The National Archives | DocumentsOnline | Image Details

Bond, Derek W D
Rank: Lieutenant
Service No: 138606
Regiment: 3 Battalion Grenadier Guards
Theatre of Combat or Operation: North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia)
Award: Military Cross
Date of Announcement in London Gazette: 11 February 1943
Date 1943
Catalogue reference WO 373/1

1st Guards Brigade, 78th Division, 5 Corps
138605 Lieutenant Derek W.D. BOND, 3rd Battalion GRENADIER GUARDS

To: The Brigade Commander, 1st Guards Brigade
From: Lieutenant-Colonel A.G.W. HEBER-PERCY, commanding 3rd Battalion GRENADIER GUARDS.

Recommendation of the award of the M.C. to Lieutenant D.W.D. BOND, 3rd Battalion GRENADIER GUARDS.

During the course of the day 19th December 1942 an enemy gun position was observed in the area of MONTARNAUD, North East of MEDJEZ EL BAB. I decided that it would be a feasible and most valuable operation to bombard the German position by moonlight with 3" mortar fire, and I ordered Lieutenant BOND to accompany the mortar detachments with his protective patrol.

When the party was still some miles from the objective, they came up against a German infantry position which had only moved in that night. Lieutenant BOND held a hurried conference with the Mortar Platoon Commander, and decided to move back the mortars to a site from where they could bring their fire to bear on the German line, while he remained well forward with his patrol to cover them.

In the bright moon-light the mortars ranged on the Germans, whose sentries could be seen clearly against the sky-line, and over 100 bombs were fired in three and a half minutes.

Shortly after they had exhausted their ammunition, our mortar positions were fired on by German mortars and four heavy Machine Guns, and the detachments and ammunition carrying party were in great dangers. At his stage Lieutenant BOND realised that unless the most active of the enemy Machine Guns were quickly put out of action, our men would suffer severe casualties. He ordered the mortar commander to withdraw his men as quickly as possible, and moved forward with his own six men to assault the Germans.

He led them at the double into the direct fire of two of the guns, but when he had approached within a few yards of the enemy, two of his men were hit, and he himself received a wound in his thigh as big as a man's fist. In the circumstances it was impossible to advance further, and by this time the diversion caused by his assault had enabled the mortar teams to escape behind a ridge. He sent back those of his men who were unwounded, and assisted the others to crawl back. When all his men were safe, his first concern was to report back to me the result of the action.

I consider that Lieutenant BOND showed the utmost courage and initiative during the action, and that he fully deserves the award of M.C.

Signed Lieutenant-Colonel, Commanding 3rd Battalion GRENADIER GUARDS, 21st December 1942, Medjez el Bab.


I concur and recommend for Immediate award. In addition to the specific action for which he is recommended by O.C. 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards, this Officer did many patrols into enemy lines, over a period of 8 days, securing valuable information.

Signed COPELAND GRIFFITHS, Brigadier, 1st Guards Brigade


Granted M.C.

 

See also

• Derek Bond - Wikipedia (Actor)
• Derek Bond
• Derek Bond RIP-The Times

Derek Bond
January 26, 1920 - October 15, 2006

Versatile stage and screen actor who as president of Equity clashed with the left-wing Redgraves

AFTER a varied career on stage and screen Derek Bond will be best remembered for the title role in the 1947 Ealing Studios production of Nicholas Nickleby. That the film did less well than might have been expected was largely a fault of timing. David Lean’s outstanding version of Great Expectations had been released just a year earlier, and all other Dickens adaptations paled by comparison. Great Expectations had also highlighted the formidable talents of John Mills and Alec Guinness. Bond was not in their league but he was highly accomplished in a narrower range of parts which called for an urbane, somewhat aloof personality.

Derek Bond came to acting via the Finchley Amateur Dramatic Society. Having left school at 16 determined to make his mark as a journalist, he quickly tired of learning shorthand and discovered that the stage was more to his liking. When he announced this change of career to the family, his father agreed to a one-year moratorium on getting a proper job.

Countless auditions later, Bond landed his first paid work in one of the earliest television plays. In February 1938 he appeared as a robot under the orders of a mad scientist who wanted him to “kill the humans?. His one-word response, “Yes?, had to be repeated several times for which he was paid five guineas and warned by the BBC that as an artist in its employ, he should avoid any reference to “drunkenness or immorality of any kind?. There were fewer restraints and more opportunities to shine at the Colchester Rep where Bond was taken on as stage manager and juvenile lead. The conventional good looks of a hearty young man secured him a succession of light comedy roles, often against competition from another star in the making called Trevor Howard.

A career that showed every sign of taking off was brought to an abrupt halt by the outbreak of war. Bond volunteered for the Brigade of Guards. Commissioned into the Grenadiers, he settled easily into service life enjoying the companionship that seemed to him not so greatly different from an actors’ touring company. Before the inevitable posting abroad, Bond found time to pursue a romance which had begun at Colchester Rep. Ann Grace had taken to acting after the early death of her husband. When she and Bond were married in early 1942, he also took on the role of father to Larry, his four-year-old stepson.

Bond saw action in North Africa where, leading a successful attack on a German gun emplacement, he was seriously injured by a bullet in the leg. The consolation was an MC. Back in England he was sent to Aldershot as a platoon instructor. In 1943 a chance meeting with Diana Morgan, a script writer at Ealing Studios, led to a film test and an offer of work to begin immediately postdemob. He rejoined his battalion for the advance in Italy only to be taken prisoner. He spent the rest of the war in captivity, where he presented shows for the other PoWs.

Back in London for VE-Day, Bond renewed his connection with Ealing Studios to be told that the ideal role was on hold for him, that of a PoW. Within weeks he was back in Germany behind a wire fence, filming The Captive Heart with Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson. The film was praised for the documentary realism of life in a prison camp. By contrast Nicholas Nickleby was thought to be too stagey, but it established Bond as a lead actor and put him in line for the role of Captain Oates for Ealing’s Scott of the Antarctic, which had John Mills and his fellow South Pole explorers dying heroically to the strains of Vaughan Williams’s stirring music.

As the magic of Ealing faded, Bond moved across to the Rank Organisation but, once into his late thirties, the lead parts eluded him and he was poorly cast in a succession of potboilers. The odd exception, such as Gideon’s Day with Jack Hawkins, did not make for a satisfying career and in the 1960s he turned to television where he was co-presenter of Picture Parade for more than two years before joining Tonight, the early-evening current-affairs programme.

Of his dramatic roles on television, he was a creditable intelligence chief in Callan, a long-running thriller series starring Edward Woodward. He occasionally returned to the stage, chiefly in touring productions for which he gathered a loyal following. He also wrote plays for radio and television.

But he was perhaps best known for his role in Equity, the actors’ union. From the early Seventies, Bond was an Equity council member, where he came up against the left-wing faction led by Vanessa and Corin Redgrave. Having fought off an attempt by the Redgraves to take control of the union, Bond was elected president, though within weeks his position was threatened over his opposition to the cultural boycott of South Africa. An opponent of apartheid, he nonetheless insisted on his right to go to South Africa to perform before unsegregated audiences. The dispute climaxed in April 1985 when Equity’s annual meeting descended into chaos as Bond fought off attempts to force his resignation. However, a year later he did resign after a referendum of Equity members imposed a union ban on working in South Africa for the duration of apartheid.

Bond was three times married. He is survived by his third wife, Annie, a son, daughter and stepson.

Derek Bond, MC, actor, was born on January 26, 1920. He died on October 15, 2006, aged 86.

 

Steady, Old Man!: Don't you know there's a war on? ; Derek Bond

 

‎Bearskins, Bayonets and Bravery - Notes from The Guards Museum: Bearskins, Bayonets & Bravery - Notes from The Guards Museum Episode 7 on Apple Podcasts
This week the Director shares readings from the autobiography of a former Guards officer who was perhaps atypical of those who usually were commissioned into the Foot Guards.

Derek Bond was a reasonably successful actor but he volunteered at the outbreak of World War 2 and was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards. He describes his training and life serving in North Africa. During his service he won a Military Cross and was badly wounded such that he had to be evacuated back ti the UK for reconstructive surgery. Although perhaps not as politically correct as he might have been, his tales are as amusing as they are impressive.

 

Name: Derek Bond . Date of Birth: 11 October 1919 . Place of Birth: Glasgow . ... | The National Archives
WO 416/34/352
Name: Derek Bond.
Date of Birth: 11 October 1919.
Place of Birth: Glasgow.
Service: British Army.
Rank: Captain.
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: Grenadier Guards.
Service Number: 138605.
Date of Capture: [unspecified].
Theatre of Capture: [unspecified].
Camp Name/Number: Stalag VIIA Moosburg.
PoW number: 138045.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 0.
Number of Fingerprints: 0.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 2.
Date: [1939-1945]