Hi all I've an interesting group of medals to a chap who served with the above Regiment during WWII. I have photo's of him in 1945 which he signed from Malta. Could anyone please tell me where these chaps were during WWII? All assistance appreciated. Regards Rory
Rory Have a look at this thread which offers a few links to explore: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/general/21958-grandfathers-service-record.html Regards Ron
Hi all I've an interesting group of medals to a chap who served with the above Regiment during WWII. I have photo's of him in 1945 which he signed from Malta. Could anyone please tell me where these chaps were during WWII? All assistance appreciated. Regards Rory Hi Rory, Quite often the man`s medals tell his service history . Ron has quite rightly directed you to the other thread dealing with the Northumberland Fusiliers and their subsequent service in Malta. This battalion was the 10th RNF formed as a Home Defence Battalion (30th) but unique in that it served overseas but only on Garrison duties leaving in August 1943 on the SS Duchess of Richmond(from Glasgow) arriving Algiers at the end of the month serving as a Garrison Unit in North Africa until May 1944 when it moved to Malta(after a short stop over in Naples) under the command of Lieut Colonel J Blenkinsop(appointed June 1944) it remained in Malta for the duration of the war and much reduced in quality and numbers was still there at the end of 1945. Verrieres
Thank you Ron and Verrieres I quite agree about the medals telling the story and this,unfortunately, is where my dilemma lies. Ashton, the recipient, seems to have been a colourful charcter who served in WWI with the Hawke Battalion of the R.N.D. He was one of those that took a wrong turn at Antwerp in 1914 and ended up interned in Holland as a guest of the Dutch for the rest of the war. It becomes murky when WWII comes round as, if his medal bar is to believed, he earned the 1939/45 Star, the Atlantic Star and War Medal. He had picked up a George V Naval LSGC medal along the way which is named so no problem there! How though does one explain the Atlantic Star? There is a LG entry for his promotion from Cpl. to Lt. in the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers hence my question as to where they were. The mystery is still the Atlantic Star - he does not appear to have stayed with the Navy! On top of this is the oral tradition passed down by his daughter-in-law who remembers Ashton telling them how he was decorated with an "Italian Star" for saving lives when Vesuvius erupted in '44 (refer my question relating to this elswhere on this forum) Were this to be true we seem to have an Audy Murphy or a Walter Mitty on our hands - I'm not sure which at the moment. It is however, very perplexing and I would love to get to the bottom of it all. Regards Rory
Hi, Rory the Atlantic Star......in the other post which Ron`s indicated Chris`s grandfather has on his service record `Service afloat` could `Ashton ` have had the same service?.....I don`t know if this would count towards the Atlantic Star but I`m sure some of the forums naval experts could offer an opinion. Regards Verrieres
Hi all I have luckily secured an obit from the RNF Museum. It clearly states that Ashton was a ship's adjutant - I have no idea what that is - but would it have made him eligible for the awarding of an Atlantic Star as a soldier? Regards Rory
