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653
A Second World War 1940 operations M.M. group of six awarded to Company Sergeant-Major W. Whittaker, Royal
Army Service Corps
MILITARY MEDAL, G.VI.R. (T-92503 Cpl. W. Whittaker, R.A.S.C.); 1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR; ITALY STAR; DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS
1939-45, good very fine and better (6) £800-1000
M.M. London Gazette 27 September 1940.
Walter Whittaker was later taken P.O.W. and held at Stalag 18A at Wolfsberg, Karnten.
654
A Second World War B.E.F. 1940 operations M.M. awarded to Lance-Corporal W. H. Stout, King’s Own Regiment,
afterwards King’s Royal Rifle Corps
MILITARY MEDAL, G.VI.R. (3709824 A. Cpl. W. H. Stout, King’s Own R.), re-pinned suspension claw and one or two edge
bruises, otherwise good very fine £1000-1200
M.M. London Gazette 20 December 1940. The original recommendation states:
‘During an enemy attack at Bourghillis on 27 May, Private Stout went out across the open under heavy fire and single handed brought
in a wounded man, whom he then carried on his back, himself crawling for 400 yards down a shallow communication trench. He left
the wounded man under cover and crossed the open again under heavy fire to find a motor transport vehicle, and to this he, still single-
handed, safely conveyed the wounded man. Throughout the action he set a high example of courage and devotion to duty.’
Having enlisted in the King’s Own Regiment in March 1931, Stout transferred to the Army Reserve in April 1938. Recalled to the 5th
Battalion on the renewal of hostilities, his unit joined the B.E.F. as of 126 Infantry Brigade, 42nd (East Lancashire) Division, in which
capacity he was awarded his M.M. for the above cited deeds. He subsequently transferred to the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in November
1941.
655
A very rare Second World War Chindit operations M.M. group of six awarded to Sergeant C. McCluskey, Black
Watch, a veteran of Crete and Tobruk who was twice wounded in the act of winning his M.M. in Burma in June 1944
MILITARY MEDAL, G.VI.R. (2752845 Sjt. C. McCluskey, Black Watch); 1939-45 STAR; AFRICA STAR; BURMA STAR; DEFENCE AND WAR
MEDALS, minor double-stamping to unit on first, some contact wear but generally good very fine or better (6)
£2500-3000
M.M. London Gazette 4 January 1945. The original recommendation states:
‘On 10 June 1944, Sergeant McCluskey was ordered to take two infantry sections from his platoon and carry out an offensive patrol in
the valley east of the Kysenlei Pass. The patrol encountered enemy in the position in an unnamed village near Kontha and came under
heavy and accurate fire, which wounded Sergeant McCluskey and caused other casualties in the patrol. In spite of his wound, however,
Sergeant McCluskey retained full control of his small force and hotly engaged the enemy, and only when it became apparent that the
enemy was present in considerably superior force did he start to organise a withdrawal. This he did with inspiring coolness and
disregard for his personal safety going from one section to another and organising the evacuation of our wounded. While engaged on
this task, Sergeant McCluskey was again severely wounded, and although in considerable pain, continued to retain full control of his
force. Sergeant McCluskey had for some weeks been in command of a platoon and has on many occasions shown himself to be an
outstanding leader, while his conduct on 10 June was beyond all praise. He has previously served with distinction in the Carrier
Platoon in Crete and Tobruk.’
Charles McCluskey was born in Cumbernauld, Dumbarton in January 1914 and enlisted in the Black Watch in June 1932, direct from
the Territorials. Originally posted to the 1st Battalion, he transferred to the 2nd sometime before the outbreak of hostilities, and saw
action in the Carrier Platoon in Crete and Tobruk, prior to joining Order Wingate’s Chindits in Burma in March 1944.
The following extracts, taken from The Black Watch, by Philip Howard (part of the Famous Regiments series), neatly summarise the
actions and experiences shared by McCluskey and his comrades in the 2nd Battalion:
Crete
‘In May 1941, after a tremendous battering by dive-bombers, the sky suddenly filled with puffs of thistle-down. There was a gasp of
amazement, and a moment’s hush along the whole Black Watch position. It was the first big parachute invasion in history. The Black
Watch picked off the German paratroops as they fell, like plump pigeons. But for the next ten days more and more were dropped,
prudently behind the mountains now, and out of range of Heraklion. The Battalion hung on grimly by its finger-nails, in isolated
pockets unable to move by daylight, except for the piper who always played Reveille around the airfield after the dawn air raid. At last
London decided to evacuate the island. At midnight the Highlanders crept down to the beach to the cruisers waiting to ferry them
away. They had a terrible journey to Alexandria, dive-bombed and torpedoed all the way through the narrows at the eastern end of
Crete. More than 200 of the Black Watch were killed on the voyage.
A year later the Commanding Officer of the first German parachute battalion dropped at Heraklion was captured in Libya. He told his
interrogators: ‘My first surprise was when I found the position held. The second was when I discovered who the infantry were. The
battle continued with great ferocity for two days. The Black Watch never surrendered. Had it been any other regiment, any other, all
would have been well. I had but 80 men left of my 800, no food, little ammunition; our food was being eaten by the Jocks.’
Tobruk
‘Next the Battalion was put into Tobruk to relieve the Australians, who had been besieged in that bull-dogged citadel for six months.
The short dusty perimeter was defended by wire, mine-fields, and subterranean galleries. Dismembered vehicles and litter lay
everywhere. The big German gun called “Bardia Bill” barked and boomed over the fortress. In November the Battalion broke out of
Tobruk on a sortie to link up with the Eighth Army advancing from Egypt. The plan was far more complex than the things which the
Black Watch had been asked to do in old-style battles of far-off forgotten wars. But for once the Highlanders had been given a generous
ration of infantry tanks. In fact the tanks lost themselves in the flat, featureless desert, in which the only landmarks were tangles of wire.
And there was plenty of wire around to confuse the issue. So the Black Watch had to go in alone with the bayonet, as they had been
doing ever since Fontenoy. The pipers played the Battalion in with “Highland Laddie”, the regimental march, and “The Black Bear”.
This last tune has a pause for a yell at intervals, and is traditionally played when a final effort is needed from tired men.
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