CAMPAIGN GROUPS AND PAIRS
758
Three: Temporary Midshipman G. J. Clifton, Royal Naval Volunteer
Reserve, who was reported missing, believed killed in action, off Sword
Beach on D-Day, when serving in L.C.T. 1074
1939-45 STAR; FRANCE AND GERMANY STAR; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, in their
original addressed card forwarding box, the reverse further inscribed
‘DNA (Wills) 57/235’, with related Admiralty condolence slip in the
name of ‘Temporary Midshipman Geoffrey John Clifton, R.N.V.R.’,
together with an original wartime portrait photograph, extremely fine
(3) £200-250
Geoffrey John Clifton was one of three officers aboard the Landing Craft Tank (L.
C.T.) 1074 on 6 June 1944, their task being to land elements of 5th Independent
Battery, Royal Marine Assault Regiment, on Sword Beach in support of the four
assault companies of 2/East Yorkshires and 1/South Lancashires who were
desperately fighting to overcome the heavily fortified and defended German
strong point codenamed “Cod” on the narrow beaches of La Breche. The
landings here, as on other assault beaches down the coast, were on the whole so
successful that it was easy to miss the significance of how much was due to the
faithfulness of those in charge of the landing craft.
The majority were organised for the run-in as small flotillas under the immediate command of young officers of the Royal Marines or
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. The records of what happened to craft under their command, in spite of bald statement of fact, must fill
the historical observer with pride. Of the seven craft carrying tanks of the Royal Marine Armoured Support Regiment two were lost after
unloading. One of them received several direct hits from mortar bombs and was soon on fire. It was commanded by a temporary Sub.
Lieutenant of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, with two other officers of the same rank; all three and some of the crew were killed.
The second craft was mined and hit by shellfire; one of the crew was killed and a junior officer and four ratings were wounded; the
craft became a total wreck. Clifton was reported missing, believed killed in action on 6 June 1944 and, his body never having been
recovered, was officially accepted as deceased on 25 August. Just 19 years of age, and the son of Lilian Esther Clifton of Enfield,
Middlesex, to whom the above card forwarding box is addressed, he is commemorated on the Chatham Memorial.
759
Four: Flight Lieutenant F. J. Christie, Royal Air Force Regiment, who was mentioned in despatches for services in
Malaya in 1948-49
DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS 1939-45; GENERAL SERVICE 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R., with M.I.D. oak leaf (Flt. Lt. F. J.
Christie, R.A.F.); GENERAL SERVICE 1962, 1 clasp, Borneo (Flt. Lt. F. J. Christie, R.A.F.), together with his embroidered ‘R.A.F.
Regiment’ shoulder flash, generally good very fine (5) £600-700
Frederick Joseph Christie entered the Royal Air Force Regiment towards the end of the 1939-45 War, being confirmed in the rank of
Pilot Officer and granted the war substantive rank of Flying Officer in June 1945. Having then extended his period of service on the
Active List in January 1947, he was granted the acting rank of Flight Lieutenant in April 1949, the same month in which he was
gazetted for his mention in despatches for distinguished services in Malaya (London Gazette 26 April 1949 refers), a distinction won
while serving in No. 91 Rifle Squadron, R.A.F. Regiment. Once more extending his appointment on the Active List in early 1951, he
was granted the substantive rank of Flight Lieutenant and, though transferred to the Reserve List in January 1955, was quickly reinstated
that April, thereafter going on to witness further active service in the Borneo operations in the 1960s. Christie was finally placed on the
Retired List at his own request in July 1968; sold with the recipient’s hand written statement of services.
760
Four: Private J. T. Davis, Royal Military Police
DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS 1939-45, the last privately inscribed, ‘14953649 Cpl. Davis, J. T., Corps of Military Police’; KOREA
1950-53 (14953649 Cpl. J. T. Davis, R.M.P.); U.N. KOREA 1950-54, mounted court-style as worn, together with a set of
related dress miniature medals, good very fine and scarce to unit (8) £160-180
www.dnw.co.uk
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