GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY 144
A rare Second World War Italy operations M.M. group of six awarded to Company Sergeant-Major G. Malcolm, 2nd Special Service Brigade, 40 Commando, Royal Marines, a veteran of the Bismarck action who won an immediate award for his gallantry behind enemy lines in support of the crossing of the Garigliano on 22 January 1944: he single- handedly took out an enemy gun emplacement with grenades, killing two and wounding one of the occupants but was himself mortally wounded the following day MILITARYMEDAL,
G.VI.R. (PLY.X.639 G. Malcolm, A./T./C.S. Mjr., R.M.); 1939-45 STAR; ATLANTIC STAR; AFRICA STAR; ITALY STAR; WAR MEDAL 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf, nearly extremely fine (6)
£5000-6000
M.M. London Gazette 18 April 1944: ‘For courage, leadership and resource in operations which led to the crossing of the Garigliano River in the face of determined opposition from the enemy.’
The original recommendation - for an immediate award - states: ‘22.1.44 - Crossing of the Garigliano: During the patrol to Rotondo the party was held up by an enemy machine-gun post. Company Sergeant-Major Malcolm made his way forward under heavy Spandau automatic fire from the enemy and reached a flank of the position. He threw grenades into the emplacement killing two of the occupants and wounding one. Due to this action the machine-gun post was silenced and the main body was able to advance without loss through casualties.
Company Sergeant-Major Malcolm showed extreme courage and coolness and was an inspiration to the men under his command.’
George Malcolm was born in Newcastle in July 1912 and enlisted in the Royal Marines in November 1930. A keen footballer, he acquired two or three certificates for Hurts & Wounds over the coming decade, including a fractured right fibula after being kicked by an opponent in a match against the R.N. at Plymouth in October 1936.
The outbreak of hostilities found him serving as a P.T. Instructor but in April-May 1940 he participated in Operation “Valentine”, the British occupation of the Faroe Islands, a task undertaken by a force of 250 Marines under Colonel T. B. W. Sandall - a.k.a. “Sandall Force” - the whole landed from the cruiser Suffolk and two destroyers. A peaceful settlement having been negotiated with the Danish authorities, relations remained cordial for the remainder of the war and approximately 170 marriages took place between British soldiers and Faroese women.
For his own part, Malcolm joined H.M.S. Rodney in August 1940, in which battleship he remained actively employed until coming ashore in March 1942, not least during the Bismarck episode. Early on the morning of 27 May 1941, along with the battleship King George V and the cruisers Norfolk and Dorsetshire, Rodney engaged Bismarck, which had damaged rudder machinery due to a torpedo launched by Ark Royal’s swordfish. Unable to manoeuvre and listing to port, Bismarck scored no hits before her forward guns were knocked out, after which Rodney closed with Bismarck until she was firing on a virtually flat trajectory, and spotters could actually follow the shells to the target. One 16-inch shell was tracked from the gun to where it hit the face of Bismarck's No. 2 turret and exploded, blowing out the back of the turret, with the resulting splinters killing most of the crew on the bridge. Rodney fired 340 16- inch shells, some in 9-gun broadsides, and 716 6-inch shells during the battle, scoring many hits from a range of under 3,000 yards and inflicting most of the damage suffered by Bismarck, whose stern was blown off. During the battle, Rodney also fired twelve 24.5-inch torpedoes whilst zig-zagging across Bismarck’s bow; most of the torpedoes missed, but one hit Bismarck and exploded amidships on the starboard side, thereby making Rodney the only battleship in history to have torpedoed another battleship. Rodney and King George V having finally broken off their action, Dorsetshire was ordered to finish Bismarck off with torpedoes.
Coming ashore in March 1942, Malcolm joined the R.M. Commandos and, his training in Inverness-shire and elsewhere over, he was embarked for Sicily in 40 Commando (R.M.) in June 1943. The Commando landed at Cape Passaro on 10 July and subsequently spearheaded 231 Brigade’s landing at St. Venere. Having then landed at Termoli in October 1943, it supported 56 (London) Division in crossing of the Garigliano on 21-22 January 1944. Malcolm, who had been advanced to Company Sergeant-Major was - as cited above - to win his M.M. in the latter operations. Sadly, however, his gallant service was cruelly curtailed very shortly afterwards: he died of wounds at 140 Field Ambulance on the 23rd, aged 31 years.
Also the recipient of a mention in despatches (London Gazette 29 August 1944, refers), Malcolm was buried in Minturno War Cemetery. He was the son of George and Margaret Malcolm and the husband of Betty Malcolm.
The part played by the Mount Rotondo patrol is described in The Green Beret, by Hilary St. George Saunders: ‘Twelve days after Operation ‘Partridge,’ No. 40 (Royal Marine) Commando was called upon to support the main crossing of the Garigliano River to be made by the 56th (London) Division. Monte Rotondo was to be assaulted frontally by the 169th Brigade and Captain L. G. B. Marshall, M.C., with ‘X’ Troop and half ‘P’ Troop, was ordered to slip through the front and create confusion behind the lines of the enemy by interrupting traffic on the roads. Marshall fulfilled his part very successfully, leading his men through the dark over broken and precipitous country, across a valley in which the German front line ran, and on towards Monte Rotondo. When dawn came, however, the expected attack on the position did not materialise, and since his force was too small to hold the mountain, Marshall very sensibly decided to employ it in guerilla warfare. Acting on information supplied by two Italians, they moved to a road running north-west from Castelforte, cut the telegraph and telephone lines, and shot a number of German despatch riders as they went by on motor-bicycles. They next destroyed two German guns, of which the presence was betrayed by the chatter of their crews. They then entered a wagon- line, and after a short fight knocked out an armoured car with a grenade. A Red Cross lorry next to it made off, covering its retreat by a burst of machine-gun fire from its back, to which the Commando force refrained from replying.
The Germans were now aroused and four tanks appeared. The leading tank was damaged, but Marshall’s men had almost exhausted their ammunition. They therefore withdrew to the 5th Army lines. These five weeks fighting cost No. 40 (Royal Marine) Commando a quarter of its strength.’
Sold with the recipient’s original Buckingham Palace illuminated memorial scroll, together with extensive copied service record.
www.dnw.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236 |
Page 237 |
Page 238 |
Page 239 |
Page 240 |
Page 241 |
Page 242 |
Page 243 |
Page 244 |
Page 245 |
Page 246 |
Page 247 |
Page 248 |
Page 249 |
Page 250 |
Page 251 |
Page 252 |
Page 253 |
Page 254 |
Page 255 |
Page 256 |
Page 257 |
Page 258 |
Page 259 |
Page 260 |
Page 261 |
Page 262 |
Page 263 |
Page 264 |
Page 265 |
Page 266 |
Page 267 |
Page 268 |
Page 269 |
Page 270 |
Page 271 |
Page 272 |
Page 273 |
Page 274 |
Page 275 |
Page 276 |
Page 277 |
Page 278 |
Page 279 |
Page 280 |
Page 281 |
Page 282 |
Page 283 |
Page 284 |
Page 285 |
Page 286 |
Page 287 |
Page 288 |
Page 289 |
Page 290 |
Page 291 |
Page 292 |
Page 293 |
Page 294 |
Page 295 |
Page 296 |
Page 297 |
Page 298 |
Page 299 |
Page 300 |
Page 301 |
Page 302 |
Page 303 |
Page 304 |
Page 305 |
Page 306 |
Page 307 |
Page 308 |
Page 309 |
Page 310 |
Page 311 |
Page 312 |
Page 313 |
Page 314 |
Page 315 |
Page 316 |
Page 317 |
Page 318 |
Page 319 |
Page 320 |
Page 321 |
Page 322 |
Page 323 |
Page 324 |
Page 325 |
Page 326 |
Page 327 |
Page 328 |
Page 329 |
Page 330 |
Page 331 |
Page 332 |
Page 333 |
Page 334 |
Page 335 |
Page 336 |
Page 337 |
Page 338 |
Page 339 |
Page 340 |
Page 341 |
Page 342 |
Page 343 |
Page 344 |
Page 345 |
Page 346 |
Page 347 |
Page 348 |
Page 349 |
Page 350 |
Page 351 |
Page 352 |
Page 353 |
Page 354 |
Page 355 |
Page 356 |
Page 357 |
Page 358 |
Page 359 |
Page 360 |
Page 361 |
Page 362 |
Page 363 |
Page 364 |
Page 365 |
Page 366 |
Page 367 |
Page 368 |
Page 369 |
Page 370 |
Page 371 |
Page 372 |
Page 373 |
Page 374 |
Page 375 |
Page 376 |
Page 377 |
Page 378 |
Page 379 |
Page 380