Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry Operation Dryad, 2-3 September 1942
Operation Dryad was a raid on the Casquets lighthouse located on a small island 6 miles west of the Island of Aldernay in the Channel Islands. Here a small German observation post had been set up, with a radio station. The objective of the raid was to take prisoners, as well as to keep the Germans on their toes. Several earlier raids had been attempted but had been called off due to weather conditions. The raiding party consisted of 12 men from the Small Scale Raiding Force and included a number of the Commandos who had served in Operation Postmaster: Major March-Phillips, Captain Appleyard, Captain Hayes, Anders Lassen, Quartermaster Desgranges, and C.S. M. Winter.
At 9:00 p.m. on the night of 2 September 1942, the raiders set off aboard H.M. Motor Torpedo Boat 344- nicknamed The Little Pisser because of her outstanding turn of speed, she arriving at Casquets Island at 22.45 hours. Anchoring the M.T.B., the force rowed ashore, landing on the small beach at midnight. They then proceeded to scale the steep rocky ascent to the lighthouse itself, making their way through barbed wire defences on the way. On reaching the lighthouse courtyard unobserved, the raiders split into smaller groups, each with its own objective. Captain Appleyard and C.S.M. Winter were tasked with securing the lighthouse tower itself, only to find it unoccupied and the rest of the raiders searched the other buildings for its occupants. The German garrison of 7 men were taken totally by surprise and were taken prisoner- their weapons, including a 20mm cannon were thrown into the sea; their radio smashed; and any useful paperwork such as codebooks, diaries, and letters were seized. Returning to the waiting M.T.B., the Force, together with their prisoners, arrived back at Portland at 4:00 a.m., just seven hours after leaving.
It was for this raid, along with Postmaster, for which Winter was awarded the Military Medal. Operation Aquatint, 12-13 September 1942
Operation Aquatint was another Small Scale Raiding Force raid carried out under the leadership of Major March-Phillips and again included Captain Appleyard, Captain Hayes, Lieutenant Desgranges and C.S.M. Winter in its number.
This raid was to be carried out just nine days after Operation Dryad, on the night of 12-13 September 1942. Its objective was to test enemy defences, collect information, and to take prisoners. However, unlike the two earlier raids, it was a total disaster.
Boarding H.M. Motor Torpedo Boat 44, the 12 raiders sailed from Portsmouth shortly after 8:00 p.m. on 12 September, arriving off the coast at 10:00 p.m. Moving slowly towards the coastline, the M.T.B. arrived at its objective of Sainte-Honorine at midnight. The raiders boarded their boats, leaving Captain Appleyard aboard the M.T.B., and headed for the shore, landing 20 minutes later. On landing, the raiders realised they were in the wrong location- they were actually at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, about a mile from their objective. Carrying on regardless, the force dragged their boat onto the beach and moved up towards the village itself, only to see a small German patrol of eight or nine men. The raiders took cover but were soon discovered and a fire fight ensued, resulting in the raiders making a fighting retreat to the boat. They managed to get about 100 yards off the coast, until their boat was located by other machine gun posts along the shore, and by a heavy calibre gun emplacement. Taking heavy fire, the boat began to sink and the raiders attempted to swim to the M.T.B., which had also been discovered. Under heavy fire itself and taking damage, the M.T.B. was forced to temporarily withdraw. Unable to get to the M.T.B., the surviving raiders swam back to shore.
On reaching the shoreline, Winter was fired on again and then finally captured, as was Lieutenant Desgranges. Both these men were subsequently forced to collect the bodies of their fallen comrades from the beach before being taken to Caen for interrogations. Captains Lord Howard and Hall, who were both wounded, were also taken prisoner. Captains Burton and Hayes, and Privates Hollings and Orr, managed to avoid capture on the beach but were later captured. Major March-Phillips, Sergeant Williams, and Private Lehniger were killed at some point between attempting to reach the M.T.B. and getting back on shore.
Taken Prisoner of War, Winter was brutally interrogated, before spending the next two years held at P.O.W. Camp 344 in Ober Silesia from 30 September 1942 until 14 December 1944, before finally escaping dressed as a French soldier, as he records in his M.I.9 debriefing questionnaire: ‘When our forces were within 30 miles of our Stalag I escaped and got to our lines to ask for medical supplies as typhus had broken out in the political prisoners compound. I went back to the camp with our relieving force. I used French uniforms to escape, was fired on but was not hit.’ He was one of the lucky ones, for two of the other captives from Acquaint were executed under the infamous Commando Order, including Winter’s great friend Captain Graham Hayes, MC.
Tom Winter is also extensively quoted in the book Anders Lassen, VC, MC of The SAS, by Mike Langley
160
A Second War ‘Immediate’ 1944 Italian operations M.M. awarded to Lance-Corporal G. Smith, Royal Corps of Signals
Military Medal,
G.VI.R. (2569876 L.Cpl. G. Smith. R. Signals.) on original mounting pin, unit partially officially corrected, good very fine
£600-£800 M.M. London Gazette 29 June 1944: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Italy.’
The original recommendation states: ‘This N.C.O. showed outstanding gallantry and devotion to duty in maintaining line communication from Division HQ to 201 Guards Brigade and 13 Infantry Brigade during 19th and 20th January 1944. At one point on the road from Minturno to Castelforte the lines ran under direct observation of the enemy and the area was subjected to heavy and concentrated enemy shelling. Lance-Corporal Smith and his detachment kept the lines through this area working for two days and nights without rest. Each line was repaired as soon as it was broken and at one time it took two hours of continuous work in the open under fire to restore communications. This N.C.O., by his personal courage and leadership, and by his determination to get the lines through at all costs, was able to keep a most important communication link working and this made a very valuable contribution to the success of the operation.’
George Smith was serving with 5th Division, 10th Corps at the time he was recommended for the M.M., and was presented with his medal by H.M. King George VI at Buckingham Palace.
Sold with three photographs of the recipient taken in later life.
all lots are illustrated on our website
www.dnw.co.uk and are subject to buyers’ premium at 20% (+VAT where applicable)
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
