The remarkable Great War D.F.C. and Second World War George Medal awarded to Gyles Mackrell, late Captain in the Royal Air Force, whose daring exploits with his team of elephants led to the rescue of hundreds of refugees fleeing the Japanese advance through Burma in 1942, the British press at the time dubbing him ‘The Elephant Man’

Distinguished Flying Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; George Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue (Gyles Mackrell) good very fine (2) £5000-6000

D.F.C. London Gazette 3 June 1919. Awarded for service in India whilst serving with 114 Squadron R.A.F.

His name was brought to the notice of the Secretary of State for War, London Gazette 18 May 1920, ‘for valuable services rendered in connection with the military operations on the North-West Frontier of India, in East Persia and South Persia, during the period April 1, 1917, to May 31, 1918. To be dated January 1, 1919.’

G.M. London Gazette 29 January 1943: ‘Gyles Mackrell, Messrs. Octavius Steel and Company, Calcutta.’

‘Mr. Mackrell, while in charge of the elephant transport, heard that a number of refugees were attempting to reach Assam over the Chaukan pass. In appalling weather he led his elephants by forced marches over a route hitherto considered impracticable. At great personal risk and after several vain attempts he took them across the flooded river, the bed of which consisted of shifting boulders. He thus rescued 68 sepoys and 33 other persons who were facing starvation. Without medical assistance he fed and doctored them until they were fit to proceed. He fell ill with severe fever, but remained behind and was responsible for saving the lives of over 200 persons. Mr. Mackrell showed the highest initiative and personal courage, and risked hardships which might easily have proved fatal.’

Gyles Mackrell was born on 9 October 1888, and educated at Epsom College. Prior to the Great War, he worked as a tea planter at Sylhet, India, and served as a trooper and N.C.O. in the Surma Valley Light Horse from 23 January 1909. Granted leave from that unit for the duration of the war from 1 December 1915, he was appointed Remount Assistant (ranking 2nd Lieutenant) in charge of horses per H.T. Janus from Bombay to Suez in January 1916, and then acted as Military Quarter-Master with 600 troops from Port Said to Marseilles per S.S. Aronda. Granted a commission as 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps (Special Reserve of Officers) on 29 April 1916, he underwent basic training as a pilot and was appointed Flying Officer on 21 August 1916. He served in France with No. 11 Squadron R.F.C. from 12 September 1916 to 2 April 1917, when he was appointed a Flight Commander and returned to England for further training. He then spent 7 months on night flying duties as a Flight Commander in No. 33 Home Defence Squadron R.F.C., before being posted to No. 31 Squadron R.F.C. Elements from this squadron were used to form No. 114 Squadron in India and, in February 1918, Mackrell took over command of “B” Flight at Lahore, where he was engaged in operations on the North-West Frontier. Decorated with the D.F.C. in June 1919, Mackrell once again returned to civilian life in Assam, where he worked as an area supervisor for Steel Brothers, a firm of tea exporters.

The dramatic Japanese advance through Burma in early 1942, and the subsequent British retreat from that country to the safety of India, provide the backdrop to Gyles Mackrell’s remarkable story. The events that led to the award of the George Medal began on 4 June 1942, when Mackrell, now 52 years old, received an S.O.S. from a group of refugees who had managed to cross the swollen Dapha River by making a human chain. The rest of the party left behind were short of food and in danger of starving if help could not be got to them. Mackrell offered to collect some elephants and move off as quickly as he could.

The Assam/Burma border is divided by mountain ranges and numerous rivers, affording few passes which were viable as crossing points. The Chaukan Pass, over which Mackrell’s party would have to cross, had been surveyed by a party of Gurkhas earlier that year. They had concluded that while it was possible to get through in good conditions, it would be impracticable during the monsoon period which had now arrived. Undeterred by this, Mackrell, in a series of epic forced marches reached the Dapha River on 9 June and found a group of 68 soldiers, from the Burma Rifles and Burma Frontier Force, who had been stranded on an island mid-river when the waters suddenly rose. Throughout the day repeated attempts were made to get the elephants through the raging high waters but the torrents were too overwhelming and Mackrell’s party was unable to reach them. However, in the early hours of the morning, the water fell and a window of opportunity opened in which to effect a successful evacuation.

In the weeks that followed Mackrell established a camp on the banks of the river, where he gave help to the steady stream of refugees that struggled out of the Burmese jungle. By mid-July, however, sickness had descended on the camp and Mackrell and many of his men were struck down with fever. Reluctantly he was forced to return to Assam to recover but vowed to return to continue his rescue work. Whilst convalescing he conducted an aerial survey of the Dapha River area and was convinced that a second expedition should be mounted using both elephants and boats.

This second party arrived at the riverside camp on 21 August, when Mackrell heard news of another stranded party, under John Rowland, a railway engineer who had left his party in order to seek help and had come across Mackrell’s camp in his absense. Several attempts had already been made to reach Rowland’s party but these had failed through a lack of supplies. Mackrell determined that it was still possible to get through to them and he pushed forward with his boats and elephants. On 4 September they came across some more of the party who had also left the camp in search of help. They carried urgent messages informing that food supplies were now reduced to little more than a week and that help must come immediately if disaster was to be averted. At the same time Mackrell received two letters from British authorities in Assam ordering him to immediately desist from any further attempts to rescue this party. However, deciding that it was impossible to withdraw in the existing circumstances, Mackrell decided to pushed on once more.



Progress was becoming so slow that on 7 September Mackrell sent forward a striking party of his best elephants and fittest men with a supply of rations in a last desperate attempt to reach the camp. On 10 September, a team he had earlier despatched by boat now arrived and Mackrell was able to make further progress, but still he could not get close enough. The striking party was now the only hope that remained and all he could do was wait for news. On 20 September, by which time they had all but given up hope, a runner from the striking party arrived in camp with news of their success and, later that evening, the elephants arrived in camp bearing their weak and emaciated cargo of refugees. By the end of September 1942, when operations finally ceased, about 200 people had been saved.

When considering Mackrell for a suitable award, Sir E. R. Knox, of the Treasury’s Honours Committee, in determining the percentage risk of death stated that it “could be put, very roughly, at George Medal: 50 to 80%.” In January 1943 the award of the George Medal to Gyles Mackrell was duly announced in the London Gazette. The British press immediately picked up on his amazing story they dubbed him “The Elephant Man”. The press frenzy soon died down, however, as the war continued and his story became forgotten amidst the greater tragedy that was unfolding around Britain’s “Forgotten Army”. Mackrell eventually left India and retired to Saxmundham, in Suffolk, where he died on 20 February 1959, aged 70.

Mackrell’s personal papers, diaries and original film shot during the expedition have all survived and were recently donated to the Centre of South Asian Studies at Cambridge University. Footage from this remarkable film can be viewed by visiting www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2010110101 or on the university’s YouTube site, www.youtube.com/cambridgeuniversity.

Note: Whilst a Medal Index Card does exist for Mackrell, there is no indication that any Great War campaign medals were actually issued and, furthermore, his name has not been found on any of the relevant medal rolls. The lot is sold with an erased 1914-15 Star trio representing his entitlement.