An unusual Second World War escaper’s M.M. group of six awarded to Private G. Lee, Pioneer Corps, a Gallipoli veteran who, having made two escape attempts after being captured in France in June 1940, was repatriated as medically unfit

Military Medal, G.VI.R. (13007854 Pte. G. Lee, Pioneer Corps); 1914-15 Star (11559 Pte. G. Lee, R. Fus.); British War and Victory Medals (GS-11559 Pte. G. Lee, R. Fus.); 1939-45 Star; War Medal 1939-45, the Great War awards with minor contact marks and a little polished, nearly very fine, the remainder good very fine or better (6) £1800-2200

M.M. London Gazette 5 May 1941.

An award stemming from the following statement submitted to M.I. 9 on his return from captivity in February 1941:

‘On 18 June 1940 my unit was working on dumps in Regney Wood when we were surrounded and taken prisoners. We were searched but I had hidden my paybook. We were not interrogated. The following day, while we were working, under guard, loading rations on lorries, I managed to get away and headed towards the Swiss frontier. Two days later, while sleeping in a field, I was discovered by a German patrol and taken to Champlives. I was in uniform and no questions were asked. I was put on fatigues. On 24 June 1940, in the evening, there was an explosion which threw me to the ground. I was unconscious for some time and, when I recovered, found I was alone and made off. I do not remember much about the next few days as I was a bit weak from shock and could find little food. On the 30th, I was again picked up, when I could no longer walk, and taken to a French hospital at De Grosbois. here I remained for ten days in bed, until 10 July, when a German Medical Board decided I was unfit for further military service and sent me to the Michel-Levy hospital at Marseilles. Here, on 14 December 1940, I went before the Medical Board which confirmed my category and I left Marseilles with others on 27 December, travelling to the U.K. by way of Madrid and Gibraltar.’

George Lee, who was born in January 1892, enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers around the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 and joined the 2nd Battalion in Gallipoli in late September 1915. Among those evacuated from the peninsula in January 1916, he subsequently served in the 4th Battalion out in France from April 1917 until April 1918, and was discharged in February 1919.

A farmer in Stockport between the wars, Lee enlisted in the Pioneer Corps in Manchester in January 1940 and was posted to No. 10 Salvage Unit, in which capacity he joined the B.E.F. in May. Having then arrived at Liverpool on 14 February 1941, following the above cited activities in France, he was debriefed by M.I. 9 and awarded the M.M. Lee was discharged in August 1941.