A fine B.E.F. 1940 M.M. group of six awarded to Lance-Sergeant M. Carragher, 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards, who was decorated for his gallantry during the Battle of Boulogne on 23 May 1940, where his behaviour in action against the advancing German army was described as being ‘as cool as if he had been on the Barrack Square’: subsequently commissioned in the Queen’s Regiment, he also served as a Provost Marshal prior to his retirement as a Major

Military Medal, G.VI.R. (2716755 L.-Sjt. M. Carragher. I. Gds.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, good very fine (6) £1200-1500

M.M. London Gazette 20 December 1940. The original recommendation - submitted by Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. Haydon, Commanding 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards - states:

‘Boulogne, 23 May 1940: During the withdrawal action through Boulogne, Sergeant Carragher was continuously with the forward Bren guns and anti-tank rifles of his company. Despite intense enemy fire Sergeant Carragher displayed the greatest contempt of personal danger and by his imperturbable spirit, kept up the courage of his men. He personally supplied his Bren guns with ammunition, organised reliefs on the guns and exchanges of guns when those in action became jammed or otherwise unserviceable.

Throughout the day his behaviour was as cool as if he had been on the Barrack Square. There is no doubt that he played a large part in delaying for so long the enemy's advance.’

Michael Carragher was recalled to the Colours in November 1939, direct form his duties as a Police Constable in Guildford Borough Police. Appointed a Lance-Sergeant in the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards, he was embarked with the B.E.F. and won his M.M. for the above cited deeds at Boulogne in May 1940, which distinction he received at a Buckingham Palace investiture held in September 1941. 

Meanwhile, he had been selected for a commission - he was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant in the Queen’s Regiment on passing out of Sandhurst in February 1941 - and he was attached to the Royal Military Police as a Provost Marshal in Glasgow. Subsequently embarked for North Africa, he served likewise in Italy and ended the War as a Major in the Allied Control Commission at Trieste; sold with a pair of original Buckingham Palace investiture admittance tickets, together with a copy of Dunkirk and After, by Gordon Beckles, in which the recipient receives due recognition for his gallantry at Boulogne.