Orders, Decorations and Medals

Four: Trooper F. G. Marshall, 1st Fife & Forfar Yeomanry (R.A.C.), late Duke of Wellington’s Regiment

1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals, together with his I.D. discs, R.A.C. cap badges (2) and a pair of “Desert Rat” patches, extremely fine (10) £180-220

Frank George Marshall, a native of Hyde, Cheshire, joined the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment in October 1939, and was actively employed with the B.E.F. until being withdrawn from the beaches in June 1940. Transferring to the 1st Fife & Forfar Yeomanry (R.A.C.) in March 1942, he landed with his squadron in Normandy on 8 June 1944 and served in a similar capacity until the end of hostilities in May 1945, via the bloody encounters of “Operation Goodwood” to closing actions with the enemy south of Kiel. He was demobilised in February 1946.

Sold with a large quantity of original documentation, including the recipient’s Soldier’s Service & Pay Book, and Soldier’s Release Book; his pocket diaries for 1942 and 1944, the latter with numerous entries describing tank actions from D-Day + 4 and beyond (e.g. ‘June 18th: Heavy fighting all day. Got hit on side of tank. Nothing serious. Some of the lads knocked out but they will never get me’), together with some handwritten notes made by him while retreating to Abbeville in May 1940; assorted photographs (approximately 20); maps detailing the movements of the 5th Royal Tank Regiment 1940-45 (2); and Royal Life Saving Society Certificates from his schooldays in Hyde, dated 1931 and 1932.