Orders, Decorations and Medals

The G.S.M. awarded to Lieutenant Thomas Darling, M.M., Federation of Maya Police, late Cameron Highlanders, who died in Malaya under tragic circumstance, 21 June 1951

General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (773 P/Lt. T. Darling, F. of M. Pol.) extremely fine £200-250

Lieutenant Thomas Darling, M.M., a Second World War hero of the Cameron Highlanders, is recorded as having died under tragic circumstances in Malaya on 21 June 1951, at which time he had been playing - and lost - a game of 'Russian Roulette', receiving gunshot wounds to his head.

Featured on the Television programme “Who do you think you are", he was the maternal grandfather of Scottish film actor Allan Cumming.

Thomas "Big Tam" Darling was a pre war regular soldier with the Cameron Highlanders. He won a superb Military Medal for repeated deeds of heroism in France in 1940, when as a 'Despatch Rider' he made numerous runs over no-mans land to bring up supplies of light machine guns and ammunition to his cut off comrades by riding in full view over fire-swept fields under the range of German Tanks and snipers, truly amazing feats, as he did this not once, but on repeated occasions during a bitter rearguard action. He avoided capture, and later was posted with his battalion to India and service in the Burma campaign, taking part in the hard fighting around Kohima where he was wounded not only in body (G.S.W.) but also in mind.

His comrades reported that he appeared to have no fear. However the years of hard fighting, not least, against the troops of the Imperial Japanese Army, left deep psychological scars on 'Big Tam', from which he never really recovered, ultimately resulting in the tragic circumstances of his death in Malaya. An unusually well researched recipient in the public domain, for which an entire television programme exists (on memory stick).