Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An outstanding 1940 British Expeditionary Force M.M. awarded to Sergeant W. G. H. Adlam, 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, the first ‘Terrier’ to be so decorated in the Second World War, he later joined No. 4 Commando and took part in operations at Dieppe and D-Day before becoming an instructor at Achnacarry

Military Medal, G.VI.R. (5183147 Sjt. W. Adlam. Glouc. R.) good very fine £1800-2200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Militaria to the Gloucestershire Regiment (28th and 61st Foot).

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M.M. London Gazette 4 June 1940.

The recommendation states:

‘5183147 Serjeant William George Henry Adlam, 5 Glosters.

Whilst acting as Platoon Serjeant in a forward post in the Ligne de Contacte which was severely pressed by a strong raiding party of the enemy, he recovered a Bren gun which had fallen forward over the barricade when the Bren gunner was wounded. This act was carried out under heavy fire and involved considerable danger to himself, at the same time preventing the barricade, which was held by this one weapon, from being rushed.

Later the same night, when the enemy had temporarily withdrawn, he left the post to assist home a patrol under his platoon commander. He was again under fire whilst assisting the last man through the barbed wire fence.

The general bearing of this N.C.O. during this attack which lasted over eight hours; and on subsequent occasions when on patrol has been the best possible example for the men of his platoon.

Place: British (Centre) Sector, French 7 Div GRINDORFF Village.’

This was one of the earliest awards of the M.M. in the Second World War and the first awarded to a Territorial soldier.

The following is extracted from an article by Michael Shepherd, then a Lieutenant in the 5th Battalion, from the regimental journal Back Badge in 1950:

‘Grindorff was, and far as I know is, a tattered village on the edge of that tattered frontier between Alsace and Germany; from the tower of its church you can see well into Germany.

In March 1940 the 5th Glosters entered the line and awaited the onslaught of the enemy with trepidation. I was in command of No. 12 Platoon, "C" Coy., at that time commanded by Charlie Norris. We were positioned in the village with another platoon on our left some 100 yards away and staggered back by 100 yards, and on our right by a platoon of another company, also lying behind us in woodland. A sudden blitz raid was made against a platoon of "D" Coy. commanded by Tom Carter. This was held and repulsed, although we lost men as prisoners and casualties. We only heard about this action, but were ourselves involved in another.

On the morning of 3rd March I was ordered to report to Company HQ at Bizing, which lay about three quarters of a mile from Grindorff down a very straight road. Charlie Norris told me that I was to take a patrol out that evening and lie up, listening for any enemy patrol movement across the stream that cut our No Man's Land in two. I was to take a section with me and this would be made up by a section recruited from HQ under the command of CSM Clifford. Cap comforters were worn, faces were blackened, grenades fastened to web belts by the hand levers, and ammunition was readily available. For the trip through the deserted streets we were escorted by another section which formed the normal evening stand-to patrol.

At 2100 hrs I led my 7 men (country men from Tewkesbury and Winchcombe) away from the main lower street of the village and down through a cottage garden and crossed a wire fence. It was about 5 minutes after this that the enemy, about 30 strong, opened fire on my platoon position back at Grindorff. We were moving steadily along the old French wire when we heard the firing behind us. We carried on our patrol for about 15 minutes until enemy snipers began to make things difficult. We found a hollow and used that as cover, lying in a circle, keeping an all-round outlook.

By 2145 hrs the battle was going strong up at the platoon positions. We had watched about 150 of the enemy move up the wire. The enemy were attacking in front of the Platoon HQ when the Bren gunner covering the position, Pte Bailiss, was wounded by a Schmeizer and hand grenade. He was carried back just as the enemy came through the wire and the Bren gun slipped and Pte Bailiss fell. It was then that Sergt. Bill Adlam moved out in full view of the enemy and, under fire, recovered the gun, firing it and beating off the German assault. For this he received the Military Medal - the first TA soldier of the war to get this award.’

By the end of May 1940 the survivors of 5th Battalion had made their way back to the beaches of Dunkirk, having fought an outstanding defensive action when completely surrounded in the village of Ledringhem. The battalion had lost 2 officers and 85 other ranks killed. Back in England the battalion was eventually converted, in November 1941, into 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment. Sergeant Bill Adlam joined No. 4 Commando and is believed to have taken part in the Lofoten raid, and afterwards the Dieppe raid and D-Day landings. He was later an instructor at the commando training centre at Achnacarry.

Adlam’s award of the M.M. was featured on the front page of the Buster comic sometime in the 1960s/70s.