Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The unique clasp and unit combination group of seven awarded to Staff Sergeant C. H. Lanning, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, later Green Howards, late North Staffordshire Regiment, Royal Army Service Corps, and Welch Regiment, who served during the Second War with No. 3 Commando, and was taken Prisoner of War at Leros on 17 November 1943 whilst serving with the East Kent Regiment- he later served on attachment to the Gurkha Rifles in Malaya, and with the Camp Staff HQ in Aden. Admitted as an In-Pensioner at the Royal Hospital Chelsea he was put on a formal charge when in his 70s having been found in bed with one of the nurses

1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, E.II.R. (5049077 Sgt. G. H. Lanning. R.N.F.); General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, South Arabia (LS.5049077 S. Sgt. C. H. Lanning. Green Howards) edge bruise to last, contact marks throughout, therefore nearly very fine or better (7)
£600-800

Charles Henry Lanning was born on 14 December 1922 in Cologne, Germany, and attested for the North Staffordshire Regiment as a Band Boy on 24 April 1937. Transferring to the Royal Army Service Corps in July 1937, and following the outbreak of the Second World War, the Welch Regiment on 1 November 1941, he underwent his basic training and then immediately volunteered for Commando service. Posted to Largs in Scotland he joined No. 3 Commando in February 1942, and served with them during the Second War in Operations ‘Jubilee’ and ‘Husky’. Posted to the East Kent Regiment in October 1943, Lanning was taken Prisoner of War during the Battle of Leros, 17 November 1943, giving the Germans the alias of Private C. Barnes, presumably in an effort to avoid drawing attention to his previous Commando service. Held at Stalag IVF at Harmanasdof in Saxony from 26 January 1944 until May 1945, he was repatriated to the UK following VE Day, and was posted to the Depot of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Wrexham, where he was promoted to Officers’ Mess Sergeant.

In March 1951 he was posted to Ellesmere with No. 11 Basic training Battalion, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers in the Quartermasters’s Department before being posted with a draft to Hong Kong in October 1951. Transferring as a Corporal to the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, he was promoted to Intelligence Sergeant and sent on attachment to the 2/6 Gurkha Rifles in Malaya. He served in Malaya from February 1952 until October 1954, entirely with the Gurkha Rifles.

In October Lanning joined the Green Howards, and served with the 1st Battalion in Tripoli until they were ejected by the Gadaffi regime in March 1966. In August of that year he went to Aden on active service, as Landing Ships Logistics, Camp Staff Headquarters, and spent a year out there, receiving the General Service Medal 1962 with South Arabia clasp. After his return from Aden he was posted to the School of Infantry at Warminster, before being discharged on 29 May 1968, after 31 years’ service. Admitted as an in-Pensioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in January 1993, aged 70, he is recorded as having been put on a formal charge having been found in bed with one of the nurses, and died there on 22 August 1998.

Sold together with the recipient’s Commando Service Certificate; copied record of service; a photograph of the recipient in later life; and a photographic image of the recipient as an In-Pensioner of the Royal Hospital Chelsea with The Hon. Nicholas Soames, M.P., and Field Marshal Sir Peter Inge.

Note: The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers did not serve as a unit in Malaya, and any clasp awarded to them is therefore rare. Additionally, the Green Howards did not serve in Aden, so the South Arabia clasp awarded to them is extremely rare. The combination of two ‘odd men’ clasps to different parent units undoubtedly makes this a unique group.