Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Three: Lieutenant J. E. Bradbury, King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, who was one of eight members of his battalion that perished on a disastrous hiking trip in the mountains around Reydarfjordur, Iceland on 21 January 1942

1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with named Army Council enclosure, extremely fine(3) £50-£70

John Edwin Bradbury was born in Romford, Essex. He served as a Lieutenant in the King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry with the 1/4th Battalion. The battalion previously served in Norway as a part of ‘Mauriceforce’ before transferring to Iceland as a part of ‘Alabasterforce’. On the 21 January 1942, a platoon of soldiers which were part of a newly-founded mountaineering squad under the command of Lieutenant Bradbury, embarked on a hiking trip around the mountains near Reydarfjordur, Iceland. During the trip, while still in the mountains but only 2 kilometres away from their destination of Eskifjordur, the platoon was caught in a severe storm, exposing them to serious danger from the elements. The platoon became separated with over 50 men scattered across the mountain range. The soldiers were saved by two young boys, Páll and Magnús Pálsson, who found one of the soldiers close to death from exposure and then set out to find the rest of the group. They searched through the night for the remaining platoon members and over several hours and in blizzard conditions, they rescued 48 soldiers, taking them into their home. Despite this, eight soldiers lost their lives that night. This incident was the greatest loss of life sustained by British troops in east Iceland during the Second World War. Bradbury was one of those eight men who perished in the storm and is buried in Reydarfjordur Cemetery, Iceland.