Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A good Second War 1945 ‘Reichswald Forest’ immediate M.M. group of seven awarded to Private H. Bailey, 5th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders, for his gallantry near Hekkens, 10/11 February 1945, when despite being ‘dug in’ only 50 yards from the German position, wounded, and receiving multiple hits to his Bren gun, he managed to stall the German counter-attack for 24 hours enabling the Battalion to withdraw under covering tank-fire

Military Medal, G.VI.R. (11052476 Pte. H. Bailey. Seaforth.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted for wear, cleaned, very fine (7) £1,200-£1,600

M.M. London Gazette 10 May 1945, the recommendation states:

‘On the night of 10/11 Feb 45 during the advance towards X rds at Hekkens the Bn was held up by a very strongly defended position along the A/Tk ditch on the edge of the Reichswald Forest. Efforts to outflank this posn were unsuccessful so it was decided to contain the enemy posn by digging in opposite it on the ground which had been gained since contact had been established. It was essential to the plan to hold this ground and maintain close contact with the enemy in this area.

‘D’ Coy’s defences were within very close range of the enemy and at first light on 11 Feb it became apparent that the enemy were on a feature which overlooked their posn, and consequently any movement in this area drew accurate fire from the enemy.

The enemy’s MGs were very active and the forward section was pinned down by their fire and also mortar fire and hand grenades. The enemy was obviously trying to infiltrate between our forward posns.

Pte H. Bailey realised that to remain inactive would be disastrous so he got his Bren in posn and exchanged burst for burst with the enemy’s six machine guns. He continued to engage the enemy in this manner throughout the next three hours; thus effectively checking their tendency to make ground. During this time, he was wounded in the head and his Bren gun was hit in several places. Finally his gun was knocked out but he got another gun from behind and maintained it in action until, in order to allow another Bde to pass through, the Bn was ordered to withdraw.

By his complete disregard for his personal safety and his determined action Pte Bailey was instrumental in maintaining the situation until another Bn could outflank the enemy defences.’

Henry Bailey served during the Second War with the 5th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders as part of the 152nd Infantry Brigade, 51st (Highland) Division, 30 Corps. The 51st Highland Division History gives the following for the events concerning Bailey’s Battalion for the first 11 days of February 1945:

‘Before the Reichswald Forest could be reached, a strong belt of defences over a mile in depth had to be reduced. These consisted of an anti-tank ditch and strong-pointed farms and villages. Having broken through this belt, the attack would have to cross some two miles of relatively open country to the northern extremity of the Siegfried Line, which ran from a point on the Nijmegen-Cleve road southward through the close-growing trees of the Reichswald to the strong-point town of Goch….

The 152 Brigade followed on the heels of 154. The 5th Camerons went in behind the 5/7th Gordons, and their progress was both slow and costly, but by mid-afternoon they had reached their first objective in the forest. At 7am on the 9th [February] the 5th Seaforth, now commanded by Lt.-Col. J. M. Sym, moved in and passed through Breedeweg village. In the afternoon the Seaforth advanced through the forest half a mile north of the Camerons and ran slap into a German counter-attack. But they pushed the enemy back with the bayonet and proceeded to dig in some thousand yards farther into the forest than any other of our troops…. There was nothing to be done but lie down and wait for first light of 10th February…

What the Corps required now was a secure axis for a further advance, and that axis was controlled by the township of Hekkens. That township lies on the southern edge of the Reichswald at the cross-roads of the Gennep-Cleve and Kessel-Goch highways. The Siegfried Line ran through Hekkens, at which point it was heavily defended by concrete constructions. It was essential that this village should be reduced, and such reduction had been one of 152 Brigade’s objectives. But 152 had come up against a very difficult obstacle, the southern portion of the German anti-tank ditch, which was lined by a determined enemy armed with all sorts of automatic weapons. The 5th Seaforth had to go to ground in a road ditch some fifty yards from the Germans, and for a whole night and day they were held there until, under tank-fire cover, they withdrew back into the forest.’

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