Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Six: Trooper N. S. Roach, Royal Tank Regiment, who was wounded on 28 November 1941 during Operation Crusader

1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45; Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Territorial (5562636. Tpr. N. S. Roach. R. Tks.); Imperial Service Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue (Norman Stanley Roach) mounted as worn in this order, very fine (6) £120-£160

Norman Stanley Roach was born in Swindon, Wiltshire, in 1902. He served during the Second World War with the 44th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment, with which he was wounded on 28 November 1941 during Operation Crusader in the Western Desert Campaign. The Battalion had gone to the Middle East in April 1941 and, by the time of Operation Crusader, in November 1941, it was part of 1st Army Tank Brigade, equipped with Valentine tanks and in support of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

Operation Crusader was the designation of a major offensive, undertaken by the 8th Army under Lieutenant-General Sir Alan Cunningham under the overall command of General Sir Claude Auchinleck, to relieve Tobruk. Fought over the period of 18 November 1941 - 6 January 1942, the operation succeeded in its objective and drove the Axis forces back to El Agheila. The Axis lost 38,000 men and 300 tanks to the Allies 18,000 men and 275 tanks.

Roach’s Battalion went on to fight at Gazala, the Cauldron battles, the First Battle of El-Alamein, the Invasion of Sicily, the Italian Campaign and the Normandy Landings. After the war he worked as a Postman in Bristol and was awarded his Imperial Service Medal in 1962 (London Gazette 30 March 1962). He died in Bristol in 1976.

Sold with a Royal Tank Regiment cap badge.