Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Warrant Officer Class II J. R. Gray, East Lancashire Regiment, late Royal Marine Light Infantry, who was taken Prisoner of War at the retreat from Dunkirk on 10 June 1940

1939-45 Star; War Medal 1939-45, good very fine (2) £60-£80

James Reginald Gray was born in York on 21 August 1901, and enlisted to the Royal Marine Light Infantry on 1 November 1918. He served as a Private at Home (not entitled to any Great War Medals), before transferring to the East Lancashire Regiment on 1 April 1920. He served with the Regiment in the inter-War years in Bermuda, Malta, Egypt, and India, and following the outbreak of the Second World War with the 1st Battalion as part of the British Expeditionary Force in France from 18 April 1940. He was taken Prisoner of War during the retreat from Dunkirk on 10 June 1940, and was held at Camp Stalag 383, Hohen Fels. Believed to have been wounded, he was released in May 1945, and was discharged with the rank of Company Sergeant Major on 2 May 1951.

Sold together with the recipient’s Regular Army Certificate of Service Red Book; Soldier’s Release Book; Record of Service Card; and School Arms School Qualifying Certificate, the latter two documents having been laminated.