Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A rare campaign group of three awarded to Sergeant R. A. Cooper, Special Air Service Regiment, late Suffolk Regiment, who was Mentioned in Despatches for services with the S.A.S. in Malaya and Borneo, and later served with the Australian S.A.S.

General Service 1918-62, G.VI.R., 2 clasps, Malaya, Arabian Peninsula, with M.I.D. oak leaf (22562759 Pte. R. A. Cooper, Suffolk); General Service 1962, 1 clasp, Borneo, with M.I.D. oak leaf (22562759 Sgt. R. A. Cooper, S.A.S.); Regular Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R. (22562759 Sgt. R. A. Cooper, S.A.S.) the first with minor correction to service number, nearly extremely fine (3) £2000-2500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Good Series of Awards to Members of the S.A.S..

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M.I.D. London Gazette 21 August 1959: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Arabian Peninsula’:

‘A./Cpl. R. A. Cooper, Suffolk, permanently attached 22 S.A.S. Regt.’

M.I.D. London Gazette 13 December 1966: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Borneo Territories during the period 24th December 1965 to 23rd June 1966’:

‘Sergeant Richard Alec Cooper, Special Air Service Regiment.’

Richard Alec Cooper was born in Ipswich in October 1933 and enlisted into the Suffolk Regiment in July 1951. Joining the Special Air Service in April 1955, he served with the Regiment continuously until his discharge from the British Army in June 1970, his appointments including stints with ‘A’ Squadron, 4 Troop, 22 S.A.S., and 21 S.A.S. His Certificates of Service note, among other information, that he was:

‘A very able boat specialist and diver - a highly competent supervisor ... Sgt. Cooper has served continuously with the Special Air Service for the last 15 years. During this time hardly one year has past (sic) in which he has not been in action. He has seen active service in Malaya, Borneo, Oman and the Aden Protectorate including the Radfan ... and has on two occasions been Mentioned in Despatches for gallant and distinguished conduct ... He is a hard worker, intelligent and immensely likeable. His inexhaustable sense of humour, and ability to extract the maximum from his subordinates has been constantly exercised in the interests of the Regiment ...’

From August 1972 until February 1973, Cooper served in the Australian Army on ‘Regimental and Special Air Service Trooper duties’ for five months, but thereafter, other than work as a Security Officer, his post-military career remains shrouded in mystery. It is, however, more than probable that it is he who is alluded to in the following extract from Who Dares Wins, The Mercenaries 1962-78:

‘At the other extreme was a team of a dozen former S.A.S. troopers and N.C.Os recruited in 1978 to trigger off a coup in the African state of Togo, of which assassinating the head of state was an integral part. The scheme misfired after discreet but effective intervention by M.I.6 and the Foreign Office. The retired Canadian officer at the centre of this plot appears to have had no special forces background himself, but, like others, he was attracted by the reputation of the S.A.S. for efficiency in such matters. His team leader, a respected S.A.S. veteran of Malaya and Borneo, twice Mentioned in Dispatches, and an ex-Watchguard employee, was recalled from Africa where, he insisted, he had been on business in Ghana.’

Sold with two original letters of congratulation for his Borneo ‘mention’, his Army Certificate of Education, a group photograph and copies of his British and Australian Certificates of Service.