Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Six: Major H. Railston, Indian Army Ordnance Corps, late Mercantile Marine, who commanded the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company’s vessel Mysore during the Second World War, and was Mentioned in Despatches

British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals (Harry Railston); 1939-45 Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf, nearly very fine and better (6) £100-£140

Harry Railston was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne on 3 June 1897 and served during the Great War in the Mercantile Marine. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War he was in command the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company’s vessel Mysore; following the Japanese invasion he scuttled his ship and made his way to Calcutta, where he was commissioned Ordnance Mechanical Engineer (with the rank of Second Lieutenant) in the Indian Army Ordnance Corps on 28 June 1942, and was advanced Major. For his services during the Second World War he was Mentioned in Despatches.

Sold with a number of photographs taken out in Burma, mainly of steamers on the Irrawaddy; a copy of the National Maritime Museum’s Monograph on The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, in which the recipient is mentioned several times; a large map of Rangoon; various letters regarding the recipient’s medal entitlement; and other research, including a postcard photograph of the recipient.

Note: No traces of the recipient’s M.I.D. has been found in the London Gazette, but the award is confirmed in a letter to the recipient confirming his Second World War medal entitlement.