Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A fine Second War 1943 ‘Tunisia Campaign’ M.M. group of six awarded to Regimental Sergeant Major F. G. Findley, Royal Army Service Corps, attached No. 6 Commando, who was decorated for his actions at the assault on Djebel Azag, 6 January 1943, against troops from the elite Fallschirmjäger Regiment Barenthin

Military Medal, G.VI.R. (T/5041667 W.O. Cl.3. F. G. Findley. R.A.S.C.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, good very fine (6) (6) £3,000-£4,000

M.M. London Gazette 23 September 1943:

‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in North Africa’.

The original recommendation states:

‘During the withdrawal from Djebel Azag on 6 January 1943, T.S.M. Findley repeatedly showed complete disregard for his own safety by covering his section by advancing under fire and throwing grenades.

I consider that T.S.M. Findley’s actions were responsible for numerous men reaching safety. Throughout the action he showed a most excellent example to his men. He is over 40 years of age and put up a remarkable performance.’

Frederick George Findley was born in Attleborough, Warwickshire, on 24 August 1902 and attested for the North Staffordshire Regiment at Lichfield in May 1921, seeing service in Gibraltar, Turkey and India before transferring to the Army Reserve in 1928.

During the Second World War, Findley served in the Royal Army Service Corps attached to 6 Commando and was decorated for his actions at Djebel Azag where an attempt was made by the British 36th Brigade Group to capture the feature known to the British as Green Hill, on 5 to 7 January 1943. Commanding the Sedjanane to Mateur road in Northern Tunisia, Green Hill was held by men from Fallschirmjäger Regiment Barenthin (German Parachute Infantry) and Witzig’s Parachute Engineers who had fortified the hill with concrete machine gun emplacements, barbed wire and mines.

In his report on the ‘Attack on Djebel Azag’, Captain J. A. D. Mayne, Som. L.I., describes how ‘Mand Force’ from No. 6 Commando, comprising Force HQ, No. 1 Troop (complete), 1 Section from No. 2 Troop and one partial section from No. 5 Troop (commanded by Findley) were tasked with the following objectives:
i) To capture and hold “Djebel Azag.”
ii) To assist, by supporting fire, the attack on “Greenhill” and “Si Ayed”.
iii) To establish an Observation Post for a Forward Observation Officer to cover targets on and behind ‘Greenhill” area.

Hilary St. George Saunders’ narrative of this action in the Green Beret describes the struggle between No. 6 Commando and the elite German paratroops dug in on the hill:

‘On the 5th January they took part in yet another attack on Green Hill, carried out by the 36th Brigade. Headquarters with one and a half Troops occupied Point 277 to the north-west, the object being to protect the Brigade’s left flank and to harass the enemy’s rear; while a detachment made up of two Troops under Captain Mayne seized Djebel Azag, a height which commanded the main position. To do this they made a ten mile approach march over sodden country, the men carrying heavy loads of ammunition and food for forty-eight hours. They reached their positions soon after dawn and then dug in on the summit as deeply as the rocky ground would allow. Soon after midday the enemy made two attempts to attack them, but were beaten off at long range by accurate and well-sustained small arms fire. The Germans then resorted to mortars, in the handling of which they were exceptionally proficient, and the Commando began to suffer casualties but held on.
During the afternoon Mayne observed that the enemy were forming up to deliver a counter-stroke against the brigade then engaged upon the main assault of Green Hill. His messages brought artillery fire on them and the attack did not develop. At dusk his small force, which had not been reinforced, was concentrated on the summit of the hill. At dawn Mayne’s position soon became serious, for as Lieutenant Cowper and his section were moving to their daylight positions, they were attacked at close range by Germans who had crawled up during the night. Cowper was soon engaging about two companies of the enemy strongly supported by mortars which fired a very accurate barrage. The remainder of the force was now under equally severe pressure and almost completely surrounded. Captain Davies was ordered by Mayne to withdraw headquarters and then cover a general retreat of the force, a manoeuvre which he ‘carried out extremely well.’ That evening they were all back in the tunnel near Sedjenane, the men very tired but cheerful, ‘having done magnificently.’ With a loss of thirty-five of their number they had held a key position for forty eight hours against ‘first-class troops who had been put in as stiffening.’

Though the attack on Green Hill had failed, the small action fought by Mand Force, as Mayne’s detachment was called, provides a good example of what men can accomplish who have passed through Commando training. They had been isolated for two days, in a most exposed position, and subject to galling mortar fire; but they had occupied the attention of four or five times their number who might very well have been employed elsewhere.’

Findley was a parachutist who, during his para course, landed in the top of another soldier’s parachute during a training descent which caused an injury to Findley’s back (a copy of his course report is included with the papers). Post-War he was a member of the Commando Association whose records state that his last rank attained was Regimental Sergeant Major and that he also served in No. 12 Commando. He died in 1960 in Hessingford, Cornwall.

Sold with the recipient’s Soldiers’ Service and Pay Book inside which is a hand traced map of Floro, Norway with important sites and German positions marked. This map is suggestive of Findley’s participation in Operation Kitbag, a raid by British Commandos of No. 6 Commando and No. 12 Commando on the town of Floro in Norway during the Second World War - ‘Kitbag’ embarked from Scapa Flow on H.M.S. Prince Charles on 9 December 1941 but after navigational difficulties the raid was eventually called off; the recipient’s Old Comrades Association of the Special Service Brigade membership booklet, signed by the recipient and dated 9 July 1943; Pay Form No. 48 for the recipient’s Military Medal Gratuity of £20; the recipient’s Service and Casualty Form (Part I) dated 9 October 1928; copied research and a photographic image of recipient in uniform.