Description
A Reconnaissance Corps, D-Day Landings Sword Beach group of 5 awarded to Thomas H. Sharp, 3rd (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Reconnaissance Corps comprising; 1939-45 Star, France & Germany Star, 1939-45 Defence Medal, 1939-45 War Medal, unnamed as issued, Special Constabulary Long Service Medal, EiiR, (Thomas H. Sharp), lightly toned fine.
Sold with a Northumberland Fusiliers Cap Badge.
8th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers
The 8th Battalion was formed as a duplicate of the 4th Battalion on 18th June 1939 (first officer commissioned) organized as a motorcycle battalion. On 2nd October 1939 it was assigned to the 23rd (Northumbrian) Division. The division was sent to France on 22nd April 1940, on labour and training duties, without any of its artillery or the bulk of its signals and administration units. On 20th May 1940, the division suffered heavy casualties trying to delay the German advance at Arras and had to be evacuated from Dunkirk. On its return to the UK, after Dunkirk, the 23rd Division was disbanded due to the heavy losses it had suffered.
After Dunkirk, the battalion left the 23rd Division on 29th June 1940. It was under command of Home Forces until November 1940 when it joined the 3rd Infantry Division, a Regular unit, as a motorcycle battalion. On 30th April 1941 it was transferred to the Reconnaissance Corps and re-designated as 3rd Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps, on 6th June 1942 and finally on 1st January 1944 it was transferred to the Royal Armoured Corps as 3rd (Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) Reconnaissance Corps. It remained part of the 3rd Infantry Division until August 1945.
The 3rd Infantry Division remained in the UK training for many years until it landed on Sword Beach on the 6th June 1944 – D-Day – and fought through the Battle of Normandy (Caen, Bourguebus Ridge, Mont Picon, and the Netherlands) and later the invasion of Germany, ending the war in Bremen. It was placed in suspended animation in July 1946.
The 3rd Battalion is the only Battalion that was awarded only the France and Germany Star for its operation during WW2.
