Description
A Very Good, Well Documented, WW2, 8th Army, El Alamein, Salerno Landings, D Day Landings Casualty Group to the 1/7th Battalion (Territorial) Queen’s (Royal Regiment West Surrey) – Wounded during the Battle of Hertogenbosch, Holland October 1944, awarded to Lance Sergeant Gerald Griffiths, comprising, 1939-45 Star, Africa Star, 8th Army Clasp, Italy Star, France and Germany Star, 1939-45 War Medal, unnamed as issued, contemporarily mounted for wear, lightly toned very fine.
Gerald Griffiths was born on Christmas Day 1921, he enlisted on the 17th July 1941 into the Queen’s Royal Regiment serving with the 1/7th Battalion. The 1/5th, 1/6th and 1/7th were all 1st Line Territorial Battalions that were serving in the 131st Infantry Brigade, which was part of the 44th (Home Counties) Infantry Division, a 1st Line Territorial Army Division. The Brigade was sent, along with the rest of the Division, to France in 1940 to join the British Expeditionary Force and were quickly involved in the Battle of France and the subsequent Dunkirk evacuation. The Division was sent in mid-1942 to North Africa to join the 8th Army and fought at the Battle of Alam el Halfa and later in the second battle of El Alamein where the 131st Brigade was assigned to the 7th Armoured Division and would remain with them for the rest of the war. The Brigade participated in the Tunisian Campaign, the Italian Campaign and the North West Europe Campaign landing in Normandy on D+1, the 7th June 1944. In December 1944, due to heavy losses and casualties and a shortage of infantrymen in the British Army, the 1/6th and 1/7th were replaced in the Brigade. In the Expeditionary Force Casualty Return for October 1944 Corporal Griffiths, serving with the 1/7th Battalion the Queen’s Royal Regiment is listed as wounded on the 28th October 1944, this during the period of operations in Hertogenbosch.
On the 9th December 1944, after recovering from his wounds, now Lance Sergeant Griffiths, was transferred to the Royal Warwickshire Regiment with whom he served until the 24th August 1945, transferring to the 2nd Battalion the Gloster Regiment serving with them until his demobilisation on the 4th January 1947.
Sold with medal ribbons, original Identity Disks, 4 original photographs, AB64 Soldiers Service And Pay Book, Army Book X801, Soldier’s Release Book Class A, original last will, Campaign Stars bestowal slip and medal correspondence. A Short History of the 7th Armoured Division, 2nd Army Order of Service, ration books and driving licence correspondence.
Photocopied Attestation Book entry and photocopied North-West Europe, October 1944, Casualty Return; a most complete group with 40 original documents and photographs.
(Accompanying website photograph showing only part of the collection of original documents and photographs).