Previous Lot Next Lot

Auction: 1008 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 16

The Superb Burma ´Z-Force´ M.C. and Bar Group of Six to Major C.G. ´Micky´ Merton, Burma Rifles, and One of the Original ´Johnnies´, Whose Numerous Operations Behind Enemy Lines are Legendry: Often Clashing with the Enemy, He Was ´One Of The Finest Patrol Leaders in Z Force´ a) Military Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ´1945´, with Second Award Bar, reverse officially dated ´1946´ b) India General Service 1908-35, G.V.R., one clasp, Burma 1930-32 (C.G. Merton) c) 1939-1945 Star d) Burma Star e) Defence and War Medals, minor contact marks, good very fine, together with a large silk map covering North Burma, North Siam, and parts of India, French Indo China, and China; and two photographs of the recipient (6) Estimate £ 6,000-8,000 M.C. London Gazette 16.8.1945 Major (temporary) Cecil Gerald Merton (189643), General List. The recommendation, dated 23.4.1945, states: ´Patrolled during the campaigning seasons of 1942-43 and 1943-44 on the Chindwin front in advance of our forward troops, first as Second-in-Command of Major Parry´s patrol, and later as a Patrol Leader. In the latter part of the campaigning season of 1943-44, he led a special patrol on Special Force front, carried out numerous daring and dangerous reconnaissances, had a number of clashes with the enemy, and produced much valuable information. Has shown the most consistent gallantry throughout two years´ operations, and a complete disregard for his own safety. One of the finest Patrol Leaders in Z Force.´ M.C. Second Award Bar London Gazette 17.1.1946 Major (temporary) Cecil Gerald Merton, M.C. (189643), General List (attd. The Burma Rifles). The recommendation, dated May 1945, states: ´Major Merton led a recce patrol in the Chaungzauk area east of the Chindwin during October and November 1944. In January 1945 he again volunteered to lead a patrol. He undertook a parachute course and was dropped into the area east of Maymyo on 26th January 1945. Unfortunately the patrol was dropped into the wrong area, during a high wind from a great height. The party landed on a rugged hill top and many of them were hung up in high trees. Major Merton displayed extreme courage and leadership. He worked throughout the night and the following day in extricating his men and rallying the patrol who were dispersed over a large area. He then led them towards Maymyo across the Myitnge river at a most dangerous point, where there were rapids. An improvised raft was constructed and the patrol only narrowly escaped drowning when this sank. Shortly after the crossing the patrol was given away to the enemy, who pursued the patrol for over a fortnight. Major Merton again displayed a very high standard of leadership and with a total disregard for his own safety produced some extremely valuable intelligence.´ Major Cecil Gerald ´Micky´ Merton, M.C. was born in 1909 and educated at Eastbourne College and Cambridge, where he took a degree in forestry. Employed by Foucar Brothers, one of the large timber companies operating in Burma, he arrived in Burma in 1930 and the following year married Minnie, a local Burmese woman. For the next seven years, whilst he was an Assistant Forest Manager, home was a bamboo bungalow in the jungle, not far from the town of Maymyo. At the outbreak of War in 1939 Merton, who was on leave in England, immediately applied to join the Artists Rifles, but was instead sent back to Burma, where his work would be of more value to the War effort. A further year with Foucars followed, during which he tried and failed to join the Navy, before his persistence paid off and he was given a temporary commission in the Burma Rifles. Because of his background and knowledge of the language, he was appointed Intelligence Officer of the 2nd Burma Brigade stationed at Moulmein. In March 1942, having been sent back to Maymyo on temporary duty, Merton said good-bye to his wife and children, before rejoining the Brigade to take part in the retreat into India. Reaching Imphal in the middle of May he was immediately admitted to hospital suffering from fever, and it was another month before he was fit to travel to Calcutta, where he found out that Maymyo was now in Japanese hands. Shortly after arriving in Calcutta, he was approached by an old friend of his, J.K. Parry, also of Foucars, who asked him whether he wanted to join a new experimental intelligence organization. The Johnnies Owing to the rapidity of the Japanese advance in Burma and the confusion that resulted, there had been no time to organize an Intelligence network that could report on what was taking place in occupied Burma, and give information on what the enemy was planning. The only news came from odd refugees who had recently escaped into India. In order to overcome this shortfall it was decided to recruit volunteers who were prepared to go into Burma, hide themselves in selected areas, and report back any information that they could pick up. These volunteers had to know the country well and be able to find their way about in the labyrinth of the jungle; be able to speak the language; already have a network of contacts in the country; and, most importantly, be fit, tough, brave, used to hard living, and able to operate on their own. As this operation was to be, at first, purely experimental, it was decided that only ten volunteers should be recruited at the outset, operating in five pairs. Although they would be part of General Staff Intelligence- Z, the section dealing with defensive intelligence and counter-espionage, a specific name had to be given for these volunteers- one that did not attract attention, and which gave no clue as to their identity. The name chosen was ´The Johnnies´ Commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel J.P. Shelley, the Johnnies were generally recruited from the Forest Department of Burma or one of the big timber firms. By the beginning of July 1942 all the Johnnies had been selected and were assembled in Delhi. They were: Bertie Castens, Freddie Webster, Sammy Newland, and D.W. Rae, all of the Burma Forest Service; Robin Stewart, Dickie Wood, Jimmy Middleton, and George ´Red´ Parker, all of the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation; and J.K. Parry and Micky Merton, of Foucar Brothers. Although these ten men differed in appearance and background, they shared certain attributes. All had a thorough knowledge of the jungle, its inhabitants, and their language; all were tough and used to living on their own far from civilization; and all possessed courage of outstanding quality. Preparations began during the second week of July, and whilst individual pairs were free to make their own decisions, it was agreed that each patrol should consist of two Johnnies and a minimum of eight men, recruited from among the ex-Burma Riflemen who had escaped into India and were concentrated in one depot. Finally, on the 7th August 1942, No. 5 Patrol, under Major Parry and Captain Merton, began the journey to the Chin Hills. Patrols in the Chin Hills Arriving in Haka, the base and starting-point for their patrol, on the 3rd October 1942, Merton wasted no time in making inquiries about the possibilities of finding the way to his allotted area south of the Chin Hills. From all he spoke to it soon became apparent that it was most unlikely that they would ever reach their original target, the reason being that whilst most of the tribes were friendly, those in the extreme south had been stirred up and were led by a disgruntled ex-subahdar of the Burma Rifles who had been dishonourably discharged from the Army, and were actively anti-British to the extent that they were aiding the advancing Japanese. Two weeks later a message was received in Haka that the enemy were advancing from the south and were only forty miles away. In March 1943 Major Parry returned to India on leave, and Merton, promoted to the temporary rank of Major, took over the command of No. 5 Patrol. His first patrol took him behind the Japanese lines, and led to a brief encounter with the enemy: ´Simultaneously, Merton and his Havildar, Kya Twe, saw three heads duck down below a ridge about four hundred yards away. They were obviously enemy. Trusting the enemy might think that he and Kya Twe were only scouts from a large force and would not open fire on them, Merton whispered "Pretend not to have seen anything and we will make for that dead ground over there." Accordingly they walked with apparent unconcern and on reaching the dead ground made all haste to get away. Picking up the remaining four men of the patrol where they had left them, they marched back to Shurkhua in record time and arrived in a state of complete exhaustion. A few days later reports came in to the effect that two heavily armed Japanese columns, each a hundred strong, had carried out a pincer movement on their old observation post, to capture the mythical British force. "Still knowing nothing about Wingate´s expedition [General Orde Wingate´s Column had recently entered Burma], we were very mystified, but nevertheless flattered that we should have been taken so seriously by the Japanese", was Merton´s reaction.´ (The Johnnies by Sir Geoffrey Evans refers). On another occasion the patrol´s efforts to avoid enemy detection were nearly compromised: ´On our way over the foothills we passed a high trigonometrical point which commanded a fine view of the surrounding country. It was marked by a tall tree, much higher than the remainder, which had been stripped of all its branches. All my efforts to avoid being seen were frustrated by our stupid guide who, whilst our backs were turned, climbed the tree to obtain a better view. I could only hope that any Japanese in observation might think he was a bear!´ (ibid). That May Merton was ordered to return to Calcutta to report- suffering from fever and with a swollen face caused by having to drink foul water from the buffalo wallows, by the time he reached the roadhead 109 miles from Imphal he had covered during his first season´s work almost 1,000 miles on foot. In the concluding remarks of his report Merton highlighted the fact that, due to the scarcity of coolies and absence of roads, the only way to keep patrols properly supplied and equipped was supply by air, and upon this the success of any subsequent operation would depend- by the time of his next mission air supply would be the normal method of providing for the needs of the Z patrols. Merton´s and Parry´s first patrol of the new season began in September 1943, and on the 20th September they had their first contact with the enemy: ´Cautiously raising his head, Merton peered through the topmost leaves of a bush and, as he searched the jungle in front, his eyes lit upon the round face of a Japanese only twenty yards away. At that short range he could hardly miss. Raising his Sten-gun in slow motion so that the movement would not give him away, he aimed and pressed the trigger. The only sound was a "click". The gun had jammed. Without taking his eyes off the target, Merton whispered to one of his men "Give me a stick", and on the orderly pressing it into his hand he rammed it down the barrel to move the offending cartridge. The Japanese had not moved so, reloading, Merton went through the same procedure, but with the same result. Still oblivious of his two narrow escapes from death, his opponent remained in position. In desperation, Merton was about to try a third time when heavy automatic fire broke out behind him, indicating that some of the enemy had worked round to cut off the patrol´s line of retreat. Almost simultaneously he heard Parry shout an order to scatter and, abandoning his efforts to shoot the Japanese, he made his way back up the hill- it was now a case of every man for himself.´ (ibid). For the next six weeks, until Parry was summoned back to Calcutta, both he and Merton were involved in a series of sharp engagements on the various tracks leading east from Tiddim. So close to one another were the opposing forces that a no-man´s-land was virtually non-existent, and the patrol either went out with regular troops, or took part in the defence of the position when it came under enemy attack. As very little advanced intelligence could be gathered under such circumstances, on Parry´s departure Merton was ordered to go north east towards the Kabaw valley, where there would be better opportunities to carry out covert patrols. By this time he had with him from Calcutta a powerful telescope, and the next few weeks were spent in careful observation of the enemy positions in the valley below, their exact location being radioed back to the Royal Air Force to allow periodic bombing raids to take place. Then at the end of January came his most important intelligence breakthrough. When scanning the valley one afternoon he picked up a light tank scurrying across a clearing in the jungle. There had never before been reports of enemy tanks in the Kabaw valley, and though there had been reports of tanks in other parts of Burma, none had been seen. The tank was followed by three others, leading him to the conclusion that the Japanese were planning an operation of major importance in the valley. Having sent a message back to the Intelligence offices, he was immediately summoned back to Imphal to report in person. Six weeks later the Japanese advanced on Imphal. Final Mission Following the Japanese defeat at Imphal, and the subsequent Allied advance into Burma, the role of the Johnnies was to change. Owing to the fact that the patrols in all probability would, if continued on foot, be overrun by the advancing Army, and their usefulness would thus disappear, it was resolved that in future the number of patrols would be increased, from five to ultimately twenty-six, and that they would be parachuted into Burma well ahead of the advancing troops, so as to report on the Japanese retreat and provide vital information for the Royal Air Force bombers. Having undergone a parachute training course, Merton led his patrol on its first operational jump on the 26th January 1945. Their objective was to locate the position of the wireless transmitter of the Japanese headquarters in Maymyo. After all the patrol had jumped, and when Merton had taken stock of the position, he was horrified to find that they had been dropped in the wrong place, and that a major river and range of hills lay between them and their intended destination. Additionally, his second in command, Captain Willy Girsham, one of the new members of Z-Force, was injured in the drop, but recovered sufficiently to complete the mission. The patrol then advanced: ´I had seen this river in the plains, in pre-war days, and then it had been placid and sluggish, and although I expected that in the hills its flow would be much faster, I was dumbfounded when we scrambled down to the bank. It lay at the bottom of a two thousand-foot deep gorge through which it surged and foamed towards some frightening rapids. To make matters worse there was a complete absence of bamboo with which to make a raft and I could see no way of reaching the other side.´ (the recipient´s own account, quoted in The Johnnies refers). Safely making it across the river, Merton and Girsham spent the next six weeks roaming the countryside, picking up and passing back information on the Japanese withdrawal, and located the transmitter in a Buddhist temple twelve miles outside Maymyo. Finally, on the 22nd March, it appeared safe to enter the town of Maymyo. Arriving in a small village on the outskirts of the town, they came upon a small colony of Anglo-Burmans who were overjoyed to see a British officer for the first time since 1942. When the preliminary excitement had died down, Merton enquired if by chance anybody knew the whereabouts of his wife. Learning that she was living in a small hut on the opposite side of the town, he immediately set out for her, taking one of the villagers with him as a guide: ´We walked down a side road towards a small hill on which stood a bungalow, with a small hut on the slope below it. I pushed open the gate and entered the garden. Two girls were playing in the garden- surely they must be my daughters. I called out. My wife, who was inside, hearing the noise and wondering what it was all about, looked out of the door. At first, unable to believe her eyes, she stood motionless for a few seconds and then ran towards me. One thousand and eighty-seven days of terrible anxiety and separation were over. At that moment the Japanese, wherever they might be, seemed very remote!´ (ibid). On the 3rd May Rangoon was captured, and by the middle of June the work of the Johnnies came to an end. In Field Marshal Slim´s opinion ´the tactical information obtained by these patrols had been of the paramount importance, and there was no other G.S.I. organization which produces Intelligence of the same operational importance and with such continuity.´ For three years they had successfully carried out a strange and highly dangerous mission in a war noted for its ferocity, and in conditions which only untold courage and determination could have overcome. In total the Force was awarded two Distinguished Service Orders, nineteen Military Crosses, and sixteen Burma Gallantry Medals.

Sold for
£15,000