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Auction: 11010 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 6

A Fine Second War 1942 ´Immediate´ Western Desert D.S.O., ´1941´ Battle of Damascus M.C. Group of Nine to Brigadier P.W.G. Pope, Royal Artillery, Who Had the Unusual Distinction of Being Taken Prisoner of War at Sidi Barrani, 11.12.1940, Only to Reverse the Situation by Taking 300 Prisoners of His Own Within 24 Hours of Capture; He Later Evaded Further Capture at the Fall of Tobruk, 21.6.1942, Through a Succession of Marches Across the Desert and ´Commandeering´ Two Enemy Vehicles; Served as Brigade Major, 51st Highland Division, Throughout North West Europe and Was Aide-de-Camp to H.M. The Queen, 1964-68 a) Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., silver-gilt and enamel, reverse of suspension bar officially dated ´1942´, with integral top riband bar b) Military Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ´1941´ c) 1939-1945 Star d) Africa Star e) France and Germany Star f) Defence and War Medals, M.I.D. Oakleaf g) General Service 1918-62, E.II.R., one clasp, Canal Zone (Lt. Col PWG Pope RA), this in named card box of issue h) Coronation 1953, light contact marks throughout, therefore very fine, mounted as originally worn unless otherwise stated, with the following original items: - Bestowal Document for the Distinguished Service Order, dated 23.4.1942, in a glazed frame - M.I.D. Certificate, dated 23.4.1942 - Commission appointing P.W.G. Pope as Second Lieutenant, Royal Artillery, 26.1.1933 - Various Photographs and images of recipient in uniform - Three Letters from recipient to his mother, dated 17.10.1939, 25.6.1941 and 10.11.1942 - Copies of the recipient´s Obituary as appeared in The Daily Telegraph and The Times (lot) Estimate £ 5,000-6,000 D.S.O. London Gazette 23.4.1942 Captain (temporary Major) Philip William Gladstone Pope, M.C. (58002), Royal Regiment of Artillery (Exeter) The Recommendation states: ´On the 28th January 1942, Major Pope was commanding the 12/25 Field Battery 25 Field Regiment, R.A. in support of a Force at Sceleidiva Pass. The Force was deployed facing East, when at about 1100hrs patrols reported two enemy columns including 75 Tanks making towards the Pass from the South, close below the escarpment. In the absence of the Force Commander Major Pope redisposed the Force to meet the threat from his right flank. The tanks were closing in and the position came under heavy fire from them and from their supporting Artillery. At the same time enemy infantry and Field guns appeared on the top of the escarpment and opened fire on the Battery. The tanks began to advance and the fire on the Battery became intense. Major Pope directed the fire of his forward Troop and soon the five leading Tanks were destroyed, causing the remainder to halt. At this moment orders were received to withdraw towards Bengasi. B Troop was sent back immediately into action to cover the withdrawal of the remainder of the Force. At 1500 hours Major Pope, himself bringing up the rear, still under heavy fire, successfully extricated the Force, having inflicted considerable casualties on the enemy. Throughout this operation this officer displayed the greatest coolness and courage. His personal gallantry was an inspiration to all those around him, and by his boldness and initiative he undoubtedly saved the situation in a very grave crisis.´ M.C. London Gazette 21.10.1941 Captain Philip William Gladstone Pope (58002), Royal Regiment of Artillery The Recommendation states: ´This officer took over Command of his Battery when his B.C. was reported missing on 19th June. In the morning of 20th June a carrier attack was put in on Mezze supported by one Troop over open sights. Capt. Pope personally took the guns forward under very heavy machine and anti-tank gun fire. During the evening a second similar attack was put in, this time as point blank range - on this occasion the whole of his Bty supported the attack - guns being bounded forward troop by troop until within 400 yards of the edge of the village. Capt. Pope´s energetic leadership and his complete disregard for personal safety during these attacks and throughout the whole operations set a fine example to his Bty which behave in exemplary fashion under fire from small arms in front and on a flank and from Tanks in the Village.´ Brigadier Philip William Gladstone Pope, D.S.O., M.C. (1913-2002), born Exeter, Devon; the son of Lieutenant P.G. Pope, Royal Field Artillery, who was killed in action four years after the birth of his son, at Passchendaele; P.W.G. Pope was educated at St. Peters Preparatory School, Exmouth and Rugby; entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, 1931; commissioned Second Lieutenant Royal Artillery, 3.2.1933; after initial postings in England he was sent to Singapore in 1937, where he commanded a troop of heavy anti-aircraft guns at R.A.F. Changi; fortunately for him he received a posting the following year to Cairo. Sidi Barrani- A Prisoner of War As a young Battery Commander, 1st Field Regiment, Pope was posted to the Western Desert, he took part in the capture of Sidi Barrani on the Egyptian Coast, 11.12.1940, ´we moved up by night and I was left to gather the late cars and come on. Petrol and stores were blazing in the camp and could be seen for miles. I collected my party by about nine and a guide told us to go 14 miles due north. It was very slow going in the dark and after about two and a half miles we could just dsicern figures over the skyline. Thinking we had arrived we drove up and in a few seconds were completely surrounded by one Italian officer and a crowd of Libyan troops. I shouted back to the other cars and one managed to drive off amidst a most inaccurate fusillade. We were disarmed and marched off to some local HQ where we were searched and stared at as if they had never seen Englishmen before. This over, all our belongings they had taken from us were put in a large parcel and we set off on foot into the night. There were nine of us and the escort must have been at least 70. We were shown to their friends on the way and constantly asked to walk "piano" as they could hardly keep up with us. Eventually we arrived at the seashore and were ushered into a large tent and questioned - the little man hardly spoke any English so it was not a great success. One of our sergeants told him his name was "Monkey Jones", this puzzled him a lot and led to numerous interviews. This over we piled into a lorry with a lot of Libyan soldiers - smelly but none the less warm. There wasn´t much of the night left and we emerged at dawn. Possiblities of escape were quite inviting but we knew what the Italians did not that our forces were completely surrounding them at the time...... The noise of the battle by this time had started and to our surprise we were asked if we would like to see it from their side. So we were escorted to a trench on a hill. However as it grew nearer our escort became less and less keen and we all returned to the beach...... As evening came it became obvious that our troops were almost around us and a Bren fired along the beach with little reply. It was then that those around us started a discussion amongst themselves, which after a time we gathered was whether they should surrender to us. Eventually they decided to and with a lot of saluting and hand shaking handed over their arms. The twelve of us found ourselves with some 300 prisoners and our troops had withdrawn for the night´ (letter included in lot refers). Advance into Eritrea Having returned his prisoners to Allied Lines Pope subsequently moved on into Eritrea in pursuit of the Italians culminating at Keren (February 1941-April1941), where his battery had supported a brigade of the 4th Indian Division (M.I.D.), ´We spent two days on the train going up the Nile, and then at Shallal boarded a fleet of Nile steamers, rather like a crowd of American tourists!..... Then we got onto the most comfortable Sudan railways and after three days arrived at Gedaref not far from the Abyssinian border. The change was most complete; the country was rolling grassland and very prickly thorn bushes... It was almost as hot in Egypt in summer, which came as rather a shock. We spent a few weeks there and then moved up towards Kassala, which the Italians had captured together with the railway through that way. We had hope to cut them off there but the day we arrived they withdrew into Eritrea..... Meanwhile the Sudan Defence Force and another Brigade of our Division were making great progress after the Italians. After they had had a few encounters we passed through. The country was very hilly, and roads very rocky and often improvised across dry riverbeds. The Italians had withdrawn to Agaardat, the first big town on this route, where they had several forts above the town. The engagement there was quite copybook and we only just missed cutting off their entire force. The pursuit was hot foot up the road.... We had a lot of amusement salvaging the Italian guns.... The advance was now held up at Cheren [sic] about 50 miles further on, so we went on up. The hills at Agaardat we had thought were quite a good enough climb but here they rose three thousand feet straight out of the valleys. The Italian position was astride the main road, which ran up a steep pass. A hill tucked under the main ones held by the Italians had been captured but no further progress made. A plan to out flank the enemy position was made. It entailed moving into a big valley whose entrance was only about two miles away from their positions and completely overlooked. We did the reconnaissance on foot one afternoon, which rather limited the ground we could cover. That evening after dark the Infantry and our Regiment came up...... The first attack took place in the dark, so we did not take part. The advance up the hill just in front of us produced a terrific firework display and showed it to be more heavily defended than had been anticipated. When day broke we found ourselves firing up at the hill at a fantastic angle and at very short range. A fair amount came back but we usually managed to spot where it came from and return it. To cut a long story short we spent five days in this valley, soon to be known as "Happy Valley", and did not succeed in getting over on this side. It was with great relief that we moved back to positions a few miles down the road´ (Letter included in lot refers). Syria - The Battle of Damascus The swiftly successful German drive through the Balkans raised concern that the next AXIS strike would be through the Caucasus and Palestine to the Suez Canal; in line with this thinking Churchill ordered a pre-emptive occupation of French held Syria and Lebanon, with part of the force to be made up of the Free French Army; the hope that the French forces in situe would declare themselves for the Free French did not come to fruition and instead the Vichy Forces resisted fiercely, especially the units of the Foreign Legion based there; Pope´s battery supported a brigade of the 10th Indian Division, during the attack on Mezze, a heavily defended position three miles from of Damascus; Mezze had been captured on 18.6.1941, however, equipment and anti-tank guns had been lost in the intial action and as such the Allied force was very hard pressed to hold the position against the enemy tanks; on the 20th, the relief force including Pope´s battery were sent to fight their way through to the exhausted men holding Mezze; Pope ´was asked what he could do to help take the fortress by nightfall. "I can charge, sir" he told his brigadier, and led the attack in his truck supported by seven guns and two anti-tank guns. He led each troop in turn, and after a point-blank duel Mezze was taken´ (newspaper cutting included in lot refers); Mezze was consolidated by 7pm, and by noon the following day the Allies were in Damascus. Escape From Tobruk Pope returned to the Western Desert in 1942, and commanded a battery of the 25th Field Regiment in support of the 8th Army; on the 21st January Rommel commenced a counter offensive from his positions at El Agheila, his strong armoured columns punched a hole in the brittle British lines, with Benghazi falling to the Germans on the 28th; it was during this turmoil that Pope was awarded the D.S.O. for his gallant fighting retreat; after a series of defeats the Eighth Army withdrew from the Gazala Line, and Pope found himself in Tobruk when it fell to Rommel, 21.6.1942; after destroying his guns and vehicles Pope ´and a group of four officers and 17 men avoided capture. They faced the a seemingly impossible march to safety, yet his letter home later concentrated on the lighter aspects. After making for the nearby Mediterranean coast, they followed it eastwards with the intention of catching up the withdrawing Eighth Army; Pope´s letter home to his mother takes up the story, ´We had no food and only about 3 or 4 water bottles amongst us. We made for the sea and made it that evening where we joined others still resisting. We equipped ourselves with a packet of biscuits each, and tins of water, but we couldn´t carry much as it was so very heavy. That night we started off and walked along the coast, at first mostly by night, later a lot by day for four days. We were all getting rather weak with the lack of food, and the only water we could get was by digging in the sand about two yards from the sea - this produces water not quite so salty as the sea! However, we bathed often and that is almost as good as a drink. It became clear that we couldn´t walk any further so we decided to make for the road and take an vehicle. We walked up a few miles timing our arrival just as it was getting dark, and found lots of encampments either side of the road. Most of them had guards wandering about, so our progress was rather slow. Eventually we found a lorry by itself with about 6 Italians sleeping around it. We planned that I should with two men clear the driving compartment and get it going while the rest cleared the back and jumped in. Looking back it was really rather funny although not at the time! My half went successfully - only the driver was sleeping in the front, and he, prodded with my revlover, was only too willing to start it up. However, the people in the back made an awful noise and we had to fire at one, which made him make even more noise! When the lorry started I shouted at them to jump in, but the first two or three to try were hit smartly over the head by two remaining Italians in the back! So everyone jumped all over the roof and mudguards; as the countryside was quite roused by them we drove away with two Italians firing their rifle through the roof! Luckily no one was hurt and the Italians decided discretion was the better part of valour and jumped out. We went thundering along and luckily as it got light the mist came down. The driver kept shouting "Aqua" and we paid no attention as we thought that he meant he was thirsty - but we soon found out why! In the mist we ran into a wire fence and the lorry stopped. He then showed us there was no water in the radiator. We still had very little with us, so we poured it all in but the damage was done and the lorry finished. We then drain it all out again and made some coffee, which we had found in the lorry. After a short while the mist started to clear and we found ourselves in one of the dumps by the railway with a lot of men working about a mile away. We spent a most uncomfortable day amongst some sandbags - it was very hot and the flies shocking....... Just as it was getting dark we heard a vehicle approaching and stop a few hundred yards away. We investigated and found it to be a large ambulance. We waited for the inhabitants to go to bed and captured it in grand style to the astonishment of the two little Italian doctors! .... We... bound and gagged the doctors with own bandages and cotton wool, and proceeded on our way. The countryside was alight with flares as all the enemy infantry were marching down. However, we had incredible luck and drove all night for the frontier without meeting anyone. In the morning we arrived at the wire (the boundary between Egypt and Cyrenaica), and not suspecting the situation started to have breakfast. This was interrupted by obvious sounds of battle to the east. So we decided to be on our way. We had to drive quite close to many enemy vehicles but they took little interest in us and we only had one anxious moment with some over curious Germans, but we were going too fast for them. About midday we met some of our own armoured cars who told us to hurry on. This we did and just as we were approaching the next lot of our people we ran out of petrol. However, they sent out ot investigae us and remedied this. We joined them and had quite an exciting few days.´ Cooler Climates After his escapades in the desert Pope was appointed second-in-command 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery; he served with the latter in the run-up to the Battle of Alamein before finally being given some respite and posted for a Staff Course at Haifa; at the end of 1943 he ´returned to England, he was appointed Brigader Major Royal Artillery of the 51st Highland Division, which landed as part of 1st Corps on D-Day. He served with the division throughout the breakout battles from the Normandy bridgehead, the crossing of the Seine and the advance through the Low Countries to the Rhine..... After the war he had a successful regimental career, commanding E Battery 1st Royal Horse Artillery in Egypt [1948-49] and 2nd Regiment R.H.A. in Germany [1954-56]. Subsequently he commanded 5 Infantry Brigade Group in the Army of the Rhine, 1959-61, the Mons Officer Cadet School at Aldershot, 1962-63, and the Royal Artillery Training Brigade at Woolwich, 1966-67. He was ADC to the Queen, 1964-68. He retired from the Army in 1968 to join the Westland Group in Yeovil.´ (The Times Obituary refers).

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