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Auction: 20003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 530

The mounted group of fifteen miniature dress medals worn by Major-General T. Young, Royal Army Medical Corps Honorary Physician to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II and Colonel Commandant of the R.A.M.C. 1955-61

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s Badge; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 2nd type Badge, silver-gilt; 1914-15 Star; British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaves; India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1930-31; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R.; Coronation 1953, unnamed; United States of America, Legion of Merit, Legionnaire’s badge, gilt and enamel; France, Third Republic, Medal of Gratitude, bronze, mounted court-style as worn, good very fine (15)

C.B. London Gazette 1 January 1951.

O.B.E. (Military) London Gazette 13 December 1945.

Thomas Young was born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire on 4 June 1893, the son of William Fulton and Euphemia Murray Young. Educated at Glasgow University, he gained the M.B. Ch.B. (Glasgow) 1915; D.P.H. (Cambridge) 1924, and M.D. (Glasgow) 1951. He was appointed a Lieutenant in the Special Reserve on 26 January 1914 and mobilised on 23 April 1915. As a Lieutenant in the R.A.M.C. he entered the Dardanelles theatre of war on 11 August 1915. Young was promoted to Captain in October 1915 and served as Acting Major, June-December 1919. He served in the Egypt Expeditionary Force, 1916-18, and for his wartime services he was Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazette 2 July 1917).

Young served in Egypt, 1918-22 and was appointed a Temporary Major, January-November 1924, being promoted to that rank in April 1927. He served in India, 1925-31 and 1934-39. He was appointed Acting Lieutenant-Colonel in September 1939; Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel in December 1939; and was promoted to that rank in May 1941. Appointed Acting Colonel in December 1941; Temporary Colonel in June 1942, he was promoted to Colonel in November 1945. During the war he served with the H.Q. Western Command as A.D.H.& P. 1939-40, A.D.H. 1940-41, and D.D.H. 1941-42; then with the British North Africa Command as D.D.H., 1942-45. For his wartime services he was twice Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 16 September 1943 and 22 February 1945) and was awarded the O.B.E.; and from France he was awarded the Medal of Gratitude (1945) and from the U.S.A. the Legion of Merit (1946).

The citation for Young’s American Legion of Merit states:

‘For exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations from 3 January 1943 to 1 November 1945. As Deputy Director of Hygiene Allied Force Headquarters, Colonel Young was of great assistance to United States Forces and in particular to the United States Medical Department in planning and executing an effective preventive medicine program. His wealth of experience in dealing with tropical diseases was always at the disposal of the United States Forces and he gave freely of his time and energy to promoted a unified preventive medicine program which contributed materially in controlling disease rates in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy. His foresight in accumulating health data on Mediterranean countries was of great assistance to the United States Medical Department in planning the Sicilian and Italian campaigns. His efforts in malaria control resulted in a lower incidence of this disease not only for British troops but also for United States troops. Colonel Young’s willing spirit of co-operation served as an inspiration and example to his American colleagues.’

After the war he served as Commandant of the Army School of Hygiene, 1946-48 and was promoted to Brigadier in November 1947. Then with H.Q. FARELF he served as D.D.M.S., January-February 1948 and D.M.S. 1948-49. In 1949 he attained the rank of Major-General and in 1951 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Young was appointed Honorary Physician to the King on 13 January 1950 and Honorary Physician to the Queen on 1 April 1952. He held the position of Director of Army Health at the War Office from 1949 until his retirement in 1953. Appointed Colonel Commandant of the R.A.M.C. 1955-61. Latterly living in Truro, Cornwall, Major-General Young died on 21 August 1979; sold with copied research and two photographs of the recipient.

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Sold for
£230

Starting price
£210