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Auction: 25112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 502

Four: Corporal H. Mowbray, Sherwood Foresters, who was taken prisoner of war at the Fall of Tobruk

General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine (4973190 Pte. H. Mowbray. Foresters.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45, the last somewhat pitted, overall very fine (4)

Harold Mowbray was born on 27 September 1908 at Nottingham, the son of William and Mary Mowbray. He enlisted prior to the outbreak of the Second World War and was serving in Palestine with the rest of the 1st Battalion when the hostilities began.

Serving throughout the war in North Africa and Cyprus they arrived at Tobruk on 3 June 1942 attached to the 2nd South African Division. He was still there when the British forces were defeated at the Battle of Gazala and the Battalion, now part of 201st Guards Motor Brigade Group formed part of the encircled Tobruk Garrison.

The German forces approached the town methodically, first probing the defences over 18-19 June before a major attack against the southern flank on 20-21 June. The Foresters were part of the force holding that flank and were swiftly overwhelmed by the speed and power of a combined air and tank attack in the early hours of 20 June.

The panzers broke through British lines and managed to sever many of the vital junctions within the town, limiting the capacity of the British to respond. The next day the South Africans found themselves outflanked and after due consideration General Klopper surrendered the town. Mowbray did not see this however having gone 'in the bag' on 20 June.

He was held at Stalag IVB at Muhlberg, Germany and Stalag 357 at Oerbke, Saxony. He survived his imprisonment and was repatriated after the war, dying at Nottingham in 1981; sold together with copied paperwork.

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Sold for
£160

Starting price
£130