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Auction: 7022 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 1229

The Extremely Rare Inter War ´Palestine´ 1939 G.C. Group of Five to Sergeant T. Atkinson, The Green Howards a) George Cross, reverse officially engraved ´No.4388265 Cpl. Thomas Atkinson, The Green Howards, 25th July. 1939.´ b) General Service 1918-62, G.VI.R., one clasp, Palestine (4388265 Cpl. T. Atkinson. Green Howards.) c) 1939-1945 Star d) Defence and War Medals, last three medals impressed "Boots´ style", ´4388265 Sgt T. Atkinson G.C. The Green Howards´, generally good very fine, mounted as originally worn, with named invitation to a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, dated 16.7.1946 and a copy of recipient´s obituary from The Daily Telegraph, 31.3.1997 Estimate £ 8,000-10,000 The George Cross replaced the Empire Gallantry Medal by Royal Warrant 24.9.1940. The original E.G.M. citation, published in the London Gazette 25.7.1939, states: No. 4388265 Corporal Thomas Atkinson, 1st Battalion, The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wale´s Own Yorkshire Regiment) ´Corporal Atkinson, who was in charge of the mechanical transport when a truck caught fire at Jinsafut Camp, Palestine, on the 15th March, 1939, organized the removal of the remainder of the Mechanical Transport to a point clear of the burning truck. Without his initiative and energy in rallying the drivers, and assisting them to move their trucks out of danger, the remainder of the transport must have caught fire as well; and a general conflagration throughout the camp would have been inevitable. Corporal Atkinson was subsequently indefatigable in his efforts to subdue the fire right up to the time that he was severely burnt in endeavouring to save the life of one of his comrades.´ Sergeant Thomas Atkinson, G.C. (1915-1997), born Redcar; educated at the West Dyke Central School; joined the Green Howards, 1933; posted with the 1st Battalion to Palestine, 1937, and served there during the height of terrorist activity, whilst the area was governed by Britain under a League of Nations Mandate; Atkinson´s obituary which appeared in The Daily Telegraph offers further incite into his bravery during this tense and hostile time, ´On the evening of March 15 1939 a lorry caught fire at the Jinsafut Camp, an outpost of the 1st Battalion the Green Howards, 20 miles from Nablus in Palestine. Atkinson, as a Corporal, was in charge of mechanised transport at the camp. His first action was to rally the drivers to move eight other lorries parked close together in a double line in a narrow garage near the ammunition store in the confines of the high, rocky camp. Unless this could be done rapidly the fire would spread through the whole camp, endangering the lives of the 60 soldiers stationed there. The operation was made more hazardous by fuel that had shortly before been spilled when petrol cans for filling the lorries had been broached. The fire extinguishers proved too small to cope with the blaze, which soon spread over the floor of the garage. Atkinson and his men scraped up the earth to throw on the fire, but one young soldier slipped on to the burning petrol. Atkinson dived towards him in an attempt to pull him clear, but a petrol tank exploded and blew him several feet across the garage. When Atkinson came to, he found he was on fire from head to foot and that he had been partially blinded. Atkinson was being closely helped in his endeavours by Private Thomas "Jock" McAvoy, who, to avoid another explosion, carried out the approved procedure of piercing the petrol tank of a burning lorry with a pickaxe. He too was badly burned, but he and Atkinson had by then succeeded in preventing a worse disaster´; Atkinson went on to see further service during the Second World War. For this action two Empire Gallantry Medals were awarded to the Regiment (Atkinson and McAvoy), and two British Empire Medals (Brindle and Fowler). It must be emphasised that the George Cross (E.G.M.) awards are not associated with the later 1971 Albert Medal and Edward Medal Exchanges (Royal Warrants of 15.12.1971 refer)

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£14,000