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Auction: 17002 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 331

A Second World War B.E.M. group of four awarded to Sergeant J. Brownley, The Black Watch, who was wounded whilst serving in the 1st Tyneside Scottish in France in May 1940 and evacuated from Dunkirk

British Empire Medal (Military), G.VI.R. (4455761 Sgt. John Brownley), officially impressed naming on pre-prepared ground; 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, contact marks and severe edge bruising to the first, otherwise nearly very fine or better (4)

B.E.M. London Gazette 8 June 1944. The original recommendation states:

'This N.C.O. joined the T.A. in June 1939 and was embodied into the Tyneside Scottish Battalion of The Black Watch at the outbreak of war in the same year, proceeding to France with the Battalion in 1940, where he was wounded and evacuated from Dunkirk. Sergeant Brownley has maintained a high level of hard working efficiency throughout and has been of unfailing assistance to his commanding officer, both in the training of the Pioneer Platoon and carrying out the constant tasks demanded of him in his specialist capacity in this country and overseas, including Ireland.'

John Brownley was among the ranks of the 1st Battalion, Tyneside Scottish (Black Watch) deployed to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) in April 1940. The Battalion, part of the 70th Infantry Brigade in the 23rd Northumbrian Division, was originally tasked with the construction of airfields around Frevant.

In May 1940, when the Germans unleashed their Blitzkreig and invaded France and the Low Countries, the 1st Tyneside Scottish faced off three Panzer columns at Ficheux, and Mercatel, near Arras - one of those columns was commanded by Rommel. With little by way of transport and no radio communication or artillery, the Battalion was outflanked and outgunned. Yet, at the cost of heavy casualties - Brownley among them - it held the advancing German armour for vital hours. He was subsequently evacuated from Dunkirk, one of just 140 men of the Battalion to make it back to the U.K.; sold with copied research.

For extensive coverage of the gallant stands made by the 1st Tyneside Scottish in France in May 1940 see: http://70brigade.newmp.org.uk/wiki/1st_Tyneside_Scottish_May_1940


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Sold for
£380