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Auction: 18003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 546

An interesting 'Royal Service' Malaya G.S.M. pair awarded to Hon. Colonel M. A. P. Mitchell, Coldstream Guards

Appointed Equerry to Princess Margaret in 1962, Mitchell oversaw the presentation of new Colours to the regiment at Windsor in 1976

General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya (2/Lt. M. A. P. Mitchell. Coldm. Gds.); Jubilee 1977, mounted as worn, with the recipient's related dress miniatures, good very fine (4)

Michael Andrew Patrick Mitchell was born at Broadstairs in Kent in 1928. Educated at Harrow School, he attended Sandhurst and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards on 15 July 1948.

Active service

By way of introduction, Malaya - now 'Malaysia' - was a British colony until February 1942, when it surrendered to the invading Japanese. Three years of cruel occupation followed. Britain armed and supported a Communist resistance movement known as the Malay Peoples Anti-Japanese Army (MPAJA), in the hope of diverting Japanese attention from Burma. The predominantly Chinese MPAJA strove for a Communist state in Malaya, turning on the British as soon as the war was over. Britain quickly re-established control and disbanded the MPAJA, but its members remained in the jungle with their weapons and equipment.

Over the ensuing two years, Malayan Communists attacked rubber plantations and terrorised the Malayan population. A State of Emergency was declared in June 1948, and Britain sent a task force which included three Guards' battalions. Mitchell's battalion arrived at Singapore in early October and spent three weeks training in the jungle, before moving upcountry to Tapah. The Coldstream were to spend the next two years there, encamped mostly in bamboo and atap huts.

The Malayan Police were overstretched dealing with Communist terrorists, and the Coldstream were initially tasked with guarding key buildings and infrastructure. Gradually the terrorists were pushed deeper into the jungle, and in 1949 the Coldstream set off in pursuit. The nature of jungle warfare meant that whenever contact was made with the enemy, engagements were at close quarters and very intense. Since there were no helicopters, re-supply was by parachute and casualties had to be evacuated on stretchers. The Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel R. G. V. FitzGeorge-Balfour, C.B.E., M.C., realised that the terrorists could be starved of materiél if the local population were kraaled into controlled villages or kampongs. Malayans dismantled their huts and re-erected them in new kampongs with British assistance and manpower. About 30 kampongs were established, each surrounded by an 8-foot high wire fence. 'Kampong Coldstream' still exists. FitzGeorge-Balfour's scheme was hugely successful in denying supplies to the Communists. 2nd Battalion was relieved by 45 Commando in July 1950, returning home with 24 honours and awards. On 15 July, Mitchell was advanced to Lieutenant.

A.D.C. - Adjutant

Mitchell took part in the first Queen's Birthday Parade ('Trooping the Colour') at Horse Guards on 11 June 1953, marching with No. 8 Guard. From 1953 to 1956 he was Adjutant of the Guards' Training Battalion at Pirbright, receiving promotion to Captain on 5 May 1955. He then spent two years as Aide de Camp to Field Marshal Viscount Slim, then Governor of Australia. In 1959 he was appointed Adjutant of Infantry at Armoury House, the London Headquarters of the Honourable Artillery Company. On 4 December 1961 he was promoted to Major.

Royal service

On 1 August 1962, Kensington Palace announced that Princess Margaret was to have an equerry, the first such appointment to her household. Mitchell took up the responsibility on 1 October, shortly after Princess Margaret had married the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones. He accompanied Princess Margaret on numerous official visits and was photographed behind her when she visited R.A.F Coltishall in Norfolk in 1963.

He subsequently married Jill Taylor, daughter of Colonel and Mrs. H. M. Taylor of Mayes Green Cottage, Ockley, Surrey. Promoted Lieutenant-Colonel on 30 June 1970, he was present at Windsor Castle on 30 April 1976, when the regiment was presented with new Colours by Her Majesty the Queen. The Queen directly addressed Mitchell during the ceremony.

Mitchell retired on 3 September 1978, with the rank of Honorary Colonel. On 9 September 2000, he attended a 2nd Battalion Reunion Dinner at the Aztec Hotel in Bristol. This dinner marked the 50th Anniversary of the battalion's return from Malaya. Mitchell died just a few months later; sold with a file of copied research.

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Sold for
£360