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Auction: 19003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 270

An extremely fine 1944 'D-Day' group of four awarded to Honorary Captain E. G. Pool, 7th Battalion, Parachute Regiment, late Middlesex Regiment, who led his platoon on a mission to hold the western approaches to Pegasus Bridge, a 'Bridge too Far', being awarded the M.C. for his actions in the face of continuous attack by superior forces. He was later severely wounded in action, resulting in the amputation of his left leg

1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, unnamed as issued, together with Buckingham Palace award slip named to 'Lieutenant E. G. Pool, M.C., The Army Air Corps', medal slip and original O.H.M.S. box of transmittal, addressed to 'Capt. E. G. Pool M.C., Boote House, Kirtling Green, Newmarket, W/6' - the address pencilled through and later annotated in ink 'Flat 14, 54 Ladbroke Grove, London. W11.', good very fine (4)

[M.C.] London Gazette 31 August 1944. The original recommendation states:

'Lieutenant Pool's platoon was required to hold an outpost on the western bridgehead held by the airborne troops over the Caen Canal at Benouville. He held this outpost for 21 hours on 6th June '44, during which time he was almost continuously attacked by superior forces. Lieutenant Pool's personal example, cheerfulness and bravery were an inspiration to all who served under him. In addition he led numerous offensive patrols which played a material part in the successful action of his battalion.'

Edward Gordon Pool, or 'Teddy' to his friends and comrades, was born on 18 December 1922 at Hampstead, London, the son of Gordon Desmond Pool and Agatha Eleanor Mary Burrows. Educated at Cheltenham College, a rather 'green' Pool attempted in 1940 to join the Brigade of Guards, but was redirected by a rather 'portly Recruiting Sergeant' from Whitehall towards a Recruiting Office for the Middlesex Regiment at Hendon. After enlisting, Pool and five other recruits were given a small advance of pay and railway warrants to their various destinations. Armed with a few pennies, they were sitting ducks:

'Once we were out of hearing of the Recruitment Officer, the bulky red-sashed Recruiting Sergeant called us together. "Usually," he said, "I march you young fellows down to the station and on the way we call to the pub and you buy me some beer so that I can drink to your health and success in your Army career. Unfortunately today I am too busy and so I'll take the beer money now." He held out his hand. We paid up' (A Tale of Two Bridges, refers).

Posted to Hurst Park, Pool was soon promoted from Private to Lance-Corporal on account of his knowledge of weaponry from his days in the O.T.C. at school. At 6 foot 3 inches tall and over 14 stone in weight, he had quite a presence:

'Twice a week the junior N.C.O.'s were called out for further training after the normal parade hours by the Regimental Sergeant Major. He would pick on us for imaginary faults such as a speck of dust on a rifle, dubbed as 'indescribable filth'. He would then offer to report us to the Company Commander 'for sloppy turn out' or as an alternative we could have a toe-to-toe boxing match with him in his office. The R.S.M. had been a welterweight boxing champion, but age and the Sergeant's Mess beer had slowed him up. I had boxed at school, I could outreach him easily. I managed to land a few stinging blows one day, after which he picked on men of his own size.'

Catching the eye of the Colonel

His exploits ensured Pool was put forward for commission, but just as he was about to go to the Black Button O.C.T.U. at Petrim Down, he was struck by a learner riding a motorcycle, breaking his leg. Taken to hospital, Pool recovered and was commissioned soon thereafter into the Royal Irish Fusiliers, subsequently joining the 7th Battalion, Parachute Regiment at Bulford. As he drove into barracks in his first car, a diminutive Austin 7, his leg no doubt still somewhat sore, the R.S.M. remarked:

'Trying to make love in that contraption must be like attempting to play a trombone in a telephone kiosk.'

Issued with a red beret, but of course no wings as yet, Pool was posted to 'B' Company to command No. 5 Platoon and taken on strength on 1 May 1943. Put through parachute courses at Hardwick Hall, he was one of 11 officers and 72 of the initial 88 other ranks who completed the training and later found themselves practising street fighting in bombed out areas of Battersea and enrolled upon a sniping course in a 'very pleasant Devonshire seaside resort'.

By now the parachutists had been given bigger and better aircraft. Roomy Stirling bombers which were unpopular with bombing crews because of their lack of ceiling were seen as ideal to men of the Parachute Regiment, due to their large aperture which allowed 20 men to exit an aeroplane carrying heavy equipment in a bag attached to the leg. During January 1944 the Battalion commenced mobilisation and Pool continued with intensive divisional exercises and jumps from smaller Albermarles and the side doors of Douglas C47's.

A Royal Inspection

In May 1944 the 6th Airborne Division paraded upon a dropping zone which was inspected by the King and Queen. Marching at ease back to Bulford a loud voice in 'A' Company was heard to say, 'Who was that smasher walking behind the Queen?' Colonel Geoffrey Pine-Coffin answered, 'She was a Lady-in-Waiting.' A voice from 'A' Company replied, 'If I was the King she wouldn't be waiting long!'

At the end of April, the Battalion transferred to Exeter and Exmouth where they camped in woods and practised river crossings with inflatable rubber dinghies on the Exe and its parallel canal. Local residents were told that the men were having rest from hard training, but towards the end of May 1944 the 7th Battalion were moved to a sealed camp at Tilshead, near Fairford aerodrome, where all too soon the reasoning behind their training endeavours became apparent.

D-Day - Take and hold the bridges over the Orne and Caen Canal

Pool was dropped at No. 1 from a Stirling aircraft in the early hours of 6 June 1944 near Le Port, a small village close to what is now Pegasus Bridge. Serving as No. 5 Platoon commander to 'B' Company, 7th Battalion, Parachute Regiment, his men had the unenviable task of holding the western approach to the bridge, which crossed the Caen Canal at Benouville. Success would aid the bridge's capture by the glider-borne 'coup de main' company of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

Having successfully made his way to the rendezvous point, Pool was charged by Lieutenant-Colonel Pine-Coffin to occupy the village of Le Port:

'During our advance of the village we heard a German group behind a hedgerow we were about to cross. I tossed a 36 grenade over the hedge. After the explosion we heard the sound of running feet and the cries of a wounded German soldier. At dawn we were troubled by snipers from the church tower. I tried to rush the tower with a small patrol, but we were driven back down the narrow staircase by stick grenades and Schmeisser fire.'

The tower snipers were later eliminated by an accurate shot from a PIAT and Pool set about consolidating his position via the digging of slit trenches, all the while 'encouraged by being mortared and shelled'.

The attack on the farmhouse at Breville

Having survived D-Day, Pool's luck was soon to run out. On 18 June a large fighting patrol was organised to attack an enemy strongpoint later christened by the 7th Battalion as 'Bob's Farm', named after the new C.O., Major Keene. Despite Pool's request to go in quietly and use the element of surprise, the farmhouse faced a barrage by the 53rd Air Landing Light Regiment which did little but alert the enemy and give them time to prepare:

'My platoon was on the left flank. At the last moment as we lined up to charge we saw a previously concealed enemy machine gun post on our flank, near a crossed track. I took my runner, we managed to silence the machine gunners. I gambled that the German field gunners were ranged on another area. I was wrong. There was a loud groaning noise like a giant rusty hinged door being opened as the rockets of a multi-barrel mortar fired. We were both severely hit by the fragments.'

Pool's runner was killed and he was left on the ground with his left foot at an odd angle and with wounds to his right hip and left leg caused by shrapnel. He was dragged to safety by Sergeant McCambridge and some riflemen, but endured weeks of great pain and semi-consciousness before returning home to a recuperation centre in England having had to lose the leg. He may have also suffered from burns, small pieces of shrapnel being responsible for igniting a phosphorous grenade in his ammunition pouch. For his inspirational leadership and courage he was awarded the M.C.

Despite the loss of his leg, Pool continued to serve, being commissioned Lieutenant with the Special Air Service Regiment, Territorial Army, on 22 January 1954, with seniority from 24 April 1944. He was later appointed Honorary Captain on 16 June 1955.

Full pint

In the late 1940's, Pool embraced skiing, sailing, mountaineering and amateur motor racing. He owned a succession of lively motor cars, including a Red Label Bentley, a Type 35 Bugatti, an ERA and a Rolls-Royce. In his seventies he switched to rally driving, which he enjoyed until well into his eighties. On one occasion, racing the Bugatti, he overturned the car on a bend. An ambulance crew rushed to his aid and asked him if he was hurt. They were momentarily perplexed when he replied:

'I'm fine except that I've broken my ruddy leg.'

It was the wooden one.

As his father - the owner of a prosperous wholesale meat business - had died in 1942, and his brother Peter Desmond Pool had also been killed whilst flying a Spitfire on 9 October 1942, it fell to Edward Pool to take over the family enterprise. He had however a profound distaste for the abattoirs and the business was sold. In the mid 1950's he married Diana Veasey, but the marriage was later dissolved. Pool married secondly Elisabeth Frink, the sculptor, and the couple began a new life as viticulturists in France. Eventually this too came to an end, and Pool returned to London whereupon he married thirdly Christabel Briggs, a director of the Piccadilly Gallery in Cork Street. Pool died in London on 1 January 2013; sold with copied research.


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Sold for
£1,600

Starting price
£280