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Auction: 22003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 323

Five: Sergeant W. J. Howard, 8th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, later Royal Military Police, who was wounded in action in France in 1940

1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Efficiency Medal, Territorial (5108353 Sjt. W. J. Howard. C.M.P.), very fine (5)

W. J. Howard is confirmed as having been wounded in action with the 8th Battalion in France. The date of his wound is not recorded but another soldier on the same casualty list (not from this unit) notes the date 26 May 1940.

His unit found themselves south of the Escault Canal and around the town of Calonne. The unit history records:

'Things went harder with the 8th Battalion on May 20th. All three forward companies were mortared, shelled, sniped and machine-gunned, with special attention to C Company on the right, where 2/Lieutenant D. F. Hanmer and RSM Knight were wounded early in the day. Battalion HQ at Warnaffles Farm was like wise shelled. So was B Echelon, back at Le Preau. C Company brought down Artillery fire on the buildings opposite its front and managed to silence the enemy there, as well as to shoot a number of Germans driven out of the buildings by shelling.

B Company on the left, saw Germans at some distance bringing forward what looked like pontoon equipment, though no effort was made to bridge the river with it during daylight. At nightfall, however, enemy parties launched an attack against B Company with two assault boats, making use also of two small, partly demolished bridges. Both boats were destroyed, "one of them by a lucky grenade thrown when it was under cover of the bank on our side", and the attack was beaten off. But the battalion was losing a good many men from the unremitting enemy fire.

Captain N. S. Robinson, the Medical Officer, was killed by a shell while loading up an ambulance outside the battalion aid post. And by a horrible mischance Captain Glover of B Company was shot dead by one of his own Corporals, who had reportedly gone insane. It was doubly hard to lose a fine officer in such a manner.

The German fire abated little by little. Shortly after midnight, on the B Company front the enemy was observed trying to swing a pontoon into a bridge gap. This bridge was blown right against the enemy side, and was close to some solid buildings with a wide gate just opposite, giving an easy approach to within a few yards of the gap. Fire was opened and the pontoon was left suspended in the air (from a crane) where, by keeping it under fire, it remained all night.

The day ended, then, with the battalion intact, but with two disquieting features. The first was that, at midnight, a C Company patrol covering the open flank was fired on from a building on the home bank: the Germans had secured a lodgement. The second was that there was no sign of the relieving battalion; and that there was no news either of its whereabouts or of future plans for the 8th Battalion.

May 21st was a grim day for both the 8th Battalion and the 2nd. During the night our Artillery had fired repeatedly at suspected enemy concentrations opposite the 2nd Battalion. Before dawn, D Company was reporting heavy enemy pressure, from Germans now in some numbers on the home bank of the river.

Though not under such direct pressure, B Company had likewise had some critical moments. During the night of May 20/21 enemy shelling was relentlessly heavy and accurate. The Commander and Sergeant of No. 10 Platoon were badly wounded; indeed so many men became casualties that the platoon became demoralised. It was courageously rallied by 2/ Lieutenant B. L. Gunnell, then acting as Company 2nd-in-Command, who went forward and reorganised the platoon, successfully restoring its confidence and morale. For this action, and for his subsequent resistance at Wormhoudt, where he was actually commanding No.10 Platoon, 2/ Lieutenant Gunnell won the MC.

By the morning of the 22nd and still at Calonne, enemy infantry, advancing on the heels of their own bombardment, tried to get across the river. But some B Company posts were still holding on among the shattered buildings, and they held back the enemy by small-arms fire. Some Germans did manage to cross on the Battalion's left, only to be wiped out by the Royal Scots.

As these attempts had come to nothing, the Germans resorted once more to pounding the battalion area with high-explosive. Many casualties were incurred by the battalion; and in the confusion some Germans seem to have crossed the river at about the junction between B and A Companies. All lines were smashed, and no contact could be made with Battalion HQ. B Company had been effectively destroyed and had lost both Captain Glover and Captain H. Sparrow. The remainder of the company was led out by Sergeant Bate, but even here encountered German motor-cyclists as they moved through the main street at Calonne. Finally, and after many hours of frustration in holding on, the Warwick's were able to hand over their position to the Royal Scots.'

A gallant record of service indeed and it seems certainly in which Howard was himself wounded.

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Sold for
£130

Starting price
£130