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Auction: 23112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 572

The well-documented group of three awarded to to Lieutenant G. C. Fenton, Merchant Navy, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force, who was later interned by the Japanese when they invaded Borneo during the Second World War

Fenton became a civilian internee at Batu Lintang camp in Kuching, Sarawak but latterly suffered the ignominy of being 'retired' from the post of Post Master General, Sandakan, North Borneo when he was found guilty of grave neglect of duty in April 1948 for the theft of a significant quantity of stamps by a clerk


British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. G. C. Fenton. R.A.F.); Mercantile Marine War Medal 1914-20 (Gilbert C Fenton), all but mint (3)

Gilbert Coreilli Fenton, a native of Hackney, was born on 17 July 1893. He qualified as an electrician with the Electrical Engineer Institute and later worked for The Marconi Company from October 1912-December 1914 and Siemens Brothers in Woolwich from March 1914-December 1917. He joined the Merchant Navy as 1st Wireless Operator on Mercantile Marine Royal Navy transport vessels. He also held a 1st class P.M.G. certificate for both Marconi and Telefunken wireless apparatus.

Fenton was commissioned as a Probationary Observer Officer in the Royal Naval Air Service on 21 January 1918 and later 2nd Lieutenant in August 1918 serving until October 1919 when he left the service.

Seeking adventure Fenton left for the Far East in November 1920 and initially held the post of Assistant Superintendent of Posts and Telegraphs in Sandakan, North Borneo before being promoted to Postmaster General for Sandakan. He and his wife, Hilda Emily Fenton, who he had married in 1920, bought a property on Guernsey in 1938 just before he was recalled to Sandakan in the Post and Telegraph Department.

Both he and his wife became civilian internees of the Japanese when they invaded Borneo, although held in separate camps in Kuching. They returned to Guernsey briefly after the war before Fenton resumed his post in Sandakan.

An unfortunate incident occurred in 1948 which was to have dramatic repercussions for Fenton. A clerk in the Posts & Telegraphs Department in North Borneo was found guilty of stealing a significant quantity of stamps. Fenton and a senior colleague were subsequently found guilty of grave neglect of duty with Fenton suffering the ignominy of being 'retired' from the service and sent home.

As a postscript the town of Sandakan became embroiled in a major criminal investigation by Allied forces as it became known that the Japanese had forcibly moved the internees in 1945, mainly Australians, from the Sandakan prisoner of war camp to Ranau in what became known as 'The Sandakan Death Marches'. Only a handful of POWs who escaped on route survived, the remainder, several thousand poor souls, either dying from the effects of the march or being murdered during the march. The Sandakan Death Marches have been the subject of several books.

Fenton died in May 1974 at his home, La Rocque Colin, St. Peter-in-the-wood, Guernsey, Channel Islands; sold together with the boxes of issue for his Medals with their original silk ribbons, a quantity of research and numerous personal diaries (from the Great War through to 1941), which give a remarkable insight to his career and experiences.


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Sold for
£220

Starting price
£210