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Auction: 24112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 576

(x) The campaign group of eight awarded to Fusilier J. Strong, Royal Irish Fusiliers, who was taken Prisoner of War on 16 November 1943 during the Battle for Leros

General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine (6979116 Fsr. J. S. Strong. R. Ir Fus.); 1939-1945 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Defence Medal; War Medal 1939-45; United Nations Medal for Korea; Africa General Service Medal 1902-56, 1 clasp, Kenya (6979116 Fus. J. Strong. R.Ir.F.), court mounted for display, some light contact marks throughout, otherwise very fine (8)

J. Strong was noted as missing on 16 November 1943 in the Middle East/Aegean theatre and was later reported as being a Prisoner of War, and housed in Camp 11A Altengrabow.

The Battle of Leros 12 November 1943 - 17 November 1943

The 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers left Malta in June 1943 having survived the siege of that island and all the privations that a siege and blockade normally entail. The Faughs arrived in Port Said after a sea journey via Tripoli. After leave, and two months of hard training in mountain warfare and practice with landing craft, speculation about its destination was rife.

The Faughs were in fact destined for the Aegean, which had been the scene of intense fighting between Axis and Allied forces in 1941. By early October the Battalion had established itself on the island of Leros. One of the Dodecanese, or Twelve Islands, in the Aegean, Leros is situated a few miles from the Turkish coast, with the islands of Samos and Kos close by. The island had been garrisoned by the Italians until Italy surrendered to the Allies. The Faughs' Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Maurice French, judged this rugged, hilly little island difficult to defend against sea or air invasion, and the Germans had total control of the air. Although he proposed a plan for the defence of the island, garrison commander Brigadier Tilney chose not to implement it. The Germans overran Kos at the start of October and closed in on Leros. On 12 November, after a fifty day aerial bombardment of the island and its defences, 700 German paratroopers made the first of a series of landings. This attack resembled the famous invasion of Crete and, unfortunately for the Faughs, the outcome would be very much the same.

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Sold for
£450

Starting price
£140