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| Interesting groups of medals awarded to Australians Page 2 |
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Miniature medal set of Colonel Reuter Emerich Roth, Australian Army Medical Corps. Roth was born in Brighton, England in 1858 and educated in London at University College School. From 1874 he studied medicine at University College and Hospital. After graduation he migrated to Sydney and was commissioned in 1894 as a Captain in the Medical Staff Corps, Military Forces of New South Wales. He served during the South African War as Principal Medical Officer of 2 Mounted Infantry Brigade. He was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Distinguished Service Order. On his return to Australia in 1901 he was appointed the Principal Medical Officer of the Commonwealth Forces in NSW and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1909. In March 1915 Roth took command of 5 Field Ambulance, Australian Army Medical Corps and served at Gallipoli from August to December. He was promoted to Colonel in February 1916 and served in France as Deputy Director of Medical Services for 1 ANZAC Corps and then 2 ANZAC Corps. He was wounded during the battle of Fromelles and invalided to Australia in November 1916. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Order of St Michael and George in 1917. Roth died in New Caledonia in 1924. |
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| PMV18 Ordinary Seaman Ian Desmond Rhodes. Awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for action in HMS Kashmir during the Battle of Crete on 23 May 1941. Citation reads, 'For outstanding gallantry, fortitude and resolution during the Battle of Crete. After HMS KASHMIR had been hit amidships by a bomb and was sinking, the after-part was machine-gunned at short range by a JU.87 bomber. Ordinary Seaman RHODES was gun-layer of the port Oerlikon which was at that time going under water. |
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| In spite of the fact that the ship
was sinking rapidly, he climbed up to the Starboard Oerlikon and opened
fire on the aircraft, which was hit and crashed a few cables away'.
During the battle for Crete the destroyer Kashmir, on which Rhodes was serving was cut in halves by a bomb, and the Kelly, in command of Lord Louis Mountbatten, was also sunk when eighteen Stukas attacked them. Rhodes' account of the action reads, "Kelly turned turtle as a bomb crashed on her quarter-deck, and a bomb landed in front of me, cutting the Kashmir in half. My part of the ship - the stern - listed to port, and I continued firing until the gun was submerged. Then I crawled to starboard, intending to dive overboard, when a Stuka began dive-bombing and machine-gunning the swimming members of the crew. A German spotted me, and sent a stream of bullets at me. I got in a long burst, and saw the plane crash a hundred yards away. Kipling, whose steering-gear had been put out of action earlier, now re-appeared, steering with her engines, but, although attacked, she had a charmed life, and the crew calmly went on picking up survivors. All the eight Australians on board were rescued." |
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| 2058 Sergeant (later Air Commodore) Raymond James Brownell, a Tasmanian, enlisted on 12h September 1914 in 9 Battery, 3 Field Artillery Brigade. He was discharged on 16 March 1917 on transfer to the Royal Flying Corps (later Royal Air Force) for pilot training. He also served in the RAAF during WWII. Brownell was awarded the Military Medal in July 1916 for gallantry at Pozieres, and the Military Cross in January 1918 for his success as a fighter pilot with 45 Squadron in Italy. In 1921 Brownell joined the RAAF, and held the rank of Wing Commander at the outbreak of the Second World War. He was appointed Commander of the British Empire in January 1945 and retired from the RAAF in 1947. |
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| 411381 Flight Sergeant James Darcy William Renno, RAAF, served in 100 Squadron, RAF (Lancasters). Born in Sydney in 1918, he joined the RAAF from Grafton, NSW, and trained in Australia and Canada as a Wireless/Air Gunner before transferring to the RAF in England. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in May 1943 for the courage he displayed during an attack on Bochum, Germany, in which he was wounded. |
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| After recovering from his wounds Renno returned to 100 Squadron and on the night of 2/3 August took part in a raid on Hamburg. The 740 bombers taking part encountered a severe thunderstorm and many were forced to turn back. Renno's aircraft failed to return to base. His father wrote, in the 1950s, 'We lost our Only Son in the last war...I wanted to know if you could arrange to have his medals in the War Memorial...He was the last of the name and it will die out now. I am asking for his sake and Sacrifice.' | |
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| Lieutenant
George Herbert Somerville Cundy of 1 Light Horse Regiment, AIF enlisted
as a private on 22 August 1914 and was later commissioned. He returned
to Australia on 15 August 1918.
He was awarded a Military Cross for gallantry at Umm Es Shert in Palestine on 22 September 1918. He also served in the Second World War. |
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| 414333 Pilot Officer William John Armour RAAF, served with No 428 (Ghost) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force. Born in 1915 at Mount Morgan, Queensland, Armour enlisted in the RAAF in September 1941. He was sent to Canada as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme where he qualified as a pilot. Posted to 428 Squadron RCAF, Armour was described as 'a friend to everyone...full of fun, the life of the party, and in no way conceited'. |
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| He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1943. On the night of 20/21 December 1943, 650 aircraft raided Frankfurt. It was Armour's 25th operational trip. Armour's Halifax and its crew failed to return, one of 41 aircraft lost that night. | |
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Named and numbered to R144720 M S Bruhn, RAN (HMAS SUCCESS) |
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Mounted by The Military Workshop |
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Medal group to
a Lt General Sir Geoffrey Thompson KBE, CB, DSO. The recipient was the
Colonel Commandant of the Royal Artillery and was also the Military
Secretary to the Secretary of State (UK).
The mounted group is on an old Spinks
court mounting. His cap and epaulette insignia is included. Images from the Aubrey Bairstow Collection |
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