Medals from the ‘forgotten’ campaign in Burma and India meet mixed results while a French SAS operative’s ephemera smashes its guide
CHINDIT AMBUSH MC SURPRISES
The medals awarded to the mastermind of a string of ambushes on the Japanese was sold recently by Noonans
The medals awarded to Captain Harry Marshall impressed not only owing of the significance of his awards or the connectionnection to a famous special operations group, but also due to the archive charting his remarkable story.
Born in London in December 1916, Marshall joined the London Scottish Regiment in 1938 but on the outbreak of war was sent for officer training and later commissioned into the 4th Border Regiment. In 1942 that battalion was redeployed from North Africa to India and there the then lieutenant learned it was to form part of the 23rd British Infantry Brigade and the celebrated Chindits.
After being posted in readiness for the first operation, he contracted amoebic hepatitis, which almost killed him. On re-joining his unit, his platoon was deployed for a behind enemy lines excursion between April and July 1944, during which he would earn the MC.
The platoon set off from the Bhramaputra Valley, marching with full kit in u…
