Miniature Medals

In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe group of six miniature dress medals worn by Lieutenant-Colonel J. M. H. Hailes, Royal Artillery Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R. [sic], silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; 1939-45 Star; War Medal 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Palestine 1945-48, Malaya, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Korea 1950-53, 1st issue; U.N. Korea 1950-54, mounted as worn, generally very fine and better (6) £200-£300 --- D.S.O. London Gazette 24 April 1953: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished flying services in Korea’. The original recommendation states: ‘Major Hailes has been in command of 1903 Air OP Flight RAF since July 1952. He joined the Flight at a time when two pilots had been shot down and two others had changed. There was therefore concern at the possibility of the operational efficiency of the Flight dropping considerably. In the event this did not happen and, in fact, the reverse was the case as the Flight went from strength to strength. The credit for this rests entirely with Major Hailes. From the very outset he was complete master of the situation and displayed leadership of the highest order in all spheres but most particularly from the operational aspect. He himself did far more flying than his duties as Flight Commander called for and it was characteristic of his him that he would always use the most doubtful aircraft leaving the others for the remaining pilots. His magnificent example, efficiency and courage during this difficult period was a great inspiration to the more experienced pilots and filled the younger ones with unshakeable confidence. While going to great pains to train his younger pilots he carried, at the same time, an even greater share of the operational sorties than would have been his in a normal situation. He has personally flown 125 sorties and conducted 166 shoots with guns of the Divisional and Corps artillery. In doing this he has been responsible for inflicting many casualties of both men and equipment on the enemy. The whole Division has the greatest respect and admiration for the Air OP Flight and this is a direct result of the magnificent leadership, courage and conscientiousness consistently displayed by Major Hailes throughout the period. His work in all spheres has been far above what one would expect in the normal line of duty and I recommend services of such a high order be recognised in the form of an appropriate award.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 7 January 1949 (Palestine) ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Palestine during the period 27 March to 26 September 1947.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 27 April 1951: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Malaya during the period 1 July to 31 December 1950.’ John Martin Hunter ‘Jack’ Hailes was born on 27 January 1920 in Maymyo, a pleasant hill station in central Burma where, in the early 1920’s, George Orwell served as Assistant District Superintendent of Police. As a young boy he lived in Mandalay, where his father was a District Superintendent of Railways. He was educated at Cheltenham College, his father’s alma mater. As war approached, Hailes decided to join the regular army and entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in January 1939. As war became inevitable, the pace of his training was accelerated and he was sent to 122 Officer Cadet Training Unit in August. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant, Royal Artillery, on 9 December 1939, with regimental seniority from 4 November 1939, and was posted as a Troop Commander to 51st Anti-tank Regiment, 51st (Highland) Division, which landed in France in January 1940 to join the British Expeditionary Force. The Battle of France On 19 April 1940 the 51st Division was detached from the rest of the B.E.F. It was put under French command and moved to a section of the Franco-German frontier just south of Luxembourg and in front of one of the most powerful and impressive showpiece underground fortresses of the Maginot Line, the Ouvrage Hackenburg, which had been inspected by King George VI. The intent was to stiffen Allied defences at the northern end of the Maginot Line in case of a German attack on the western front during the invasion of Norway. France had briefly invaded German Saar in this sector in September 1940 when its ally Poland was attacked. Since Norway was now under German attack, the French High Command deemed it prudent to anticipate possible enemy action on the Western Front. The Germans did not oblige the French generals by attacking their Maginot defence works. They simply outflanked them and by the end of May had trapped the entire Allied northern forces in the Dunkirk beachhead. Meanwhile, the French desperately tried to form a new defence line along the River Somme in Picardy. Fortress Hackenburg was harassed by German forces but never directly attacked. The 51st Division was withdrawn from Lorraine and moved by train and road to Picardy. It saw much action assisting the French in their futile attempts to repulse the Germans from the Somme bridgeheads at Abbeville. After further clashes at Huchenneville, the Division was reduced to half its fighting strength by 6 June and was desperately short of supplies, especially ammunition. The only remaining option was evacuation by sea. 154 Brigade was rescued from Le Havre and Cherbourg but the rest of the Division was encircled. The Royal Navy landed at the small port of St Valery-en-Caux near Dieppe on 10 June to try to snatch as many men as possible. Unfortunately, the retreat of 51th Division to the coast had been held up, and a thick fog descended during the night of 11-12 which made it too risky for ships to enter and leave the port. All artillery ammunition had run out and the Division was forced to surrender to overwhelming German forces on 12 June. Hailes joined some 10,000 men who were marched off to prisoner-of-war camps in the Reich. Hailes was promoted to Lieutenant on 9 June 1941 and remained a Prisoner of War in various camps in Poland, Germany and Austria until 13 April 1945. After his return to England, Hailes was assigned to a number of refresher courses and training appointments to prepare him for his promotion to Captain on 1 July 1946. Northern Italy, Egypt, Palestine and Malaya Early in 1946 Hailes decided that he wished to become a Royal Artillery Air Observer. The tethered kite balloons of the Great War had been very effective in acquiring targets far behind the frontlines and directing artillery to neutralise them, but balloons were useless for mobile warfare. They were replaced by small light aircraft, fitted with radios. Controlling artillery from the air was a specialised and technical skill, which the RAF had no interest in developing. However, since the days of Trenchard, the RAF hierarchy had insisted that anything that flew ‘belonged to them’. The agreed compromise was that the Air Observation Post (AOP) units themselves were part of the RAF, as were the aircraft and the more skilled members of the ground crew. The artillery would provide all the observers, and the non-technical ground staff. To be an air observer, Hailes had first to learn to fly a...