Lot

57

An extremely rare Second War 'Normandy June 1944 (D-Day Plus 1) operations' D.S.O. group of...

In Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

This auction is live! You need to be registered and approved to bid at this auction.
You have been outbid. For the best chance of winning, increase your maximum bid.
Your bid or registration is pending approval with the auctioneer. Please check your email account for more details.
Unfortunately, your registration has been declined by the auctioneer. You can contact the auctioneer on +44 (0) 20 7016 1700 for more information.
You are the current highest bidder! To be sure to win, log in for the live auction broadcast on or increase your max bid.
Leave a bid now! Your registration has been successful.
Sorry, bidding has ended on this item. We have thousands of new lots everyday, start a new search.
Bidding on this auction has not started. Please register now so you are approved to bid when auction starts.
1/2
An extremely rare Second War 'Normandy June 1944 (D-Day Plus 1) operations' D.S.O. group of... - Image 1 of 2
An extremely rare Second War 'Normandy June 1944 (D-Day Plus 1) operations' D.S.O. group of... - Image 2 of 2
An extremely rare Second War 'Normandy June 1944 (D-Day Plus 1) operations' D.S.O. group of... - Image 1 of 2
An extremely rare Second War 'Normandy June 1944 (D-Day Plus 1) operations' D.S.O. group of... - Image 2 of 2
Interested in the price of this lot?
Subscribe to the price guide
London
An extremely rare Second War ‘Normandy June 1944 (D-Day Plus 1) operations’ D.S.O. group of six awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel R. G. Kreyer, 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, late 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales’s Own) (Sikhs), 12th Frontier Force Regiment, who having distinguished himself on the North West Frontier landed with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on Sword Beach, 6 June 1944. Kreyer was Second in Command of the 2nd Battalion for D-Day, and took over command the following day as a result of the death of the C.O. Colonel ‘Jumbo’ Herdon during the attack on Lebisey. He continued to command the Battalion until the 11th of June, and was wounded in the subsequent fighting around Cuillerville Wood, when the Battalion came up against Tiger tanks
Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., silver-gilt and enamel, reverse officially dated ‘1944’, with integral top riband bar; India General Service 1936-39, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1936-37, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt. R. G. Kreyer, 1-12 F.F.R.); 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, good very fine or better (6) £4,000-£5,000 --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, July 2004 D.S.O. London Gazette 31 August 1944: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Normandy.’ The original recommendation states: ‘Major Kreyer took command of the 2nd Royal Warwicks when the C.O. was killed during the early stages of the attack on Lebisey on 7 June 1944. On entering the wood the Battalion came under very heavy and unexpected sniper and machine-gun fire from all directions in very thickly wooded country. Communications between companies broke down. Casualties were very heavy and considerable disorganisation resulted. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Major Kreyer took over control and restored what had become an extremely critical situation. Later, when enemy tanks attacked, the Battalion having lost its anti-tank guns, with great coolness he re-organised the troops to meet this unexpected menace with the result that the last attack failed to achieve its purpose. Finally, on orders from Brigade, he successfully withdrew the Battalion in good order from its position which had become untenable. Throughout the operation his cool judgement, leadership and contempt of danger were of a high order and a great inspiration to all ranks.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 16 August 1938: ‘For distinguished services in connection with the operations in Waziristan, North West Frontier of India, 16 September to 15 December 1937.’ Robin Grey Kreyer, who was born in April 1910, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on the Supplementary Reserve in September 1930. Afterwards placed on the Unattached List for an appointment in the I.A., he arrived in India in October 1932 and was posted to the 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales’s Own) (Sikhs), 12th Frontier Force Regiment, at Sangor. Kreyer was advanced to Lieutenant in December 1934 and was mentioned in despatches for distinguished on the North West Frontier whilst attached to the 5th Battalion, Queen’s Own Corps of Guides. Just one year on from this announcement, however, Kreyer disappears from the Indian Army List, a fact that goes someway to supporting a contention that he was compelled to resign his commission as a result of some petty offence. So it was that he enlisted in the ranks of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on the renewal of hostilities in 1939, and went out to join the B.E.F., almost certainly with the 2nd Battalion, whom he would later command immediately after D-Day. This assumption being right, he would have participated in the bitter fighting at Wormhoudt in late May 1940. Mercifully he was not among the 80 or 90 men - most of them from the 2nd Warwickshires - who were taken prisoner, herded into a barn and murdered by the S.S. Undoubtedly, though, Kreyer distinguished himself, for in a somewhat unusual announcement made in The London Gazette on 21 March 1941, it was ordained that ‘Lance-Corporal Robin Grey Kreyer (44716), Royal Warwickshire Regiment’ was to be appointed a substantive Lieutenant (w.e.f. 15 February 1941). By the time of the Normandy landings in June 1944, Kreyer had risen to the rank of Major and was serving as Second in command of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, part of 185 Infantry Brigade, 3rd British Division. As such, he must have been among those who landed at Sword Beach on D-Day, an incident recorded for posterity by a fellow Battalion officer: ‘Dawn came - few had had much sleep - even fewer managed to eat breakfasts - some looked very ill in spite of sea-sick pills ... land was just in sight, and the rumble of naval guns rolled back to us across the water, as we steered in line ahead through the narrow lanes swept by the mine-sweepers, towards the shore. Soon it was time to assemble, as the craft fanned out into line abreast. Kits were put on - guns checked over - all was ready, and the men moved forward to their stations. Occasionally a whining sound would swish over the ship, our first experience of an angry missile ... We could see the spouts of water shoot up as enemy bombs and shells fell into the sea; and small clouds of black and white smoke rise up as the enemy fire came down on the beaches. The naval guns had lifted to targets behind, but our ‘planes swept overhead ... Nothing hit our craft as we raced in, but other companies were not so lucky ... At last we touched the beach. Down went the ramps and ashore we stumbled, lugging our kits through the last few yards of shallow sea, up breathless and anxious on to the sandy beach...’ Other companies were indeed ‘not so lucky’, one Warwickshires’ L.C.I. (Landing Craft Infantry) hitting a mine as its bow grounded, and another being hit three times by shellfire offshore and having both of its landing ramps shot away by mortar fire. Further casualties were sustained later in the day, when, according to the regimental history, ‘a glider fleet of the 6th Airborne Division’s follow-up units appeared over head, circled and came in to land right among the Warwickshire men, undeterred by the black puffs of flak that greeted them. One glider unhappily descended on top of two B Company signallers who, wearing headphones, had not realized the danger. Both were killed.’ In fact, by the evening of D-Day, having moved a mile or two inland along the River Orne, Kreyer’s Battalion had sustained four fatalities and 35 wounded. Yet far worse was to follow when the Battalion was allocated to attack Lebisey on D-Day plus 1, the 7 June 1944, the village and wood having been occupied by a Battalion of the 125th Panzer Grenadiers (21st Panzer Division), a ‘fresh unit of formidable fighting quality’. It was here that Kreyer won his immediate D.S.O., taking over command of the Battalion when his C.O., Colonel “Jumbo” Herdon, was killed by machine-gun fire. As the regimental history states, ‘it was some consolation that his 2nd in command, Major R. G. Kreyer, took over with admirable firmness’, firmness of command that he successfully displayed until the arrival of a replacement C.O. on 11 June 1944. Battalion casualties, meanwhile, had increased by 10 officers and 144 other ranks on the 7 June alone, an indication of the ferocity of the fighting during Kreyer’s tenure of command. Inevitably, perhaps, he was wounded in the subsequent fighting around Cuillerville Wood, when the Battalion came up against Tiger tanks and endured ‘the worse shelling than it had to endure at any period in the whole campaign.’ He was, ...
An extremely rare Second War ‘Normandy June 1944 (D-Day Plus 1) operations’ D.S.O. group of six awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel R. G. Kreyer, 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, late 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales’s Own) (Sikhs), 12th Frontier Force Regiment, who having distinguished himself on the North West Frontier landed with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on Sword Beach, 6 June 1944. Kreyer was Second in Command of the 2nd Battalion for D-Day, and took over command the following day as a result of the death of the C.O. Colonel ‘Jumbo’ Herdon during the attack on Lebisey. He continued to command the Battalion until the 11th of June, and was wounded in the subsequent fighting around Cuillerville Wood, when the Battalion came up against Tiger tanks
Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., silver-gilt and enamel, reverse officially dated ‘1944’, with integral top riband bar; India General Service 1936-39, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1936-37, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt. R. G. Kreyer, 1-12 F.F.R.); 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, good very fine or better (6) £4,000-£5,000 --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, July 2004 D.S.O. London Gazette 31 August 1944: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Normandy.’ The original recommendation states: ‘Major Kreyer took command of the 2nd Royal Warwicks when the C.O. was killed during the early stages of the attack on Lebisey on 7 June 1944. On entering the wood the Battalion came under very heavy and unexpected sniper and machine-gun fire from all directions in very thickly wooded country. Communications between companies broke down. Casualties were very heavy and considerable disorganisation resulted. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Major Kreyer took over control and restored what had become an extremely critical situation. Later, when enemy tanks attacked, the Battalion having lost its anti-tank guns, with great coolness he re-organised the troops to meet this unexpected menace with the result that the last attack failed to achieve its purpose. Finally, on orders from Brigade, he successfully withdrew the Battalion in good order from its position which had become untenable. Throughout the operation his cool judgement, leadership and contempt of danger were of a high order and a great inspiration to all ranks.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 16 August 1938: ‘For distinguished services in connection with the operations in Waziristan, North West Frontier of India, 16 September to 15 December 1937.’ Robin Grey Kreyer, who was born in April 1910, was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant on the Supplementary Reserve in September 1930. Afterwards placed on the Unattached List for an appointment in the I.A., he arrived in India in October 1932 and was posted to the 1st Battalion (Prince of Wales’s Own) (Sikhs), 12th Frontier Force Regiment, at Sangor. Kreyer was advanced to Lieutenant in December 1934 and was mentioned in despatches for distinguished on the North West Frontier whilst attached to the 5th Battalion, Queen’s Own Corps of Guides. Just one year on from this announcement, however, Kreyer disappears from the Indian Army List, a fact that goes someway to supporting a contention that he was compelled to resign his commission as a result of some petty offence. So it was that he enlisted in the ranks of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on the renewal of hostilities in 1939, and went out to join the B.E.F., almost certainly with the 2nd Battalion, whom he would later command immediately after D-Day. This assumption being right, he would have participated in the bitter fighting at Wormhoudt in late May 1940. Mercifully he was not among the 80 or 90 men - most of them from the 2nd Warwickshires - who were taken prisoner, herded into a barn and murdered by the S.S. Undoubtedly, though, Kreyer distinguished himself, for in a somewhat unusual announcement made in The London Gazette on 21 March 1941, it was ordained that ‘Lance-Corporal Robin Grey Kreyer (44716), Royal Warwickshire Regiment’ was to be appointed a substantive Lieutenant (w.e.f. 15 February 1941). By the time of the Normandy landings in June 1944, Kreyer had risen to the rank of Major and was serving as Second in command of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment, part of 185 Infantry Brigade, 3rd British Division. As such, he must have been among those who landed at Sword Beach on D-Day, an incident recorded for posterity by a fellow Battalion officer: ‘Dawn came - few had had much sleep - even fewer managed to eat breakfasts - some looked very ill in spite of sea-sick pills ... land was just in sight, and the rumble of naval guns rolled back to us across the water, as we steered in line ahead through the narrow lanes swept by the mine-sweepers, towards the shore. Soon it was time to assemble, as the craft fanned out into line abreast. Kits were put on - guns checked over - all was ready, and the men moved forward to their stations. Occasionally a whining sound would swish over the ship, our first experience of an angry missile ... We could see the spouts of water shoot up as enemy bombs and shells fell into the sea; and small clouds of black and white smoke rise up as the enemy fire came down on the beaches. The naval guns had lifted to targets behind, but our ‘planes swept overhead ... Nothing hit our craft as we raced in, but other companies were not so lucky ... At last we touched the beach. Down went the ramps and ashore we stumbled, lugging our kits through the last few yards of shallow sea, up breathless and anxious on to the sandy beach...’ Other companies were indeed ‘not so lucky’, one Warwickshires’ L.C.I. (Landing Craft Infantry) hitting a mine as its bow grounded, and another being hit three times by shellfire offshore and having both of its landing ramps shot away by mortar fire. Further casualties were sustained later in the day, when, according to the regimental history, ‘a glider fleet of the 6th Airborne Division’s follow-up units appeared over head, circled and came in to land right among the Warwickshire men, undeterred by the black puffs of flak that greeted them. One glider unhappily descended on top of two B Company signallers who, wearing headphones, had not realized the danger. Both were killed.’ In fact, by the evening of D-Day, having moved a mile or two inland along the River Orne, Kreyer’s Battalion had sustained four fatalities and 35 wounded. Yet far worse was to follow when the Battalion was allocated to attack Lebisey on D-Day plus 1, the 7 June 1944, the village and wood having been occupied by a Battalion of the 125th Panzer Grenadiers (21st Panzer Division), a ‘fresh unit of formidable fighting quality’. It was here that Kreyer won his immediate D.S.O., taking over command of the Battalion when his C.O., Colonel “Jumbo” Herdon, was killed by machine-gun fire. As the regimental history states, ‘it was some consolation that his 2nd in command, Major R. G. Kreyer, took over with admirable firmness’, firmness of command that he successfully displayed until the arrival of a replacement C.O. on 11 June 1944. Battalion casualties, meanwhile, had increased by 10 officers and 144 other ranks on the 7 June alone, an indication of the ferocity of the fighting during Kreyer’s tenure of command. Inevitably, perhaps, he was wounded in the subsequent fighting around Cuillerville Wood, when the Battalion came up against Tiger tanks and endured ‘the worse shelling than it had to endure at any period in the whole campaign.’ He was, ...

Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Sale Date(s)
Venue Address
16 Bolton Street
London
W1J 8BQ
United Kingdom

General delivery information available from the auctioneer

If you are successful in purchasing lot/s being auctioned by us and opt for the item/s to be sent to you, we will use the following methods of shipment:

Within the UK
If you live within the UK, items will be despatched using Royal Mail Special Delivery. This service provides parcel tracking (via the Royal Mail website) and next weekday delivery (betwen 9am and 1pm). Items delivered within the UK are covered by our insurance company. Heavy and bulky lots will be sent by courier, in discussion with the client.

Outside of the UK
If the item/s being sent are worth under £1000 in total they are sent using Royal Mail’s Signed For International service. This ensures the item must be signed for when it is delivered.
If the item/s being sent are valued at over £1000 in total they will be sent using FedEx. This service allows next day delivery to customers in many parts of the US and parcels are fully trackable using the FedEx website.

Shipping Exceptions
Certain lots such as those containing glass or sharp implements, etc., may not be suitable for in-house shipping within or outside of the UK. Please contact Noonans with any queries.

Important Information

Auctioneer's Buyers Premium: 24% (+VAT)

There is an additional charge of 4.95% (+VAT/sales tax) 

Terms & Conditions

See Full Terms And Conditions

Tags: Machine Gun, Knives and Blades, Distinguished Service Order, Military Medal, Medal, Archery Equipment, Badges, Medals & Pins, Militaria, Lance, Antique Arms, projectile, Sword, Spear, Bow, Bomb