A Second World War Belgian Croix de Guerre group of nine awarded to Colonel F. E. MacKenzie, Royal Artillery, who was decorated for his gallant services in 1940: post-war he added the Belgian Orders of Leopold II and the Lion to his accolades

1939-45 Star; Africa Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals; Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., Territorial, the reverse officially dated ‘1944’; Belgium, Order of Leopold II, Officer ‘s breast badge, gilt and enamel; Belgium, Order of the Lion, Officer’s breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, in its case of issue; Belgium, Croix de Guerre 1939-45, with bronze palm, occasional enamel damage but otherwise generally good very fine (9) £250-300

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Awards for the 1939-45 War.

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MacKenzie, a veteran of the Great War, was a Major on the Territorial Army Reserve of Officers on the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939, but would appear to have been appointed Military Attache in Brussels shortly afterwards. And it was in that capacity, in late May 1940, that he found himself aboard the S.S. Marquis, bound for Dover from Ostend with over 200 Belgian refugees. As per accompanying documentation, MacKenzie organised a detachment of around 20 Belgians to assist with the ship’s defences, a timely intervention since on the night of 28-29 May, the Marquis was attacked by an E-Boat, a number of Belgians being wounded in the exchange of fire - casualties to whom MacKenzie ‘proved himself very attentive and concerned’. He was duly recommended for the Belgian Croix de Guerre by Captain Commandant of Reserve R. Mechelynck, a witness to his gallant deeds.

As also verified by accompanying documentation, he was awarded the Order of Leopold II in February 1947, ‘in recognition of services rendered to Belgians’, and the Order of the Lion in July 1949, the relevant warrant for this latter being sent to him care of the Consul-General in Leopoldville in the Belgian Congo. He had earlier received the Efficiency Decoration (London Gazette 20 January 1944 refers); sold with a quantity of original documentation, including certificates and / or citations (3), in respect of his Belgian awards, and a letter from Commandant N. A. Kieg, Belgian Army, dated 25 July 1944, in which he recalls how MacKenzie’s ‘tommy guns saved a ship and a bunch of Belgian refugees’.