A rare ‘Crowned Head’ Palestine M.M. group of six awarded to Lance Corporal W. M. Green, 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, later Captain, Royal Engineers

Military Medal, G.V.R., 2nd ‘crowned head’ issue (4799509 L. Cpl. W. M. Green. 2-Linc. R.); General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine (479950 Pte. W. M. Green. Linc. R.) small erasure after number, and surname officially corrected; 1939-45 Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, contact marks and minor edge bruising, generally very fine (6) £3,000-£4,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Gallantry Awards to the Lincolnshire Regiment.

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M.M. London Gazette 6 November 1936:
‘For gallant and distinguished services rendered in connection with the emergency operations in Palestine during the period 15th April to 14th September, 1936.’

William Marriott Green was born in Timberland, Lincolnshire in 1908. He served in Palestine with the 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment in 1936.

‘On April 19, 1936, the Arab High Committee in Palestine declared a general strike as a protest against the immigration of Jews into Palestine… The general strike which started with the closing of shops in all the towns throughout Palestine developed gradually into a form of civil warfare as the Fellahin came under the control of the Arab political firebrands. As the months went by, the situation became more and more serious, and additional troops were drafted into Palestine to assist in keeping order. Eventually the call came to Malta and on July 10, 1936, sudden orders were received for the 2nd Battalion The Lincolnshire Regiment and the 2nd Battalion The South Wales Borderers to proceed to Palestine.’ (History of the Lincolnshire Regiment refers).

The battalion spent a total of five months in Palestine where their tasks included but were not limited to maintaining order, preventing and reacting to railway sabotage, convoy duty, demolitions (as punishment for acts of sabotage) and the establishment of permanent piquets. There were many incidents involving rebel Arabs and some important actions, such as Windy Corner in July and August 1936, the battles of Bala, Jaba, and Beit Urmin in September 1936, and the actions at Kfar Sur and in the Meithalun area in October 1936.

Lance Corporal Green was one of just three men of 2nd Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment to be awarded the M.M. in connection with services in Palestine in 1936. He went on to serve in the Second World War and received a Regular Army Emergency Commission in the Royal Engineers as 2nd Lieutenant (War Substantive Lieutenant) on 19 March 1943, and was promoted Temporary Captain on 1 August 1944. He died in Bourne, Lincolnshire, in 1981.