Orders, Decorations and Medals

The Second World War “behind enemy lines” D.S.O. group of eight awarded to Major A. Greville-Bell, Special Air Service, who, having broken two ribs after a heavy parachute landing in Italy, led his S.A.S. railway sabotage team with great success over the next 73 days, prior to completing a 250 mile trek back to Allied lines: throughout, his priority concern was for the welfare of his men, one S.A.S. Corporal later observing that “The great thing about Major Tony is he doesn’t get you killed unless it’s absolutely necessary” - it seems unlikely, however, that his Major felt moved to pursue such a policy in respect of the Italian partisans he tried to train in the Tuscan mountains, for, as he was compelled to admit, “The guerillas were not all that good ... but the Chianti was excellent”

Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., 1st issue, silver-gilt and enamels, the reverse of the suspension bar officially dated ‘1944’; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (Major, D.S.O., S.A.S.), the first with brooch-pin fitting to reverse of upper suspension bar and the last with official correction to rank, good very fine or better (8) £8000-10,000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Ron Penhall Collection.

View
Collection

Few histories concerning S.A.S. operations in the 1939-45 War omit mention of Greville-Bell and “Operation Speedwell”, but no finer tribute to his bravery and good humour on that occasion - and in later operations - may be found than the following career summary written by Lieutenant-Colonel W. “Bill” Stirling (a copy of which is included):

‘Tony Greville-Bell joined G Squadron, 1st S.A.S. towards the end of 1942, as an eighteen year old Gunner subaltern, who had already made a name for himself as a dashing officer in the 6th Armoured Brigade. G Squadron became the nucleus on which 2nd S.A.S. was formed. He thus had the unique distinction of serving in all four of the regiments - 1st, 2nd, 21st and 22nd - as well as having been attached to the 3rd and 4th French regiments.

Tony took part in operations in Africa, various enemy occupied islands, and Sicily, but distinguished himself most noticeably on a classic S.A.S. operation against the railways in Northern Italy, which was a true strategic operation in that it probably did, as was intended, alter or at least affect the course of the war. The Germans were holding their Armoured Reserve, consisting of four divisions well to the north while they waited to see where the Allies would make their expected amphibious landings. Owing to a shortage of petrol and spare tank tracks they were relying on the excellent Italian railway system to get them quickly south to wherever the landings took place. Between Bologna and Florence there are only three north-south railway lines, one on each coast and the third in the centre. S.A.S. parties were dropped in all three areas to attack these lines and deny their use to the enemy, which they did very successfully, during the weeks following the landings at Salerno. As a result, by the time that the enemy Armoured Reserve began to arrive on the battlefield, by road, the Allied forces were already well established and were able to defeat them in detail. General Alexander has since remarked that, had the enemy armour arrived punctually and in force, the outcome of the Salerno landings must have been in the gravest doubt. Tony commanded the party on the central sector. He was badly injured on the drop, but continued to lead his party and destroyed three trains, completely putting the railway out of action for nineteen days. After pausing for a few weeks in the Tuscan mountains to raise and train an army of Italian partisans - “The guerillas,” he wrote later in his report, “were not all that good, but the Chianti was excellent” - he continued south, and had the satisfaction of seeing - “While trying to cross the road south of Florence, an apparently endless column of tanks heading for the battle, mostly on their tracks. It must have been depressing for their commander to know that with an effective track mileage of only 250 miles, they had a journey of more than 300 miles in front of them.” Suffering badly from near starvation and very severe weather conditions in the Appenine mountains, Tony finally led his party safely through the enemy lines and rejoined his unit, a journey of some three hundred miles.

After recovering from the ordeal of the Italian operations, Tony was promoted to command a squadron and was posted back to the U.K. with his squadron to train the newly formed French S.A.S. Regiments. He subsequently served on two operations in France immediately prior to, and after the invasion. As a result of two serious wounds and various injuries he was down-graded medically and transferred to Airborne Forces H.Q. where he served as Liaison Officer. In August he was seconded to the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office where he remained for some years.

In 1949 he formed a squadron of S.A.S. for service in Korea, but they were diverted to Malaya where they formed the nucleus of the now regular regiment of the S.A.S., 22nd S.A.S. After completing his service in Malaya, he was posted to the Canal Zone of Egypt as Staff Officer S.A.S. to the C.-in-C. Middle East Forces. His final job before leaving the army was as C.O. of the Regimental H.Q. of the S.A.S. Regiment and he was largely responsible for building it up to its present prestigious position in the Order of Battle.

It can be said that Tony Greville-Bell was the best type of S.A.S. officer. He was serious about his job, he enjoyed life and wanted everyone else to enjoy life as much as he did, and above all he took care of his soldiers for whom he had the greatest regard. Perhaps the greatest compliment ever paid to an officer was a remark made by a Corporal who served with him for more than three years in the S.A.S. - “The great thing about Major Tony is, he doesn’t get you killed unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

There have been quite a few S.A.S. officers as gallant and distinguished as Tony Greville-Bell, but he always seemed to me to epitomise the ideal S.A.S. leader, gay, yet serious, dashing, yet careful, and above all, dedicated to the well-being of his men for whom he had an unbounded admiration and respect.’

The fate of Greville-Bell’s senior officer, Captain Pinckney, who disappeared on the night that they parachuted into Italy, has never been fully established, and it is not inconceivable that he was captured and shot as per Hitler’s Nacht und Nebel decree. If so, he was one of around 100 S.A.S. personnel to suffer a similar fate in the 1939-45 War, even though they were attired in official regimental uniform in the Field - statistics indeed that must have played on Greville-Bell’s mind as he moved around with his team behind enemy lines for over two months. The following extract from Anthony Kemp’s history, The S.A.S. at War 1941-45, throws further light on the degree of hardship endured by Greville-Bell and his team in that period:

‘Tony Greville-Bell, meanwhile, had badly damaged his back, as well as breaking two ribs. He and his men laid up during the first day sorting out their kit, which consisted of 160lbs. of plastic explosive, 4 1/2 lbs. of cheese, two tins of sardines, tea and some biscuits per party. Robinson and his men left that evening, and Greville-Bell, unsure whether he could carry on or not, handed over to his Sergeant, “Bebe” Daniels. The following extracts are from the official after-action report compiled by Greville-Bell. They are quoted as an example of sheer courage and absolute determination to see the job through, no matter what physical hardships had to be suffered.

Day 3: Walked again, but was in great pain, and was finished after two miles. Decided to have one more night’s rest and if not able to keep up would send Daniels and Tomasso on without me.

Day 4: Felt better and ribs beginning to knit, so decided to carry on, though every time I fell there was an unpleasant grating noise.

Day 5: Head now normal, took over again from Daniels ... Moved south parallel with road and railway, and went on railway to recce. point of demolition. Chose tunnel which was unguarded.

Day 6: Fixed charge 150 yards inside tunnel and retreated up mountain side. At 2205 we heard a fairly fast train approaching from north. It entered the tunnel and set off charge causing the power lines to short circuit. We were unable to see the results, but judging by the noise, I believe the train to have crashed. No traffic on this line observed during the day. Beginning to get very hungry.

Day 7: Moved off towards the next line ... Ribs merely hurt now, but not impossibly.

Day 8: Found some potatoes and tomatoes to eke out our rations. Getting very weak through hunger.

Day 10: Getting worse through lack of food. Could only make five miles this night.

Day 12: Failed on this operation. Placed charge on the right hand lines for southbound train. We were told quite definitely before we left that railway traffic keeps to the right. Train came down on the left line and we blew charge (pull switch) before we could see what happened. One line put out of action temporarily at least.

Day 13: Found grapes and tomatoes ... Repeated charge about one mile south of previous night with fog signal. Train of twelve mixed goods carriages blew charge.

Day 14: Started south.

Day 15: Rations finished, very weak. Went down to house and acquired a little bread and apples.

Day 18: Reached villa of Marquese Roberti at Fiesole who fed us royally, as her sister happened to be a family friend of mine.

Day 21: Rain worse, wet through now for 48 hours.

Day 23: ... Put in touch with some partisans.

Day 24: Decided to spend a little time trying to organise these partisans. They had a great deal of armament and much ammunition.

Day 26: Italians a little reluctant to do anything in the way of operations.

Day 28: Bought civilian clothes and went to Florence ... Had an ice at the Loggia bar in Piazza Michel Angelo. Full of German officers and O.Rs, mostly drunk ... The beer in this bar is very bad.

Day 29: Took Daniels and two Jugoslavs off on an operation against railway north of Incisa.

Day 30: Placed charge which was blown by heavy southbound train.

Day 31: ... Decided partisans were worthless and were not going to be of any use, so decided to move on.

Day 40: While marching along near village of Foursa, were caught on the road by a German truck. Unterfeldwebel got out and opened fire with an automatic. We opened fire with carbines and two Germans surrendered.

So the report went on as Greville-Bell and his men plodded steadily south. On the sixty-first day they were high in the mountains and got lost in a blizzard. Greville-Bell and Daniels suffered from snow blindness. The former also had a touch of frostbite as there was a hole in his boot. A week later, Daniels was severely ill with dysentery.

On the seventy-third day they reached the German front line and passed through safely. Their evasion was a great feat of endurance and just the first of many such epic journeys carried out in Italy by members of the 2 S.A.S. Regiment.’

Of Greville-Bell’s post-war career, and more particularly his time in Malaya, an illuminating summary is to be found in David Rooney’s biography of Brigadier Michael Calvert, D.S.O., the famous Chindit commander:

‘Greville-Bell, a distinguished S.A.S. officer who had won the D.S.O. in the war and who brought B Squadron out to Malaya, became increasingly concerned about the whole set-up of the Malayan Scouts and did not wish to see his fine unit besmirched. He agonized over what he should do, because Calvert appeared to pooh-pooh any criticism. The N.C.Os of B Squadron had an increasingly difficult time trying to uphold normal discipline in the face of drunken disorder which they often came across in the other Squadron. Tension mounted dangerously when the men who had committed court-martial offences - for example the soldier who assaulted the M.O., or when drunken men put out of the canteen assaulted the Orderly Officer with a loaded rifle - were merely ticked off by Calvert. The anger and the tension can easily be imagined and, in the face of this growing crisis, Greville-Bell, for very proper reasons, complained to General Harding. Harding came to Kuala Lumpur and, following the time-honoured army tradition, interviewed Greville-Bell who received, as he said, “the biggest bollocking I have ever had in my life.” He felt he was treated as a criminal. In complaining over the head of his C.O. he had committed what the army considered the unforgiveable sin, and in doing so he wrecked what had been a very promising military career. After the interview he was taken away and held incommunicado until he was posted to another area. After this he had a few remote staff postings, but by the mid 1950s he realized that he had no future in the regular S.A.S. or the army and he resigned his commission.’

Sold with an original portrait photograph of the recipient in uniform.

Provenance: Ex Sotheby’s, 7 November 1985 (Lot 786).