A Collection of Medals to the 46th Foot and its Successor Units

Five: Acting Sergeant R. G. Pearce, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Territorial (5438386 Cpl. R. G. Pearce. D.C.L.I.) mounted as worn, good very fine

Five: Private J. L. Williams, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry
France and Germany Star; 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Territorial (5438165 Pte. J. L. Williams. D.C.L.I.) court mounted in this order, good very fine (10) £100-£140

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to the 46th Foot and its Successor Units.

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Ronald George Pearce was born in Bude, Cornwall, on 6 June 1921. A carpenter by trade, he attested for the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry on 15 May 1939 and was appointed Private in the 4/5th Battalion. Mustered in the trade of carpenter and joiner Class I, Group B, under A.O. 137/40 on 13 February 1941, he witnessed extensive service in North West Europe and was raised Acting Sergeant on 14 October 1945 when part of the British Army of the Rhine.

Released from service in May 1946, his reference adds a little more detail: ‘Exemplary. Served with distinction in the North West European campaign. A fine leader. Very thorough, reliable and hard working, a skilled tradesman. He has commanded the Pioneer Platoon with success. His conduct has been beyond reproach.’

Sold with the recipient’s original typed letter of reference, dated 12 August 1945, mounted on card, a contemporary photograph of the recipient in military uniform, a bronze XXX Corps Alamein & Cuxhaven 1944-45 medallion, unnamed, and a file of copied research.

John Leslie Williams was born in Camelford, Cornwall, on 20 February 1920. A stone mason’s apprentice, he attested for the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry on 2 May 1939 and served in Normandy with the 5th Battalion, D.C.L.I., from 17 June 1944 as a Commanding Officer’s signaller throughout the North-West Europe campaign. Appointed Lance Corporal 25 November 1944 he was struck off strength from the British Army of the Rhine on 14 October 1945. Posted to Reserve, he was awarded the Efficiency Medal in 1946 and died at the East Cornwall Hospital in Bodmin on 14 August 1984. His obituary in the Silver Bugle reads:
‘He served throughout the whole of the North West European Campaign as the Commanding Officer's signaller. He will always be remembered in this capacity where his calm, stubborn and persistent voice was so often heard holding the Battalion's wireless net together on those difficult and temperamental No. 18 sets. No doubt he drove the CO and other members of Tac HQ mad with his continuous tuning and netting calls, but to his compatriots trying to keep in contact with Battalion HQ, his voice conveyed confidence and assurance. So often he would be heard calmly requesting "Through me” to an out-station struggling to get through in the heat of battle. He set his standard of excellence in Normandy and maintained it at Falaise pocket, the crossing of the Seine, the race to Arnhem, the winter campaign of 1944 and the crossing of the Rhine, culminating in the final battles for Bremen.’

Sold with an original photograph of the recipient in military uniform and copied research.