A Collection of Medals to Members of the Special and Airborne Forces

Four: Warrant Officer Class 2 H. Arnold, Army Air Corps and Parachute Regiment, whose determined leadership of 3 Para’s Anti-Tank Platoon in the Radfan operations led to the capture of an important ridge, thereafter known as “Arnold’s Spur”: he was, in the words of one ex-Para, ‘the finest R.S.M. the Parachute Regiment ever had ... a legend that none will surpass in the annals of the Regiment’

War Medal 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 3 clasps, Palestine 1945-48, Near East, Cyprus (14458239 Sjt., A.A.C.); General Service 1962, 1 clasp, Radfan (22813442 W.O. Cl. 2, Para.); Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R., Regular Army (22813442 W.O. Cl. 2, Para.), mounted court-style as worn, polished, otherwise generally very fine or better (4) £1800-2200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to Members of the Special and Airborne Forces.

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Herbert “Nobby” Arnold was born into a family of ten in April 1927, left school at the age of 11, and did odd jobs ranging from baker to truck driver. Enlisting in the Army in 1945, aged 18 years, he served with the Army Air Corps in Palestine before returning to civilian life to compete as a professional boxer. Two years later he rejoined the Colours with an appointment in the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment, and served in the Canal Zone in the early 1950s, followed by Cyprus and Suez.

A strict disciplinarian, he went on to serve as a Drill and Weapons Instructor at the R.M.A. Sandhurst, but he returned to regular regimental duty as a C.S.M. in time for the Radfan operations. No doubt spurred on by news of the decapitation of two members of 22 S.A.S., who had originally set out to find a potential D.Z. for 3 Para., he first went into action in late May 1964, when given command of the Anti-Tank Platoon. The Red Devils, by G. G. Norton, takes up the story:

‘When the advance was continued on the evening of the 19th a forward patrol had a brush with a group of seven rebels and surprise was now lost. They covered a further 10,000 yards up onto the Hajib escarpment, and half the ridge was now in their hands. The advance on the 20th was led by the Anti-Tank Platoon under the forceful Company Sergeant-Major “Nobby” Arnold. They surprised a party of 12 dissidents and captured three of them with their arms - the first time this had been achieved in the campaign so far. In recognition of his leadership the ridge was promptly named “Arnold’s Spur”. ’

But to those who knew the C.S.M., such an achievement was a right of passage, for by then he had gained a reputation that was second to none - one regimental website carries a mass of individual tributes from ex-Paras:

‘Did he really think there was crude oil in the ground, when he had soldiers in Palestine dig for crude oil on the spots where the trucks had been leaking? Did he really think the Regimental Mascot, the pony “Pegasus”, was being insubordinate when it relieved itself on the parade ground? Were the regimental flags really ‘refusing to soldier’ when they wound themselves around the flag poles and did not fly? Or was he giving us all a lesson on military discipline and humour at the same time?’

“Nobby” Arnold, who also gained fame for placing his pace-stick under close arrest, died at Worthing in July 2001: his funeral was attended by over 300 people, among them Field Marshal Sir Roland Gibbs and his old Radfan C.O., General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley - a legend indeed.

An excellent photograph of R.S.M. Arnold in full uniform wearing his four medals appears in the book, On The Word of Command.