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

Four: Corporal G. Furlong, Parachute Regiment, late Royal Artillery and Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, who was wounded in the drop at El Gamil Airfield during Operation Musketeer

Korea 1950-53 (22039245 Gnr., R.A.); U.N. Medal; Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Kenya (22039245 Pte., R.N.F.), initials ‘G. F.’; General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Cyprus, Near East (22039245 Cpl., Para.), generally good very fine (4) £800-1000

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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The following obituary, which includes a photograph was published in the Pegasus journal, 1991: ‘Gerry Furlong died in April 1991 aged 61 years after a long illness. Gerry was called up for his National Service in 1948 and served with the Royal Artillery in B.A.O.R. He signed on for a further two years and saw service in Korea with the U.N. Commonwealth Division. He was demobbed in 1952 and after various jobs in civy street, he enlisted into the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers in 1953. He served with the Fusiliers in Kenya and took part in the operations against the Mau Mau.

In 1954 Gerry transferred into the Parachute Regiment and was posted to the Third Battalion from 1954 until he was forced to leave the army in 1963, due to a back injury. Gerry was a well known J.N.C.O. in the battalion who was respected by everyone who came into contact with him. During his time in the battalion Gerry served in Cyprus in 1956 and was wounded in the drop at El Gamil Airfield and after a spell in hospital in Malta he rejoined the battalion in the U.K...’

Operation Musketeer

The most recent, and to date, the last combat drop by the Paras, took place at Suez, when they joined French forces to protect the shipping canal after Egypt's President Nasser ‘nationalised' the international waterway. In November 1956, Lt Col Paul Crook, commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion Parachute Regiment, was told to prepare his Cyprus based unit for an operation. But with the 'run-down' of airborne forces after the war, equipment was in short supply.

The plan, jointly agreed with French military commanders, called for 3 Para to parachute into a 'hot DZ' - held by the enemy - where they expected to face a fierce battle against 2,000 Egyptian troops, who were supported by armour. Operation Musketeer would need the element of total surprise if it was to succeed, and all 660 men had to be on the ground at El Gamil airfield and ready for action within four and a half minutes. Aircraft were covered in a coat of 'Gentian violet', a blue coloured medication, in a bid to camouflage them against the bright rays of the rising sun. In addition the airstrip at El Gamil was very narrow and the drop height had to be restricted to 700ft or less, in order to avoid soldiers being swept off the DZ by crosswinds.

A further move which was not popular with the Battalion, was the decision not to wear reserve parachutes, due to the fact that they would not have the chance to use them at such low level. The Brigade had hardly enough aircraft for a single battalion lift. The Hastings and Valettas were unable to carry heavy equipment and at that time, the new Beverley transporters were not yet available. At 04.15 hours on November 5, 1956, 3 Para jumped in and although opposition was heavy, casualties were few. The unit medical officer, Lt Sandy Cavanagh, was shot in the eye as he descended to the DZ, as well as a dozen other injuries sustained on the ground.

The Egyptians had been supplied with Soviet weapons and on the second day a Russian Mig fighter strafed the Paras, causing two casualties. It was a 'one-off incident, regarded as a show of strength by the Red Air Force against world opinion. A sergeant, who was one of the first out of the door at Suez, still remembers his concern for the unexpected 'We were nervous, nobody really knew what to expect, but as soon as we left the aircraft, they started firing at us . . . The airfield was covered with oil drums to stop aircraft landing and once we had cleared it, we made our way to Port Said. There was quite a bit of fighting and we took a few injuries, but nothing to shout about'.

At Port Said, 2 Para came ashore, but within a week a ceasefire had been announced and the regiment pulled out, heading back to Cyprus. World opinion had forced Britain and France to withdraw their forces.