Orders, Decorations and Medals

A Second World War Italy operations M.M. awarded to Sepoy Mir Abdul, 3rd Battalion, 12th Frontier Force Regiment, who broke up an enemy attack with his Bren gun - firing from the hip at point blank range

Military Medal, G.VI.R. (23360 Sep. Mir Abdul, F.F.R.), officially impressed naming, slack suspension, contact marks and edge nicks, otherwise nearly very fine £500-600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Bahadur Collection of Medals to Sikh Regiments.

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M.M. London Gazette 8 March 1945. The original recommendation for an immediate award states:

‘On the night of 5-6 September 1944, during the Battalion’s attack on Castelnuovo feature, Sepoy Mir Abdul was a member of the left forward platoon holding the newly captured village of Poggiale. A determined enemy counter-attack was developing and a party of them had succeeded in infiltrating forward to within 50 yards of our positions where they were forming up in dead ground for the final assault. Sepoy Mir Abdul, who was No. 1 at the Bren gun, finding that he could no longer engage the infiltrating enemy, dashed forward alone firing his Bren gun from the hip and taking up a new position, only 30 yards from the enemy, pouring in such accurate fire on them from point blank range that they broke and fled and the whole attack collapsed in confusion. The bravery and initiative of this Sepoy was mainly responsible for stopping what promised to become a very grave threat to the whole company position in the village.’