Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Six: Captain D. C. De Villiers, Rhodesian African Rifles, late South African Forces

Rhodesia, Exemplary Service Medal (Capt.); Rhodesia, General Service Medal (Capt.); Zimbabwe, Independence Medal 1980, officially numbered ‘08205’; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45; Africa Service Medal, these last three all officially inscribed, ‘613722 D. C. De Villiers’, very fine and better (6) £80-100

Derek Claude De Villiers, who was born in Bechuanaland in June 1926, enlisted in the South African Forces at Johannesburg in September 1944. Initially posted to the Transvaal Scottish, he subsequently served out in Italy as a Trooper in assorted units of the South African Armoured Corps (accompanying research verifies his Second World War medal entitlement). Discharged in March 1946, De Villiers settled in Rhodesia and rejoined the Colours, gaining appointment as a Warrant Officer Class II in the Southern Rhodesia Staff Corps in November 1952. Commissioned as a Quarter-Master in July 1957, he had attained the rank of Captain & Q.M. in the Rhodesian African Rifles by the time of his discharge in late 1966. De Villiers was awarded his Exemplary Service Medal in December 1978, presumably having retained his military connections with a Territorial appointment; sold with a quantity of original documents and photographs.