Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Silver Presentation Cigarette Box.
A fine presentation cigarette box, by Garrard, London, 95mm x 140mm x 50mm, silver (total weight 436g), maker’s mark and hallmarks for London 1963, the lid engraved with the Regimental crest and inscribed ‘Presented to Captain D. S. Gilbert-Smith, M.C., The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, by his Brother Officers on the occasion of his Marriage, 1st. June 1963’, one small dent to side of lid, otherwise extremely good condition £120-£160

M.C. London Gazette 8 December 1953:
‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Korea during the period 1 January to 30 June 1953.’

The original Recommendation states: ‘During the battle on “The Hook” on the night of 28-29 May, 1953 Second Lieutenant (now Lieutenant) Gilbert-Smith led his Platoon across 400 yards of open ground in order to counter-attack a position which had been overrun. His route was under heavy shell and mortar ground. Having succeeded in clearing the enemy from one sector, he reorganised his platoon and proceeded to deal with other pockets of resistance. All the time shells and mortar bombs were falling. Second Lieutenant Gilbert-Smith displayed his customary coolness and throughout the battle inspired his men with confidence and aggressive spirit.’

David Stuart Gilbert-Smith was born in Poona, India, on 3 December 1931, the son of G. J. S. Gilbert-Smith, Indian Medical Service, and was educated at St. Edward’s School, Oxford where he captained both Cricket and Rugby. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment on 3 November 1951 as a National Service entry, and served with the 1st Battalion in Korea from October 1952; having had commanded a number of patrols into the enemy’s forward locations to gather intelligence, he was later awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry at the Battle of the Hook in 1953. After this tour the Regiment moved to Gibraltar and in 1954 he was presented with his Military Cross by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II on her visit there.

After serving as an Instructor, Army Leadership School, from 1954 to 1955, he served in Cyprus in 1956-57 during the Eoka terrorist campaign, gaining his first experience of counter-insurgency operations. After then undergoing special leadership training, in 1959, as part of a ten-man Duke of Wellington’s Regiment team, he canoed from Palace Barracks, Holywood, Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea in five wood and canvas canoes, two of which were home-made; this was believed to be a first. This was followed, in 1961, by his selection for the 22nd S.A.S. Regiment and operational duty in Malaya and then in Borneo during Indonesia’s confrontation with the newly-formed Federation of Malaysia. After commanding the 12th Infantry Brigade’s mountain warfare training centre in Germany in the summer of 1964, he was seconded to the staff of the U.K. Military Adviser to the British High Commissioner in Delhi. With a handful of British officers of similar experience and background, he advised on the training of officers of the Indian Army and Civil Service working in the northern frontier region, which was under pressure from the Chinese Communist authorities. Rejoined the S.A.S. in 1965 for his second tour of duty as a Major, in command of the Training and Tactics Wing, with responsibility for operational research and development for all three S.A.S. regiments. After this assignment, he served from late 1966 to 1967 in the Radfan region, he retired from the Army in 1969.

A keen rugby union player, Gilbert-Smith played for London Scottish for four years as an outside centre, and was capped for Scotland once, in the March 1952 Calcutta Cup match against England at Murrayfield, a match that England won 19-3. Interestingly, he had fought in the Battle of the Hook alongside another Scotland international rugby player, Mike Campbell-Lamerton, with the two became lifelong friends. He died in Cheltenham on 24 March 2003.