Orders, Decorations and Medals

The Great War D.S.O. attributed to Lieutenant J. P. G. MacLeod, 46th (South Saskatchewan) Battalion, Canadian Infantry, which unit became known as the “Suicide Battalion” as a result of its horrendous losses on the Western Front: decorated for his gallant deeds in an extraordinary encounter with the enemy at Valenciennes in November 1918, his N.C.O. was awarded the V.C. for the same action

Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue, obverse centre somewhat recessed, otherwise good very fine or better £800-1000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Ron Penhall Collection.

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D.S.O. London Gazette 2 April 1919:

‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in the attack before Valenciennes on 1 November 1918. He led his platoon forward in the face of heavy opposition, and, reaching his objective, he established an advanced post of eight men, taking four more forward. He encountered a large enemy party, and, attacking at once, forced them to surrender. But before they could be disarmed the Bosche officer, realizing the weakness of his opponents, shot the N.C.O. and opened fire. With utter disregard of danger, and in the face of enormous odds, Lieutenant MacLeaod and one man gallantly stood their ground, covering the withdrawal. Later, in the face of direct machine-gun fire, he made his way out and succeeded in carrying the wounded N.C.O. to safety.’

John Phee Gordon MacLeod was born in Tacoma, U.S.A. in February 1896, the son of a clergyman. A student at the Columbian College, New Westminster in British Columbia by the outbreak of hostilities, he enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force in March 1916 and was disembarked in England in October of that year. Posted to the 46th (South Saskatchewan) Battalion in France in February 1917, he was among the lucky few to emerge from the fighting at Vimy Ridge, and gained advancement to Corporal that September. Having next survived the fighting at Passchendaele, when the 46th Battalion was once more cut to pieces, he returned to England to attend an officers’ training course in February 1918. Appointed a Temporary Lieutenant in his old unit that August, he returned to France in the following month and won his D.S.O. a few weeks later in the fighting at Valenciennes - The Suicide Battalion, by James L. McWilliams and R. James Steel, takes up the story (copy included):

‘Colonel Dawson did, however, send out a patrol to explore the suburb of Marly. This patrol was led by a very young subaltern, John Phee Gordon MacLeod, who had risen from the ranks. Johnny MacLeod and his three men crossed the railway into enemy territory. Here they met Sergeant Hughie Cairns, who had gone out on his own intitiative ... had discovered a courtyard packed with the enemy. This he told Lieutenant MacLeod and his patrol. MacLeod noted that Cairns had been wounded in the shoulder.

The young Lieutenant, accompanied by Privates Fidler, Lavery and Marshall, followed Cairns back to the courtyard, creeping to the wooden doorway which opened into the yard. Through this burst the five of them, Cairns firing his Lewis gun from the hip. There was an instant of hesitation, and then the sixty-odd Germans in the yard threw down their weapons and raised their hands in surrender. The five Canadians knew that they would have to get them out of there quickly. A German officer, sensing the true situation, advanced though to speak. All at once a pistol appeared in his hand and he shot Sergeant Cairns through the body.

Hughie sank to his knees but opened fire. He cut down the officer. The Germans dived for their discarded weapons. The five men of the 46th opened up on them and a vicious but unequal fight ensued. Still Cairns’ Lewis gun could be heard above the din as it mowed down great swaths of grey-clad figures. A bullet shattered Cairns’ wrist as he knelt in agony, but still he managed to keep the gun going. Then a burst of fire from across the yard smashed the butt of the Lewis gun, and Hughie Cairns collapsed in a pool of blood. MacLeod and one man frantically held the enemy at bay while others dragged the bloody form of Cairns back through the gate.

At this moment reinforcements arrived. A stretcher party was formed, but one bearer was killed and Cairns was again wounded before the handful of surviving Germans finally surrendered. Hughie Cairns had got his 50 Germans - and more. He was carried out on a door from a nearby house. This stretcher party was followed by Hughie’s grim-faced comrades and a handful of prisoners. The courtyard was a shambles, littered with a mass of dead enemy soldiers, while near the forlornly swinging gate was a darkening pool of blood.’

Sergeant Cairns, who died from his wounds on 2 November 1918, was awarded the Victoria Cross (London Gazette 31 January 1919 refers), while MacLeod, having also been mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 17 July 1919 refers), returned to Canada in August 1919, where he was demobilised in the same month.

Sold with the recipient’s original D.S.O. warrant, dated 2 April 1919, and M.I.D. certificate, dated 16 March 1919.