Medals to the Liverpool Regiment from the Collection of Hal Giblin

Five: Lieutenant M. Bennie, 7th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment, formerly 10th (Scottish) Battalion, Liverpool Regiment

1914 Star (2518 Pte., 10/L’pool. R.); British War and Victory Medals (Lieut.); Defence and War Medals, contact wear and edge bruising, therefore about nearly very fine (5) £130-160

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals to the Liverpool Regiment from the Collection of Hal Giblin.

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Malcolm Bennie , a pre-war volunteer, was mobilised in August 1914 and accompanied the original contingent of the Liverpool Scottish to France in the following November. He came through the action at Hooge unscathed and was subsequently commissioned into the 7th Battalion, West Yorkshire Regiment on 7 January 1916.

Sold with a copied photograph of recipient in uniform and several copied newspaper cuttings, from which the following in relation to his Second War service is extracted:

‘But here was a man whose ear was attuned to the rumble of battle, and it was probably this instinct that led him to join the Air Raid Precautions service in 1937. The coming of the Second World War found him as prepared as he could be, and as Head Warden of College Ward he led a team of highly trained wardens who acquitted themselves with great credit in many difficult and dangerous moments.

In 1941 he again entered the realms of active service, this time with the Royal Air Force. Taking his commission he held the rank of Pilot Officer when he was posted overseas to South Africa. His appointment was as liason officer between the R.A.F. and the authority in Pretoria, and his duties included organising an air raid defence system in an area which took him all over South Africa, from Cape Town to Southern Rhodesia. He found his experiences at home came in useful in this new task. His official title was Deputy Director of Airdrome Defences.

His task completed he returned to England with the rank of Flight Lieutenant. This was in 1942 and for two years longer he served on several stations as adjutant, being demobbed for the second and final time in 1944.’