World War Medals

An outstanding Second World War Hong Kong O. Group of eleven awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel R. Walker, Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, late Royal Engineers, who was wounded in the bitter fighting at the Wong Nai Chung Gap in December 1941, taken prisoner by the Japanese, his fighting spirit and good humour appear to have shone bright during nearly four years of hardship and suffering. THE MOST EXCELLENT ORDER OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, O. (Military) Officers 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt; Military Cross, G. Unnamed as issued; BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS Capt. ; 1939-45 STAR; PACIFIC STAR; DEFENCE AND WAR MEDALS; JUBILEE 1935; CORONATION 1937; EFFICIENCY DECORATION, G. 1st issue, Hong Kong, reverse inscribed, Lt. Mounted court-style for wear, good very fine and better (11). Reginald David Walker was born in Edinburgh on 23 October 1892 and was educated at the Mathematical School, Rochester, Kent, 1905-07. Dockyard, Chatham, 1907-12, he continued his engineering studies at the Royal College of Science and City and Guilds Engineering College, London, 1912-15. He was a Whitworth Exhibitioner in 1913. A member of the University of London O. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the 4th Field Company, 2nd London Divisional Engineers, R. He was subsequently appointed to 522 Field Company, R. In France, where he served in the period September-December 1916 and was advanced to Temporary Lieutenant. It was in the same unit that he went on to witness further active service in Salonika, December 1916-June 1917; in Egypt, June 1917-April 1918 and in Palestine from April 1918 until the end of the War. He was awarded the M. And was demobilized as a Captain. In December 1920 Walker entered the service of the Federated Malay States Government Railway as an Assistant Engineer. In December 1923 he was appointed a District Engineer and he remained with the F. Railways in a variety of engineering posts until 1934 when he moved to Hong Kong. There, in March 1934, he was appointed Acting Manager and Chief Engineer of the Kowloon-Canton Railway and was advanced to Manager and Chief Engineer in August the same year. He was awarded the Jubilee Medal 1935 (Hong Kong Government Gazette 6 May 1935, refers) and the Coronation Medal 1937 (Hong Kong Government Gazette 14 May 1937, refers). His employment as an engineer aside, Walker joined the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps and was a Major in the Railway Operating Cadre with seniority of 1 January 1935. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 20 August 1940 and was awarded the O. In the following year for his services as Director of War Supplies in Hong Kong. During the Battle for Hong Kong, Lieutenant-Colonel Walker was ordered by General Maltby to take a party of 70 British and Chinese Royal Engineers, in an infantry role, to reinforce the Wong Nai Chung Gap area on the island. It was here, on 19 December 1941, that Walker was wounded by shrapnel and left stranded in No-Mans Land. Luckily, he was recovered by Lieutenant Black and Private Morris of the Canadian Winnipeg Grenadiers. At the fall of Hong Kong on 25 December 1942, Walker became a P. And was held in Argyle Street Camp, Kowloon, Hong Kong. After the war he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration (Hong Kong Government Gazette 15 August 1947, refers). Walker held a Diploma from Imperial College, was a Chartered Civil Engineer, a Member of the Institution of Chartered Engineers , a Member of the Institute of Transport, and an Associate of the Royal College of Science, and was the author of a number of technical books on overseas railways. A man may laugh through the whole of a farce, Or through the whole of a play, But he cannot laugh through the hole of his arse, For he wasnt built that way. Hong Kong Defence Corps, as entered in a secret journal of a fellow inmate at Shamshuipo P. Camp, 12 March 1944. All items are unconditionally guaranteed as to authenticity. We are members of The Orders & Medals Research Society, (OMRS), The Orders & Medals Society of America (OMSA), The Military Collectors Club of Canada (MCC of C) & The Canadian Society of Medals & Military Insignia (CSMMI). The item “Important WW2 Hong Kong Gallantry Medal Group to a Colonel, Prisoner of War etc” is in sale since Friday, December 09, 2016. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Militaria\WW II (1939-45)\Original Period Items\Great Britain\Medals, Pins & Ribbons”. The seller is “arcticmedals” and is located in Calgary, Alberta. This item can be shipped worldwide.