Gallantry Awards and Battle Honours
This appendix lists both the regimental battle honours that can be ascribed to the battalion, and individual awards for gallantry or meritorious service. Like the roll of honour, this is the most complete list of such awards yet produced.
The last war diary entry for battalion gives a very exact number for the gallantry awards made to the unit, but does not provide names. There are also some awards for service with the battalion that were given at a later date, after the battalion was dissolved. The list is derived from citations recorded in the National Archives and in the London Gazette. These have been cross-referenced to other records to determine if the individual served with the battalion at the time of the award. The entries for Mentions in Dispatches can be uncertain, and further information would be welcomed. Battle honours are from The Battle Honours of the Second World War 1939–45 and Korea 1950–53 (London: Army Museums Ogilvy Trust, 1978).
Notes
I wrote (p. 259) of the problems of the army referring to officers by their parent regiment rather than the unit they served with, and also (p. 270) of the problem of their not being a full citations for Mentions in Despatches. The combination of these led to an omission in my list of gallantry awards, which I only discovered a few days before the second volume was published. Among the MiDs gazetted on 23 September 1943 was one to Keith Cunningham Cowie, an officer in the East Yorkshire Regiment but who died serving with the 5th Foresters at Tamera. The entry also does not record the award as posthumous. Cowie had initially been recorded as a PoW, he was finally reported in the casualty lists as having died of wounds (presumably in captivity) seven days after the award was gazetted; and not identified as serving with the 2/5th Foresters (sic) until a further correction in October. Cowie should rightfully be included in those listed on p. 273.
Doubtless further research may reveal some of the other missing Mentions.