Staff Sergeant R Shorrock Gordon Highlanders & Royal Army Pay Corps
The Man Little detail is known about R Shorrock except that he enlisted into the Gordon Highlanders with service number 14003118, possibly late on during World War II and was awarded the 1939-45 Star, France & Germany Star and War Medal 1939-45. He was extracted from the Gordons Roll and transferred temporarily into the Corps of Royal Military Police, Special Investigation Branch for service in Palestine between 1945 and 1948, and subsequently saw service in Malaya, Near East (the Suez Crisis) and Borneo, having transferred into the Royal Army Pay Corps retaining the same number. .
The Story The medals awarded to R Shorrock were acquired from E-Bay on 30 Nov 14 and although ‘outside’ of the main theme of this collection were of interest because of the three clasp General Service Medal, which had long been coveted. Little detail has been uncovered at this time about the recipient.
The Gordon Highlanders Was a British Army infantry regiment from 1881 until 1994. The regiment took its name from the Clan Gordon and recruited principally from Aberdeen and the North-East of Scotland. During World War II the Regiment served in France in 1940, in Malaya, North Africa, Sicily, Italy and north-west Europe. The 1st and 5th Battalions were with the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division during the Battle for France in 1940 when they were trapped and had to surrender at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux. The 1st Battalion was reformed in August 1940 and went on to serve with the second formation of the 51st Highland Division throughout the rest of the Second World War. The 2nd Battalion was based in Malaya as part of the Singapore garrison and fought in the battle for Singapore in February 1942, surrendering along with 130,000 other British Commonwealth soldiers on 15 February. The men of this battalion suffered more casualties as Prisoners of War in Japanese captivity than they did during the fighting on Singapore Island and Malaya The 2nd Battalion was reformed in May 1942 from personnel of the 11th Battalion and fought with the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, throughout North West Europe. They formed part of 227th (Highland) Infantry Brigade - the Junior Brigade in the Division. They were involved in the heavy fighting around Cheux and Tourville-sur-Odon in Normandy, the fight for Holland and in the Battle of Uelzen in Germany near to the end of the war. The 4th (City of Aberdeen) Battalion was converted to an artillery regiment on 1 November 1941, becoming the 92nd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, as part of the 9th Armoured Division, but saw no active service during the war. The 6th (Banffshire) Battalion was transferred from the 51st Highland Division before it surrendered in 1940 and joined the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division. The 6th Battalion fought through the North African and Italian Campaigns before ending the war on garrison duty in Palestine. The 7th (Mar and Mearns) Battalion served with the second formation of the 51st Highland Division throughout the war. The 8th (City of Aberdeen) Battalion was also converted to artillery, becoming the 100th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery. This battalion served with the 2nd Infantry Division in the Burma Campaign. The 9th (Donside) Battalion (originally part of the 9th (Highland) Infantry Division along with the 11th Battalion) were initially posted to the Shetland islands. Later they were amalgamated with the 5th Battalion and sent to India for training. Converted to an armoured regiment in 1942 as the 116th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (Gordons), they continued to wear the Gordons cap badge on the black beret of the RAC. 116th RAC were sent to Burma where as part of 255th Indian Tank Brigade they were involved in the dash for Rangoon and were heavily involved in the battle of Meiktila, signalling the end of Japanese hopes in Burma. The London Scottish battalions were part of the Gordon Highlanders although they were a London-recruited regiment. The Regiment was amalgamated with The Queens' Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) on 17th September 1994 to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Gordons and Camerons) and in In 2006, The Highlanders were merged with Scotland’s other remaining infantry regiments to form The Royal Regiment of Scotland.
Medal Details:
- 1939-45 Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- France & Germany Star: Unnamed as awarded.
- War Medal 1939-45: Unnamed as awarded.
- General Service Medal: 14003118 SJT.R.SHORROCK. GORDONS.
- Campaign Service Medal: 14003118 S.SGT. R.SHORROCK. RAPC
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This page last updated 9 Dec 14