He Killed a Spider

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posted on 2024-06-05, 17:42 authored by Their Finest Hour Project Team

Robert Leonard France was a Captain Major in the Army Reserve II Field Coy. He never spoke about the war except to say that he "killed a spider."

He was given the Military Cross and was with the 8th Army in Malaya. The citation signed by Montgomery was found after his death. He fought at the Battle of El-Alamein with Montgomery and in Italy at San Lorenzo with Alexander. After the war, he was posted to Malaya. His service number was 63538.

History

Item list and details

1. Medals including the Military Cross and bar 2. Citation signed by Montgomery and Alexander 3. WO 373/26 from the National Archives. This is licensed under the Open Government Licence 3.0.

Person the story/items relate to

Robert Leonard France

Person who shared the story/items

Barbara Grieve

Relationship between the subject of the story and its contributor

not stated

Type of submission

Shared at Duncansburgh Church Hall, Highlands on 27 September 2023. The event was organised by Lochaber Archive Centre and West Highland Museum.

Record ID

96444 | FOR012

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Keywords

Their Finest Hour World War Two Armed Forces Armies Army Asia Asian Battle British Empire El-Alamein Empire Europe European France French Italian Italy Malaya Malayan Campaign Medal Military

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CC BY 4.0

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