Africa Star; Defence Medal; War Medal 1939-45 (all privately engraved to AQMS KEMP RS 1435306); Efficiency Medal bar Territorial (1435306 S.SJT. R.S. KEMP. R.E.M.E.)
Ronald Sydney Kemp was born in Hove Sussex in 1907. He enlisted with the R.E.M.E. on 7 November 1938 and was attached to the 234 Infantry Brigade Workshops. He served in the Aegean Theatre in WWII as part of the 10th Indian Division and was taken POW at Leros on 17/11/1943. He was detained at Stalag 17A Kaisersteinbruk and put to work on a nearby farm.
The Battle of Leros - "On the morning of 16 November it became apparent to the British commander, Brigadier Tilney, that his situation was untenable; at 17:30, when German forces had nearly reached his headquarters, he decided to surrender. Some Italian units, not informed of the surrender due to problems in communications, kept fighting until 17 November.
Overall, 3,200 British (201 officers and 3,000 soldiers) and 5,350 Italians (351 officers and 5,000 soldiers) were taken prisoner by the Germans. The 4th Bn, The Buffs, in their isolated position, were unaware of the surrender so did not attempt to escape; consequently nearly the whole unit was captured. As with the Buffs, only ninety men from the West Kents managed to escape from the island.
He was awarded the Efficiency Medal on 30 September 1949
Kemp died in Hove in March 1975.
Sold with some research including his Repatriated POW Questionnaire. All medals are in good condition unless otherwise indicated.
