A 1St Airborne Group To Corporal Neave Who Was Captured During Operation Husky 1943

Corporal Gustav Aubrey Neave, 1st Airborne Provost Company, Taken as a POW during Operation Husky in Sicily 1943: 1939-1945 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; and War Medal 1939-1945. Un-mounted, original ribbons, each with its own safety pin attachment, extremely fine. Accompanied by the government issued awards list and a brief note from the Combined Record Office, Kingston Lacy, Wimborne Dorset, confirming his entitlement of the aforementioned awards, in their cardboard shipping container, addressed in black ink to "G A NEAVE / VALE FARM / RETTENDON / ESSEX" and dated "12/49" on the lid. Also included is an Africa Star Ribbon Bar with 1st Airborne Division Clasp (silver "1" on a printed paper ribbon, 10.8 mm x 32.5 mm, pinback); his Certificate of Transfer to the Army Reserve (to "7685635 Private Gustave Aubrey Neave", stamped "CORPS OF MILITARY POLICE" and "ROYAL ARTILLERY (CA & SL) & C.M.P. RECORDS / SAVOY HOTEL, BOURNEMOUTH.", numbered "23355", dated November 13, 1945, printed in black ink on an off-white paper stock, 125 mm x 188 mm, exhibiting tearing and wear, lightly soiled); an Essex County Council Driving Licence (hardcovered, various numbered pages pasted in place dated from 1938 to 1950, 65 mm x 98 mm); his Stalag VIII Identification Tag (metal, twice stamped "STALAG VIII B 27847", five slots in the centre, die-holes in three of four corners, 40.8 mm x 60.5 mm, aluminum German 200 Mark Coin looped in place through a hole on the tag); his Identification Tag (silvered metal, engraved "7685635 / G. A. NEAVE / C. M. POLICE / C. of E.", 24.3 mm x 31.7 mm, slotted at either end); two large General Service Buttons, GRV (brass, maker marked "S. SAMUEL LONDON" on their reverses, 25 mm, intact loops); a small General Service Button, GRV (brass, maker marked "FIRMIN LONDON" on the reverse, 18.7 mm, intact loop).

A 1st Airborne Division Patch (grayish-blue embroidered insignia on maroon wool, 65 mm x 75 mm); a 1st Airborne Division Shoulder Flash (grayish-blue embroidered text on maroon wool, 20 mm x 170 mm, fragmented); a Parachute Regiment Wing (white, light blue and olive green embroidered insignia, 28 mm x 76 mm); a Corps of Military Police Shoulder Flash (red and black screen-printed inks on white cotton, black cotton backer, 22 mm x 90 mm); a Special Proficiency Trade Badge (khaki and brown embroidery on brown wool, 48 mm x 58 mm); a Parachute Regiment Cap Badge, GRVI (gray plastic, unmarked, 37 mm x 64 mm, both prongs intact); a Military Police Cap Badge, GRVI (brass, 45.5 mm x 45.8 mm, intact slider); two Corps of Military Police Shoulder Titles (brass, 17.8 mm x 44.7 mm, each intact lugs and pin, along with support plate); a Military Police Pin, GRVI (bronze gilt with red and blue enamels, unmarked, 16.2 mm x 21.2 mm, vertical pinback); and a Letter from the Airborne Forces Museum (addressed to Konrad Gunzel of Toronto, dated November 25, 1996, signed by Alan Brown, Assistant Curator, confirming Neave's service with the 1st Airborne Provost Company, printed in black and maroon inks on a white bond paper stock with the Airborne Forces Museum letterhead, 208 mm x 296 mm).

Footnote: Corporal Gustav Aubrey Neave was a junior member of the Recruiting Team established in 1940, to entice ernstwhile Military Policement into the 1st Airborne Provost Company, the other members of the team being WO1 (RSM) Gray and a Sergeant, whose name is lost to time. Neave was responsible for quite a few volunteers entering the Provost Company. He is confirmed as having been taken prisoner during Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, on July 9, 1943, along with Lance Corporal Grimshaw, Corps of Military Police and that they were taken to Prisoner of War Cage 344.