Lot Essay
M.B.E. London Gazette 1.11.1945. Recommendation states 'This Warrant Officer while a Prisoner of War, was Camp Leader at P.O.W. Camp No. 73 from its inception in the Summer of 1942 until the prisoners were transferred to Germany, and subsequently Chief Man of Confidence in Stalag XVIII C, until the camp was finally liberated. During this period R.S.M. Exall's qualities of leadership earned him the confidence and respect of his fellow prisoners. His responsibilities during his time at Stalag XVIII C were made particularly arduous by bad conditions and by the obstructive attitude adopted by the German authorities. Undaunted by the attitude of the German authorities, he continued successfully to uphold the rights of his fellow prisoners'.
M.C. London Gazette 8.11.1945. Recommendation states 'In Libya between 28-29 May 1942, R.S.M. Exall, owing to the shortage of Officers, commanded a post on the main Trigh Capuzzo Gap, which was vital to the Battalion position. The enemy attacked most continuously and although wounded, R.S.M. Exall continued to fight on throughout the day until relief could be effected. His courage, endurance and fine example was responsible for repelling these attacks'.
Warrant Officer Class II James Exall, M.B.E., M.C., served in the 4th Battalion, Green Howards during May 1940 and was part of a convoy of five Officers and 90 Other Ranks which became separated from the Battalion during the hectic retreat to Dunkirk:
'With the coming of darkness the leading transport drivers had difficulty in keeping awake at the halts and eventually lost the main body ... In the early hours of May 30 they found themselves crossing the canal just outside Dunkirk. When they got down to the beaches they found that the 50th Division had not yet arrived and so they retraced their steps across the canal, and set off in column to Bergues, in the hopes of finding the Battalion. This was an unpleasant journey along deserted roads, with dead men and horses on either side, and after going some way they ran into a party of Engineers, who were about to blow up the bridge in front of them. There was no choice but to return to Dunkirk, where the troops, under 2nd Lieutenant Goellnicht, were billeted on some Gunners, while the Padre and the Medical Officer set off again towards Furnes to try to get into touch with the Battalion.
This trip also met with failure in the face of oncoming French troops, who did not take kindly to the British car, and started a riding off contest with it. Captain Royston, however, stoutly resisted all efforts to push him into the ditch, and, turning his truck before the faces of the enraged Frenchmen, picked up a couple of wounded men at a Casualty Clearing Station. On their way back to the rest of their party they ran into a posse of Brigadiers. None of the latter could give them much information, but one of them impressed 2nd Lieutenant Goellnicht and his men, and carried them off to take up a defensive position along the canal. At about 5 a.m. Captain Elliott, 2nd Lieutenant Goellnicht and R.S.M. Exall went down to the beach again, while Captain Royston went off in search of rations'.
Exall and his party spent the night on the dunes, about three miles from the Mole, a night which one Battalion member later recalled as being 'somewhat disturbed by intermittent shelling, the shells whistling over our heads and landing on the beach beyond'. Early the next morning the party made a record march to the Mole and was evacuated aboard a Paddle Steamer of the Brighton Belle class. It was just two years later, while still with the 4th Battalion, that R.S.M. Exall found himself embroiled in an action at Capuzzo Gap in Libya from which escape proved impossible.
M.C. London Gazette 8.11.1945. Recommendation states 'In Libya between 28-29 May 1942, R.S.M. Exall, owing to the shortage of Officers, commanded a post on the main Trigh Capuzzo Gap, which was vital to the Battalion position. The enemy attacked most continuously and although wounded, R.S.M. Exall continued to fight on throughout the day until relief could be effected. His courage, endurance and fine example was responsible for repelling these attacks'.
Warrant Officer Class II James Exall, M.B.E., M.C., served in the 4th Battalion, Green Howards during May 1940 and was part of a convoy of five Officers and 90 Other Ranks which became separated from the Battalion during the hectic retreat to Dunkirk:
'With the coming of darkness the leading transport drivers had difficulty in keeping awake at the halts and eventually lost the main body ... In the early hours of May 30 they found themselves crossing the canal just outside Dunkirk. When they got down to the beaches they found that the 50th Division had not yet arrived and so they retraced their steps across the canal, and set off in column to Bergues, in the hopes of finding the Battalion. This was an unpleasant journey along deserted roads, with dead men and horses on either side, and after going some way they ran into a party of Engineers, who were about to blow up the bridge in front of them. There was no choice but to return to Dunkirk, where the troops, under 2nd Lieutenant Goellnicht, were billeted on some Gunners, while the Padre and the Medical Officer set off again towards Furnes to try to get into touch with the Battalion.
This trip also met with failure in the face of oncoming French troops, who did not take kindly to the British car, and started a riding off contest with it. Captain Royston, however, stoutly resisted all efforts to push him into the ditch, and, turning his truck before the faces of the enraged Frenchmen, picked up a couple of wounded men at a Casualty Clearing Station. On their way back to the rest of their party they ran into a posse of Brigadiers. None of the latter could give them much information, but one of them impressed 2nd Lieutenant Goellnicht and his men, and carried them off to take up a defensive position along the canal. At about 5 a.m. Captain Elliott, 2nd Lieutenant Goellnicht and R.S.M. Exall went down to the beach again, while Captain Royston went off in search of rations'.
Exall and his party spent the night on the dunes, about three miles from the Mole, a night which one Battalion member later recalled as being 'somewhat disturbed by intermittent shelling, the shells whistling over our heads and landing on the beach beyond'. Early the next morning the party made a record march to the Mole and was evacuated aboard a Paddle Steamer of the Brighton Belle class. It was just two years later, while still with the 4th Battalion, that R.S.M. Exall found himself embroiled in an action at Capuzzo Gap in Libya from which escape proved impossible.