BRITISH AWARDS TO THE U.S. ARMY 1943-1945 and 1950-1953

This substantial and comprehensive book – the definitive authority on its subject – lists the many honours and decorations awarded to the United States Army by Britain’s King George VI and later his daughter Queen Elizabeth II to American officers and men serving in the Second World War and the Korean War.
Such Honorary Awards to Britain’s greatest ally were made on the recommendation of British Commander in the field and cover all grades of awards – with the sole exception of the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest award for gallantry, which is reserved for British or Commonwealth personnel.
The author has combed the British National Archives at Kew to find a complete list of awards made by the Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Air Force. The listing of each award comes complete with the original citation.
The first awards made to US soldiers were to those attached to the British Army, Corporal Koons and Second Lieutenant Loustalot of the 1st Ranger Battalion, US Army, who were awarded the Military Medal and a Posthumous Mention in Despatches respectively for their actions in the Dieppe raid in August 1942, just eight months after the US entered the war.
With the D-day Normandy invasions of June 1944 the number of recommendations for awards shot upwards, and many soldiers were honoured for their role in the liberation of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and finally Germany itself. Adding the Pacific campaign to the total, the result was over 1,500 awards – all of which are listed in this book.
Finally, the list includes Honorary awards made to US War correspondents who reported the Second World war for the folks back home in the USA – including such famous names as ‘new York Times’ reporter Drew Middleton, and CBS broadcaster Ed Murrow – who both got Honorary OBEs.