An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division,

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An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division,


















An Outstanding
"12th SS PANZER MURDER DIVISION" (Battle of Hamburg)
MILITARY MEDAL Group of Six
With Territorial Force Efficiency Medal.

To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2nd DEVONSHIRE REGt,
(7th Armoured Division."Desert Rats" )
An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, Who, at 02:30 hrs on 26th April, took on two heavily armed units of 12th SS Reinforcement Regiment. Known as the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, they were being supported by Hitlerjugund, (Hitler Youth Trainees). They were also aided by Hamburg based Kriegsmarine sailors and submariners, civil policemen, who all counter-attacked at Vahrendorf near Hamburg.

The 2/Devonshire's had arrived in Vahrendorf, 2 miles south west of Hamburg on the night of 25th April and for the next five days they had patrolled the neighbouring villages of Sottorf and Sieversen, but Hitler Jugend and assorted Hamburg sailors and Policeman, supported by 88mm guns in Hamburg counter attacked at Vahrendorf. The battle went on all day, with two 75mm Self Propelled guns working their way into the village only to be knocked out when a squadron of our tanks arrived. The enemy finally withdrew on the 27th, leaving sixty dead and seventy prisoners.

Apparently, Cpl Sigall who was in charge of the unit's motor transport was on night guard with one of his privates in a large lorry when he noticed movement in the darkness. He then lept out of the vehicle with his sten gun and some hand grenades and opened fire. In what became a bloody and desperate eight hour action in the small side streets of Vahrendorf, Cpl Sigall attacked two separate SS units with his sten gun & the hand grenades in an astonishing night time and early morning firefight during which he accounted for many of the enemy SS troops.

With An Incredible Citation.

(London Gazette: 23rd August 1945)

An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division,






"In the early hours of 26th Apr 45, B" Coy, of which Cpl. Sigall was a member, was attacked by a Coy of 12 SS Training Bn. He is the N.C.O. in charge of the company transport and as such was responsible for part of the defences of Coy HQ. The enemy succeeded in the dark in infiltrating between the platoons and got to within 10 yards of the Coy HQ. Not content with inflicting casualties and driving off an enemy attack on his position with his sten and by throwing grenades, Cpl Sigall, accompanied by one man left his position to go in search for more trouble round the corner. He immediately came across another party of enemy and set about them with his sten and more grenades. Before long he had dispersed this party again inflicting casualties. He then went in search of more enemy but his search was unrewarded. Cpl. Sigall's offensive spirit and magnificent bravery were the highest incentive to others to follow suit. Throughout the battle which lasted some eight hours, this NCO had no thought whatever for his own safety.......His actions were quite unsurpassed."

[HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. LATE APRIL 1945....& THE FINAL DAYS OF THE WAR]
An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, With the clearly imminent and final collapse of The Third Reich, it was realised that the Germans were just not giving up. With the stark option of immediate summary execution for refusal, all sections of the German community had been forced into service. Ships crews, stevedores, policemen and firemen from Hamburg, submarine crews, a few other SS troops, Paratroops, normal Wehrmacht soldiers, school boys and Volksturm Home Guard all were now fighting in a last ditch compulsory effort to defend the Fatherland. They were also supported by a powerful army of 88mm anti-aircraft guns which now being unneeded for the air defence of the Hamburg were also brought into lethal 'horizontal' service.

An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, [THE BATTLE OF HAMBURG]
The British advance towards Hamburg was spearheaded by the 7th Armoured Division, attacking Harburg and advancing to the River Elbe across from Hamburg, with the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division assaulting the town of Uelzen to the south of the city. Elements of the XII Corps attacked Hamburg itself from the northwest. On their way to Hamburg, the 7th Division captured Welle and Tostedt on 18 April and advanced into Hollenstedt the next day. By this time, the Germans had built up defenses in Hamburg as the British moved closer. On 20 April, the division captured Daerstorf, eight miles west of the city. The RHA Forward Observation Officers (FOOs), reached the Elbe and began to direct artillery fire upon troops and trains on the other side of the river.

On the same day, the 131st Infantry Brigade took Vahrendorf just two miles south of Hamburg. Here the Division halted the advance for five days just short of Hamburg and set up a perimeter while it prepared for its final assault on the city.

However, on 26 April, the 12th SS Regiment, supported by troops of the Hitler Youth, sailors and policemen, counter-attacked at Vahrendorf. They were supported by 88mm guns and 75mm howitzers and reached the town centre, but were pushed back once British tanks arrived. It was here that Cpl Edward Sigall performed the selfless and incredible acts of gallantry which earned him his immediate Military Medal.

The battle continued until the next day, when the Germans retreated back to Hamburg, leaving 60 dead and losing 70 men as prisoners.

An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, [The 2nd Bn DEVONSHIRE REGIMENT IN WW2]
The 2nd Devons were garrisoning Malta when the Second World War began on 3rd September 1939. In June 1940 Mussolini’s declaration of war hurled Malta to the forefront of world events. The island’s position below Sicily and above Italian Libya and British Egypt made her strategically vital in both the campaign in North Africa and the war in the Mediterranean. The Italians (and later the Germans) tried to bomb and starve surrounded Malta into surrender. The siege lasted three years, during which the 2nd Devons defended the coast and airfields, repaired bomb damage, mended roads and runways, manned anti-aircraft guns and prepared for an invasion that happily never came. It was on Malta that the 2nd Devons came together with the 1st Hampshire and 1st Dorsets to form 231 Malta Brigade, with which they served until late 1944.

After training in Egypt in assault landings, the 2nd Devons landed in Sicily on 10th July 1943. In the seven-week campaign that followed they advanced north west and then east, fighting actions at Vizzini, Agira and Regalbutto and liberating the south-eastern corner of the island below Mount Etna. The campaign cost them 19 killed and 94 wounded. On 8th September they landed in Italy on the Calbrian coast at Porto San Venere and led the Brigade’s advance to the Amato River before being withdrawn and returned to the UK to play a leading role in the D-Day landings.

It was at this point that Cpl Sigall joined the 2nd Devons in preparation for D-Day.

[D-DAY. 6th JUNE 1944]
On 6th JUNE 1944 the 2nd Devons landed on Gold Beach immediately behind the 1st Hampshires and 1st Dorsets and then passed through to capture Ryes and the enemy coastal battery at Longues. In the Normandy campaign they fought at La Belle Epine(near Trungy), at Hottot, at Le Lion Vert and at Les Forges on the road to Conde sur Noireau. After the rapid advance across the Seine and through Belgium, they played a part in Operation Market Graden, fighting to consolidate the Eindhoven corridor through which XXX Corps would pass on their way to the bridges at Nijmegen and Arnhem. October and November 1944 were spent defending the island – the low-lying polderland between Arnhem and Nijmegen – against a German thrust south.

In late November 231 Malta Brigade was split up and the 2nd Devons were transferred to 7th Armoured Division, then near Sittard and with whom they served for the rest of the war. In January 1945 they took part in the bitter fight to clear the Roer Triangle in the south of Holland. In March, once across the Rhine, they forced a crossing of the River Weser and fought their last battle at Vehrendorf, outside Hamburg.

On 12th July 1945 the 2nd Devons took part in the Victory Parade in Berlin, having joined the garrison there a week earlier. In four years of war the Battalion had been under fire for more than three, had served in four campaigns and had carried out three assault landings, earning twelve battle honours for the Devonshire Regiment.

An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, [THE COMMANDING OFFICER]
Major-General P H W Brind CBE, DSO,

Peter Brind took over command of 2nd battalion The Devonshire Regiment in November 1944, at the end of the battalion's long slog from the D-Day beaches of Normandy to Nijmegen with the 50th Division. A pause in the Allied advance through Belgium and Holland, intended for a regrouping of the fighting formations, saw the 2nd Devons switched to the 7th Armoured Division (The Derert Rats) on the eve of the massive and unexpected German counter stroke through the Ardennes.

As the BATTLE OF THE BULGE broke, Brind's battalion was 25 miles north east of Maastricht on the right flank of General Hasso von Manteuffel's 5th Panzer Army attack which was intended to recapture Antwerp. As a lorried infantry (131 Battalion, in which Cpl Sigall was in charge of the unit's transport ) the 2nd Devons were expecting to follow up the 7th Armoured Division's tanks in a continued advance eastwards. Instead, they were ordered to hold a critically important 3,000 yard front at Sittard to help to contain any attempt by von Manteuffel to break out to the north to link up with General Sepp Dietrich's parallel move on Liège. Despite Luftwaffe attacks and vigorous probing of the 2nd Devon's line, they held fast to their sector of the German salient until the sudden German offensive finally petered out through shortage of fuel, ammunition and air support.

January 1945 saw a brisk renewal of the Allied advance on the Rhine and into Germany. The 2nd Devons began with OPERATION BLACKCOCK to clear the enemy from the Roer triangle, north of Heinsberg. This was a useful phase, as it allowed Peter Brind to gear up his battalion to the swifter moving armoured battle after the defensive pause. By mid March the battalion was preparing for the break out beyond the Rhine following Montgomery's crossing of the river on the night of the 23rd. Once over the Lower Rhine, the race northeastwards began.

For the 2nd Devons this ended with the battle for the village of Vehrendorf a few miles south of Hamburg towards the end of April. This is where Cpl Sigall won his MM for taking on two units of the infamous 12th SS who were infamous for several well documented atrocities in and around Cean in the days after D-Day & in the Brockage. They are known to have murdered many British & allied P.O.W.s including members of the Canadian Infantry.

Peter Brind was awarded the DSO for his inspired leadership of the 2nd Devons from November 1944 and their stand on the north of the Ardennes salient, through the advance to the Rhine and the break out from the bridgehead until they reached Hamburg. He was lucky not to be wounded or killed during a period when infantry battalion commanders were expected to survive for weeks rather than months.

An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division,











This exciting & outstanding DEVONS gallantry group comes complete with the original miniatures, commanding officers congratulation letter, original named Buckingham Palace King's letter, copy citation, the original dog tags, shoulder flashes and the original named MM box of issue. Copy of signed presentation photo by Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery...and many other personal items including original newspaper cuttings of his award & marriage , with a good album of French D-DAY reunion photos. Cpl Edward John Sigall was originally from Yorkshire but lived and married in Richmond Surrey prior & after world war two.

An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL 
with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, SOLD
(Enquires & Part Exchanges Welcome)

An Outstanding

An Outstanding "12th SS MURDER DIVISION" MILITARY MEDAL with T.F.E.M. To: 6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Div.) who on 26th April 1945 took on two units of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division,
£SOLD

6206751 Cpl E.J. SIGALL. 2/DEVON. REGt, (7th Armoured Div.) Who, on 26th April 1945 took on two heavily armed enemy companies of the infamous 12th SS Panzer "Murder" Division, who were being supported by Hitlerjugund, (Hitler Youth Trainees). These were also aided by Hamburg based Kriegsmarine sailors and submariners, civil policemen, who all counter-attacked near Hamburg. In what became a bloody and desperate eight hour action at Vahrendorf, Cpl Sigall attacked two separate SS units with his sten gun & hand grenades in an astonishing night time and early morning firefight.