Bidspirit auction | An early WW2 British Empire

An early WW2 British Empire Medal (BEM) award for service with the BEF in a group of five medals awarded to a despatch rider of the Royal Corps of Signals (Supplementary Reserve). Consisting of: British Empire Medal (Second Type, Military Division) named to: 2324558 Sglmn John J McLeod R Signals; 1939-45 Star; Defence Medal; War Medal 1939-45; Efficiency Medal (Militia) (First type Indiae Imp) named to: 2324558 Sjt J J McLeod R Signals. John Joseph McLeod was born in Leeds on 4 April 1909. A motor driver by trade, he enlisted in the Royal Corps of Signals (Supplementary Reserve) on 4 July 1934 and was posted to No 3 (WR) Company GHQ Signals as a despatch rider. He was mobilised and embodied into the Regular Army on 2 September 1939, the day before the British declaration of war on Germany. He was posted to 2nd Air Formation Signals (AFS) and embarked for France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on 10 September. 2 AFS was an Army unit responsible for providing ground communications for the Royal Air Force, and staffed by a mix of Army and RAF personnel. Following the German Blitzkrieg onslaught on France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, and the subsequent outflanking of the BEF and allied forces, Sig McLeod would have fulfilled the vital role of despatch rider, carrying urgent despatches between RAF HQs and airfields during the hectic and chaotic withdrawal of the BEF to the Dunkirk perimeter. He was finally evacuated from the Dunkirk beaches on 18 June 1940. His award of the BEM for meritorious service in the field was published in the London Gazette on 11 July 1940. McLeod remained in the UK for the remainder of the war, serving in a number of different units. Following the end of the war in Europe he was posted briefly to France on 8 June 1945 as a reinforcement for 21st Army Group, but was released in Belgium on 13 December 1945. The award of his Efficiency Medal was promulgated in AO104/45 and the medal was issued in April 1946. With copies of his service record and extract from the London Gazette confirming the award of the BEM. Extremely Fine (EF) condition.