An MBE and MC Group to Lieutenant Swales Tank Corps / badly wounded and personally decorated by the King

Cased Civil M.B.E.

Cased Military Cross, privately engraved 2^nd Lieut J Swales Decorated At Buckingham Palace By H.M. King George V Oct 31^st 1918’

1914/15  Star, correctly impressed 17.377 Sjt J. Swales North’D Fus.

Pair, correctly impressed 2. Lieut. J. Swales.

Condition GVF ( Star looks to have been resent in 1921 and the pair in 1931)

Joseph Swales was born in Middlesbrough on the 10^th March 1891at 38 Wesley Chapel Yard in Middlesbrough. In 1901 Jospeh along with his family were living in Victoria Road Middlesbrough.

By 1911 Jospeh was living in Wingate and working as a Railway Clerk. When the Great War broke out Swales joined the 17^th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers ( North Eastern Railway Pioneers)

He landed in France with them on the 20^th of November 1915, rising to the rank of Sergeant, before being commissioned into the Tank Corps on the 18^th of June 1917 as a Second Lieutenant.

Second Lieutenant Swales was serving with the 4^th Bn Tank Corps  on the 10^th of August 1918, near Bois Sud, North West of Damery. He was awarded the Military Cross for this action and the citation was published on the 7^th of November 1918.

‘For presence of mind and gallantry in action. After knocking out a number of machine guns in front of the infantry, his tank received three direct hits. He continued to fire his 6-pdr. gun, in spite of being wounded in the eye, and when the whole crew were wounded he got them away to a safe place, and also extinguished a fire in the tank, before being taken to the nearest dressing station’

The wounds sadly caused him to loose his sight. The MC was presented by the King at Buckingham Palace.

He was very active in charities of the blind in the post war years. For his services to charity, he was awarded the MBE, which was again presented to him at Buckingham Palace

Jospeh passed away in 1976.