Behind Enemy Lines Gulf War Collection

[Serendipity]

BEHIND ENEMY LINES GULF WAR COLLECTION

Not surprisingly, I’ve become interested in war memorabilia since we were attacked by the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s @CadmiumGreenshowcasing his Behind Enemy Lines Gulf War Collection back in 2019. The collection consists of a single-year 1980 Elizabeth II sovereign aUNC flanked by two replica miniature medals in a presentation box with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) signed by Sir Peter de la Billière. General Sir Peter Edgar de la Cour de la Billière is a former British Army officer who was Director SAS during the Iranian Embassy siege, and Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in Operation Granby.

THE GOLD SOVEREIGN

The revived twenty-shilling gold sovereign became universally respected during the nineteenth century, throughout and beyond the British Empire. The sovereign was struck in 22-carat gold, weighed 7.98 grams and measured 22.05 mm in diameter. Accepted as readily in the Arab souk as in the city of London, it was hailed as ‘the chief coin of the world’. During the First World War sovereigns were believed to have been used by T. E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia, to sway Arab tribes to join the Allied fight and were used as a reward for Arabs who returned any downed Allied airmen to safety. 

During the Second World War gold sovereigns were included in the survival kit of Special Operation Executive (SOE) agents which inspired Ian Fleming to write them into his James Bond novels. In the 1957 novel From Russia, with Love, Q issues James Bond with a briefcase, the handle of which contains fifty gold sovereigns. When held at gunpoint on the Orient Express by Red Grant, Bond uses the gold to distract Grant, leading to the villain's undoing. In the Gulf War, British service personnel at risk of being stranded behind enemy lines were similarly issued with twenty gold sovereigns per person to buy emergency food, shelter and safe conduct.

FOR SERVICE

The Gulf Medal 1990-91, to the left of the sovereign, was awarded for thirty days continuous service in the defined Area of Operations between 2 August 1990 and 7 March 1991 inclusive. With clasp 16 January to 28 February 1991 for seven days continuous service in the defined Theatre of Operations, or one operational sortie, or eight sectors in the Arabian Peninsular Flight Information Regions by air transport crews in the qualifying period. With clasp 2 August 1990 awarded to members of the Kuwait Liaison Team who were in Kuwait on that date. The Kuwait Liberation Medal, to the right of the  sovereign, was awarded as a mark of gratitude by the Kuwait Government to recipients of the Gulf Medal 1990-91 with clasp 16 January to 28 February 1991.