“27959 WS/Lt Col Kenneth Geofrey Exham was CO 6^th Bn The Royal Welch Fusiliers in 158 Inf Bde, 53 Welsh Division, 30 Corps. At HOTTON, on 4^th January 1945, Lt. Col. Exham, 6^th RWF, from a reserve Bde, was ordered to take temporary command of an Inf  Bde in action after its Commander had been killed. The forward Bns. Were in contact with strong enemy forces in thickly wooded and hilly country covered in snow and reached by two inferior hill tracks. Lt. Col. Exham arrived in the dark and under his command the Bde. and the Bde attacked the next day and gained its objective. At 18.00 hrs, 5^th Jan, Lt. Col. Exham was planning a further attack for 6^th Jan when an enemy counter attack regained some vital ground on the Bde. front.  The situation was anxious, Bns. were suffering from long exposure in the wintry weather and from casualties : command and control were extremely difficult due to the thick nature of the country, wide frontage and absence of roads. At this stage another Bn. Was put under command of Lt. Col. Exham.

During the night of 5/6 Jan and 6^th Jan Lt. Col. Exham was stabilising his front, visiting forward troops, making recces, and planning further attacks. On 6^th Jan yet another Bn. Came under his command. Throughout this period he came under constant heavy mortar and shell fire. His cool bearing and utter disregard for his own safety was a fine example to all.

On 7 Jan  the Bde attacked securing all its objectives according to plan. A very great measure of the success of the whole operation was due to the untiring energy and excellent planning of Lt. Col. Exham throughout the anxious 72 hours with troops and staff  he did not know and under abnormal conditions of weather and ground. He had under his command by the final battle, 5 inf. Bns. of infantry, a tank regt and other supporting arms.By his very successful handling of this very large Bde. Gp. he showed outstanding qualities of coolness, resource and judgement, and the acceptance of responsibilities far above the average.”

Recommendation supported all the way up the chain of command until finally approved by F.M. Montgomery 11 Feb 1945.

With copy of “Who was Who” entry. Later Sir Denis Hamilton, Chairman of Times Newspapers and then Reuters. Etc. etc. autobiography “Editor-in-Chief” (1976)

Entitled to: DSO, 1939/45 star, France & Germany Star, Defence and War Medals, TD.

DSO LG 5 April 1944.(North West Europe)

“ At about o300 hours on 4th December 1944 approx. one Bn of German Parachute Infantry suddenly attacked 7th DWR at HAALDEREN on a narrow front.

Owing to the weight of the attack the defences were penetrated, and approx. a company of infantry reached the centre of the Battalion position, while some reached to within 200 yds of the Bn Headquarters.

Major Hamilton, who was acting CO of the Bn, quickly regained control of the situation. He personally organised two stops near Bn HQ with his only reserve, the carrier platoon, and personnel of Bn HQ.

It was extremely difficult to find out the exact situation, as confused fighting was going on all over the Bn area and the Bn HQ between small parties of the DWR and the enemy.

Having carried out his recce, Major Hamilton then ordered the perimeter coys to hold firm; arranged for a counter attack by the dismounted carrier personnel to eject the enemy from posts around the central X roads of the position; and another from a flank coy to close the gap through which the enemy had penetrated. These arrangements were all successful. The posn then was that the enemy were bottled up inside the Bn area, while any reserve the enemy had were pinned down by heavy and accurate DF brought down by arty, heavy mortar,  and MMG’s.

As soon as dawn broke, Major Hamilton carried out a further recce with the comd of a coy of another unit which had been sent to his assistance. He gave directions for this coy to counter attack the bulk of the enemy. As soon as this got under way, Spandau fire broke out from a house near Bn HQ. Maj Hamilton immediately returned to organise the destruction of this party, which was soon carried out. This post contained six Spandau’s.

Within 8 hours of the first attack, the enemy’s very determined attempt to capture the village of HAALDEREN, as a first step to the destruction of the NIJMEGEN BRIDGE, had been defeated with the loss of 50 killed, 110 PoW, and an unknown number of killed and wounded by DF outside of the area.

This success, at the cost of very light casualties to his own men, was very larely due to Major Hamilton’s leadership. Throughout a very confused action he had maintained control over the situation, and calmly made his arrangements for the destruction of the enemy.

His recce’s during the night and after first light were carried out in considerable personal danger, and his coolness at all times was an inspiration to his Bn. It was under his direction that the action was soon brought to a highly successful conclusion.”

Entitled to: DSO, OBE, 1939/45 star, France & Germany Star, Defence and War Medals.

DSO LG 12 April 1945 (North West Europe)

“On the morning of 18^th January 1945 Lt. Col. Gosselin’s Bn working in conjunction with tanks, was detailed to breach an enemy minefield, cross a water obstacle and sieze the two villages of LIND and STEIN which were known strongpoints in German defences.

The minefiels was successfully breached and the water obstacle bridged by the assauly group; but owing to the thaw and unexpected difficulties of ground, the tanks were unable to cross the water obstacle. Lt. Col. Gosselin immediately revised his original plan and ordered the infantry forward without tank support. After hard fighting the two villages were captured.

The whole Brigade plan – in fact the whole Divisional plan – depended on the success of this initial operation. This officers quick decision and subsequent direction of the assault enabled the other troops to move forward rapidly and the momentum of the advance to be maintained.

At a very early stage Lt. Col. Gosselin left the tank in which he was riding and went forward on foot – under heavy mortar and small arms fire – to direct troops.

I consider that his skill, initiative and courage merit the award of the DSO.”