Beschreibung:

An interesting Second World War K.B.E., C.B. group of thirteen awarded to Major-General Lord Rennell of Rodd, Royal Artillery, who served with distinction as a Chief of Civil Affairs in the Mediterranean theatre of war 1941-44, prior to becoming a successful banker: as a young Intelligence Officer in Egypt and Palestine in the Great War, he met and befriended Lawrence of Arabia, and was subsequently approached by the Governor of the Bank of England to offer Lawrence the appointment of Secretary to the Bank in 1934 - the latter declined the offer but invited his old friend to come and visit him at his newly acquired cottage, “Clouds Hill” in Dorset The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, K.B.E. (Military) Knight Commander’s 2nd type set of insignia, comprising neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, the reverse of the arms privately engraved, ‘Major-General Lord Rennell of Rodd, 23.III.44’, and breast star, silver, gilt and enamel centre, the reverse privately engraved as before, in its Garrard, London case of issue; The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, in its Garrard, London case of issue; 1914-15 Star (2 Lieut., R.F.A,); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Capt.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals; Coronation 1953; Italy, Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus, Knight’s breast badge, gold and enamel, mounted as worn where applicable, together with a set of related miniature dress medals; together with the Royal Geographical Society, President’s Badge of Office, silver-gilt and enamel, the reverse officially inscribed, ‘Lord Rennell of Rodd, President 1945-48’, in its Spink, London case of issue; French Association for the Advancement of the Sciences Medal, reverse officially engraved, ‘Lord Rennell’ and the edge, ‘Angers, 1959’, 68mm., silvered-bronze; French Geographical Society Commemorative Medal 1821-1971, silver, 44mm., in fitted case of issue; and a quantity of the recipient’s General Officer uniform rank insignia and buttons, generally good very fine (lot) £2000-2500 Footnote K.B.E. London Gazette 23 March 1944. C.B. London Gazette 8 July 1943. Italy, Order of St. Lazurus and St. Maurice London Gazette 29 November 1918. Francis James Rennell Rodd was born in October 1895, the son of the distinguished diplomat, James Rennell Rodd, the 1st Baron Rennell, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., and was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford. Commissioned into the Royal Field Artillery soon after the outbreak of hostilities, he served in France in 1915 and in Italy as an Intelligence Officer in 1916, following which he acted in a similar role - and as a Staff Officer - in Libya, Egypt, Sinai and Palestine 1917-18 (despatches; Italian Order of St. Maurice and St. Lazarus). It was in this latter period that he met Lawrence of Arabia, and a long-standing friendship ensued - thus the occasion he was able to help Lawrence in May 1919, when the latter was seriously injured in an air crash in Italy. By that stage serving in the Diplomatic Service in Rome, Rodd was able to secure accommodation for Lawrence’s convalescence in his father’s official residence - the British Embassy. In was also during his time as a junior diplomat, in 1922, that Rodd embarked on an acclaimed expedition to the Touareg in the Sahara, work that won the praise of the Royal Geographical Society, and led to a second expedition in 1927 - he duly published People of the Veil and was awarded the Society’s Cuthbert Peake Grant and Founder’s Medal. Interestingly, he was accompanied by his younger brother Peter on one of these expeditions, having once more come to his sibling’s rescue after assorted and embarrassing excesses on the Continent - Peter afterwards married Nancy, one of the famous Mitford sisters. In between these periods of exploration, which were no doubt inspired by the example of his ancestor, the leading geographer and “founder of oceanography