Sergeant Overend receiving his Soldier's Medal from Brigadier-General Minis, 11 October 1944.
WWII Soldier’s Medal and ribbon. Equivalent to a George Medal.
By direction of the President, under the provisions of Army Regulations 600-45, as amended, the Soldiers Medal was awarded by the Theatre Commander to each of the following named enlisted men of 2867 LAA Squadron RAF Regiment for heroism on 26 Feb 1944 at Fomi, Ponza.
– 547452 Sergeant George Overend
– 1497643 Leading Aircraftman Fredrick Canton
Overend and Caton had been guarding their LAA site on the small island of Ponza off the west coast of Italy. An American military vessel had become stricken on the rocks 200ft below their cliff top position. Notified by Italian civilians, both then bravely descended the cliffs, and began pulling survivors out of the water on to the rocks. There was a heavy gale and Caton was washed into the sea at least twice, his perseverance along with Overend for a period of over 5 hours contributed to saving of 140 American troops.
There are no known photos of LAC Caton.
