LIEUTENANT-COLONEL P.W. GALVIN,THE QUEEN'S REGIMENT (LATE 3RD BATTALION 9TH JAT REGIMENT, INDIAN ARMY, AND MIDDLESEX REGIMENT). Five: Burma Star, Defence Medal 1939-45, War Medal 1939-45, General Service Medal 1918-62, 2 clasps, S.E. Asia 1945-46, Cyprus, with Mention in Dispatches bronze oakleaf on ribbon, Vatican Cross of Honour "Pro Eccelsia et Pontefice", 1st type, 1888-1978, with multicoloured ribbon (General Service Medal officially named, impressed in plain block capitals: CAPT. P.W. GALVIN. MX.). British medals mounted court style, as worn, generally Extremely Fine, and accompanied by a matching set of dress miniatures and ribbon bar, Vatican Cross of Honour mounted independently, loose style on its original ribbon, as worn, virtually mint state and in its original (damaged) case of issue.
Group accompanied by an original Commission Warrant appointing Galvin a Lieutenant in the Middlesex Regiment, 3/1/1946. Group also accompanied by Indian Army List and London Gazette extracts from the period and copied General Service Medal roll extract, confirming medal and S.E. Asia clasp for post-war service as a Temporary Captain with the 3rd Battalion, Jat Regiment during the South East Asia operations (the 3rd/9th Jat Regiment saw service in Java and Sumatra with 49th Brigade, 5th Indian Division, 1945-46).
Peter William Galvin was born 1/8/1920 in West Ham, Essex. He is recorded in the 1939 Register as an unmarried Clerical Student resident at St Mary's Priory, Bodmin, Cornwall. A devout Catholic, Galvin studied with a view to entering the priesthood prior to joining the army, and is recorded in the 1939 Register as an unmarried clerical (i.e. ecclesiastical) student at St Mary's Priory, Bodmin, Cornwall, resident in the priory with one lay brother, two other clerical students and five clerks in Holy Orders (priests). Galvin first saw service during WW2 with the Royal Signals, enlisting in 1940. He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant, 3rd Battalion 9th Jat Regiment, Indian Army, 16/1/1944 (with 1 year and 197 days of previous service allowed to count towards retirement pay), War Substantive Lieutenant, 16/7/1944 (Temporary Captain 14/4/1944), seeing service with the 3/9th Jats in Burma and South East Asia during the Second World War. Following the end of WW2 Galvin transferred to the British Army, being appointed Lieutenant, Middlesex Regiment, 23/1/1946 (seniority 24/4/1944), and promoted Captain 24/10/1948, Temporary Major, 1/5/1954, Major, 3/7/1955, and Lieutenant-Colonel in the newly formed The Queen's Regiment, 30/6/1967 (The Queen's Regiment was formed on 31/12/1966 from four existing regiments of the British Army, the 1st Battalion from the Queen's Royal Surrey Regiment, the 2nd from the Queen's Own Buffs, the 3rd from the Royal Sussex Regiment and the 4th from the Middlesex Regiment). Galvin was appointed to the Special List, Queen's Regiment, Queen's Division, 1/8/1970, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel and retired on 3/8/1975. In retirement, Lieutenant Colonel Galvin was a Director of Nottingham Accessories Ltd. Lieutenant-Colonel Galvin died on 17/2/2012, aged 91.
Lieutenant Colonel Galvin's Mention in Dispatches was announced in the London Gazette of 4/2/1958 "In recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Cyprus for the period 1st July to 31st December 1957".
In addition to being mentioned in dispatches for Cyprus, Galvin was also awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in 1967.
Galvin did not see service in Northern Ireland, and so was not entitled to the General Service Medal with Northern Ireland clasp.
St Mary's Priory, where Galvin studied for the priesthood, and Bodmin (Cornish, Bodmin, "the home of monks"), have long been associated with the catholic church. Its earliest history is linked to a Bodmin hermit who gave hospitality to St Petroc, who came from Ireland and later founded a monastery at Padstow in 518A.D. After a Viking raid in 981 the religious community moved from Padstow to Bodmin. The priory was suppressed in 1538 and its buildings demolished, with the catholic religion being officially illegal in England for the following 250 years. The priory was revived in 1845 and raised to the status of an abbey in 1953.
The Vatican Cross of Honour is conferred by the Vatican for distinguished service to the Catholic church by lay people and clergy.
The 3rd Battalion 9th Jat Regiment saw service in India, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Burma and the Dutch East Indies (Java and Sumatra) during the Second World War.
Lieutenant Colonel Galvin was the son of Corporal James Galvin, Postal Section, Royal Engineers (late 24th Battalion Middlesex Rifle Volunteers (Post Office Rifles)) who saw service during the First World War (awarded 1914-15 Star trio).
James Galvin was born in Moate, King's County (now Co. Offaly), Ireland. He is recorded in the 1901 Irish census as a 17 year old schoolboy resident in Faheeran, King's County, with his 60 year old father William, 48 year old mother Kate, a brother and a sister. He is recorded in the 1911 England census as a 27 year old married Post Office letter sorter, resident in West Ham, London, and in the 1939 Register as an overseer in a London hotel.
Galvin enlisted into the Postal Section, Royal Engineers, on 5/12/1914. At the time of enlistment he was 31 years of age, gave his employment as that of civil servant and confirmed that he had previously seen service in the 24th Middlesex Rifle Volunteers (Post Office Rifles). Galvin first saw service during WW1 in France, entering that theatre of operations on 15/7/1915. He was promoted Corporal, 3/3/1917 and was discharged on 1/4/1919.
