Silver Star Awarded to British Tank Crewman

Good Morning
I'm researching our Regimental history (3rd & 4th County of London Yeomanry - Sharpshooters) and have come across one of our WWII tank commanders, Sergeant Hugh George STANTON, who was awarded the Silver Star, and am now trying to find out a little background information. The action for which he received the award was on 3rd April 1945, soon after the Rhine crossing near a town called Octrup. So far as I can work out, the Sharpshooters were not supporting American troops at the time, which makes the award all the more surprising.

We have our War Diary for the period and a copy of the British citation for the medal. Fewer than 100 British soldiers received the Silver Star and so I am trying to establish what marked out Sgt Stanton for this award. Can anyone direct me to the correct spot in the US National Archives where the US citation may be viewed, or any other background that may have led to the award?

My assumption is that there may have been a policy of allotting a set number of Silver Stars for a particular action or actions, for which the British then put forward suitable candidates. This would explain the British citation (attached), which only has signatures from the British Chain of command.

Any help you can offer would be much appreciated.

Regards
Dan

 

Several allied nations handed over medals to be awarded to British troops. Some British soldiers were awarded the Croix de Guerre for actions that did not involve French soldiers. The administration and award of the medal would have to follow British practice as shown by the citation. These were extra gongs over and above the allotment for a particular formation or unit. They were typically awarded for the same things that might being an MM or MC.

 

Some Silver Stars to British troops:
Foreign to British Awards

Bronzes to Phantoms:
Phantom: Honours and awards

Arnhem:
US awards to Arnhem soldiers?

And a search for 'British "Silver Star"' suggests there might be quite a few more in dbf's Guards lists, though I've not dug into that.