Anthony Colin Kendall served as a soldier in the First World War, ending it as 2nd Lieutenant with the Monmouthshire Light Infantry. Immediately after the war he was an Intelligence Officer with the Intelligence Department of the British Military Mission in Sofia, Bulgaria. He was appointed as an Agent 3rd Class, Intelligence Corps, on 1st April 1919. He was demobbed in 1920.

Between the wars he was in the Diplomatic Service and was awarded the Greece Order of the Redeemer. He also worked in Bulgaria and Romania with the Colonial service. He spoke French, Bulgarian, Romanian and Russian and was a contributor to the satirical magazine, Punch.

In April 1941 he was granted an Emergency Commission in the Intelligence Corps in Cairo. He went on to work with SOE at its London HQ in Baker Street and in Jerusalem. In March 1943 he was in the Political Warfare Executive as part of General Headquarters, Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (GHQ MEF).
1944 saw him again in Romania in the Allied Control Commission. He finally relinquished his Army Commission in 1947 having reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

The museum holds his Civil Division OBE which differs from the Military Division version as it lacks the central silver line on the ribbon of the Military OBE. This was awarded in 1946, probably for his diplomatic services. Also held are his WWII Defence and War Medals.

His WWI and WWII service would also have earned him the War Medal, Victory Medal, 1939-45 Star and Italy Star, however, these were not part of the group purchased at Auction in 1994 for £175. Their whereabouts are unknown.