Although a Royal Artillery officer, Major Russell-Ross held intelligence appointments and commanded a Field Security unit. During the recapture of Ghent in Belgium, he was instrumental in the arrest of members of the Gestapo, their agents, and members of the German Sicherheitsdienst, the intelligence agency of the SS and Nazi Party. For this he was presented with the brass plaque by the town. The phrase “Honour to our liberators- Sept 1944” is inscribed on the reverse.