A Great War 'Western Front' M.M. and French Medaille Militaire group of five awarded to...

A Great War ‘Western Front’ M.M. and French Medaille Militaire group of five awarded to Company Sergeant Major, later Lieutenant, A. E. Whitty, Devonshire Regiment, who was four times wounded in action and was later injured in an aeroplane accident whilst training to be a pilot with the Royal Flying Corps Military Medal, G.V.R. (9607 Sjt. A. E. Whitty. 1/Devon: R.); 1914 Star (9707 L. Cpl.. A. E. Whitty. 1/Devon: R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (9707 W.O. Cl. II. A. E. Whitty. Devon. R.); France, Third Republic, Medaille Militaire, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with trophy of arms suspension, in case of issue, good very fine and better (5) £400-£500 --- M.M. London Gazette 18 July 1917. French Medaille Militaire London Gazette 24 February 1916. Albert Edward Whitty was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire in 1893. A Gardener by occupation he attested for the Special Reserve in June 1912 before attesting for the Devonshire Regiment on 12 October 1912. At the outbreak of the Great War he was serving with the 1st Battalion stationed at St Helier, Jersey. The battalion embarked for France and joined the British Expeditionary Force at Le Havre on 21 August 1914. Whitty was first wounded in action at Givenchy in the right shoulder whilst acting as a Scout in ‘D’ Company on 17 October 1914. Promoted to Acting Sergeant, he received a gun shot wound to the right forearm at Wulverghem on the Ypres Salient on 18 November 1914. Presented with his Medaille Militaire at Acheux by the Army Commander on 7 November 1915, he was Mentioned in Sir John French’s Despatche of 30 November 1915 (London Gazette 1 January 1916). Whilst in action at Leuze Wood on 4 September 1916 he was wounded again this time in the left shoulder. Re-joining the 1st Battalion in the field on 15 March 1917 he received his fourth wound at La Coulotte, Arras on 23 April 1917, this time in the left leg and right arm; it is likely this was the action for which he was subsequently to be awarded the Military Medal. Promoted to Company Sergeant Major, Whitty returned to England to be posted to No. 16 Officer Cadet Battalion at Rhyl on 6 July 1917. Receiving a permanent commission as Second Lieutenant in the Devonshire Regiment on 28 August 1917 he was next posted to the Royal Flying Corps for training as a pilot only to be injured in the face and nose in an aeroplane accident on 29 May 1918. Found to be unfit for further instruction he was struck off the strength the Royal Air Force and re-joined the Devonshire Regiment at Devonport on 14 November 1918. He was appointed Officer in Charge of the Devonshire Regiment party (1 officer and 12 men) at the Victory Parade March in London 19 July 1919. He retired as Lieutenant with a gratuity on 6 August 1920. Subsequently changing his name by Deed Poll from Whitty to Whitley on 23 March 1925 he was employed by the Ministry of Labour at Plymouth. He was called up for service at Exeter on 1 September 1939 but rejected by the Army Medical Board due to his disability following gun shot wounds and nasal injury sustained in the Great War. He died at Exeter on 19 January 1968, aged 78. Sold with photographic images of the recipient, copied service records and other research.