A Great War 1918 'Canal du Nord' M.C. attributed to Lieutenant H. H. Phinney, Canadian...

A Great War 1918 ‘Canal du Nord’ M.C. attributed to Lieutenant H. H. Phinney, Canadian Field Artillery, who died as a result of gas poisoning on 29 November 1921 Military Cross, G.V.R., unnamed as issued, in case of issue; together with the recipient’s Memorial Scroll ‘Lieut. Henry Havelock Phinney, M.C., Canadian Field Artillery’, with Buckingham Palace enclosure, slight tear to scroll, good very fine £600-£800 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- M.C. London Gazette 8 March 1919; citation published 4 October 1919: ‘For conspicuous gallantry on the night of 26-27 September, 1918, near Inchy. He took a section of 18-pounders practically in front of our outpost line in order to fire with open sights at point-blank range, thus assisting infantry to cross the Canal du Nord. His task was an important one, and he carried it out with great skill and courage, making a daylight reconnaissance on the 26 September under considerable difficulty and heavy fire.’ Henry Havelock Phinney, a native of Winnipeg, and a well-known and successful oarsman, attested for the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force and was posted initially to the 6th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, before transferring to the Machine Gun Section of the Fort Garry Horse. Sailing for England with the first contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, he landed at Plymouth, Devon on 16 October 1914, before being posted to an Officers Training Depot. Commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 14th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, on 12 March 1915, he subsequently resigned his commission on account of ill-health in March 1916, and returned to Canada, having not served in a theatre of War. Recovering back in Canada, Phinney was commissioned a Lieutenant in the Canadian Field Artillery on 16 April 1917, and served with the 1st Field Battery, 1st Brigade during the Great War on the Western Front. Commanding a section of two 18-pounder guns, he was badly gassed in February 1918, which resulted in him spending three months in hospital in London. Recovering, he returned to the Front and later volunteered for a dangerous mission at the Canal du Nord in September 1918, for which gallantry he would be awarded the Military Cross. Phinney continued to suffer as a result of his gas poisoning, and died as a result at Padwirth, Surrey, on 29 November 1921. Sold with the recipient’s Royal Overseas Officers’ Club Membership Card for 1917; various postcard photographs of the recipient; and copied research.