A Great War ‘Western Front’ M.C. group of seven awarded to Major C. H. Hudson, Seaforth Highlanders, later Chief Officer, Woking Fire Brigade Military Cross, G.V.R., the reverse contemporarily engraved ‘Captain C H. Hudson 6th Seaforth Highrs 18th. Septr. 1918.’; 1914-15 Star (Lieut. C. H. Hudson. Sea. Highrs.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. C. H. Hudson.); Defence Medal; Jubilee 1935 (C. H. Hudson.) contemporarily engraved naming; Coronation 1937, unnamed as issued, mounted for wear, light pitting from Star, very fine and better (7) £700-£900 --- M.C. London Gazette 3 June 1918 ‘For distinguished services in connection with Military Operations in France and Flanders.’ Charles Henry Hudson was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders (Territorial Force) on 6 December 1910 and served with the 1/6 Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 1 May 1915. For a while in late 1915 and 1916 he was employed on the Staff of the School of Instruction, 3rd Army, training young officers and N.C.O.s about to receive a commission in the arts of sapping. Advanced Captain, he was subsequently awarded the Military Cross; the engraved date on the reverse of his M.C. presumably refers to the date that he was invested ‘in the field’. Prior to the Great War Hudson had taught as a master at Bedford Modern School, mainly in the preparatory department. In later life he served as Chief Officer of the Woking Fire Brigade, and is recorded as having received a Nation Fire Brigades Union Bronze Medal for 10 Years’ service. He died in Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. Sold with the recipient’s original Commission Document, appointing him a Second Lieutenant in the Territorial Force, dated 30 December 1910; a photographic image of the recipient, contained in a modern glazed frame; and copied research.
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Army of India 1799-1826, 1 clasp, Poona (Lieut. W. Wilkins, 4th N.I.) short hyphen reverse, officially impressed naming, fitted with silver ribbon buckle, extremely fine £3,000-£4,000 --- Provenance: Tombs Collection 1918; Hamilton-Smith Collection 1927; Loxley Collection 1949; Glendining’s, March 1968; Magor Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, July 2003. William Wilkins was born in Somerset on 22 October 1788, son of Rev. George Wilkins. He was nominated a cadet for the Bombay Infantry for the season 1804/05 by East India Company Director John Manship, being examined and passed by the Selection Committee on 17 October 1804. He proceeded to India on board the Royal George and arrived there in June 1805, proceeding to Mahim College the following month. He was appointed Ensign on 21 March 1806, and removed to the 1st Battalion 4th Native Infantry on 19 September 1807, having been promoted to Lieutenant two days beforehand. Wilkins was present at the capture of Poona in November 1817 and received a share of the Deccan prize for general captures. He was promoted to Captain on 1 January 1818, appointed to the temporary command of the Northern Division of Gujerat in April 1827, and promoted to Major on 30 December 1832. He retired from the service in November 1833 and returned to England in May 1834. In 1839 he was permitted to use the surname of De Winton in place of Wilkins, announced under Royal License 24 July 1839. The medal roll for the Army of India medal, held at the India Office Library, in fact states that his medal was awarded for services “as Lieutenant Wilkins”. Sold with research notes from the India Office Library.
A scarce post-War ‘Civil Division’ O.B.E. group of six awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel T. Steers, Royal Engineers and General List, a Chartered Surveyor who was one of the last non-combatant troops to leave the Canal Zone in December 1957 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt; 1939-45 Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, General Service 1918-62, 3 clasps, Palestine 1945-48, Near East, Canal Zone, unofficial retaining rod between first and second clasps, the third clasp loose on riband as issued (Major T. Steers. R.E.), the first five mounted as worn, the last loose, gilding slightly rubbed on first, minor edge bruise to GSM, good very fine (6) £200-£240 --- O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1958: Tom Steers, Esq., Senior Lands Officer, War Office. Tom Steers was born on 22 November 1912 and was educated at Elland Grammar School, before becoming a Professional Associate of the Chartered Surveyors’ Institution in 1937. He originally attested for the Royal Artillery in the ranks with enlistment number 973987 in 1939 and then transferred to the Royal Engineers 25 January 1941, before undertaking officer training with the 142nd O.C.T.U., based in Aldershot, on 19 February 1941. Commissioned Second Lieutenant on 10 August 1941, he was demobilised with the rank of honorary Major on 1 October 1946. Appointed on the staff of the Hirings Directorate, Middle East, as a Senior Valuation Officer, Steers was given a Senior Grade appointment in the War Department Lands Branch of the Civil Service and posted as Command land agent to Headquarters British Troops in Cairo, Egypt (B.T.E.), then transferred to Moarscar, near Ismallia. It was here he showed Andrew Nutting, Minister of State, around the new flats that had been built in the area. Re-commissioned Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel on 28 January 1952, Steers was responsible for the rundown in Egypt under the 1954 Anglo-Egyptian Agreement: this involving the relinquishing of over 500 building hirings and over 600 land hirings; the hand-over of nearly 40 installations to the Egyptian and Suez Base contractors, including finding accommodation for contractors and their families; and the disposal of surplus army camos, the proceeds from which realised nearly a million pounds. Relinquished his commission on completion of service, he was re-granted the honorary rank of Major, before being re-commissioned Lieutenant on 6 November 1956 to command the Claims and Hirings contingent during the Anglo-French occupation of Port Said. Finally relinquished his commission on completion of service 31 December 1956 he was re-granted the honorary rank of Major. Steers then remained in Egypt in a Civilian capacity as a Senior Lands Officer in the War Office, finally leaving Egypt on 21 December 1957, being granted a scarce O.B.E. from the War Office for this department. He died in Worthing, Sussex, on 11 October 1998.
A Great War C.M.G. group of seven awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel A. Hosie, Royal Army Medical Corps, who served on the staff of the 9th General Hospital at Bloemfontein in 1900 and later gave evidence before the Royal Commission regarding the care and treatment of the sick and wounded in South African Hospitals The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s breast badge officially converted for neck wear, silver-gilt and enamel; East and West Africa 1887-1900, 1 clasp, Sierra Leone 1898-99 (Major A. Hosie, M.B. R.A.M.C.); Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State (Major A. Hosie. R.A.M.C.) engraved naming; King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (Maj. A. Hosie. M.B. R.A.M.C.) engraved naming; 1914-15 Star (Lt. Col. A. Hosie. R.A.M.C.); British War and Victory Medals, with copy M.I.D. oak leaves (Lt. Col. A. Hosie.) mounted for display, generally very fine and better (7) £1,400-£1,800 --- C.M.G. London Gazette 5 June 1917. M.I.D. London Gazette 1 July 1917. Andrew Hosie was born in Inverurie on 7 February 1860, and is recorded in 1881 as a medical student at the University of Aberdeen. Graduating M.B., C.M. in 1883, and M.D. in 1885, he was appointed Surgeon in the Royal Army Medical Corps on 28 July 1886. Advanced Surgeon-Captain in 1891 and Major in 1898, the Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps notes Hosie serving on the Protectorate Expedition (Sierra Leone) as Senior Medical Officer, Falaba Columns; despatched to put down a series of tribal rebellions led by Bai Bureh, the British faced a determined opposition fuelled by strong resistance to the hut tax and Imperial rule. Posted to South Africa during the Boer War, Hosie was called upon to give evidence at Bloemfontein on 31 August 1900. His testimony gave weight to the ‘General Conclusions on Various Points’ which found that the military and medical authorities had never anticipated the magnitude and scale of the war: ‘The R.A.M.C. was wholly insufficient in staff and equipment for such a war... Speaking of the officers as a whole, they say their conduct and capacity deserves great praise. Their devotion to their duties both at the front and in the fixed hospitals, and the unselfish way in which they have attended to the sick and wounded, often at the risk of life have been recognised by all impartial witnesses. Nevertheless, the number of those who have died during this war in discharge of their duty is unfortunately large. There were, of course, a few exceptions to the general efficiency, and cases of roughness and inattention to the wants of patients on the parts of a few officers... and wounded patients who suffered, or persons who saw the suffering made general charges against the R.A.M.C.’ Raised Lieutenant-Colonel on 28 July 1906, Hosie enjoyed the next eight years in retirement on the Isle of Wight before volunteering for service during the Great War. Initially assigned to home duties, he served in Egypt from 15 March 1915, was Mentioned in Despatches, and was created a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George.
Six: Private W. Spalding, Black Watch General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine (2754548 Pte. W. Spalding. Black. Watch.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, swing mounted, very fine (6) £80-£100 --- William Spalding attested for the Black Watch in 1934 and served with the 2nd Battalion in Palestine. The Arbroath Herald of 10 September 1940 lists him as one of five brothers from Inverkeilor serving in the British Army, two of whom were German prisoners of war; sold with copied newspaper articles.
Three: Guardsman G. Heath, Grenadier Guards, later Special Constabulary British War and Victory Medals (28240 Pte. G. Heath. G. Gds.); Special Constabulary Long Service Medal, G.V.R., 2nd issue, 2 clasps, Long Service 1941, Long Service 1953 (George Heath.) very fine Three: Private A. Puffer, South Staffordshire Regiment, later Special Constabulary British War and Victory Medals (39502 Pte. A. Puffer. S. Staff. R.); Special Constabulary Long Service Medal, G.V.R., 2nd issue (Albert Puffer) nearly extremely fine (6) £80-£100 --- George Heath was born in Hanley, Staffordshire, in 1899, and attested for the Grenadier Guards in November 1916. Posted to France from 9 June 1917 to 24 February 1919, his Army Service Record confirms a gunshot wound to the face on 28 March 1918 during the opening phase of the German Spring Offensive. He later rejoined the 2nd Battalion in the field on 19 April 1918 and was discharged in March 1920.
A scarce 1914 'Battle of Ypres’ D.C.M. group of five awarded to Driver T. Wells, Army Service Corps, attached 5th Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, who served in the same bearer company as Lieutenant A. Martin-Leake V.C., and was awarded the D.C.M. for his gallantry on one of the occasions recorded in the official recommendation for the award of Martin-Leake's (then unique) Second Award Bar to his Victoria Cross, both men being noted for their conspicuous gallantry near Zonnebeke on the 12 November 1914 when their advanced dressing station, known as the 'White House', was heavily shelled, during which Wells was noted for his gallant conduct in assisting to remove wounded men from the building whilst under heavy fire Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (T.22849. Dvr: T. Wells. A.S.C.); 1914 Star, with copy clasp (T.22849. Dvr. T. Wells. A.S.C.); British War and Victory Medals (T.22849. Dvr. T. Wells. A.S.C.) mounted court-style, pitting and contact marks, heavily polished and worn, fair to fine (4) £1,200-£1,600 --- D.C.M. London Gazette 1 January 1915; citation published 16 January 1915: ‘For gallant conduct on 12th November at Zonnebeke when he assisted to remove wounded men from a building into safety during a heavy bombardment, and subsequently performed a similarly gallant act’. Thomas John Wells was born at Landport, Portsmouth, on 28 February 1887, and attested for the Army Service Corps at Winchester on 24 February 1905, having previously served with the 3rd (Militia) Battalion, Hampshire Regiment. Posted to No. 26 Company, A.S.C., with the rank of Driver, Wells was allocated a ‘T’ Prefix to his service number which confirms service with the Horse Transport Branch. Following completion of his first period of service, he was transferred to Class ‘A’ Army Reserve on 23 February 1907. Recalled from the Army Reserve on the outbreak of war, Wells reported for service at Aldershot on 5 August 1914. As part of the Army Service Corps’ commitment to supply drivers and horse drawn ambulance wagons to the Royal Army Medical Corps, he was amongst a draft of one sergeant and 40 other ranks who were attached for service with the 5th Field Ambulance R.A.M.C. with effect from 6 August 1914; this unit forming part of the medical support units to the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division. The unit entrained for Southampton on 18 August and embarked the same day in two groups aboard the transports SS Welshman and SS Achlibster, arriving at Boulogne on 19 August. The 1st Army Corps was not heavily engaged at Mons but in order to conform with 2nd Corps retirement, commenced its retreat on 24 August. The previous day, 5th Infantry Brigade of 2nd Division had been despatched to Frameries in support of the hard pressed right flank of 3rd Division, and as such saw more fighting than any other unit of the 2nd Division, losing 73 all ranks in casualties. During the early days of the retreat, the 5th Field Ambulance War Diary notes that the ambulance wagons were sent to the rear to pick up stragglers. Service with Lieutenant A. Martin-Leake, V.C. On 6 September 1914, Lieutenant Arthur Martin-Leake, V.C., joined the ambulance, and would almost certainly have worked alongside Driver Wells throughout the Battles of the Aisne and the First Battle of Ypres. By 1 November 1914, the 5th Field Ambulance had been moved out of Ypres to a position along the road to Vlamertinge. The War Diary notes that one bearer party was located at Zonnebeke and two at Wulvestraate, and it is clear from the following events that Martin-Leake’s and Wells' party were at Zonnebeke, a few miles east of St Jean. The advanced dressing station of this party was located in a large house known as the ‘White House’, at a junction of two lanes about 500 yards from the front line trenches. Severe cases were treated at this advanced dressing station until nightfall when they were sent by horse ambulance to the principal dressing station some five miles away. On 12 November 1914, as on two previous occasions, the 'White House' was heavily shelled, and the names of both Lieutenant Martin-Leake and Driver Thomas Wells were brought to notice for their gallant conduct in removing wounded men from the building whilst under heavy fire. Martin-Leake was subsequently awarded a bar to the Victoria Cross he had been in South Africa, and Wells the Distinguished Conduct Medal for their gallant conduct on this occasion. Although Martin-Leake’s official citation for the Second Award Bar to his Victoria Cross defines the period of his gallant conduct as between 29 October and 8 November 1914, the Military Secretary, War Office MS3, had originally recorded the dates as between 5 and 12 November 1914, these being the dates quoted in the original recommendation, submitted to HQ by Major General C. C. Munro, Officer Commanding 2nd Division, dated 26 November 1914, as follows: ‘This officer has shown such conspicuous gallantry that I recommend his case be favourably considered, and that he be granted a bar to the Victoria Cross that he already holds. At Zonnebeke, when he was with the Bearer Division of the 5th Field Ambulance, in a most exposed position, he went out continually over the ground in between the English and German positions in search of wounded, and although always fired at, and often having to crawl on hands and knees, he was able to get away large numbers of wounded men... His behaviour on three occasions when the dressing station was heavily shelled on the 5th November, 9th November and 12th November, was such as to inspire confidence both with the wounded and the Staff...’ Wells' D.C.M. was only the second to be awarded to an Army Service Corps Driver during the Great War. He returned to England on 11 March 1918, on account of a fractured thumb received when he was dragged by a runaway horses at Cambrai on 11 February 1918. Initially posted to 665 Company A.S.C., he joined 572 Company AS.S.C. on 27 August 1918, and was transferred to Class 'Z' Army Reserve on 9 March 1919. He was discharged at Woolwich on 31 March 1920, his character reference stating: 'Very good, a good groom and driver, willing and hardworking and gave satisfaction. He is honest, sober and reliable.' Following his discharge, Wells ran a cycle shop in Landport for many years. He is recorded in the 1939 Register, residing at 62 Hertford Street, Portsmouth, where his occupation is given as 'General Dealer'. He died at Portsmouth in 1962, aged 75.
Five: Chief Petty Officer C. G. R. Reynolds, Royal Navy, who made a gallant attempt to save the life of a seaman who fell overboard between the battlecruiser H.M.S. Invincible and a collier in Scapa Flow 1914-15 Star (133354. C. G. R. Reynolds. C.P.O., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (133354 C. G. R. Reynolds. C.P.O. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (133354 C. G. R. Reynolds, C.P.O. H.M.S. President III.); Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (unsuccessful) (C. G. R. Reynolds. R.N. 19th. April 1909.) with integral top riband buckle, very fine and better (5) £240-£280 --- R.H.S. Case No. 36588: ‘On the 19th April 1909, R. Brown, A.B., fell overboard from H.M.S. Invincible in Scapa Flow, Orkney, the sea being rough at the time. Denison, Reynolds and O’Rourke at great risk endeavoured to save him, but failed.’ Charles George Richard Reynolds was born in Southsea on 9 May 1870 and joined the Royal Navy at Portsmouth as Boy 2nd Class on 22 November 1888. Raised Ordinary Seaman aboard Calliope and Leading Seaman aboard Collingwood, he was advanced Petty Officer in 1897 and Chief Petty Officer aboard the protected cruiser Amethyst on 24 October 1908. A few months later he was awarded the R.H.S. Medal in bronze, his service record stating: ‘Strongly commended by C in C Home Fleet for his promptness in endeavouring to save the life of Brown, A.B. 167999 on the 19th April 1909.’ Shore pensioned on 10 May 1910, Reynolds transferred the following day to the Royal Fleet Reserve, with whom he served during the Great War; posted to Eagle from 25 September 1914 to 5 April 1916 and the cruiser Liverpool from 6 January 1917 to 16 April 1919, he witnessed the end of hostilities as part of the Aegean Squadron. Liverpool was later committed to the Russian Intervention, supporting the White Army from November 1918 and later transporting military delegations to the port of Novorossisk to establish contact with General Anton Denikin. Awarded the L.S. & G.C. Medal on 24 January 1919, Reynolds died in Wolverhampton in March 1954.
Pair: Major-General F. H. B. Marsh, Indian Army, who was twice wounded during the Umbeyla Campaign India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, Umbeyla (Lieut. F. H. B. Marsh, 32nd Punjab Pions.); Abyssinia 1867 (Captain F. H. B. Marsh, 23rd Reg. N.I.) reverse centre engraved but not renamed, probably named in India, very fine and better (2) £1,000-£1,400 --- Provenance: Buckland Dix & Wood, June 1991; Dix Noonan Webb, September 2010. Frank Hale Berwick Marsh was born in Patna, bengal, on 26 July 1841, the son of Colonel Hippisley Marsh, Indian Staff Corps, late 18th Bengal Lancers. Commissioned Lieutenant on the General List on 4 November 1860, he served in the campaign on the North West Frontier of India in 1867 and was present at the capture of Lalu and Umbeyla, where he was twice wounded (despatches). He served in the Abyssinian War and was present with the 23rd Pioneers at the battle of Arogee where the regiment suffered approximately half the casualties of the entire campaign in Abyssinia. Promoted Captain on 1 November 1868, Major on 2 May 1878, and Lieutenant-Colonel on 10 June 1888, he transferred to the Unemployed List with the rank of Major-General on 12 November 1897. He died in Folkestone, Kent, on 25 January 1923
Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill (2848 Pte. A. Smale. 1st. Cam’n: Highrs:); together with a renamed Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Paardeberg, Cape Colony, Transvaal (T/14454 Driver Thomas Fleming Army Service Corps) the second renamed, edge bruising, nearly very fine (2) £100-£140
A well-documented post-War ‘Palestine’ M.B.E. group of six awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Powell, Royal Army Ordnance Corps, who served in the Army Kinema Section in Palestine, and subsequently as Ordnance Executive Officer with the Control Commission for Germany The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 2nd type breast badge, silver, in Royal Mint case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1945-48 (44195 W.O. Cl.1. J. B. Powell. R.A.O.C.); Army L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 2nd issue, Regular Army (44195 W.O. Cl.1. J. B. Powell. R.A.O.C.) good very fine (6) £300-£400 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 7 January 1949: ‘For gallant and distinguished services in Palestine during the period 27th September 1946 to 26 March 1947.’ Jack Baden Powell was born on 15 December 1912 and attested for the Royal Army Service Corps as a Boy Soldier on 15 February 1927. After a period of home service he was stationed in the late 1930s in Singapore, where he was a member of the Singapore Coronation Parade for the Coronation of H.M. King George VI in 1937. Returning home, it is probable that he served during the Second World War with the British Expeditionary Force prior to the retreat from Dunkirk in 1940, before he transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on 1 October 1942. He served with the R.A.O.C. on Home Service as a Sub-Conductor, being awarded the General Headquarters Home Forces Certificate of Appreciation on 5 January 1943, and was advanced Warrant Officer Class I in 1945. Post-War, he saw extensive service in Palestine during the Jewish Revolt, and was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services with the Army Kinema Section, which was responsible for showing films and news bulletins to the troops; as a consequence he would have travelled widely over Palestine at the time of the formation of the state of Israel. Whilst in Palestine he was awarded his Army Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. His photograph album also indicates that he was present in Jerusalem around the time of the bombing of the King David Hotel. Powell subsequently served with the Control Commission for Germany, and was commissioned Lieutenant and Ordnance Executive Officer on 30 October 1950. He was promoted Captain on 16 March 1954; Major on 15 March 1960, and Lieutenant-Colonel on 1 September 1964. He retired on 15 December 1967. Sold with the following related archive i) The recipient’s Commission Document, dated 30 October 1950 ii) Bestowal Document for the M.B.E., with named Buckingham Palace enclosure and Central Chancery notification iii) General Headquarters Home Forces Commander-in-Chief’s Certificate of Appreciation, named to ‘44195 Sub-Conductor J. B. Powell, Royal Army Ordnance Corps’, and dated 5 January 1943 iv) Three Army Certificates of Education v) The recipient’s Control Commission for Germany British Zone Driving Licence vi) The recipient’s R.A.O.C. cap badge vii) A mother-of-pearl encrusted vesta lighter, the obverse inscribed ‘J. B. P.’ viii) The recipient’s Rotary watch, in case ix) The recipient’s Soldiers Bible and New Testament x) A fine photograph album, the cover inscribed ‘Souvenir from the Holy Land’, containing 56 photographs, the majority annotated, including images of the Wailing Wall, the King David Hotel, including the immediate aftermath of it having been bombed xi) A group photograph of the Army Kinema Section, Royal Army Ordnance Corps xii) Various other group photographs, including two portrait photographs of the recipient, in one of which he is wearing his medals xiii) Various Christmas cards, military notices, letters, newspaper cuttings, and other ephemera.
A Great War ‘Western Front’ M.M. group of three awarded to Corporal J. Redpath, East Yorkshire Regiment, who was subsequently awarded a scarce Second Award Bar with the Hull Pals, and died of wounds on 29 September 1918 Military Medal, G.V.R. (16632 Cpl. J. Redpath. 8/E. York: R.); 1914-15 Star (16632 Pte. J. Redpath. E. York: R.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (16632 Cpl. J. Redpath E. York. R.) traces of verdigris, polished and worn, good fine (3) £260-£300 --- M.M. London Gazette 21 October 1916. M.M. Second Award Bar London Gazette 21 October 1918. John Redpath was born in Choppington New Pit in 1882 and lived in Choppington as a Miner. He attested for the East Yorkshire Regiment at Scotland Gate, Bedlington on 3 October 1914 and served with the newly formed 8th Battalion, part of Kitchener’s Army on the Western Front, from 9 September 1915 being pretty much straight into action at Loos. Promoted Corporal on 10 March 1916, he served on the Somme from 1 July 1916 to November 1916, and was awarded the Military Medal. On 17 February 1918 the 8th Battalion disbanded in France, and they then formed part of the 10th Entrenching Battalion with soldiers from the 12th West Yorkshire Battalion and the 10th (Service) Battalion (1st Hull Pals) East Yorkshire Regiment. It was this Battalion, the Hull Commercials, that featured in the series “The Trench”, and it was for service with this Battalion that he was awarded a Second Award Bar to his M.M. Wounded on 29 June 1918, most likely from the start of the Fifth Battle of Ypres, whilst serving with the 10th Battalion, he died of wounds on 29 September 1918 at the 8th Casualty Clearing Station, Boulogne, and is buried in La Kreule Military Cemetery, Hazebrouck, France. He is additionally commemorated on the Choppington, Bedlington and Choppington Miners’ War Memorial.
1914 Star (9028 Dmr: J. Kilgannon. 1/Devon: R.) good very fine £100-£140 --- John Kilgannon was born in Devonport in 1882, the second son of Irish-born Army Service Corps pensioner James Kilgannon of the Town Barracks, Exeter. He joined the Devonshire Regiment as Drummer aged 14 years and is recorded in the Daily News (London) on 2 July 1901 as ‘dangerously ill’ at Standerton in consequence of enteric fever. Returned home from South Africa, Kilgannon married Agnes Gillard in 1906 and is recorded in 1911 as garrisoned at Tidworth Barracks in Hampshire. Crossing to France with the 1st Battalion around 22 August 1914, Kilgannon immediately found himself engaged in the defence of the Belgian town of Mons. The Western Guardian of 8 October 1914, notes: ‘Drummer J. Kilgannon, who has died in hospital at Braisne [sic] from a gunshot wound received at Mons, leaves a widow and four children at Mermaid Yard, Exeter. Kilgannon had had 18 years’ service, and went through the South African war, at the conclusion of which he was one of those drummers presented by the county with a silver drum.’ At the age of 34, Kilgannon died of his wound on 20 September 1914 and is buried in Braine Communal Cemetery, Aisne, France.
Military Cap Badges. A good selection including, Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards, Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, Welsh Guards, Royal Fusiliers, Suffolk, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, East Surrey, Hampshire, Black Watch, Loyal North Lancashire, Army Chaplains’ Department, Army Physical Training Corps, Army Cyclist Corps, some copies and fixings missing, generally good condition (lot) £200-£240
Three: Second Lieutenant D. V. Humphreys, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, late Royal Army Medical Corps 1914-15 Star (127 Pte. D. Humphreys. R.A.M.C.); British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. D. V. Humphreys.); Memorial Plaque (David Virgil Humphreys) small verdigris spot to plaque, otherwise extremely fine (4) £140-£180 --- David Virgil Humphreys attested for the Royal Army Medical Corps and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 17 January 1915. Commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 14th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on 6 July 1916, he was killed in action on 24 April 1917; he has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France. Sold with Buckingham Palace enclosure and named Record Office enclosure.
An important and early Royal Humane Society Silver Medal awarded to Professor E. Coleman, who held the office of Professor and Director of the Royal Veterinary College for 45 years and was recognised by the Society as ‘a young man of extraordinary hope’ after composing An Essay on Suspended Animation which engaged in the study of asphyxia Royal Humane Society, large silver medal, engraved to reverse ‘Ne Silentio Transeat Vita. Adivdicatvm Edvo. Coleman Adolescenti Eximie Spei, 1790.’ pierced with silver loop suspension, nearly very fine and rare £300-£400 --- Edward Coleman was born in June 1765 in Kent, the son of ‘a respectable yeoman of Romney Marsh’, who placed his son - at the age of 17 - as an apprentice to Mr. Kite, a Surgeon at Gravesend. Sent to London in 1789, Coleman came under the guidance of Mr. Cline and soon devoted his time to the study of asphyxia; his work resulted in the Medal of the Royal Humane Society in 1790 and invitations to scientific lectures in Leicester Square. Removed to Fenchurch Street, Coleman began practice as a surgeon and was later able to conduct experiments at St. Thomas’ and Guy’s Hospitals; through his acquaintance with Mr. Phipps, an oculist, he was led to study the eye, becoming proficient in drawing that organ, both human and comparative. Appointed Professor at the Royal Veterinary College, Coleman spent his career tirelessly striving to raise the art of surgery in the estimation of the general public and to give its practitioners a much higher status; early in his Directorship he obtained an annual grant of money from Parliament and succeeded in gaining the patronage of the King, without which the privilege of using the word ‘Royal’ as a designation to the College would not have been possible. Appointed Veterinary Surgeon General to the Army, he was permitted to select graduates from the College for the office of Veterinary Surgeon to the Cavalry Regiments. In March 1835, he was presented with a marble bust of himself by the students and fellow practitioners of the Royal Veterinary College, the respect for their 70-year-old teacher being clear to see; Coleman died shortly thereafter at his work on 14 July 1839, after ‘a life of great gratification and extensive usefulness’ (The Veterinary Record of 19 September 1891, refers). Sold with an extensive file of research, including the recipient’s award winning dissertation and copied images of his bust and memorial tablet at Burmarsh Church, Kent.
Pair: Chaplain to the Forces Fourth Class the Reverend C. W. W. Major, Army Chaplains’ Department, who died at Euskirchen in Germany on 19 March 1919 British War and Victory Medals (Rev. C. W. W. Major) good very fine (2) £80-£100 --- Charles William Wykeham Major was born in Salcombe in 1878 and is recorded in 1907 as Curate at Camborne in the Diocese of Truro, Cornwall. Transferred the following year to the Curacy of Furnham, Chard, Major was later appointed Temporary Chaplain to the Forces 4th Class on 14 October 1918. Posted to France on 29 October 1918, he died whilst serving as part of the British Army of the Rhine and is buried at Cologne Southern Cemetery.
The Third Kaffir War Medal awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel the 5th Earl Annesley, 43rd Regiment of Foot, later Scots Fusilier Guards, who was severely wounded in South Africa, and further wounded at the Battle of the Alma, resulting in him loosing 23 teeth and ‘a good bit’ of his tongue. Elected Member of Parliament for Cavan in 1857, Annesley succeeded his brother to the Earldom in 1874, and subsequently served as an Irish Representative Peer in the House of Lords South Africa 1834-53 (Ensign Hon. Hugh Annesly. 43rd. Regt.) fitted with a contemporary top silver brooch bar with gold retaining pin, heavy edge bruising and contact marks, about fine £1,000-£1,400 --- Hugh Annesley, 5th Earl Annesley, was born in Dublin on 26 January 1831, the second son of William Richard Annesley, 3rd Earl Annesley, an Irish peer, and was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Dublin. Commissioned Ensign in the 43rd Regiment of Foot by purchase on 18 April 1851, he served with the Regiment in South Africa during the Third Kaffir War, and was severely wounded. Promoted Lieutenant on 29 July 1853, Annesley transferred to the Scots Fusilier Guards, and saw further service in the Crimea, where his jaw was shattered by a bullet at the Battle of the Alma on 20 September 1854, resulting in him losing 23 teeth and ‘a good bit’ of his tongue. ‘Undaunted, he cheerfully informed his mother the following day that the “summary dentist” had still left him with “four grinders”, and that in spite of his injuries he would be able “to speak as plainly as ever, or at most only with a becoming lisp”.’ (History of Parliament - Irish MPs and the Crimean War refers). After receiving rudimentary medical treatment, Annesley was transferred to the hospital ship London, on which his younger brother, the Hon. Robert John Annesley, lay dying of cholera. Invalided home, Annesley soon recovered from his wounds, for which he was paid £100 in compensation (or £4 6s. 11d. per tooth). Promoted Captain on 7 August 1855, and Lieutenant-Colonel, by purchase, on 18 May 1860, Annesley was elected conservative Member of Parliament for the family seat of Cavan in 1857, holding the seat until 1874. A reluctant politician, he rarely spoke in the Commons, and then only on Army matters. He succeeded his brother at 5th Earl Annesley upon the former’s death on 10 August 1874, and in 1877 was elected as an Irish Representative Peer in the House of Lords, serving until his death. He died at Castlewellan, County Down, on 15 December 1908, and was succeeded to the Earldom by his son.
Family group: Three: Private W. G. Gardner, Army Service Corps 1914 Star (SS-3199 Pte W. G. Gardner. A.S.C.); British War and Victory Medals (3199 Pte. W. G. Gardner. A.S.C.) very fine Memorial Plaque (William Richard Gardner) in card envelope of issue, very fine (4) £100-£140 --- W. G. Gardner served during the Great War with the 1st Labor Company, Army Service Corps on the Western Front from 26 August 1914. William Richard Gardner was born in West Ham in May 1898. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gardner, of 74, Parkstone Road, Walthamstow, London. Gardner served during the Great War as a Boy Servant with H.M.S. Conquest (light cruiser), and was killed in action on 25 April 1916. On the latter date she was engaged by German battlecruisers taking part in the Lowestoft Raid - the German naval bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft. The Conquest suffered a 12-inch (305-mm) shell hit, which destroyed her aerials and killed 25 and wounded 13 of her crew. Gardner is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
Three: Sergeant W. Downs, Army Veterinary Corps 1914-15 Star (SE.4348 Sjt. W. Downs. A.V.C.); British War and Victory Medals (SE-4348 Sjt. W. Downs. A.V.C.) good very fine Three: Private J. W. Goodale, Army Veterinary Corps 1914-15 Star (SE-5250 Pte. J. W. Goodale. A.V.C.); British War and Victory Medals (SE-5250 Pte. J. W. Goodale. A.V.C.) good very fine (6) £80-£100 --- Walter Downs attested for the Army Veterinary Corps and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 2 February 1915. John W. Goodale attested for the Army Veterinary Corps on 16 March 1915 and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 6 May 1915. He was discharged due to sickness on 5 September 1916, and was awarded a Silver War Badge No. 62207.
A Great War ‘Western Front’ M.M. awarded to Corporal H. E. Baker, Royal Army Medical Corps, for his gallantry in bringing severely wounded men to safety through heavy artillery barrage fire near Ypres in September 1918 Military Medal, G.V.R. (350276 Cpl. H. E. Baker. R.A.M.C.) number partially officially corrected, very fine £160-£200 --- M.M. London Gazette 14 May 1919. The original citation states: ‘For bravery and devotion to duty whilst bringing severely wounded men through heavy artillery barrage fire during the night, and then carrying on under difficult conditions after the dressing stations had all been burnt out and totally destroyed by the enemy guns, near Ypres, September 1918.’ Herbert Edward Baker attested into the Royal Army Service Corps, Territorial Force on 1 December 1914, for service during the Great War and served on the Western Front with 2/1st (East Lancashire) Field Ambulance, Territorial Force, from 27 February 1917. Discharged on 31 March 1920, he later died in Burnley, Lancashire, in 1941. Sold with copied research.
A rare ‘Southern Rhodesia’ long service group of four awarded to Constable A. F. Clegg, British South Africa Police, late Rhodesian Native Infantry and South African Constabulary, who was wounded and was taken Prisoner of War during the Great War in East Africa Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (1325 Tpr: A. Clegg. S.A.C.); British War and Victory Medals (1371 3-Sjt. A. F. Clegg. Rhodesia N. Regt.); Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, Southern Rhodesia (No. 1371 Const. Alfred F. Clegg, B.S.A.P.), mounted court-style for display, good fine and better, the last rare (4) £1,400-£1,800 --- Provenance: Upfill-Brown Collection, Buckland Dix & Wood, December 1991; Dix Noonan Webb, March 2008. Only 130 Southern Rhodesia Long Service and Good Conduct medals awarded between 1923 and 1939. Alfred Frederick Clegg was born in Oldham, Lancashire, on 9 April 1882 and served with the South African Constabulary during the Boer War. He joined the Royal Navy on 18 May 1907, and after twice receiving voluntary discharge from the former service, he enlisted into the ranks of the British South Africa Police in 1910. With the exception of wartime employment in the Rhodesia Native Regiment, during which time he was wounded and taken Prisoner of War at St. Moritz Mission Station in East Africa, Clegg served 22 years with the B.S.A.P., and was commended for his 'promptitude and action in arresting two very dangerous criminals' on 19 April 1914. In light of a charge for drunkenness committed outside duty hours, Clegg had to personally apply for his L.S. & G.C. award which was finally granted in 1932. He saw further service during the Second World War with the B.S.A. Police Reserve, Special Protective Services, and died in 1957. Sold with extensive copied research including a photographic image of the recipient.
Pair: Private J. Grant, Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Wittebergen (2311 Pte. J. Grant I: Cam’n: Hdrs:); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (2311 Pte. J. Grant. Cameron Highrs:) edge bruising, nearly very fine (2) £140-£180 --- John Grant was born in Grantown, Inverness-shire, in 1871 and attested for the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders at Inverness on 1 January 1890. He transferred to the Army Reserve on 13 April 1895, but was recalled to the Colours on 26 December 1899 and served with the 1st Battalion in South Africa during the Boer War from 15 February 1900 to 18 August 1902. He was discharged on 19 September 192 after 12 years and 262 days’ service. Sold with copied record of service.
Pair: Petty Officer Class II H. W. Freeland, Royal Navy Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, South Africa 1901, second clasp loose on riband, as issued (H. W. Freeland, A.B. H.M.S. Naiad.) impressed naming, minor official correction to surname; Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Somaliland 1902-04 (H. W. Freeland, A.B. H.M.S. Naiad.) contact marks, nearly very fine (2) £240-£280 --- Harry William Freeland was born in Ore, Hastings, Sussex, on 2 July 1876 and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class on 21 March 1892. Advanced Petty Officer Class II on 13 April 1899, he reverted to Able Seaman on 25 January 1901, and served in H.M.S. Naiad from 19 March 1901 until 2 August 1904, on which date he purchased his discharge. He saw further service at home during the Great War as a Sergeant in the Royal Army Service Corps, although was not entitled to any medals. Sold with copied record of service and medal roll extracts.
An impressive Second War ‘North West Europe’ M.M. group of five awarded to Lance-Sergeant V. F. Ruddick, Coldstream Guards, who led his men across 300 yards of open ground in the face of at least two German machine guns Military Medal, G.VI.R. (2658364 L/Sjt. V. F. Ruddick. C. Gds.); 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, swing mounted, the MM nearly extremely fine, the remainder with light contact marks, very fine (5) £1,200-£1,600 --- M.M. London Gazette 24 January 1946. The original recommendation states: ‘Throughout the whole campaign in North West Europe, Lance-Sergeant Ruddick has been one of the outstanding section leaders in the Battalion and one of the few to come through all the fighting unscathed. After each of our many battles his name has been brought to notice for outstanding bravery and devotion to duty. A typical example occurred on 16th February 1945, when his section was the leading one in his Company which on that day passed through the original forward companies in the attack on the strongly defended German defences at Mull, south east of Gennep. The platoon objective was a farm 300 yards beyond the main German anti-tank obstacle, and having crossed this, Lance-Sergeant Ruddick led his section for 300 yards over open country in the face of the fire from at least two German machine guns. On reaching the farm he approached a door and fired his sten into the house. The gun jammed and after throwing a grenade he rushed in, wounding two Germans and capturing ten more. This is merely a typical example of Lance-Sergeant Ruddick’s dash and initiative which has at all times been of the utmost encouragement to the rest of his platoon and indeed to the whole Company.’ Vernon Forrest Ruddick was born in Brampton, Cumberland, in 1918, the son of Andrew Forrest Ruddick of Coal Fell, Cumberland. He attested for the Coldstream Guards around 1937 and witnessed heavy action with the 5th Battalion in North West Europe with the Guards Armoured Division. An account which accompanies the lot adds: ‘Vernon, who lived at Carlisle had joined the party to return to the bridge at Nijmegen. Unfortunately the transport arrangements from Arnhem to Nijmegen broke down and he was unable to get there... He told me he had seen Capt. Liddell’s action to gain the V.C. at close quarters and that he had done all of the ceremonial duties in London. He joined the Police after the war, then had a grocery shop in Carlisle for many years.’ Discharged to the Regular Army Reserve 5 April 1946, Ruddick died at Carlisle in 1998. Sold with a fine and well-annotated pocket diary from 1 January 1945 to 11 April 1945, the entry for 16 February 1945, stating; ‘Going in again today. Will finish this after if able. Wish me luck Andy... Got through O.K. but failed in my promise. Had chance to kill twenty but turned out only one.’; the entry for 17 February 1945, adds: ‘Had a hectic night last night. Never a wink of sleep. Walking about in a trance today. Jerry about 1km away. Lovely sunny day.’; with original named Buckingham Palace letter of award; a fine photograph of the recipient proudly wearing his medals at the Arnhem 50th Anniversary reunion in 1994; a copy of A Distant Drum, War Memories of the Intelligence Officer of the 5th Bn. Coldstream Guards, by Captain J. Pereira, hand annotated to inside cover: ‘2658364 L/Sgt V. F. Ruddick. M.M., No. 3 Company, 5th. Battalion. Coldstream Guards.’; and a contemporary Coldstream Guards car badge.
The unique Army of India medal awarded to Private George Bainbridge, 65th Foot, who received one of only four Corygaum clasps to European recipients and the only one to a British regiment Army of India 1799-1826, 2 clasps, Poona, Corygaum (G. Bainbridge, 65th Foot) short hyphen reverse, officially impressed naming, edge bruising and a little polished, otherwise about very fine and excessively rare £12,000-£16,000 --- Provenance: Glendining’s, July 1910 (Lot 152 £48); Brigadier-General G. L. Palmer Collection, Glendining’s, June 1919; G. Hamilton-Smith Collection, Glendining’s, 1927; Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Godfrey Dalrymple-White Collection, Glendining’s, July 1946; Brian Ritchie Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, September 2004. One of only 4 Corygaum clasps awarded to European recipients. The War Office rolls shows Poona clasp only but both clasps are confirmed on the roll at the India Office which carries the following annotation: ‘G. Bainbridge, Horse Guards, 27th October, 1858, medal sent that bar for Corygaum may be added. Sent to Horse Guards, 4th November, 1858.’ The other three recipients of the Corygaum clasp were Lieutenant Charles Swanston, Madras European Regiment; Assistant Surgeon John Wylie, Madras Artillery; and Bugler John Nicholas, Bombay Rifle Corps. George Bainbridge was born in Durham in 1783. Following the 65th Foot’s participation in the Capture of Poona in late 1817, George Bainbridge was present at the epic struggle at Corygaum. Whilst marching with a detachment from Seroor to strengthen the garrison of Poona, Captain F. F. Staunton, 2-1st Bombay N.I., encountered the Peishwah’s army, estimated at twenty thousand horse and about eight thousand infantry, encamped on the right bank of the Beemah, above the village of Corygaum. Staunton’s detachment comprised of his own corps, barely six hundred strong, a few Madras artillery with two six-pounders, and about three hundred auxiliary horse, some 900 in all. Seizing the village of Corygaum he held it against all attacks, and though heavy losses were sustained he succeeded in withdrawing his force by night in safety to Seroor. Of the eight European officers present, three were killed and two wounded. The Bombay N.I. had 53 killed and 134 wounded, whilst the Madras Artillery had 13 Europeans and 5 natives killed, 9 Europeans and 6 natives wounded, and the Auxiliary Horse had 96 casualties in total. In recognition of their gallantry the 2-1st Bombay N.I. were constituted Grenadiers, and Captain Staunton was made A.D.C. to the Governor-General, and presented by the H.E.I.C. with a sword of honour and 500 guineas, and in due course nominated a Companion of the Bath. Later the same month Bainbridge was recorded as being ‘in Camp’ with Captain John Clutterbuck’s Company of H.M’s 65th, near Bombay. In April 1820 he was serving with Captain R. J. McLean’s Company. He embarked from India in the Charles Forbes in August 1822 and, reaching England on 23 January 1823, was invalided the following month at Weedon Barracks.
Military Cap Badges. A good selection including, Royal Horse Artillery, Scots Guards, Royal Scots, QVC Black Watch, QVC. Highland Light Infantry, Tyneside Scottish , Liverpool Scottish, Essex Yeomanry, Cheshire Yeomanry, Yorkshire Dragoons, Northumberland Hussars, 9th Highland Light Infantry, 8th Hampshire, Middlesex Hussars, Royal Military Police, Army Pay Corps, Army Service Corps, Corps of Accountants, some copies and fixings missing, generally good condition (lot) £200-£240
Volunteer Force Long Service Medal, V.R. (3119. Qr. Mr. Sergt. A. S. Pridmore 13th. Mx. Q. W. Vols) engraved naming; Volunteer Force Long Service Medal, V.R., ‘Victoria Regina et Imperatrix’ (Sergt. J. L. Whitty. Great Indian Peninsula Ry. Volr. Corps.) engraved naming, good very fine (2) £80-£100 --- Arthur Stirling Pridmore was born on 23 January 1861 and served as Quartermaster and Honorary Major in the 13th Middlesex (Queen’s Westminster) Volunteer Rifle Corps. He was awarded the Territorial Decoration on 5 May 1914 and died on 29 March 1927, his final address recorded as 17, Spencer-road, Harpenden. John Lacey Whitty was awarded the Volunteer Force Long Service Medal under Indian Army Orders of 27 November 1896.
1914-15 Star (K.13771. J. McDonough. Sto. 1., R.N.); British War Medal 1914-20 (2) (180225 Dvr. T. Bamford. R.A.; 2171 A. Sjt. T. N. Cleator, R.A.M.C.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (2. Lieut. L. V. Richman); 1939-45 Star; Burma Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; Defence Medal; War Medal 1939-45 (3); Africa Service Medal (215844 P. A. Albertini) with a Silver War Badge (22632) generally very fine One: 2nd Corporal W. C. A. Findlay, Army Ordnance Corps Victory Medal 1914-19 (03527 2. Cpl. W. C. A. Findlay. A.O.C.) with 2 Masonic Jewels named to recipient - one in 9ct gold for the Sir Walter Raleigh Lodge, for ‘services as W. M. 28th January 1939’, and the other in silver-gilt for work in a similar capacity, for the Athlon Lodge, 1941-42, together with a number of unrelated Masonic and commemorative medals, very fine (lot) £120-£160
Army L.S. & G.C., E.VII.R. (155 S.Sjt: S. H. Ham. St. of the Army:) polished, good fine £60-£80 --- Samuel H. Ham was born at York Town, Frimley, Surrey, in 1867, the eldest son of watchmaker Septimus Thomas Ham. Initially enrolled as a part time member of the 1st V.B., Royal Berkshire Regiment, Ham transferred to the Grenadier Guards at London on 10 February 1889 and was raised unpaid Lance Corporal on 19 November 1890. Transferred to the Royal Military College as Drill Instructor on 1 April 1898, he was finally discharged from this role in the rank of Staff Sergeant on 15 March 1913, having earlier received the L.S. & G.C. Medal with gratuity in April 1909. Sold with copied service record.
Three: Private W. Coulson, 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, who was captured and taken Prisoner of War at Etreux during the Battalion’s epic rearguard acting during the retreat from Mons on 27 August 1914 1914 Star, with copy clasp (7989 Pte. W. Coulson. R. Muns: Fus.); British War and Victory Medals (7989 Pte. W. Coulson. R. Mun. Fus.) nearly very fine (3) £500-£700 --- William Coulson attested for the Royal Munster Fusiliers and served with the 2nd Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front, landing at Havre on 14 August 1914 and moving forward to Mons where the battalion was held in reserve for the fighting on 24 August. During the retreat, the 2nd Munsters occupied the position of honour as rearguard to the 1st Guards Brigade which, in turn, acted as rearguard for the 1st Division commanded by Major General Lomax. On the morning of Thursday 27 August 1914, the Irishmen, supported by two 18-pounders of the 118th Battery R.F.A. and a troop of the 15th Hussars, held the villages of Fesmy and Bergues, together with two important road junctions in that immediate area. Approaching them in an arc from North to East was an entire German Army Corps preceded by masses of cavalry and backed by an impressive array of artillery. Early in the afternoon, having inflicted savage casualties on 12 battalions of the German 2nd Guards’ Reserve Division which had attacked Fesmy, the Munsters began to withdraw to the South to the village of Oisy, and on to Etreux. At 5.30pm the battalion was located at a crossroads just east of Oisy. Jordan’s “B” Company, however, was missing and the retreat was held up. The company reappeared at about 6.30pm but the delay, according to Captain McCance’s regimental history, proved ‘fatal to the battalion’. Approaching the village of Oisy, the battalion came under heavy fire from the houses on the northern outskirts, followed by salvoes from eight German field guns positioned south-east of the village. Now, for the first time, the Irishmen began to fall thick and fast and although the one remaining 18-pounder promptly came into action, its ammunition was nearly exhausted. After a series of desperate bayonet attacks, and with the artillerymen all dead and wounded about their gun, the gallant Munsters fell back to an orchard on the west of the road. Despite a further bayonet charge, at odds of fifty to one, which had temporarily held the enemy, the orchard was now ringed by Germans against whom the survivors, lining the four sides of the orchard, made every shot count. Ultimately, due to appalling casualties, lack of ammunition and the overwhelming superiority of enemy numbers, the survivors of the Battalion were compelled to surrender around 9pm. They had been fighting for 12 hours and their senior surviving officer was a Lieutenant but their sacrifice had ensured that Haig’s 1 Corps could continue unharassed on its way. Coulson was amongst those taken Prisoner of War at Etreux on 27 August 1914 and was held at Giessen P.O.W. camp. Sold with copied research.
Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Cape Colony, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast (70399 Dr. J. Mott, 84th. Batt. R.F.A.) minor edge nick, good very fine £80-£100 --- James Mott was born in Southminster, Maldon, Essex, in 1871, and attested for the Royal Artillery at Colchester on 17 January 1889. Recorded as ‘thrown from horse’ in April 1890, the recipient’s Army Service Record confirms service in South Africa from 18 January 1900 to 18 May 1901. He was later discharged in 1902 after 13 years with the Colours, his character noted as ‘very good’. Sold with copied research including a photocopy of a Carte de Visite portrait photograph of the recipient.
A fine Second War ‘Chindit operations’ group of eight awarded to Colour Sergeant A. Fowler, Essex Regiment General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine (6007062 Cpl. A. Fowler. Essex. R.); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Burma Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Army L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue, Regular Army (6007062 C.Sjt. A. Fowler. Essex. R.) mounted as worn, very fine (8) £80-£100 --- Albert Fowler was born in Chelmsford on 2 March 1913 and attested for the Essex Regiment in 1927. He served with the 1st Battalion in Palestine and as C.Q.M.S. in the Sudan in 1940. Embarked for Tobruk 17 October 1941, he fought against Axis forces under Erwin Rommel and later against the Imperial Japanese Army at Kohima. A Chindit, there are photographs of him with Earl Mountbatten at a Chindit dinner in 1969. Discharged in 1949, he worked as a confectioner in West Kirby, Hoylake.
Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (2) (4595 Sq. S. Mjr: J. Reece. 2/D. Gds.; 5683 C.S. Mjr: J. Glass. Sea: Hdrs) generally very fine or better (2) £100-£140 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- James Reece served during the Great War with the 2nd Dragoon Guards on the Western Front from 14 July 1915. Having advanced to Squadron Sergeant Major, Reece was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Army Service Corps on 20 September 1918 (entitled to a Silver War Badge). After the War he resided at 11a Collingbourne Road, Shepherds Bush, London. James W. S. Glass served during the Great War with the 1/4th Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders on the Western Front from 7 November 1914. He advanced to Regimental Sergeant Major, before being commissioned on 10 March 1915. Glass advanced to Captain and Quartermaster, XIX Corps School. After the War he resided in Granton-on-Spey.
Pair: Captain E. Gardner, Royal Army Medical Corps, who later became an esteemed forensic pathologist; his testimony proving instrumental in the conviction of the notorious 1947 ‘Chalk Pit’ murderers British War and Victory Medals, with copy M.I.D. oak leaves (Capt. E. Gardner.) good very fine (2) £80-£100 --- M.I.D. London Gazette 11 June 1918. Eric Gardner was born in 1877 and is recorded in the Surrey Advertiser of 7 January 1914 as a Medical Practitioner and Chairman of Weybridge Urban Council. The recipient’s home address is confirmed by his M.I.C. which states ‘Portmore House, Weybridge’, and notes that he served in Salonika from 20 April 1917. Raised Captain and Mentioned in Despatches, Gardner returned home to Surrey and later became an esteemed forensic pathologist; he bore professional testimony to the ‘Mystery of Man hit by Express’ (train) as published in Reynold’s Newspaper on 31 July 1938. This was followed by further grisly court cases which caught the attention of the British press in the 1940s; on 29 June 1940, he spoke at the inquest into the death of Violet Margaret Hookham of the A.T.S. who was struck and killed by a motor lorry at Reigate. This was followed on 9 January 1941 with a story published in the Daily News (London) where Gardner concluded that 77-year-old Mrs. Annie Jopling of Mortlake had been murdered by strangulation; and then in 1946 his testimony proved instrumental in the convictions of Thomas John Ley and Lawrence John Smith for the murder of John McMain Murdie in a chalk pit at Woldingham Common, Surrey: ‘There was evidence of rough handling. The body was tied up with rope and there was a mark where the rope had encircled the neck... There were signs of asphyxia and in my opinion the cause of death was asphyxia due to violence’. Despite his long career and the high regard with which he was held in the Surrey community, Gardner eventually succumbed to one of the dangers associated with his job. The Belfast News-Letter of 15 November 1951, states: ‘Dr. Eric Gardner, the pathologist, who helped to solve the “Chalk Pit” murder in 1947, died yesterday at his home at Weybridge, Surrey. He was 74. Four years ago Dr. Gardner contracted a germ when conducting a pathological examination, and, despite a long stay in Switzerland, he did not recover.’
Miscellaneous World Medals. A miscellaneous selection, including Austria, Empire, Bravery Medal, Franz Joseph, ‘Der Tapferkeit’, bronze; War Medal 1873, bronze; Commemorative Medal 1898 ‘Signum Memoriae’, bronze; Belgium, Kingdom, Political Prisoner’s Cross 1940-45, silvered and enamel, with riband bar with two stars; Russia, Empire, Medal for Zeal, Nicholas II, silver; Serbia, Kingdom, 1913 Commemorative Cross, bronze; United States of America, Good Conduct Medal, bronze; United Dtates Navy Medl, bronze, the reverrse engraved ‘William Shibell Fox 1945’; United States Marine Corps Medal, bronze; Washington Army National Guard Medal, bronze; Washington State Guard Medal, bronze; and a Combat Infantryman Badge; together with various other miscellaneous medals and ephemera, generally nearly very fine and better (lot) £100-£140
Four: Driver J. Ward, Royal Field Artillery 1914-15 Star (402. Dvr. J. Ward, R.F.A.); British War and Victory Medals (402 Dvr. J. Ward. R.A.); Territorial Force Efficiency Medal, G.V.R. (675032 Dvr. J. Ward. R.F.A.) edge bruising, nearly very fine (4) £80-£100 --- James Ward attested for the Royal Field Artillery and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 19 September 1915. He was awarded the Territorial Force Efficiency Medal per Army Order 380 of October 1919.
Three: Gunner H. Perry, Royal Field Artillery 1914-15 Star (6208. Gnr. H. Perry, R.F.A.); British War and Victory Medals (6208. Gnr. H. Perry. R.A.); together with a privately engraved identity bracelet; and a white metal ‘Peace’ medal, edge bruising, nearly very fine Three: Corporal C. B. Nixon, Army Service Corps 1914-15 Star (M2-164292. Pte. C. B. Nixon. A.S.C.); British War and Victory Medals (M2-164292. Cpl. C. B. Nixon. A.S.C.) mounted as worn; together with the recipient’s two fibre identity discs, nearly very fine Pair: Gunner E. Gilbert, Royal Artillery British War and Victory Medals (116924 Gnr. E. Gilbert. R.E.) mounted court-style for display, good very fine Three: Sapper T. Scrafton, Royal Engineers British War and Victory Medals (2585 Spr. T. Scrafton. R.E.); Imperial Service Medal, E.II.R., 1st issue (Thomas Scrafton) in Royal Mint case of issue, very fine and better (11) £120-£160 --- Hugh Perry attested for the Royal Field Artillery on 24 September 1914, and served with 177th Brigade during the Great War on the Western Front from 12 July 1915. He was discharged due to wounds on 23 January 1919, and was awarded a Silver War Badge No. 481235. Charles B. Nixon attested for the Army Service Corps and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 4 October 1915. He was discharged Class ‘Z’ on 9 July 1919. Sold with various postcards written by the recipient from the Front. Thomas Scrafton attested for the Royal Engineers on 14 June 1915, and served with 3/1 Signal Company during the Great War on the Western Front from 1916. He was discharged due to sickness on 15 February 1918, and was awarded a Silver War Badge No. 328550.
Military Cap Badges. A good selection including, Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards, Grenadier Guards, Tyneside Scottish, Liverpool Scottish, Cambridgeshire, Herefordshire, 7th Hampshire, 8th Hampshire, Guernsey Light Infantry, Monmouthshire, 5th Border, 5th Sussex, Glasgow Highlanders, and Army Ordinance Corps, some copies and fixings missing, generally good condition (lot) £200-£240
A Soviet Second War Order of the Red Star awarded to Captain of the Medical Service A. I. Eisenstadt, who served as head of the X-Ray Section at Evacuation Hospital 4379 on the 2nd Baltic Front Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Order of the Red Star, 2nd type breast badge, silver and enamel, reverse officially numbered ‘395736’, with Monetny Dvor mint mark and screw-back suspension, good very fine £80-£100 --- Aleksandr Izrailevich Eisenstadt, a Jew born in Vilnius, Lithiuania, in 1905, joined the Red Army on 23 June 1941 and served during the Great Patriotic War with the Hospital for Light Wounds no. 2927, and then the Sorting and Evacuation Hospital no. 4379. For his services during the War he was awarded the Order of the Red Star, no. 395736, on 9 January 1944, the original recommendation stating: ‘Ever since he started working at Sorting and Evacuation Hospital no. 4379 in November 1942, Captain of the Medical Service Aleksandr Izrailevich Eisenstadt has been selflessly devoting himself to tending to wounded and ill soldiers. In addition to serving as head of the X-Ray Section, during the tense period between November 1942 and July 1943 he also led the section treating those troops suffering the severest of wounds and complications from gas infections. Occupying himself with the training of his men, he achieved an exemplary level of care and treatment for this category of patients. Through his selfless efforts, with him at times not leaving the ward for several days on end, he achieved the best results of the entire former Kalinin Front with regard to saving the lives of men suffering the severest of wounds. He ensured the X-Ray Section performed superbly, conducting 4337 X-ray scans of wounded and ill soldiers over the last 3 months alone. Comrade Eisenstadt is being nominated for the Order of the Red Star.’ Sold with copied award sheet and accompanying translation.
Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (3), 3rd issue, Regular Army (5430730 Sjt. A. F. Smith. R.A.M.C.); G.VI.R., 2nd issue, Regular Army (7258620. Cpl. J. Parry. R.A.M.C.); E.II.R., 2nd issue, Regular Army (21139148 S. Sgt. Bhaktabahadur Gurung. Gurkha Signals.) generally very fine (3) £70-£90 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK ---
Pair: Private M. Thwaites, Border Regiment, who witnessed heavy casualties at the Battle of Colenso on 15 December 1899 Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Orange Free State, Relief of Kimberley, Transvaal, unofficial rivets between first and second clasps (5320 Pte. M. Thwaites, 1: Bord: Regt.); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (5320 Pte. M. Thwaites. Border Regt.) minor edge bruising and contact marks, otherwise nearly very fine and better (2) £140-£180 --- Marshall Thwaites was born in Leasonthorn, Durham, around 1878. A groom by profession, he attested for the Border Regiment at Penrith on 11 January 1897 and was raised Corporal 22 February 1898 whilst stationed on the island of Malta. Posted to South Africa from 27 September 1899 to 28 September 1902, his Army Service Record confirms entitlement and notes a reduction in the ranks for misconduct in April 1900. The Cumberland & Westmoreland Herald of 20 January 1900 adds a little more information regarding the recipient’s experiences at around this time: ‘Lance-Corpl. M. Thwaites, of the 1st Border, writing home to his father and mother at Old London-road, Penrith, from Frere, says: “Just a few lines to let you know that I am still in the land of the living. We had another big fight on the 15th at the Tugela River, near Colenso. We went out early in the morning, and the first shot was fired at 6-15 a.m. We were on the left, and it was reported that there was none of the enemy near our flank, but we soon found out they were strongly entrenched and had big guns - Maxims, Nordenfeldt, and Hotchkiss. When we got about 800 yards from their position we had a heavy fire poured into us... There was a perfect hail of bullets. It was like a hailstorm on an iron roof... The Boers robbed our dead. Our regiment lost eight killed, four died of wounds, and 42 wounded, including Major Heygate (both legs broken by shell), Captain Probyn (shot in calf of leg), and Lieut. Marsh (shot in left shoulder). Some of our killed had their heads knocked off”.’ Thwaites later went on to witness further action at Estcourt. Returned home to Army Reserve he was discharged upon termination of first period of engagement on 10 January 1909.
Indian Army L.S. & G.C., V.R., 1st issue, H.E.I.C. arms obverse (Quarter Master Serjeant J. Kelly Sappers & Miners) naming impressed on edge, minor edge nicks, otherwise good very fine £300-£400 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK ---
Four: Staff Sergeant J. Muddle, Staff of the Army (Royal Military College), late Royal West Kent Regiment Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, dated reverse (788, Sgt J. Muddle, 1/R.W. Kent R); Army L.S. & G.C., V.R., 3rd issue, small letter reverse (131 S.Sgt: J. Muddle. R. Mil: College.); Army Meritorious Service Medal, G.V.R., 3rd issue, coinage head (S.Sjt. J. Muddle. St. of Army.); Khedive’s Star, dated 1882, unnamed as issue, heavy contact marks to first partially obscuring naming, fine to good fine, the remainder nearly very fine and better (4) £200-£240 --- John Muddle was born in Maidstone in 1860 and attested for the 50th Regiment of Foot in his home town on 4 March 1878. Raised Lance Corporal at Edinburgh on 3 August 1878, he transferred as Corporal to Colchester the following year and was raised Sergeant on 1 April 1881. Sent to Egypt from 3 August 1882 to 11 October 1882, he returned home via Cyprus and was appointed to the Royal Military College on 8 January 1891. Raised Staff Sergeant that same day, Muddle’s valuable work with the Staff of the Army was later recognised with the award of the M.S.M.; he died at the age of 92 of myocardial degeneration in the sub-district of Frimley and Egham in 1952. Sold with copied research.
Royal Army Medical Corps Officer’s Blue Cloth Helmet. A good quality Victorian example, the skull complete with all gilt metal fittings, the frontal plate not original to the helmet but of later 1902-14 Royal Arms pattern with unit scroll at the bottom, buff leather sweatband, with label inside reading ‘Hyde Park Bks. Knightsbridge 26th. Oct. 90’, with unit ‘Medical Staff’ sticker applied to the inside rear peak, good condition £300-£400
Six: Major H. N. Bousfield, East Surrey Regiment, who as a Lance-Sergeant was Mentioned in Sir John French’s Despatch of 20 November 1914 for services at the Battle of La Basse; Commissioned in March 1915 ‘for services in the Field’, he was wounded on 1 April 1915, and was later attached to the 1/69th Punjab Infantry, Indian Army. After service during the Irish Civil War, he saw further service with the British Expeditionary Force during the Second World War, and was killed in action at Le Panne on 31 May 1940 1914 Star, with clasp (L-10498 Pte. H. Bousfield. 1/E. Surr: R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Capt. H. Bousfield.); India General Service 1908-35, 3 clasps, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919, Waziristan 1919-21, Mahsud 1919-20, second and third clasps both tailor’s copies, affixed to a different sized clasp carriage (Capt. H. N. Bousfield. E. Surrey Regt.) re-impressed naming; 1939-45 Star; War Medal 1939-45, verdigris to Star and VM, scratches and contact marks, about nearly very fine; the Second War awards nearly extremely fine (6) £400-£500 --- M.I.D. London Gazette 17 February 1915 ‘For gallant and distinguished services in the field (to be dated 20 November 1914)’. Hambleton Edwin Neville Bousfield was born at South Norwood, Surrey on 27 March 1893; his maternal grandfather was General W. N. Custance who had served before Delhi during the Indian Mutiny and at one time commanded the 6th Dragoon Guards. He attested for the Honourable Artillery Company on 8 May 1911, before transferring to the Regular Army for service with the East Surrey Regiment on 27 July 1912. Posted to the 1st Battalion, he is shown in a group photograph, dated January 1914 captioned ‘On the Liffey Dublin’ where he is noted as serving in ‘B’ Company. On the outbreak of the Great War, the 1st Battalion East Surrey Regiment was still stationed at Dublin, having been previously assigned to the 14th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division. The battalion disembarked at Le Havre on 15 August 1914, and Bousfield is confirmed as having entered the France and Flanders theatre of war with his unit, on 16 August 1914. In recognition of his gallant and distinguished services during the First Battle of Ypres, his name was brought to notice in Sir John French’s Despatch of 20 November 1914. Bousfield was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the East Surrey Regiment on 14 March 1915 in recognition of ‘his distinguished services in the Field’, and two weeks later the Battalion War Diary notes that he was admitted to hospital on 31 March 1915, being recorded as having received a bullet wound to the right arm. Promoted Lieutenant on 25 June 1916, and Acting Captain on 10 July 1917, he was seconded to the Indian Army on 20 February 1918, and served firstly as a Staff Officer and later on attachment to the 1/69th Punjabis, seeing active service on the North West Frontier. Returning to his parent regiment, he served in Dublin during the Irish Civil War on counter-insurgency operations, being included in a group photograph dated 24 September 1921. Appointed Adjutant and Quartermaster, Army Vocational Training Centre, Hounslow, on 3 October 1934, he retired with the rank of Major on 3 September 1938. Recalled on the outbreak of the Second World War, Bousfield re-joined the East Surrey Regiment and proceeded to France with the 1st Battalion, which had been assigned to the 5th Infantry Division, British Expeditionary Force. In May 1940, the 1st Battalion advanced into Belgium, where it briefly defended the line of the River Escaut until compelled to carry out a fighting withdrawal. On their last night in Belgium, the 1st Battalion was ordered to Nieuport to counter-attack in support of the 1/6th Battalion East Surrey Regiment. The counter attack stabilised the situation and both battalions were able to hold the position until ordered to withdraw to the beaches prior to embarkation. Bousfield was killed in action on 31 May 1940, during the retreat to Dunkirk, the circumstances of his death being recounted by Robert Lloyd, a former member of the Battalion: ‘The British Expeditionary force was now contained in a perimeter some 30 miles long It ran from the mouth of the Yser to Nieuport. Inside this narrow perimeter which was held by weary but determined men. The British Expeditionary force waited patiently to embark on the gallant Armada of ships. During the night of 30 May 1940, orders came that the first Surreys were to embark to England at 12.00 noon the next day. We marched to a pre-arranged lying in area at Coxyde Bains. We got there at 6.00 am the following morning where we ate breakfast with the prospect of home before us, but it was not yet to be. A message came that the Battalion was to move at once to Nieuport where the 10th Infantry Brigade were holding the perimeter. The battalion was moved in its own transport which we had refused to jettison. The 1/6th Surreys were under attack and desperately holding part of the Brickworks. A counter attack was launched with ‘B’ and ‘D’ Companies and ‘A’ and ‘C’ for some support the attack was successful with about 30 men. At midnight we were ordered back to the Beach near Le Panne to await embarkation at dawn. On 1 June the orders came that we were to embark at Dunkirk as Le Panne was being heavily shelled and was on fire. The battalion managed to get through with only a few casualties. The C.O.’s car was caught in heavy fire outside the town and both Major Bousfield and his driver were wounded. The majority managed to reach the beaches at Bray Dune safely, and what a sight we encountered. The beaches were crowded with men waiting their turn to be taken to the ships laying off shore. The sea was full of small boats ferrying them. Enemy aircraft dive bombed and machine gunned us and the men in the boats fired defiantly and an RAF Fighter dispersed fifteen bombers and shot one down. We, the Surreys kept together and dug slit trenches around a large sand dune which we named Surrey Hill. After a long wait we formed up on orders and marched of in parties at intervals of five minutes along the beach towards Dunkirk where we embarked on various craft. Some were killed on the beaches and on the way to the ships, others were drowned when boats sunk. The medical officer got aboard a ship that was severely damaged and could not leave harbour, so Lieutenant Bird gallantly went back to the beach and devoted himself to attending the injured men. He was never heard of again and was presumed dead. The last casualty of the 1st Surreys was Lieutenant Hayfield who was mortally wounded during a bombing attack on his rescue ship, he failed by a few minutes to reach England alive’. (BBC ‘WW2 People’s War’ Website: ‘I Was There: East Surrey Regiment at Dunkirk 1940 by Robert Lloyd refers). Bousfield was amongst those listed as wounded and missing; he was later confirmed as having been killed in action, with the date of his death (notwithstanding the eyewitness account above) officially recorded as 31 May 1940. His body was later identified, and he is buried in De Panne Communal Cemetery, Belgium. Sold with the recipient’s riband bar for the first four awards.
Indian Army Meritorious Service Medal, G.VI.R. (2) (10346 Sqn. Dfdr. Maj. Gurdit Singh. R. Deccan Horse.; 1058 Dfdr. Hansraj. Probyn’s Horse. I.A.C.) minor edge bruising to first, very fine and better (2) £80-£100 --- Sold with a painted image on wood of Squadron Duffadur Major Gurdit Singh in military uniform standing alongside his mount, labelled ‘Sqn. Dfdr. Maj. Gurdit Singh. Deccan Horse’, approx. 36cm x 27cm.
Army Meritorious Service Medal, G.V.R., 2nd issue with fixed suspension (Sjt. F. Keays. Welch. R.) good very fine £80-£100 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Frederick Keays enlisted in the Welch Regiment, Depot, on 13 November 1914. He was discharged on 18 October 1917 (awarded M.S.M. AO 205/1929).
Pair: Sepoy Som Nath, 5/12th Frontier Force Regiment, Indian Army India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1935 (10783 Sep. Som Nath, 5-12 FFR); India General Service 1936-39, 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1936-37 (10783 Sep Som Nath, 5-12 FFR) very fine India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 (Peon Mohamed Usaf, M.W.S.) staining to reverse, very fine Pair: Sapper Baldev Singh, Bengal Engineers, Indian Army India, Republic, Sainya Seva Medal, 1 clasp, Bengal-Assam (1441894 Nk. B. Singh. Bengal Engr); Poorvi Star 1971 (1441894 Spr Baldev Singh Bengal Engrs Gp.) nearly very fine (5) £70-£90
Seven: Major B. M. Kilner, Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, who was Mentioned in Despatches for services in North West Europe 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Korea 1950-53, 1st issue (Capt. B. M. Kilner. T.D. D.W.R.); U.N. Korea 1950-54, unnamed as issued; Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., 2nd issue, Territorial, reverse officially dated 1950, with integral top riband bar, mounted as worn, good very fine and better (7) £500-£700 --- M.I.D. London Gazette 4 April 1946: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in Northwest Europe.’ Bernard Mason Kilner was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, on 5 March 1920, the son of the famous Yorkshire and England cricketer, Roy Kilner. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment on 24 August 1939, and was promoted Lieutenant on 5 September 1942, serving with the 1/7th Battalion during the Second World War in North West Europe. He is mentioned in the History of the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment 1919-52, by Brigadier C. N. Barclay, C.B.E., D.S.O. for having commanded ‘B’ Company at St. Croix in June 1944, and for his services in North West Europe he was Mentioned in Despatches. Having spent much of the Second World War as an Acting and Temporary Captain and Major, he was promoted Captain on 5 March 1947, and saw further service in the Korean War, being promoted Major on 5 March 1954. Specially employed in the Ghana Army between 1 July 1958 and 27 May 1959, Major Kilner finally retired from the Army on 31 March 1969.
A Great War 1916 ‘Western Front’ M.M. group of four awarded to Private F. Howcroft, Essex Regiment Military Medal, G.V.R. (14308. Pte. F. Howcroft. Essex R.); 1914-15 Star (14308 Pte. F. Howcroft. Essex R.); British War and Victory Medals (14308 Pte. F. Howcroft. Essex R.) light contact marks, nearly very fine (4) £300-£400 --- M.M. London Gazette 11 November 1916. The Cambridge Daily News, 22 May 1917, gives the following details: ‘One of the youngest British soldiers to be decorated for bravery in the field is Private Frederick Howcroft, of the Essex Regiment, who has been awarded the Military Medal. Private Howcroft, whose home is in Stepney, was only 16 years old when he joined Kitchener's Army, but his sturdy appearance enabled him to pass for 19. When he performed his exploit last year he was only 17. His family heard of his bravery in a letter from his Colonel, praising him for his devotion and coolness, and stating that he had been recommended for the medal for rescuing several of his comrades from a shelled trench. Subsequently young Howcroft wrote describing how a shell burst in his trench killing and wounding several of the men.’ Frederick Howcroft attested for the Essex Regiment underage and served with the 10th Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 26 July 1915. Awarded the Military Medal for gallantry during the Battle of the Somme, he later transferred to the Royal Defence Corps. Sold with copied research.
A Great War ‘Western Front’ D.S.O. group of five awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel F. J. Langdon, King's Liverpool Regiment, who was three times Mentioned in Despatches Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Major F. J. Langdon); Khedive’s Sudan 1896-1908, 2 clasps, Sudan 1899, Gedid (Capt. F. J. Langdon, The King’s (L’pool) Regt.) contemporarily engraved naming; France, Third Republic, Croix de Guerre, bronze, reverse dated 1914-1918, with silver star emblem on riband, mounted court-style for display in this order, good very fine (5) £1,800-£2,200 --- Provenance: Woodliffe Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, May 2011. D.S.O. London Gazette 3 June 1918. M.I.D. London Gazette 30 January 1900 (Pursuit and defeat of the Khalifa; battle of Gedid); 11 December 1917; 1 January 1918. French Croix de Guerre London Gazette 7 October 1919. Francis John Langdon was born on 18 August 1873, at Clifton, Bristol. He was educated at Waymouth College and was commissioned as Second Lieutenant in 3/4th King’s (Liverpool) Regiment (Militia) on 17 October 1891, becoming Lieutenant in April 1893. He transferred to a commission in the 1st King’s Liverpool Regiment at the end of that year. He was attached to the Egyptian Army from March 1899 to March 1901, and held the rank of Bimbashi with XIIIth Sudanese under Maxse Bey, taking part in the pursuit and defeat of the Khalifa in 1899 and at the battle of Gedid (Um Debeykarat). Langdon returned to the King's Liverpool Regiment in March 1901, retired in April 1910 and was transferred to Reserve of Officers. Mobilised in September 1914 to the 11th Battalion, Liverpool Regiment, he transferred to the Army Service Corps in November 1914 and raised the 21st Divisional Train which he commanded until 7 December 1914. Langdon was employed on Staff Duties from 23 January 1915 to 20 December 1918, being appointed D.A.Q.M.G. to the 62nd Division. Promoted to Major in January 1916, he served in France and Belgium from 2 January 1917 to 11 November 1918. He was appointed A.Q.M.G to 7 Corps on 22 September 1918, and held a temporary appointment to H.Q. 4th Army as Liaison Officer with II American Corps in October 1918. In December 1918 he went to Base H.Q. at Havre as temporary Lieutenant-Colonel when A.Q.M.G., and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 28 May 1919, transferring to the unemployed list the following day. Sold with copied research.
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