Five: M. C. Van Renen, South African Forces 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Africa Service Medal, the Stars privately engraved, the remainder officially impressed ‘W.109532 M. C. Van Renen’, heavy staining to Stars, otherwise nearly very fine and better Three: Alice M. Newton, Women’s Auxiliary Naval Service, South African Forces War Medal 1939-45; Africa Service Medal; South Africa Medal for War Service, the first two officially impressed ‘WN615742 A. M. Newton’, nearly very fine Pair: Maria S. Harrod, South African Women’s Auxiliary Air Force War Medal 1939-45; Africa Service Medal, both officially impressed ‘F269297 M. S. Harrod’, nearly very fine (10) £80-£100 --- Alice Maude Newton was born in Cape Town on 15 November 1925 and served as Leading Swan in the Women’s Auxiliary Naval Service from 12 November 1943 to 30 September 1946. A typist by profession, her service record notes that she completed a course at Robben Island on 15 August 1944, but her service was later hampered by acute appendicitis. Maria Salimona Harrod was born in the Uitenhage District of the Cape Province on 11 February 1897. She attested at Roberts Heights for the South African Women’s Auxiliary Air Force on 27 October 1942, serving as Medical Orderly at No. 2 Air School from 28 January 1943. She was discharged less than a year later as a result of being medically unfit for further service. Sold with a bronze St John Ambulance Association Re-examination Cross, engraved to reverse ‘373506 Maria Harrod’.
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Five: Miss Irene C. Mitchell, British Red Cross Society, who drove a mobile dispensary to remote villages on ‘errands of mercy’ Defence Medal; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Malaya, G.VI.R. (Miss. I. C. Mitchell.); Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Kenya (Miss I. C. Mitchell. B.R.C.S.); Voluntary Medical Service Medal, silver (Miss Irene C. Mitchell); Malaysia, Federation, Negri Sembilan Meritorious Service Medal, bronze, unnamed as issued, nearly extremely fine (6) £400-£500 --- Negri Sembilian Meritorious Service Medal (Pingat Jasa Kebaktian), 18 December 1954: ‘Miss I. C. Mitchell came to Malaya in April, 1952, and was posted to Negri Sembilan in August, 1953. As a Field Officer of the British Red Cross Society in Negri Sembilan, Miss Mitchell has also undertaken the work of Secretary. She has trained over 350 young people in First Aid and has regularly visited every part of the State and gone into remote kampongs on errands of mercy. In addition to all these things, she has been responsible for the establishment of the voluntary detachment of persons who are now full trained in Red Cross work, First Aid and Nursing. No task has been too arduous or too difficult for her to fulfil. She has been highly complimented by the State Director of the British Red Cross Society, Negri Sembilan Branch, as a lady of outstanding ability who has carried out her duties with great cheerfulness and efficiency. On her departure from the State for England, His Highness the Yang di-Pertuan Besar of Negri Sembilan has been graciously pleased to award her with the Negri Sembilan Meritorious Service Medal.’ Irene C. Mitchell lived in Balham, London, and took leave of absence as a French and biology teacher at Alvering Secondary School in Wandsworth to spend a year in Malaya as one of 50 volunteers with the British Red Cross. Separated into 25 separate ‘teams’, each consisting of a health and welfare worker, Mitchell found herself in the company of Miss Margaret Hale, a qualified nurse from the Royal Cancer Hospital in London. Moving from village to village in a modified Land Rover nicknamed ‘Horace’, the two ladies spent the next twelve months attempting to win the confidence and support of the local Malay people, many of whom were previously sympathetic to the Communist terrorist insurgents who controlled much of the remote jungle territories. Sold with the original recommendation for the Negri Sembilan Meritorious Service Medal; the recipient’s British Red Cross Society Medal with Proficiency in Red Cross First Aid top riband bar (016447 I. Mitchell) and British Red Cross Society merit badge ‘13285 I. Mitchell’; a fine photograph of Miss Mitchell and Miss Hale in uniform; and copied research.
General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Palestine, Palestine 1945-48 (W. M. Farrer.) extremely fine £100-£140 --- Winifred Farrer trained at St. Mary’s Hospital, London, from 1923 to 1927. Applying to the Colonial Office, she was selected by the Overseas Nursing Service for duty in Palestine and was appointed Nursing Sister on 13 May 1932. Sold with the recipient’s bronze Overseas Nursing Association cape badge.
Four: Second Nursing Officer Mrs. E. Brunning, St. John Ambulance Brigade Jubilee 1897, bronze (Nursg. Sisr. Mrs. E. Brunning.); Coronation 1902, St. John Ambulance Brigade, bronze (E. Brunning. 2nd. N.O.); Coronation 1911, St. John Ambulance Brigade (2nd. Nurs. Offr. E. M. Brunning.); Service Medal of the Order of St John, silver, with three Additional Award Bars (2nd Nursing Officer Elizabeth Brunning. 8th. July 1907.) good very fine (4) £200-£240
An extremely fine Great War R.R.C. and Second Award Bar group of four awarded to Principal Matron Dorothea M. Taylor, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service, who was further recognised by His Majesty the King of Italy for her valuable work with the Italian Expeditionary Force Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), G.V.R., with Second Award Bar, silver-gilt, gold, and enamel, the reverse privately engraved ‘D. M. Taylor Jan 1916 Q.A.I.M.N.S.’, on lady’s bow riband; British War and Victory Medals, with copy M.I.D. oak leaves (A. Pr. Matron D. M. Taylor.); Italy, Kingdom, Bronze Medal della Salute Publica, unnamed as issued, nearly extremely fine (4) £2,000-£2,400 --- R.R.C. London Gazette 14 January 1916. R.R.C. Second Award Bar London Gazette 1 January 1921. Italy, Medal of Merit for Public Safety London Gazette 2 November 1920. Dorothea Matilda Taylor was born in Edinburgh on 29 November 1873, the daughter of physician William Taylor. Educated at St. George’s High School in Edinburgh, she crossed the Firth of Forth and River Tay to take her nursing training at Dundee Royal Infirmary from May 1900 to May 1903. Appointed Staff Nurse to the Q.A.I.M.N.S. on 10 July 1903, she was raised Sister on 18 November 1904 and sent to Egypt from April 1906 to October 1910. Sent to Khartoum on a tour of duty in 1907, she likely treated people suffering from malaria, yellow fever, and other infections associated with a lack of safe water. Returned to the United Kingdom, Taylor was promoted Acting Matron on 8 August 1914 and placed on home service. Awarded the Royal Red Cross, she received her decoration from the hand of the King at an investiture held in Buckingham Palace on 15 January 1916. Posted overseas to Italy on 8 December 1917, she later wrote a most emotive account of her experiences: ‘On a cold, bleak morning, early in December 1917, I and my party arrived at the Italian Frontier on our way to join the Italian Expeditionary Force. The ground was white with snow, and it was exceedingly cold. The railway station was guarded by Italian soldiers, and even at the door of the refreshment room there was a sentry with a fixed bayonet. We were informed by the Railway Transport Officer that food was very short in Italy, and that he did not know where we were to go, but he would send us on to Turin, where we arrived about 5 p.m. - No one seemed to know anything about us at Turin, so we were again sent on - this time to Genoa - and arrived there about midnight. Again, we were not expected, so we were taken to No. 11 General Hospital to be kindly received and housed until quarters could be found for us.’ Sent to a small hospital in Arquata and then on to Stationary Hospitals at Cremona and Bordighera, Taylor spent New Year’s Day of 1918 at Padova in a ‘dreary and cold hotel’, the night being spent in a cellar as the town received the attention of the enemy. Transferred to work at a Casualty Clearing Station in the foothills of the Austrian Alps, she took solace in the beauty of the landscape and hospitality of the Italian people, before being sent on to a hospital in Taranto and digs in newly constructed Nissen huts. It was at around this time that Taylor’s health began to suffer, likely in consequence of the volume of work and bombing by the armies and air forces of the Central Powers; the recipient’s Service Record notes her struggling with concussion, neuritis and headaches. Sent back to England at the cessation of hostilities, Taylor received the Second Award Bar to her Royal Red Cross at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace on 8 March 1921. Her hard work from 1917 to 1918 was further recognised by the King of Italy, Taylor receiving the rare award of the Bronze Medal della Salute Publica - usually conferred for service to Italian citizens in staving off disease and protecting societal health. Raised Matron on 31 January 1921, Taylor took further appointment at the Officer’s Hospital in Scarborough and the Military Hospital in Cosham, but with her health failing she was invalided on 15 December 1924 and placed on retired pay. She died of pneumonia on 11 October 1928, her last address noted as Swanston Cottage, Oulton Broad, Lowestoft. Sold with the recipient’s original silver Q.A.I.M.N.S. cape badge, hallmarked Birmingham 1915.
Three: Mr. R. Wilkinson, South Eastern and Chatham Railway St. John Ambulance Association South Eastern and Chatham Railway St John Ambulance Association Medal, in recognition of having passed 14 annual examinations in succession, silver, hallmarked Birmingham 1918 (Robert Wilkinson 1918); South Eastern and Chatham Railway St John Ambulance Association Medal, in recognition of having passed seven annual examinations in succession, bronze (Robert Wilkinson 1911); Order of St. John of Jerusalem Cross, unnamed, very fine and better (3) £60-£80
A fine Great War R.R.C. group of five awarded to Matron Dora Westbrook, Imperial Yeomanry Hospital Staff, later British Red Cross Society Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), G.V.R., silver-gilt, gold, and enamel, on lady’s bow riband; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (Nursing Sister D. Westbrook. I.Y. Hp. Staff); King’s South Africa 1901-02, no clasp (Nursing Sister D. Westbrook.); Voluntary Medical Service Medal, with Second Award Bar (Dora King.); British Red Cross Society Medal for War Service 1914-18, bronze, with integral top riband bar, very fine and better (5) £600-£800 --- R.R.C. London Gazette 24 October 1917. Dora Westbrook trained in nursing at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London. She joined Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service Reserve on 15 May 1900 and served during the Boer War as a Nursing Sister at the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital in Dreelfontein. According to The Yeomen of the Karoo, The Story of the Imperial Yeomanry Hospital at Dreelfontein, this military hospital was created by the charitable efforts of Lady Georgina Curzon, daughter of the Duke of Marlborough, and Lady Beatrice Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster. Tasked initially with providing the highest quality medical care for the Imperial Yeomanry, the hospital was staffed by 706 medical professionals and offered 1960 beds to sick and injured soldiers. The Chairman’s report of 1902 notes that for its short period of existence, the hospital treated over 20,000 patients and developed a reputation as the best equipped, most sophisticated medical, surgical and convalescent hospital of the war, borne heavily of the untiring efforts of its aristocratic figureheads and their successful fundraising efforts. Westbrook later served during the Great War as Matron of Highfield Hall Hospital in Southampton, and was awarded the R.R.C. under her married name of Dora King. She received the decoration from the hand of the King at an investiture held at Buckingham Palace on 12 December 1917.
A Second War O.B.E., United States of America Medal of Freedom group of seven awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel H. P. Croom-Johnson, Queen’s Westminster Rifles and King’s Royal Rifle Corps, later Assistant Director-General of the British Council, for which work he was subsequently awarded the C.M.G. and C.B.E. The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 2nd type, breast badge; 1939-45 Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., 2nd issue, Territorial, reverse officially dated ‘1948’; United States of America, Medal of Freedom, with Bronze Palm, nearly extremely fine (7) £400-£500 --- C.M.G. London Gazette 1 January 1964: ‘British Council Representative in India.’ C.B.E. (Civil) London Gazette 10 June 1954: ‘Controller, Finance Division, British Council.’ O.B.E. (Military) London Gazette 21 December 1944: ‘W/S Major (T/Lt-Col), K.R.R.C., H.Q. 6 Base Sub Area.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 24 August 1944 (Italy). U.S.A. Medal of Freedom with Bronze Palm London Gazette 23 May 1947. Efficiency Decoration London Gazette 13 February 1948. Henry Powell Croom-Johnson was born on 15 December 1910, eldest son of Hon. Sir Reginald Croom-Johnson, sometime Judge of High Court, and Lady (Ruby) Croom-Johnson. He was educated at Stowe School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and was assistant master at Bedford School between 1932 and 1934. He was appointed 2nd Lieutenant (late Officer Cadet Corporal, Cambridge University O.T.C.) in March 1932 for service with the Bedford School Contingent. He joined the staff of the British Council in 1935, and became secretary to the Lecture Committee in 1936. Appointed 2nd Lieutenant, 16th London Regiment (Queen’s Westminsters) in February 1937, and to Lieutenant in December 1937. He served with the Queen’s Westminsters and King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 1939-46, on the staff in Sicily, Italy and Greece (Despatches, O.B.E., Lieutenant-Colonel). Rejoining the British Council in 1946, he was appointed controller of the Finance Division in 1951, and controller of the European Division in 1956. He was the British Council Representative in India from 1957 to 1964; appointed Controller of Overseas Division ‘B’, 1964, and was Assistant Director-General of the British Council from 1966 until his retirement in 1973. Lieutenant-Colonel Croom-Johnson lived at Ravenscourt Square, London, and died on 22 March 1994. Sold with two fibre identity discs, a named cloth patch for “D” Company, 1st Bn. The Queen’s Westminsters (Captain), and a large quantity of metal and cloth insignia, badges and buttons relating to Stowe School O.T.C., The Queen’s Westminsters and the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, mostly those which he wore whilst in service but some purchased later to represent the history of the regiments he had served in. Together with copied research which includes recommendations for the O.B.E. and U.S.A. Medal of Freedom.
Family Group: A Great War M.B.E. group of three awarded to Mrs. Jane S. Henry, British Red Cross Society The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Civil) Member’s 1st type, lady’s shoulder badge, silver, hallmarks for London 1916, the reverse privately engraved ‘J. S. Henry March 1917’, on lady’s bow riband; British Red Cross Society Medal for War Service, unnamed as issued, lacking integral top riband bar; Belgium, Kingdom, Queen Elisabeth Medal, bronze, the last two mounted as worn, good very fine Three: Private R. A. Henry, Royal Air Force, later A.R.P. Post Warden, Harrow British War and Victory Medals (36690. Pte. 1. R. A. Henry. R.A.F.); Defence Medal, the first two mounted as worn, the last loose; together with the recipient’s riband bar, contact marks, traces of lacquer, very fine and better (6) £160-£200 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 7 January 1918: Mrs. Jane Selina Henry. ‘For services in connection with the War.’ Mrs. Jane Selina Henry (née Sherwood), was the mother of Robert Alexander Henry.
An Order of St. John group of six awarded to District Superintendent S. H. Vilven, St John Ambulance Brigade The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Officer‘s (Brother’s) breast badge, silver and enamel; Jubilee 1897, St. John Ambulance Brigade (2nd Class Supy. Offr. S. H. Vilven); Coronation 1902, St. John Ambulance Brigade, bronze (S. H. Vivlen. 1st Offr.); Coronation 1911, St. John Ambulance Brigade (Dist. Supt. Sec. S. H. Vilven); Service Medal of the Order of St John, silvered base metal, unnamed; St. John Medal for South Africa 1899-1902 (1st Officer S. H. Vilven. No. 1 Dist.) polished, otherwise nearly very fine (6) £360-£440 --- Vilven was a ‘contributor’ to the St John Ambulance Brigade and is not entitled to the Q.S.A.
An Inter-War R.R.C. group of five awarded to Lady Superintendent Ethel Green, Queen Alexandra’s Military Nursing Service for India Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), G.V.R., silver-gilt, gold, and enamel, on lady’s bow riband; 1914-15 Star (Sister E. Green. Q.A.M.N.S.I.); British War and Victory Medals (Sister E. Green.); Jubilee 1935, unnamed as issued; together with the recipient’s Charing Cross Hospital Medal, bronze, unnamed, good very fine (6) £700-£900 --- Provenance: Christie’s, July 1984. R.R.C. London Gazette 1 January 1936. M.I.D. London Gazettes 15 August 1918 and 2 November 1918. Ethel Green was born in Cheltenham on 15 May 1883. Educated at Manchester High School and Cricklewood Ladies College, she trained for her nursing certificate at Charing Cross Hospital in London from 1 September 1905 to 12 October 1909. She applied to join the Q.A.M.N.S.I. on 27 February 1911 and was soon accepted pending a vacancy; taking temporary appointment in Birmingham, she finally sailed for India aboard the City of Marseilles on 15 February 1913. Initially serving as Nursing Sister at Poona and Peshawar, Green was transferred to Mesopotamia in 1916. Here she was twice Mentioned in Despatches, being further notified of the award of the A.R.R.C. in the London Gazette of 25 February 1918. This was later forwarded to the Sister’s Quarters of British Stationary Hospital, Poona, on 3 January 1922. Promoted Lady Superintendent on 18 June 1932, Green witnessed her final posting at the hill station of Dalhousie, a summer retreat of the Earl of Dalhousie, who was once British Governor-General in India. Confirmed as entitled to the Silver Jubilee Medal, she retired from the service on 31 August 1935 and was awarded the R.R.C. soon thereafter. It was also at around this time that she applied for her BWM and VM, thus accounting for the error in rank where ‘Sister’ is substituted for the correct ‘Nursing Sister’.
A Second War R.R.C. group of five to Superintending Sister Edith Hope, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, who received the Norwegian Freedom Medal in 1947, believed to be the only award of its kind to her service Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), G.VI.R. 1st issue, silver-gilt, gold and enamel, reverse dated ‘1943’, on lady’s bow riband; Victory Medal 1914-19 (N.Sister E. Hope. Q.A.R.N.N.S.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Norway, Kingdom, King Haakon VII Freedom Medal 1939-45, bronze, unnamed as issued, very fine and better (5) £400-£500 --- R.R.C. London Gazette 2 June 1943: ‘For zeal and wholehearted devotion to duty in the Royal Naval Sick Quarters at Skegness since the beginning of the War.’ Edith Hope was born on 27 July 1880 and qualified as a nurse at St. Thomas’s Hospital in London. She joined Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service as Probationary Nursing Sister on 1 November 1913, serving at Haslar before her posting to the Hospital Ship Drina on 14 August 1914. Returning home in February 1915, she spent much of the remainder of the War at Shotley and was later awarded the A.R.R.C. in the London Gazette of 1 March 1920. Remaining in service, Hope spent much of the 1920s in Malta, Plymouth and Dartmouth, taking charge of the sick bay at the latter on 21 September 1928. She was later one of 10 retired nurses offered re-employment by the Q.A.R.N.N.S. in 1939, appointed to the role of acting Superintending Sister in charge of the newly opened Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital in Newton Abbott, Devon. After a short period at Plymouth, Hope was later posted to the Sick Quarters at Skegness on 24 October 1940. She remained there for the rest of the war and was awarded the R.R.C. in 1943. Her efforts were further recognised by the Norwegian Government in the London Gazette of 26 August 1947, the award being for services to the Norwegian Navy at H.M.S. Royal Arthur - the Royal Navy shore establishment at Skegness. Sold with two original typed letters of congratulation for the A.R.R.C. and R.R.C.
A Great War M.B.E. group of eight awarded to Captain W. J. H. Pontin, St. John Ambulance Brigade The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type, breast badge, silver, hallmarks for London 1919; The Order of St John of Jerusalem, Officer’s breast badge, silver, with heraldic beasts in angles; The Order of St John of Jerusalem, Serving Brother’s breast badge, silver and enamel, privately engraved to reverse ‘William James Henry Pontin 1900’; St. John Medal for South Africa 1899-1902 (Supt. W. J. H. Pontin No.1 Dist); Jubilee 1897, St. John Ambulance Brigade (Supt. W. J. H. Pontin); Coronation 1902, St. John Ambulance Brigade, bronze (W. J. H. Pontin. Supt.); Coronation 1911, St. John Ambulance Brigade (Dist. Ch. Supt. W. J. H. Pontin.); Service Medal of the Order of St John, with two Additional Award Bars (Dist --pt Secretary W. J. H. Pontin. 10. July ----) some areas of wear to naming, the earlier awards polished, nearly very fine and better (8) £400-£500 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 12 December 1919. William James Henry Pontin was born in Shoreditch, London, on 19 February 1868. Recorded as a millinery manufacturer living in Islington in 1911, he was later appointed Officer of the Venerable Order of St John in the London Gazette of 23 June 1939, whilst serving as Stores Manager for the St John Ambulance Association. He died at Southend-on-Sea, Essex, in 1952.
A Second War R.R.C. group of six awarded to Principal Matron Kathleen M. Cooper, Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, late British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who rose from Pantry Maid to Principal Matron in a nursing career spanning more than 30 years Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), G.VI.R. 1st issue, silver-gilt, gold, and enamel, reverse dated ‘1944’; The Order of St John of Jerusalem, Serving Sister’s shoulder badge, 1st type (1892-1939), silver and enamel, circular badge with white enamel cross with heraldic beasts in angles raised above the background, on lady’s bow riband; 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1953, unnamed as issued, the second with minor white enamel loss, very fine (6) --- R.R.C. London Gazette 8 June 1944. The original recommendation from the Officer Commanding, R.N. Auxiliary Hospital, Seaforth, states: ‘The above-mentioned Acting Matron, Q.A.R.N.N.S., joined this hospital before the complement of Nursing Sisters and V.A.D.’s was completed. She has organised the nursing of patients in the hospital with the greatest efficiency and zeal, and has opened Quarters for the Nursing Sisters and a hostel for V.A.D. Members. She has so arranged these that the Sisters and V.A.D.’s are contented and happy, thereby increasing the efficiency of the work carried out by those members of the staff. She has also organised the duties and Quarters with the Superintending Sister at R.N.A.H. Woolton with equally satisfactory results. The hostel for the V.A.D.’s at Woolton is not yet ready, but they have been as contented and happy as it has been possible to make them in the hospital itself. I am most impressed with the standard of nursing efficiency reached by the V.A.D. nursing members who have received the greater part of their nursing instruction and practical experience in this hospital. She has been available, first as the Senior Superintending Sister and later as Acting Matron, for advice to all establishments in the Port of Liverpool in which Sisters Q.A.R.N.N.S. are carried, and in this also she has been of the greatest assistance.’ Kathleen Margaret Cooper served from 11 October 1917 with the British Red Cross Society as an Ordinary Member of the 4th Hampshire Voluntary Aid Detachment. Appointed to Pantry Maid and Nurse duties at Highfield Hall in Southampton, she later undertook her nursing studies at Birmingham General Hospital, qualifying SRN on 19 March 1926. Entering Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service as Nursing Sister on 2 July 1928, she served at Plymouth and on the island of Malta from 1932 to 1935. Advanced Superintending Sister on 8 February 1941, she was awarded the A.R.R.C. in the London Gazette of 1 July 1941 and posted to the Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital at Seaforth on 5 June 1942. Transferred to Chatham in 1950, she ended her service as Principal Matron and died at Castle Cary, Somerset, on 21 April 1982. Sold with the recipient’s original General Nursing Council for England and Wales silver and enamel badge, engraved to reverse ‘K. M. Cooper S.R.N. 42349 19.3.26’; Royal Life Saving Society bronze medal, awarded to ‘K. Cooper Aug. 1934’; Silver and enamel badge of the G. H. B. League; B.R.C.S. ‘For Service’ badge, No. 24747; with two original group photographs of the recipient.
The O.B.E. breast badge attributed to P. D. Robeson, Esq., a British equestrian Show Jumper and twice Olympic medallist The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Civil) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt, in Royal Mint case of issue, extremely fine £100-£140 --- O.B.E. London Gazette 15 June 1985: ‘For services to Show Jumping.’ Peter David Robeson (1929-2018) was a British Show Jumper and twice Olympic medallist. He won bronze in the team show jumping event at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics (although for quarantine reasons the equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden), and a further bronze medal in the individual show jumping at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He was awarded the O.B.E. for services to show jumping in 1985. Sold with the original Bestowal Document for the O.B.E., in Central Chancery envelope, addressed to ‘P. D. Robeson, Esq., O.B.E., Fences Farm, Tyringham, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire’; together with a copy of the 1970 Statutes of the Order, and various Central Chancery enclosures.
Pair: Ordinary Seaman William W. Vivyan, Royal Navy Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Syria (Wm. W. Vevyan.) note spelling of surname; St. Jean d’Acre 1840, bronze, fitted with rings for suspension, very fine or better (2) £800-£1,000 --- William W. Vivian served as an Ordinary Seaman aboard H.M.S. Thunderer during operations on and off the coast of Syria in 1840, including the captures of St Jean D’Acre and Sidon.
A Great War ‘Salonika’ A.R.R.C. group of four awarded to Sister Isabella Thomson, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class (A.R.R.C.), G.V.R., silver and enamel, on lady’s bow riband; British War and Victory Medals (Sister I. Thomson.); Greece, Kingdom, Medal for Military Merit, Fourth Class, bronze, generally good very fine (4) £500-£700 --- A.R.R.C. London Gazette 1 January 1919: ‘For service in Salonika.’ Greek Medal for Military Merit, 4th Class, London Gazette 26 November 1919. Isabella Thomson was born at Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, on 5 December 1881, the daughter of a retired Ship’s Master. She took her nursing studies at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary from 1907 to 1910, and applied to join Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve in May 1915. Posted as Nurse to Malta from 25 June 1915 to April 1917, and the 43rd General Hospital at Salonika from April 1917 to October 1918, she was released from service in 1919 in consequence of failing health; her Service Record notes in particular the strain associated with her work in Salonika.
A Great War M.B.E. group of six awarded to Commandant Laura J. Law, St. John Ambulance Brigade and Voluntary Aid Detachment The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Civil) Member’s 1st type, lady’s shoulder badge, silver, hallmarks for London 1919, on lady’s bow riband; The Order of St John of Jerusalem, Officer’s (Sister’s) shoulder badge, silver, with heraldic beasts in angles, on lady’s bow riband; Jubilee 1897, St. John Ambulance Brigade (Nursg. Sisr. Miss. L. J. Law.); Coronation 1902, St. John Ambulance Brigade, bronze (L. Law. N.S.); Coronation 1911, St. John Ambulance Brigade (Lady Supt. L. J. Law.); Service Medal of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, with four Additional Award Bars (Lady Supt. Miss L. J. Law. 10 July 1908) light contact marks, nearly very fine and better (6) £500-£700 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1919. Laura Jessie Law lived at 58 Manville Road, Upper Tooting London, and served as Lady Superintendent of the St John Ambulance Brigade from May 1911. Appointed to Nursing Division No. 10, she was later raised Commandant and placed in charge of Voluntary Aid Detachment No. 86. Further appointed to command the St John Warehouse throughout the Great War, she was later championed by Dame Commander Agnes Jekyll as ‘warmly recommended’ for recognition, receiving the M.B.E. as Secretary of the St John Ambulance Warehouse.
A fine Life Saving group of three awarded to Petty Officer F. Lamport, Royal Navy, who served for nearly 20 years with the Royal Yacht Victoria & Albert, and whose Royal Humane Society Medal in Bronze with a Second Award Bar represents 40 years in between gallant rescue attempts - the last being carried out on the River Thames in 1916, at the age of 63 British War Medal 1914-20 (72584 F. Lamport. P.O. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension (Fk. Lamport, A.B. (Rigger) H.M.Y. Victoria & Albert.) impressed naming; Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (successful) (Fredk. Lamport A.B. H.M.S. “Excellent”, 4th May 1876) with Second Award Bar, dated ‘2nd Aug. 1916’, lacking integral top bronze riband buckle, mounted for display, good very fine (3) £500-£700 --- R.H.S. Case no. 19,867: ‘At 1.30pm 4th May 1876 the sea at Spithead, 8 fathoms of water, Frederick W. Lamport, AB., HMS Excellent, jumped overboard from the gun-boat Skylark, going 6 knots under steam, swam to the man, A. McQuire, AB and supported him until picked up. Bronze Medal awarded.’ R.H.S. Case no. 42,616: ‘At 9.10pm on the 2nd August 1916, a boy accidentally fell into the Thames at Lambeth in a dangerous position between a barge and the quay. Frederick Lamport, 1st Class P.O., Anti-Aircraft Corps, aged 64 jumped in but failed to find him. Bronze Clasp awarded.’ Frederick Lamport was born in Fareham, Hampshire, in October 1852. He joined the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in June 1867, and subsequently served with H.M. Ships Hercules and Glasgow before being posted to H.M.S. Excellent (Whale Island, Portsmouth) in July 1875. Although serving at H.M.S. Excellent it was during gunnery practice on H.M.S. Skylark, that Lamport carried out his rescue attempt, for which he was to be awarded the Royal Humane Society Medal in Bronze. The Skylark’s Log for 4 May 1876 records that there was a premature explosion of the N0 4 after Breech Loarder, which blew 3 seamen (including McQuire) into the sea. All of the three seamen were rescued, and then taken to Haslar Hospital for treatment. Lamport advanced to Able Seaman (Rigger) and was posted to the Royal Yacht Victoria & Albert in March 1877. He served with the Royal Yacht for the next 18 years, and was awarded his L.S. & G.C. in January 1890. Lamport was Shore Pensioned in March 1903, after 36 years’ continuos service. He volunteered for service for ‘Hostilities only’ in February 1915, and was posted as a Petty Officer to H.M.S. President B. During the latter Lamport served as part of the Anti-Aircraft Corps stationed on the Thames. From here he carried out his second attempted rescue, some forty years after his first. Lamport was discharged in June 1918, age 65, and having served for 39 years with the Royal Navy. Sold with copied service papers and research - the group featuring in an article included in The Life Saving Awards Research Society Journal (No. 49).
A Second War United States of America Bronze Star group of six attributed to Lieutenant-Colonel A. V. Emery, Royal Corps of Signals Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1953, unnamed as issued; Army Emergency Reserve Decoration, E.II.R., reverse officially dated 1953, lacking integral top riband bar; Efficiency Decoration, E.II.R. (Territorial), reverse officially dated 1958, with Additional Award Bar, this officially dated 1963, lacking integral top riband bar; United States of America, Bronze Star, unnamed as issued, mounted as worn; together with the related miniature awards, except the Army Emergency Reserve Decoration with an additional award bar, and the Efficiency Decoration without an additional award bar, and both with their integral top riband bars, mounted court-style as worn, good very fine (6) £240-£280 --- Attributed to Lieutenant-Colonel A. V. Emery, but without any original documentation. Army Emergency Reserve Decoration London Gazette 1 December 1953. 1st Clasp to the Army Emergency Reserve Decoration London Gazette 1 December 1953. Territorial Efficiency Decoration London Gazette 20 May 1958. 1st Clasp to the Territorial Efficiency Decoration London Gazette 9 July 1963. United States of America Bronze Star London Gazette 14 May 1948. The official Citation states: ‘Major A. V. Emery, Royal Signals, British Army, for meritorious service in support of military operations from 7 February to 1 September 1944. Major Emery was of invaluable assistance to the United States Signal Corps in the United Kingdom during the months before and after D-Day, as adviser and controller of GPO telephone facilities being employed by the military forces.’
A fine Great War A.R.R.C. group of four awarded to Matron Agnes Midgeley, British Committee of the French Red Cross Royal Red Cross, 2nd Class (A.R.R.C.), G.V.R., silver and enamel, on lady’s bow riband; British War and Victory Medals (A. Midgeley. B.R.C. & St. J.J.); France, Third Republic, Medaille de La Reconnaissance, bronze, unnamed, edge nicks to VM, very fine and better (4) £400-£500 --- A.R.R.C. London Gazette 1 January 1918. Agnes Midgeley was born in Grimston, Yorkshire, on 20 February 1885, and took her nursing studies at the Anlaby Road Infirmary in Hull from January 1909 to January 1912. Volunteering for service with the British Committee of the French Red Cross at the outbreak of hostilities, she was soon posted as Sister to the Anglo-French Hospital at le Treport. This unit was founded and maintained by the Honourable Lady Murray and initially operated as a 65-bed hospital in a former golf hotel. It was later taken over by the British Red Cross in the summer of 1916 as a hospital for British Officers. It was at around this time that Midgeley’s health began to weaken. After four operations on a septic arm she was evacuated home to England aboard the Hospital Ship Brighton on 25 January 1917. Remaining on sick leave for nearly four months, she returned to her former hospital - now known as No.10 B.R.C.S. - as Matron. Awarded the A.R.R.C. and noted in her Red Cross Record as recommended for the French decoration, she was demobilised on 7 January 1919. Sold with the recipient’s copied Nursing Service Record and an extract from the Journal Officiel, dated 21 December 1919, which offers in the French language a citation to the French award: ‘Miss Midgley (sic) (Agnes) of British nationality, senior nurse in the hospitals of the British Red Cross and the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, diligent work in the important functions of a senior nurse in the service of the sick and injured French people, rendered with a dedication to every moment’; and copied research, including a photographic image of the recipient.
Pair: Trooper A. P. Smith, 16th/5th Lancers Gulf 1990-91, 1 clasp, 16 Jan to 28 Feb 1991 (24751512 Tpr A P Smith 16/5L); U.N. Medal, on UNFICYP riband, mounted court-style as worn, with named card box of issue for the Gulf Medal; together with the recipient’s Kuwait Liberation Medal, 4th Grade, bronze and enamel, in named box of issue, nearly extremely fine (3) £180-£220 --- Approximately 380 Gulf Medals with clasp awarded to the 16th/5th Lancers.
A Great War M.B.E., Order of St. John group of six awarded to Commandant W. R. Magnus, British Red Cross and Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who ferried large numbers of wounded men between hospitals in London and the Home Counties in his ambulance The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Civil) Member’s 1st type breast badge, silver, hallmarks for London 1918; The Order of St John of Jerusalem, Officer’s breast badge, silver, with heraldic beasts in angles; Jubilee 1897, St. John Ambulance Brigade (Private W. Magnus); Coronation 1902, St. John Ambulance Brigade, bronze (W. R. Magnus 2nd. Offr.); Coronation 1911, St. John Ambulance Brigade (Supt. W. R. Magnus.); Service Medal of the Order of St John, silver, with one Additional Award Bar (Supt. William R. Magnus. July 1911.) nearly very fine and better (6) £300-£400 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 7 June 1918: ‘Chief of the Train Control Section, Great Eastern Railway.’ William Robert Magnus was born in Chipping Hill, Essex, around 1878. A married railway clerk, later Assistant to the London Divisional Superintendant of the Great Eastern Railway (Liverpool Street Station), he is recorded in 1911 and 1921 as a resident of 51, Stanhope Gardens, Ilford. Appointed Commandant in the British Red Cross and Order of St John of Jerusalem in May 1915, Magnus served at Oakwood Voluntary Aid Detachment Hospital. His Red Cross index card adds: ‘Mr. William Robert Magnus, 51 Stanhope Gardens, Ilford, Essex. Organised whole of ambulance transport in connection with Ilford Emergency Hospital, also assisted in connection with Oakwood Red Cross Hospital, Chigwell - a total of 84 convoys and 1500 soldiers. In addition 44 journeys were arranged to various London and provincial Hospitals with transfer cases, over 100 wounded were transferred involving journeys varying from 10 to 110 miles. Personally driven car 6000 miles. Air Raid duties of detachment also.’
An Order of St. John group of six awarded to District Superintendent of Stores S. B. Piers, St. John Ambulance Brigade The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Officer’s (Brother’s) breast badge, silver, with heraldic beasts in angles; St. John Medal for South Africa 1899-1902 (Dist. Supt. of Stores S. B. Piers. No.1 Dist); Jubilee 1897, bronze (Supt. S. B. Piers); Coronation 1902, St. John Ambulance Brigade, bronze (S. B. Piers. Supt. of Stores.); Jubilee 1935, unnamed as issued; Service Medal of the Order of St John, silver, with five Additional Award Bars (District Supt. of Stores. Shute B Piers 1906.) nearly very fine and better (6) £400-£500 --- Shute Barrington Piers was born in Weymouth on 10 April 1864, the son of Captain Shute Barrington Piers, Royal Navy. A bank cashier and resident of Lewisham, he witnessed extensive service with No. 1 District, St John Ambulance Brigade. He died in Croydon in 1947.
An Order of St. John group of seven awarded to Acting Sergeant C. G. Merritt, St. John Ambulance Association, late 22nd (County of London) Battalion (The Queen’s), London Regiment The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Officer’s breast badge, silver and enamel, heraldic beasts in angles; British War and Victory Medals (4822 A.Sjt. C. G. Merritt. 22-Lond.R.); Defence Medal; Southern Railway St John Ambulance Association Medal, with 7 years top brooch bar, bronze, reverse inscribed ‘Carl G. Merritt 1926.’; Southern Railway St John Ambulance Association Medal, with 14 years top brooch bar, silver, reverse inscribed ‘Carl G. Merritt 1933.’; Southern Railway St John Ambulance Association Medal, 9ct. gold, with 21 years top brooch bar and 40 years additional award bar, the medal reverse inscribed ‘Carl Merritt 1940’ and the bar ‘1959’, minor contact marks to BWM and VM, otherwise good very fine (7) £200-£240 --- Carl George Merritt was born in Wimbledon on 28 October 1896 and served in France with the London Regiment during the Great War. He later devoted over 40 years of his life to the Southern Railway St John Ambulance Association, being recorded as Officer of the Order of St John of Jerusalem in the London Gazette of 7 January 1955. Retired to Dorset, he died in Poole in 1985.
Three: Police Constable D. West, Metropolitan Police Jubilee 1887, clasp, 1897, Metropolitan Police (P.C. D. West. W. Div:); Coronation 1902, Metropolitan Police, bronze (P.C., D. West. W. Div.); Coronation 1911, Metropolitan Police (P.C. D. West.) good very fine (3) £80-£100 --- D. West served as a Police Constable with ‘W’ (Clapham) Division.
Pair: Police Sergeant W. Waller, Metropolitan Police Coronation 1902, Metropolitan Police, bronze (P.C. W. Waller. F. Div.); Coronation 1911, Metropolitan Police (P.S., W. Waller.) edge bruising and contact marks, very fine Coronation 1911, Metropolitan Police (P.C. A. Dorling.) nearly extremely fine (3) £80-£100
Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension, impressed naming (A. F. Holland, Boatman, H.M. Coast Guard) light pitting from Khedive’s Star, otherwise nearly very fine £100-£140 --- Alfred Edward Holland was born in Portsmouth on 23 May 1863, and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in the training ship H.M.S. Boscawen on 4 March 1879. He was discharged to Inconstant on 24 August 1880, and served in this ship during the operations in Egypt in 1882 (Medal and Bronze Star). Having advanced to Leading Seaman in May 1889, he was appointed a Boatman in the Coast Guard in March 1890 and received his L.S. & G.C. medal shortly afterwards. He served with the Coast Guard on the Australian Station from June 1893 until discharged to pension on 3 July 1902, during which period he was promoted to Commissioned Boatman on 5 May 1898. He then enrolled in the Royal Fleet Reserve in April 1903 and served until 23 May 1913, when he was discharged having attained the age of 50 years. Sold with various parchment and paper certificates of service contained in Admiralty registered packet addressed to Henning Street, Battersea, London.
A poignant Great War Order of St. John casualty group of six awarded to Nursing Sister Thelka Bowser, Voluntary Aid Detachment and Order of St. John of Jerusalem, who died at home in St Leonards on Sea after becoming seriously unwell whilst on active service in France The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Serving Sister’s shoulder badge, 1st type (1892-1939), silver and enamel, circular badge with white enamel cross with heraldic beasts in angles raised above the background, on lady’s bow riband, engraved to reverse ‘St. John’s Gate, Clerkenwell 1.6.1915 - 19.3.1916’; 1914-15 Star (T. Bowser. V.A.D.); British War and Victory Medals (T. Bowser. V.A.D.); Coronation 1902, St. John Ambulance Brigade, bronze (T. Bowser. N.S.); Coronation 1911, St. John Ambulance Brigade (Nurs. Sister T. Bowser.) very fine and better (6) £400-£500 --- Thekla Bowser - sometimes known as Ida Thekla or Lola Thekla - was born in Marylebone in 1877, the daughter of John Carrick Bowser of London. A Serving Sister of the Order of St John since 1902, she nursed with No. 92 (London) District, V.A.D., from 1 June 1915 to 3 February 1916, but became unwell whilst in France. Discharged on 19 March 1916 in consequence of an intestinal obstruction, she was issued Silver War Badge No. 166182 on 23 June 1917. She died a little over a year later on 11 January 1919 and is commemorated upon the Screen Wall of Hastings Cemetery in Sussex. Sold with the recipient’s corresponding miniature award of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, engraved to reverse as per the full-size decoration.
A Selection of Books on the Victoria Cross. The Story of the Victoria Cross 1856-1963, by Brigadier Sir John Smyth, Bt., V.C., Frederick Muller, 1963, 596pp, with photographic plates and index, hard-back, with dust jacket, reasonable condition For Valour - The Victoria Cross, Courage in action, by John Percival, Thames Methuen, 1985, 257pp, with photographic plates and index, hard-back, with dust jacket, reasonable condition The Bronze Cross, by Gordon Roe, P. R. Gawthorn Ltd., London, 1945, 124pp, with numerous photographs and index, hard-back, with torn dust-jacket, reasonable condition Valiant Men, Canada’s V.C. and G.C. Winners, by John Swettenham, Hakkert Toronto, 1973, 234pp, with index and photographs, hard-back, with dust-jacket, good condition They Dared Mightily, by Lionel Wigmore, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963, 317pp, with index and b/w plates, hard-back, with dust jacket, good condition The Victoria Cross, Centenary Exhibition Brochure 1956. The stories of the winning of the Victoria Crosses which were represented in the Centenary Exhibition, Marlborough House, June to July 1956, First Edition, 143pp, with index, paper covers; together with the index of exhibits, very good condition Illustrated Handbook of the Victoria Cross and George Cross, Imperial War Museum 1970, 40pp, with numerous plates, soft-back, good condition For Conspicuous Gallantry, a brief history of the recipients of the V.C. from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, by Nigel McCrery, J. H. Hall & Sons, Derby, 1990, 87pp, with index, soft-back; together with a booklet o nthe four V.C.s awarded to the 6th Battalion, Northamptonshire Regiment, good condition Together with a set of illustrated pictures depicting ‘Heroes of the Victoria Cross’; a facsimile copy of Guy Gibson’s Pilot’s Flying Log Book, including his entry for the Dam’s Raid; and three other books on non-V.C. related matters, good condition (lot) £60-£80
Austria, Empire, Honour Decoration of the Red Cross, Silver Medal, silver and enamel, on bow riband, in card box of issue, nearly extremely fine France, Third Republic, Legion of Honour, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, gold appliqué, and enamel, in Aucoc, Paris, case of issue, minor enamel damage to tips of points, good very fine Poland, People’s Republic, Order of Polonia Restituta, Fourth Class breast badge, gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband, nearly extremely fine Saudi Arabia, Kingdom, Medal for the Liberation of Kuwait 1991 (2), one with riband bar, in case of issue; the other loose, extremely fine United States of America, Military Merit Medal, bronze-gilt, unnamed, with riband bar ands lapel bar, in case of issue, nearly extremely fine (6) £70-£90
Belgium, Kingdom, Golden Palms of the Order of the Crown, gilt, in Gustave Wolfers, Brussels, case of issue, extremely fine France, Third Republic, Croix de Guerre (3), bronze, reverse dated 1914-1915, with bronze palm on riband; reverse dated 1914-1918, with silver star on riband; reverse blank, very fine Italy, Kingdom, Messina Earthquake Medal 1908, silver, unnamed as issued, nearly very fine (5) £60-£80
The French Franco-Prussian War Medal and British Baltic Medal pair attributed to Lieutenant C. A. Trudon des Ormes, 48th Regiment of Infantry of the Line, who died for France in 1870 France, Third Republic, Franco-Prussian War Medal 1870-71, bronze; Great Britain, Baltic Medal 1854-55, silver, unnamed as issued, contact marks to latter, generally very fine (2) £200-£240 --- Charles Alexandre Trudon des Ormes was born in 1831 and was commissioned Sous-Lieutenant in the 48th Regiment of Infantry of the Line on 1 October 1853. He served in the expedition to the Baltic the following year, and his Certificate of Service confirms that he received the British Baltic Medal. Promoted Lieutenant on 28 June 1856, he relinquished his commission on 18 May 1861, but saw further service during the Franco-Prussian War, and is recorded as having ‘died for France’ in 1870. Sold with the recipient’s original Commissioned Document, dated 22 October 1853; and French Ministry of War Certificate of service, dated 19 October 1865, these both folded and in fragile condition; and copied research.
Germany, Third Reich, Iron Cross 1939, Second Class breast badge, silver with iron centre, ring numbered ‘44’ for Jakob Bengel of Idar-Oberstein; East Front Medal, bronze, in its original titled packet with the maker’s name of ‘Rudolf Bachter’ on the reverse side; West Wall Medal, bronze; War Service Medal 1939, bronze; Mother’s Cross, Third Class in bronze and enamel, an unusual variation with the date ‘16th December 1933’ with the signature of Adolf Hitler in raised relief; together with the Italian Africa Medal, bronze, generally good very fine (6) £140-£180
Germany, Third Reich, Armed Forces 18 Year Long Service Medal, silver, complete with outstretched winged eagle and swastika army motif device on riband; Entry into Czechoslovakia Medal 1938, bronze; together with an Italian Africa Medal; a nice quality tinny heavy quality construction for Gau Westfalen North with its full maker’s name on the reverse side and tinny type suspension; and a Hitler Youth Proficiency Badge with the original owner’s name of ‘E.Keck’ with his Bahn number ‘3/747’ hand etched into the reverse side, very fine (5) £80-£100
An Order of St. John group of four awarded to Acting Sister Louisa E. E. Turtell, St. John Ambulance Brigade The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Serving Sister’s shoulder badge, 1st type (1892-1939), silver and enamel, circular badge with white enamel cross with heraldic beasts in angles raised above the background, on lady’s bow riband, in fitted case of issue; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Service Medal of the Order of St. John, silver, with three Additional Award Bars and top V.A.D. riband bar (25819 A/Sis. L. E. E. Turtell. No. 1015. S.J.A.B. 1942.) nearly extremely fine (2) £120-£160 --- Louisa Edith Ellen Turtell was born on 16 November 1896 and is recorded in 1939 as a resident of Toller’s Lane, Coulsden, and a Nursing Member of the St John Ambulance Brigade. Sold with the recipient’s S.J.A.B. bronze Re-examination Cross, the reverse engraved ‘307126 Louisa E. E. Turtell.’
Japan, Empire, Red Cross Order of Merit, breast badge, silver and enamel, with original hook and eye suspension, with lapel rosette, in fitted case of issue; Red Cross Membership Medal (2), silver, with original hook and eye suspension and rosette on riband, in rio-nuri lacquer case of issue; white metal, with original hook and eye suspension and rosette on riband, with lapel bow, in card box of issue; Russo-Japanese War Medal 1904-05, with clasp, bronze, with original hook and eye suspension, in wooden box of issue; 1931-34 Incident War Medal, with clasp, bronze, with original hook and eye suspension, in original paper packaging, about extremely fine (5) £70-£90 --- Sold with a poor-quality copy of the Japanese Allied Victory Medal.
South Africa, Korea 1950-53, South African issue, unnamed; South African Defence Force Cross in Silver (3), Army issue, silver and enamel, unnamed; Air Force issue, silver and enamel, the reverse of the suspension bar stamped ‘Silver’; Medical Services issue, silver and enamel, the reverse of the suspension bar stamped ‘Silver’; Police Cross for Bravery, silver and enamel, silver mark to reverse; Rail and Harbour Police Combating Terrorism Medal, bronze; A.N.C. 10 Years Long Service Medal, bronze; Cross Border Defence Medal, uniface suspension, the reverse officially numbered ‘002523’; all unnumbered (and therefore unlikely to have been issued) except for the last, generally very fine and better (8) £160-£200
An Order of St. John pair awarded to K. D. Wadia, St. John Ambulance Brigade (India) The Order of St John of Jerusalem, Serving Brother’s breast badge, 1st type (1892-1939), silver and enamel, circular badge with white enamel cross with heraldic beasts in angles raised above the background, in case of issue; India, Dominion, Order of St John Ambulance Brigade, Seva Medal, type with portrait of Gandhi, the reverse engraved ‘448 K. D. Wadia III Distt. St. J.A.B. 1956’, bronze, very fine (2) £70-£90
A Great War M.M. group of five awarded to Driver Mary O’Connell-Bianconi, First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Corps, who rendered important service on the Western Front conveying wounded men from places of extreme danger to hospital Military Medal, G.V.R. (Miss M. O’Connell-Bianconi. F.A.N.Y.); British War and Victory Medals (M. Bianconi. F.A.N.Y.C.); Defence and War Medals 1939-45; together with a Great War First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Medal, bronze, nearly extremely fine (6) £2,000-£2,400 --- M.M. London Gazette 30 July 1918: A joint citation to seven members of the F.A.N.Y.: ‘For conspicuous devotion to duty during a hostile air raid. All these lady drivers were out with their cars during the raid, picking up and in every way assisting the wounded and injured. They showed great bravery and coolness, and were an example to all ranks.’ Mary ‘Mollie’ O’Connell-Bianconi was born at Killadysert, Co. Clare, Ireland, on 22 December 1896. Educated at Laurel Hill Convent in Limerick and finishing schools in Paris and Belgium, she attested for the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and served in France from August 1917. Sent to the Western Front near Amiens, O’Connell-Bianconi joined a select band of women driving motor ambulances to wherever they were needed - often under extremely dangerous and hostile conditions. Trained in the administration of treatment to both man and machine, the lady ambulance drivers soon proved their competence when taking over from the men, impressing even the most hardened top brass including Surgeon General Sir T. P. Woodhouse: ‘They’re neither fish nor fowl, but damned fine red herring.’ Deployed to St. Omer at the start of the German Spring Offensive, O’Connell-Bianconi was present in her ambulance as waves of enemy storm troopers attempted to smash through the Allied lines. Reeling from the assault, it fell to the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry to advance ever closer to the front to rescue the wounded, the pencilled battle lines on their maps rendered obsolete overnight. Decorated with the Military Medal whilst serving with the St. Omer Ambulance Convoy, O’Connell-Bianconi survived the war and married Captain Arthur Stanley Watson at the London Oratory, Kensington, on 18 December 1919. A renowned beauty of her time, she made her stage debut in 1923 at the London Palladium in the former Broadway musical revue ‘The Whirl of the World’, before retiring to Surrey and raising a family. Sold with a fine portrait photograph of the recipient in uniform; a group shot of F.A.N.Y. Unit 6 members, with each lady identified; and copied research.
War Service Crosses Second Class with Swords in their Presentation Packets. Two examples, the first an early War issue of excellent quality in bronze, and in mint as new unissued condition, retaining all original bright factory finish. The ring is not marked. The light brown packet is also mint, and has printed on the front ‘Kriegs-Verdienstkreuz 2. Klasse mit Schwerten’ in black Gothic type. On the reverse is printed ‘Rudolf Souval Wien VII/62’; the second an early War issue of excellent quality in bronze, and in mint as new unissued condition, retaining all original bright factory finish. The ring is not marked. The light brown packet has slight wear, and has printed on the front ‘Kriegs-Verdienstkreuz 2. Klasse mit Schwerten’ in black Gothic type. On the reverse is printed ‘Gebr. Gengensbach and Co. G.m.b.H. Pforzheim Poststrasse 5’, good very fine, the second scarce by this small maker (2) £100-£140
A Wehrmacht Close Combat Clasp in Bronze, by Hymmen and Co., Ludenscheid. A very good quality and condition example, retaining almost all original factory finish. Maker marked ‘L/53’ in rectangular box. [Hymmen and Co. was about the rarest makers of Close Combat Clasps, of which few surviving examples are known]. Tapered flat pin, very good condition £460-£550
A Spanish Volunteers in Russia Medal in Presentation Packet. Lacquered bronze zinc, retaining almost all original finish. Brown paper packet, printed on front in black gothic lettering ‘Erinnerugsmedaille fur die spanischen Freiwilligen im Kampf gegen den Bolschewismus’, and on reverse ‘Deschler and Sohn Munchen 9’, extremely fine £70-£90
A Great War M.B.E. group of five awarded to Driver Christabel Nicholson, First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Corps, later Women’s Legion, who devoted the first two years of the Great War to the care of wounded and sick Belgian soldiers The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 1st type, silver, hallmarks for London 1919; 1914-15 Star (C. Nicholson. F.A.N.Y.C.); British War and Victory Medals (C. Nicholson. F.A.N.Y.C.); Belgium, Kingdom, Medaille de la Reine Elisabeth, bronze and red enamel, good very fine (5) £400-£500 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1919. Christabel Nicholson was born in Loughton, Essex, around 1895. Qualified in first aid and home nursing, she was amongst the earliest entrants to the F.A.N.Y., serving in France from 5 December 1914. Mentioned several times by author Pat Waddel in FANY went to War, Nicholson was one of the original party at Lamarck Military Hospital in Calais. Here she attended to hundreds of Belgian troops wounded at the Battle of the Yser, and yet more suffering from typhoid. Under the command of Mrs. McDougall, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry succeeded in creating a 100-bedded hospital which functioned through the ingenuity of the staff to raise money for the purchasing of dressings, beds and comforts. In March 1915, Zeppelin bombs fell into the yard of the hospital. With other staff looking after the patients, Nicholson and Miss Hutchinson went out with a motor ambulance to help at the Central Station. As Lamarck gradually evolved into a base hospital, Nicholson soon found herself driving every morning to the Clearing Station to assist in transporting the wounded who arrived from the front by train; the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry Review (1914-17) held in the Women’s Work collection of the IWM, notes that on one occasion ‘there were 400 cases entrained at Calais, and Miss Nicholson and Miss Cluff, with Miss Marshall and Miss Hutchinson as Orderlies, drove their motor ambulances 125 miles to the destination of the train, unloaded their cases from midnight to early morning, and then motored back to rejoin their unit.’ Transferred to a new camp for Belgian convalescents known as the Camp du Ruchard, Nicholson spent the early summer of 1915 in ‘truly awful’ conditions with the men badly housed and surrounded by mud. She transferred to the Calais Convoy in 1916, becoming one of their first British drivers, before returning to England and joining the Women’s Legion in a supervisory capacity - likely the motorised transport department. Awarded the M.B.E. for her service with the Women’s Legion, she married Captain V. A. Haskett-Smith of the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders in 1921.
A Luftwaffe Clasp for Bomber Aircraft in Bronze in its Original Presentation Case. An excellent quality early example in real bronze with polished highlights, polished nickel winged bomb. Wide flat tapering pin. No maker’s mark. Case covered in blue paper artificial leather, inside the top section is covered in white, the bottom in cream felt. Printed in silver gothic lettering on lid ‘Frontflugspange fur Kampfflieger bronze’, extremely good condition £200-£240
A Luftwaffe Clasp for Transport Aircraft in Bronze. A very scarce early War type, made in one piece. Black painted Luftwaffe eagle in centre. No maker’s mark. Wide fluted tapering pin, extremely good condition, retaining almost all original factory finish £150-£200 --- Provenance: Colonel Dodkins Collection.
An Eastern People’s Bronze Award Second Class with Swords for Bravery, in Presentation Packet. Standard type in mint condition. Blue paper presentation packet, front printed ‘Taperferkeits Auszeichnung 2. Klasse in Bronze’. Maker’s name printed on back ‘Friedrich Keller Oberstein’. Scarce by this maker, very good condition £70-£90
An impressive post-War B.E.M. group of four awarded to Detachment Quartermaster and Nurse Mona L. Merriman, British Red Cross Society, who was ‘Mentioned’ in the Great War and devoted 70 years of her life to caring for others British Empire Medal, (Civil) E.II.R., on lady’s bow riband (Miss Mona Langshaw Merriman.); Defence Medal; Voluntary Medical Service Medal, with eleven Additional Award Bars (Mona L. Merriman); British Red Cross Society Medal for War Service 1914-18, bronze, with integral top riband bar, very fine and better (4) £200-£240 --- B.E.M. London Gazette 1 January 1974: ‘Detachment Quartermaster, Surrey Branch, British Red Cross Society.’ Mona Langshaw Merriman was born in Weybridge, Surrey, on 6 June 1889. She served as a nurse during the Great War with No. 58 (Surrey) Voluntary Aid Detachment, including extensive service at the British Red Cross Hospital at Hillfield, Reigate, from November 1914 to April 1918. This is confirmed on the recipient’s Red Cross nursing card, which further adds that she was Mentioned in Despatches. Transferred to Urmston & Fairfield Court Hospitals in Eastbourne from October to December 1918, Merriman concluded her service as Assistant Nurse and returned to the family home in Reigate. Remaining a member of the British Red Cross Society, Merriman received the Voluntary Medical Service Medal for 15 years’ continuous efficient service and 11 clasps representative of a further 55 years of service. A retrospective award stretching back to the creation of the Voluntary Aid Detachments in 1909, her devotion to duty over such a long period of time was confirmed with the award of the B.E.M. in the New Year’s Honours of 1974, the recipient being around 85 years of age at that time. She died in 1987. Sold with a B.R.C.S. ‘For Merit’ badge, enamel and base metal, named to reverse ‘3424 M. Merriman.’
A German Second World War Infantry Assault Badge. A nice condition bronze version of the Infantry Assault Badge, maker marked ‘WH’ for the manufacturer Wilhelm Hobacher of Vienna in raised relief just below the hinge with original hook, hinge and pin, good finish remaining, very good condition £100-£140
A German Second World War Infantry Assault Badge. A very nice quality Infantry Assault Badge in bronze, mint unissued condition, manufactured by JFS, the logo within a block just below the ball type hinge; together with a stamped version of the General Assault Badge in silver, non maker marked with original pin, hook and hinge, good condition (2) £160-£200
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