AR * Vaughan (Keith, 1912-1977). Figures, circa 1940, graphite on paper, depicting a darkly outlined male nude figure in the foreground, outlines of other figures surrounding, possibly a study for a larger piece, sheet size 21 x 15.5 cm (8 1/4 x 6 1/8 ins), to verso, Study of Sleeping Man, pencil on buff paper, showing the head and shoulders of a man, eyes shut, hands resting by his chin, mounted, framed and double-glazed (35 x 29 cm)QTY: (1)NOTE:Born in Selsey, Vaughan attended Christ’s Hospital school. He worked in an advertising agency until the war. When as an intending conscientious objector he joined the St John Ambulance. In 1941 he was conscripted into the Non-Combatant Corps. Vaughan was self-taught as an artist. His first exhibitions took place during the war. In 1942 he was stationed at Ashton Gifford near Codford in Wiltshire.
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* Marieschi (Michele, 1710 - 1743). Aedis divi Rocchi facies rudis adhuc ex cocto latere..., from Magnificentiores Selectioresque Urbis Venetiarum Prospectus, 1741, etching on thick laid paper, printed with great clarity, possibly an early/lifetime impression of the first state (of four) before the addition of plate numbers, with margins, tipped onto backing board, light mount staining, plate size 31.7 x 48 cm (12 1/4 x 19 ins), sheet size 37 x 55 cm (14 1/2 x 21 1/2 ins), framed and glazed (46 x 61.5 cm), together withGaspari (Pietro, circa 1720-1785). Moles sepulcralis semiruta, aliis Sarcophagis et Aedificiis instructa, circa 1771, etching and engraving on laid paper with watermark of three crescent moons, a good impression with margins, plate size 312 x 425 mm (12 1/4 x 16 3/4 ins), sheet size 340 x 450 mm (13 1/4 x 17 3/4 ins) QTY: (2)
* Mitchell (Peter Todd, 1924-1988). Manoeuvring a Sculpture, circa 1960s, red and black ink, heightened with white gouache, underdrawn in pencil on buff paper, two semi-nude men lift a large sculpted classical head with ropes, with masonry work and a ladder in the background, signed, mount aperture 46.5 x 62 cm (18 1/4 x 24 1/4 ins), together with Setting in Position, circa 1960s, red and black ink, heightened with white gouache, underdrawn in pencil on buff paper, two semi-nude men set a large sculpted classical head in position on large carved stone mounts, signed, mount aperture 62 x 47 cm (24 1/4 x 18 1/2 ins), both works uniformly framed and glazed (89.5 x 72 cm each)QTY: (2)NOTE:Peter Todd Mitchell was an American painter, designer and writer. He studied art at Yale University and at the Academia de las Bellas Artes in Mexico, and spent the war years in Naval Intelligence. He moved to Paris in 1947 to pursue a painting career, and his first exhibition was at Jean Cocteau's Galerie Morihien. Noted for his textile and wallpaper designs, Mitchell worked with numerous well-known fashion designers, including Alexander 'Omar' Kiam, Norman Norell, Adele Simpson and Claude Staron. He was a frequent exhibitor at the Hanover Gallery in London and the Carstairs in New York City.
* Smith of Derby (Thomas, 1721-1767). View of Shipping on the River Avon from Durdham Down, near Bristol, circa 1756, oil on canvas, relined (cleaned and revarnished by Hamish Dewar Ltd, 14 Mason's Yard, Duke Street, St. James's, London, SW1Y 6BU), 51 x 119.5 cm (20 x 47 ins), Frost and Reed stock (6752) labels, with artist and title details, 'River Avon Scene, Bristol', Hamish Dewar Ltd sticker (marked Davies 1411), and 2004 auction sticker (lot 136) to verso, late 18th century English carved and gilded fluted frame with rosette corners (66 x 135.5 cm)QTY: (1)NOTE:Provenance: Edith and Eleanor Frost, daughters of Walter Frost of Frost & Reed; thence by descent to John Pilkington, (son of Christopher Pilkington, rector of St. Stephen's Church, Bristol from 1968); Sotheby's The British Sale: Paintings, Drawings and Watercolours, 1st July 2004, lot 136 (hammer price £12,000); Estate of Martin Davies, Bristol (owner's documentation supplied with this lot).Literature: Francis Greenacre, From Bristol to the Sea, Artists, the Avon Gorge and Bristol Harbour, 2005, page 28:"Thomas Smith of Derby (c.1720 - 1767)View from Durdham Down c.1756Oil 490 x 1170 mm Private collectionOne of the advertised features of a visit to the Hotwell was the pleasure of riding on the broad unbroken stretches of turf on the Downs. Here, an elegant carriage with postillions and outriders approaches Sea Walls. Mr E. Owen in his guide to the Hotwell published in London in 1754 wrote: "For those who love riding there is the finest country in the world; and, even for carriages, nothing can exceed it; the Downs are spacious and open, and we enjoy healthful exercise in a pure air…". The artist, Thomas Smith of Derby may first have come to the Hotwell for his health, for we know that he was to die here on 5 September 1767. It is also possible that it was the growing reputation of the spectacular landscape of the Avon Gorge that first attracted him to Bristol. He painted two opposing views of the Avon Gorge from the Downs, one looking back towards the Hotwell and the present view which is also known in two other versions. This particular elongated version was probably a commission for an overmantel or overdoor. Both views were engraved in 1756. Smith was self-taught and much of his work, especially his many landscapes of his home county, is unencumbered with the self-conscious allusions to the work of earlier Continental painters such as Claude Lorrain, Gaspar Dughet or Salvator Rosa that are found in the work of many landscape painters at this time. He did, however, give the middle names of Correggio to one son and of Raphael to the other. In this painting the sparring goats in the foreground are probably derived from engravings after Claude."This view from the Downs looks towards Sea Walls on the right and clearly shows the wall built by John Wallis in 1746 for the safety of visitors to the Hotwells. Beyond is the somewhat elongated tower, known as Cook’s Folly. It was built by John Cook, the City Chamberlain, at the end of the seventeenth century to embellish his Sneyd Park estate. In the centre far-distance, is Vanbrugh’s Penpole Lodge, an eye-catcher and spectacular vantage point for King’s Weston House. The red-tiled roof towards the left is the New Hotwell, a second hot-spring discovered in 1702. John Wesley visited for three weeks in 1754 and found it ‘free from noise and hurry’, but by the 1780's it was just a shelter for the quarrymen. The elegant couple just above the goats may well be headed for the New Hotwell and they appear to be on a newly-quarried path that still survives within today’s dense woodland. Opposite Cook’s Folly on the Somerset side of the Avon is a rare glimpse of the castellated Manor House of Abbotts Leigh, home of the Gordon family, West India merchants and plantation owners. This was to be replaced early in the nineteenth century by Leigh Court, but higher up the hillside. In the centre foreground are three gentlemen, one with a hammer, another holding a geode, perhaps. They may be very early amateur geologists in pursuit of Bristol Diamonds, a feature of the Avon Gorge that had been celebrated since the sixteenth century.
* Downes (Thomas Price, active 1835-1887). Portrait of Mrs Henry Back, circa 1851, oil on canvas, half-length portrait of a young woman with flower sprigs in her swept-back brown hair, wearing a lace-trimmed black gown, a brooch, and gold link and enamel bracelets, and carrying a folding fan, against a backdrop of sky, re-lined, contemporary manuscript label on stretcher with name of sitter and artist (latter indistinct), 91.5 x 71 cm (36 x 28 ins), period gilt moulded frame with elaborate strapwork and volute pattern (119.5 x 99 cm)QTY: (1)NOTE:Fanny Lamprière (born 1830) was courted by the artist John Everett Millas (1829-1926), although she later married land-owning magistrate Henry Back (born 1811), on 7th July 1851, in Ewell, Surrey. The Lamprières were a Jersey family, and Millais had strong connections to the island, having lived there for the first nine years of his life. Later he spent a lot of time at Rozel Manor, St Martin, Jersey, home of Philip Raoul Lemprière, the brother of Fanny's father Captain William Charles Lamprière. It is said that Raoul (as he was known), gave the artist his first paintbox, and when Millais went to London to continue his training as a painter, he was befriended by Arthur and Harry Lemprière, two of Fanny's brothers. 'We always called him Johnny', said Arthur, 'and he constantly spent the holidays with us at our home in Ewell, Surrey. He always seemed to be sitting indoors, to have a pen, pencil, or brush in his hand, rattling off some amusing caricature or other drawing'. Indeed, Millais made a number of informal sketches of the Lamprière family, and Arthur later sat for one of Millais’ most famous paintings The Huguenot in 1852. In 1846 Millais sent two painted Valentines to Fanny, but we can only guess at subsequent events; just five years later there is a somewhat sad mention of her - the married lady - in the only diary the painter kept. He was staying near to Ewell, and had chanced upon his 'old flame' as she returned from church: "I wished myself anywhere but there; all seemed so horribly changed, the girl I knew so well calling me ‘Mr Millais’ instead of ‘John’, and I addressing ‘Fanny’ as ‘Mrs B’. She married a man old enough to be her father; he trying to look the young man, with a light cane in his hand … an apparently stupid man, plain and bald, perfectly stupefied at Mrs B asking me to make a little sketch of her ugly old husband. They left, she making a bungling expression of gladness at having met me."
* Wright of Derby (Joseph, 1734-1797). Portrait of John Harrison, surgeon of Derby, circa 1781, oil on canvas, half-length in three-quarter profile to left, wearing a plain dark vest, coat, and white cravat, 74 x 61 cm (29 x 24 ins), gilt moulded frameQTY: (1)NOTE:Provenance: Nathaniel Curzon, Esq., 1870; thence by descent to John Curzon of Lockington Hall, Derby (Derby Art Gallery labels for Joseph Wright of Derby exhibition loans for 1934 & 1947 to verso); acquired by the current owner's family at Christie's, King Street, London, 21 March 1975, lot 81. Literature: Benedict Nicolson, Joseph Wright of Derby, 1968, vol. 1, pp. 69-70, 200-201; vol. 2, p. 122, plate 199. 'Not only is the portrait listed in the Account Book among portraits of c. 1781, it also belongs stylistically to this date or slightly earlier. The subject must therefore be wrongly identified as John Harrison, clock-maker and inventor of a marine chronometer who died in March 1776 before Wright got back from Bath. Wright calls him a doctor, so he is probably the "surgeon in Wardwick", Mr. John Harrison, in whose house the daughter of Edward Wilmot of Duffield died (see Derby Mercury, 24th September 1786). He is described in Derby Mercury, 11th October 1781 as having died: "surgeon aged 64..." The portrait could show a man of c. 56.' (Nicolson, ibid., pp. 201-203). John Harrison (circa 1723-1787), surgeon of Derby, was appointed the first surgeon to Derby Gaol, on compulsion by Act of Parliament, in 1774, Timothy Pitman becoming a partner in this role in 1784. A notice in the Derby Mercury (13 December 1771) advertises the resumption of Harrison's inoculation service 'for the Season, to Inoculate as usual, on Mr. Sutton's Plan'. A mezzotint engraving from this portrait was engraved by John Raphael Smith (1751-1812), circa 1781
AR * Minton (John, 1917-1957). Green Door, 1935, gouache on board, signed and dated in pencil, a stylised and colourful interpretation (with hints of Geometric Abstraction) of a door, railings, streetlamp, tree branches and wall, image size 35.5 x 24.5 cm (13 3/4 x 9 1/2 ins), framed and glazed (45.5 x 34.5 cm) QTY: (1)NOTE:Provenance: James 'Jock' McHarg (1917-2003), thence by descent. Bonhams, 20th Century British Art, 19 November 2008, lot 3; Dreweatts, Modern and Contemporary Art, 25 October 2023, lot 81.The psychiatrist, university teacher and medical historian James McHarg was one of John Minton's oldest friends. The pair attended Reading School together during the 1930s. McHarg is mentioned in the first chapter of Frances Spalding's biography of the artist, John Minton, Dance till the Stars Come Down. 'Green Door' was painted whilst Minton was studying at St. John's Wood School of Art, alongside fellow student Michael Ayrton.
* Williams (J.). Coastal landscape with cattle watering by a thatched building, circa 1820, watercolour on pale cream wove paper, signed in dark brown ink lower right, contemporary inscription in pencil to verso 'Clullow' (?), sheet size 192 x 279 mm (7 1/2 x 11 ins), tipped on to backing paper, inscribed by Iolo Williams 'Given me by the Appleby's August 1940. I. A.W.', together withStewart (Sir John James Stewart of Allanbank, 5th Baronet, 1779-1849). Scottish landscape with bridge over a river, circa 1810, waterolour on blue paper, heightened with white chalk, inscribed by Iolo Williams to verso 'By Sir James Stewart, Given me by Miss Frances Egerton, 2/1/59 I.A.W.', 139 x 186 mm (5 1/2 x 7 1/4 ins), plusWilliams (A., later 19th century). Waterfall in Wales, possibly Pistyll Rhaeadr, 1870, watercolour on paper, signed A. Williams and dated lower left, 254 x 178 mm (10 x 7 ins), laid down on backing paper, gilt frame, glazedQTY: (3)NOTE:Provenance: (first item): Appleby Brothers, London (by 1940); Iolo Aneurin Williams (1890-1962), collector and author of Early English Watercolours and Some Cognate Drawings by Artists born not later than 1785 (London: Connoisseur, 1952).Provenance: (second item): Miss Frances Egerton (by 1959); Iolo Aneurin Williams (1890-1962), collector and author of Early English Watercolours and Some Cognate Drawings by Artists born not later than 1785 (London: Connoisseur, 1952).
* Croome (J.D., active 1839-1852). Croome's Collection, 1851, an album of figure studies, 28pp. of pen & ink sketches, few with watercolour, a few with humorous captions, including dancers, country scenes, horse-riding and horse studies, street scenes, circus, character and face studies, musicians, military, at the barber, romantic scenes, some initialled, one signed, each recto with ink manuscript number to upper outer corner (some apparently missing), some light toning and offsetting, front free endpaper with ink manuscript title and date, and with artist's signature and ink manuscript presentation inscription: To George Gibson Esqr from the author, rear pastedown with 'Finis' in humorous pen and ink figures, stitching broken, original black quarter morocco, worn, adhesive tape to spine, small slim oblong 4toQTY: (1)NOTE:J.D. Croome was a London painter of historical and other figure subjects. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institute and the Society of British Artists, and was also the headmaster of Waterford School of Art during its first brief existence, as well as teaching art in Belfast.
* Nash (Paul, 1889-1946). The Two Angels, Heaven, and Boredom, from Abd-er-Rahman in Paradise, 1927, three wood engravings, two on pale cream thin japon (likely from the first edition of 12 proofs on white japon, according to Postan), one on very thin japon trimmed to the blockmark (from the second issue as noted by Postan), 'The Two Angels' - large margins, minimally tipped on to mount with tape, image size 7 x 5 cm (2 3/4 x 2 ins), sheet size 25.5 x 19 cm, 'Heaven' - trimmed to image, tipped onto backing board with adhesive, two small creases lower left, two small areas of spotting, image size 13.5 x 9.5 cm (5 1/4 x 3 3/4 ins), 'Boredom' - large margins, minimally tipped on to mount with tape, slightly mount stained, image size 14 x 9.5 cm (5 1/2 3 3/4 ins), sheet size 25.5 x 19 cm, uniformly framed and glazed. QTY: (3)NOTE:Jules Tellier's Les deux paradis d'Abd-er-Rhaman was first published in Paris in 1921; its story concerns a man who must choose between Christian and Muslim heavens. The English version was translated by Brian Rhys, with four illustrations by Paul Nash, and published by The Golden Cockerel Press in 1928. Nash's engravings are fine examples of his work, and are described by Clare Colvin in Paul Nash Book Designs as "the climax of Nash's representational wood engravings".Literature: Postan The Complete Graphic Work of Paul Nash - W80, W81, W83. Postan notes: "Two editions: the first as 12 proofs on white japon; the second on fine japon trimmed to the blockmark and mounted as the first illustration to Abd-er-Rhaman in Paradise, Golden Cockerel Press, 1928, in an edition of 400 copies."
* Ballooning. Four watercolour views depicting historic balloon ascents by Montgolfier, Lunardi, Andreani and Blanchard, circa 1860-70, four watercolours on paper, some underdrawing in pencil, all views of famous early balloon flights in England, France and Italy between 1784 and 1786, three signed 'Somers', the other unsigned, all in very good condition, largest mount aperture 25 x 34.5 cm (9 3/4 x 13 1/2 ins), each with separate mount aperture below, with modern printed historical account of the flight, uniformly framed and glazed QTY: (4)NOTE:Views include Paul Andreani and the Gerli brothers ascending from Moncuces in Italy on 25 July, 1784. Seven individuals (including one of the Montgolifer brothers) flying over Lyon in January, 1784. The first flight over the English Channel by Jean-Pierre Blanchard and Dr John Jeffries, 7 January, 1785, and Vincenzo Lunardi landing in a field near York on 29 August, 1786.
* Nash (Paul, 1889-1946). Five Illustrations from Cotswold Characters, 1921, a complete set of five woodcuts on wove paper from the edition of 9, each signed and dated in pencil to lower right, sheet one and four inscribed 'proof' in pencil, the other three numbered 'No VI of 9' or 'VI of 9' in pencil, in very good condition (Thesiger Crowne with inky fingerprint to lower left portion of sheet), partial 'Danehurst Parchment' watermark to all, each tipped minimally onto backing board with tape, 'William Weston Gallery' label to verso of backing board, each image 7.5 x 7.5 cm (3 x 3 ins), all sheets 18 x 11 cm (7 x 4 1/4 ins), displayed in a multi-aperture mount (42 x 59.5 cm)QTY: (5)NOTE:Illustrations: Thesiger Crowne, The Mason. Simon Rodd, The Fisherman. Rufus Clay, The Foreigner. Pony, The Footballer. Joe Pentifer and Son.John Drinkwater's book Cotswold Characters was first published by Yale University Press in 1923, and included Paul Nash's first ever illustrations for a book.Literature: Postan The Complete Graphic Work of Paul Nash - W14, W15, W16, W17, W18. Dodgson The Print Collector's Quarterly (Volume 15) - 14, 15, 16, 17, 18.
AR * Weight (Carel, 1908-1997). View from the Artist's Window in Portinscale Road, Putney, 1947, oil on canvas, signed upper left (signed in 1984; see letter from Michael Dawson below), 53 x 29.3 cm (20 7/8 x 11 1/2 ins), framed (67.5 x 43 cm)QTY: (1)NOTE:Provenance: Collection of Michael and Megan Dawson.The painting comes with a letter from the artist, 33 Spencer Road, London, SW18, to Michael Dawson, dated 9 May 1984 arranging for Michael to call him, and a letter from Michael Dawson in which he writes ‘This painting by Carol Weight was purchased in the Autumn of 1983 from Abbott and Holder, Picture Dealers in Castelnau, Barnes, London, SW13. It was unsigned, undated & carried misleading labels, so I contacted the artist to establish its provenance. He confirmed that the picture was indeed his, and that in its original form it had been slightly larger – he had decided that by reducing its size he had improved the composition. The work had been the first in a series of South London garden pictures which he had produced slowly after returning from the war: he told me that one of the later pictures in the series had been bought by Sir Anthony Eden. He went on to tell me that this composition was taken from the attic window of his studio in Portinscale Road; unfortunately the building was subsequently demolished to make way for a modern block of flats. His present studio in Keswick Road is just round the corner & it was there that the picture was signed on May 27th 1984. Michael Dawson. P.S. A larger version of this composition, is in the Whitworth Collection, Manchester. 27xi91.'
AR * Abrahams (Ivor, 1935-2015). Dancer, bronze with green patina, depicting a dancer resting on the top of their back, legs in the air pointing to the right, screwed onto base (one screw missing, one sheared), resting on a base 7mm thick, figure 150mm, total height 157 mm x 120 mm, label to verso 'IA23' numbered 6/9, together with Female Dancer, bronze with green patina, showing a figure sitting on the floor with back arched, one hand to head, legs bent, '1' in pen to underside of base, screwed onto a 19 mm high base, figure 120mm tall, overall height 139 mm, and Back Flip, bronze with green patina, depicting a female figure arching her back, screwed onto 18 mm base, figure height 115 mm, overall 133 mm high, and Back Flip, bronze with green patina, depicting a female figure arching her back, screwed onto 18 mm base, figure height 115 mm, overall 133 mm high, together with: Abrahams (Ivor, 1935-2015). Trees, glazed pottery in purple and blue, monogrammed and dated '76?' to lower right, signed and dated '81' in black pen to inside bottom edge, length 33 cm (13 ins), together with Trees, circa 1976, glazed pottery in cream and black, monogrammed to lower right, artist's name and '3/30' in black pen to bottom, '76' in pen to verso, length 33 cm (13 ins), and Fulham Pottery, 1983, ceramic, painted green and yellow, signed, titled and dated in purple ink to verso, diameter 23 cm (9 ins)QTY: (7)NOTE:This first work is possibly from Abrahams' Trente-Six series of bronzes produced in 1989, in a limited edition of 9.
* Sleigh (Bernard, 1872-1954). Piers Plowman, 1904, two-colour woodcut printed in black and dark brown, on heavy wove paper, as published in The Artsist Engraver, image size 20 x 37 cm (8 x 15 ins), sheet size 33.5 x 42 cm, tab-mounted in window mount with Cradock and Barnard pencil inscriptions to lower edge of the mount, together with Ricketts (Charles, 1866-1931). The Flight of Cupid, 1901, proof wood engraving, the first state, before the printed version, published by the Vale Press in 1901 for De Cupidinis et Psyches Amoribus, small loss to upper right corner and lower left corner, with minimal loss to lower right corner, 100 x 88 mm (4 x 3 1/2 ins), framed and glazedQTY: (2)
1st Staffordshire Militia Officer’s Waist Belt Clasp 1855-78. A standard pattern silver example, the circlet ‘Kings Own First Staffordshire Militia‘, to the centre crowned Staffordshire Knot on a stippled ground; together with a gilded metal 1st Staffordshire Militia glengarry badge, loops to the rear, very good condition (2) £140-£180
Pair: Second Lieutenant J. L. Gow, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, late Royal Army Medical Corps, who was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916 British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. J. L. Gow.) good very fine (2) £300-£400 --- James Lightfoot Gow attested for the Royal Army Medical Corps and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 25 January 1916. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 9th Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers on 10 April 1915, and was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July 1916, whilst attached to the 1st Battalion; on this date the battalion, involved in the attack in front of Beaumont-Hamel, suffered 552 casualties. Gow is buried in Knightsbridge Cemetery, Mesnil-Martinsart, Somme, France.
An Anglo-Boer War D.T.D. pair awarded to Vechtgeneraal J. N. H. Grobler, Ermelo Kommando Anglo-Boer War Decoration for Loyal Service (Dekoratie voor Troue Dienst) 1899-1902 (V. Genl. J. N. H. Grobler.); Anglo-Boer War Medal 1899-1902 (V. Genl. J. N. H. Grobler.) minor edge bruising, nearly extremely fine (2) £1,800-£2,200 --- Johannes Nicolas Hermanus Grobler was born in Lydenburg on the 27 February 1864, and having settled in Ermelo was appointed District Kommandant in 1899. Under his leadership, the Ermelo Kommando were among the first to cross the Natal Border after the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War. Together with his kommando, Grobler took an active part in the battles at Dundee, Modderspruit, Colenso, Spionkop, Bosrand, and Pietershoogten, amongst many others. From Natal his kommando was sent to the Orange Free State. After the battle of Donkerhoek he was recalled to Ermelo, and after Dalmanutha he returned again to the Highveld, where the decision was made to conduct another raid on Natal. The Ermelo Kommando was also included and deployed to the south, where they were involved at Melmoth, Itala and other consecutive battles. After returning to the Ermelo district on 23 October 1901, Grobler was promoted to Vechtgeneraal. He subsequently took an active part in many smaller battles and skirmishes and had many a narrow escape. His kommando finally downed arms near Ermelo on 9 June 1902. Grobler married Gertruda Uys, with whom he had three children, including Johannes Nicolas Grobler. He died following blood poisoning to his right leg on 18 December 1913; his medals were posthumously presented to his son. Sold with two photographs, the first depicting Grobler’s Kommando; the second the remnants of his farm, the farmhouse having been destroyed under Kitchener’s ‘slash and burn’ policy; copied service papers; and other research, including a photographic image of the recipient. For the medals awarded to the recipient’s son, and other family members, see lots 187, 219, and 443.
The unique Great War 'Gibraltar Naval Hospital' R.R.C. and 'Plymouth Naval Hospital' Second Award Bar pair awarded to Head-Sister-in-Chief M. L. Hughes, Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), G.V.R., with Second Award Bar, silver-gilt, gold, and enamel; British War Medal 1914-20 (Hd. Sister M. L. Hughes. Q.A.R.N.N.S.) mounted court-style for display, with lady’s bow riband to the RRC, good very fine; the award of a Second Award Bar to the RRC unique to the QARRNS for the Great War (2) £1,400-£1,800 --- Only 8 Royal Red Crosses First Class and 1 Second Award Bar were awarded to Queen Alexandra’s Royal Naval Nursing Service during the Great War. R.R.C. London Gazette 16 December 1916. R.R.C. Second Award Bar London Gazette 9 May 1919. Miss Mildred Lloyd Hughes was born at Lampeter, Cardiganshire, on 9 March 1879, and trained at St. Thomas’ Hospital, London, joining Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service on 28 December 1908. Posted initially to Haslar Hospital as a Nursing Sister on 15 September 1909, she was advanced Superintending Sister in 1911, before being posted to Gibraltar Hospital on 14 January 1913. She served in Gibraltar during the first two years of the Great War, where the hospital was, from the start of May 1915 onwards, dealing with the influx of casualties from Gallipoli. For her services dealing with both the administrative and medical needs of the wounded, she was awarded the R.R.C. Following the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsula Miss Hughes was posted back to the U.K. in April 1916, and on 22 November 1916 was posted to Plymouth Naval Hospital as Head Sister. For her services at Plymouth Naval Hospital she was awarded the unprecedented Second Award Bar to the R.R.C. After the Great War she continued to serve in this position at Plymouth, being promoted Head-Sister-in-Chief on 14 March 1929. She retired on 9 March 1934 and died in Cheshire in 1962.
War Service Crosses 2nd Class in Large 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, and is wrapped in its original tissue paper. The ring is not marked. The light brown packet is almost mint, and has printed on the front ‘Kriegs-Verdienstkreuz 2. Klasse ohne Schwerten’ and on the reverse ‘Werner Rado Saarlauten’; 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 is in good condition, and has printed on the front ‘Kriegs-Verdienstkreuz 2. Klasse ohne Schwerten’ and on the reverse ‘Jak. Bengel Oberstein’, both nearly extremely fine and both scarce by these manufacturers, and in the large packets (2) £80-£100
London & North Western Railway St. John Ambulance Association First Aid Examination Medal, English Division, silver and enamel, for 12 Years’ Service (2) ‘G. Hughes 1923; William Sumner 1923’; North Eastern Railway Centre St. John Ambulance Association Cross for Meritorious First Aid Service, bronze, unnamed; British Railways 15 Years’ First Aid Efficiency Medal (2), 1st type, silver and enamel ‘William D. Payne 1952 N.288’; 2nd type, skeletal silver badge ‘N.E.263 William Blyth 1964’, in card box of issue, good very fine (5) £80-£100
Pair: Gunner W. Fenn, Royal Field Artillery Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, dated reverse, 1 clasp, Tel-El-Kebir (14498. Gunr. W. Fenn. F/1. B..... A.); Khedive’s Star, dated 1882, the reverse impressed in the centre and on three points of star (14498 Gunr. W. Fenn 1:2 R.A. 1882) the first with heavy contact pitting from star and naming weak in parts, fine or better (2) £100-£140
Italian/German Africa Medals. Two examples, the first the Italian-made 1st type in bronze. Designer’s and maker’s names on reverse, with safety pin through top of the riband for wearing; the second the German-made 2nd type in blue grey zinc. Designer’s and maker’s names not on reverse, in factory new condition, retaining all original finish, extremely fine (2) £80-£100
Seven: Lieutenant-Colonel J. A. Stewart, 7th and 13th Rajputs, Indian Army India General Service 1895-1902, 1 clasp, Relief of Chitral 1895 (Lieutt. J. A. Stewart, 7th Bl. Infy.); China 1900, 1 clasp, Relief of Pekin (Captn: J. A. Stewart, 7th Rajput.); Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Persian Gulf 1909-14 (Major J. Stewart, I.A. H.M.S. Perseus.); 1914-15 Star (Maj. J. A. Stewart. 13/Rajputs); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt-Col. J. A. Stewart); Delhi Durbar 1911 (Major J. A. Stewart, 7th D.C.O. Rajputs 12-12-1911.) mounted as worn, generally very fine and rare (7) £2,600-£3,000 --- M.I.D. London Gazette 30 June 1916. John Alexander Stewart was born on 5 June 1868, and was first commissioned into the Manchester Regiment on 22 August 1888. He transferred to the Indian Army on 1 June 1893, and was appointed to the 7th Rajputs, with whom he served in the relief of Chitral 1895 (Medal with clasp), the relief of Pekin 1900 (Medal with clasp), and in the operations on the North West Frontier in the Mohmand country 1908 (Medal with clasp). He served aboard H.M.S. Perseus in command of a detachment of 7th Rajputs during the anti-gun running operations in the Persian Gulf from 1909 to 1914, and was thus one of only 17 Army and police officers to receive this Naval medal. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in the 13th Rajputs on 22 August 1914, and commanded the regiment from 17 November 1916 to 5 June 1920, when he retired on attaining 52 years of age. Note: Stewart is also entitled to the medal for ‘North West Frontier 1908’. Sold with an article from the O.M.R.S. Journal on the background to the award of the N.G.S. ‘Persian Gulf’ to certain army and police officers (17 medals awarded) by Major M. C. Spurrier. He confirms Major Stewart as having been borne in H.M.S. Perseus in 1912 and being shown in the Indian army lists of April and July 1912 as being ‘at Jask’.
The C.B. and Naval General Service Medal pair awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Plenderleath, 49th Foot, a Captain in H.M.S. Ardent under Nelson at Copenhagen in 1801 and in command of his Regiment at Stoney Creek and Chrystler’s Farm in 1813 The Most Honourable Order of The Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s breast badge, 22 carat gold and enamel, hallmarked London 1815, maker’s mark ‘IN’, complete with wide swivel-ring suspension and gold ribbon buckle; Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Copenhagen 1801 (Chas. Plenderleath) the first with minor damage to a few petals of green enamel wreath and a small blemish to one reverse arm, the second lightly lacquered, otherwise extremely fine and very rare (2) £12,000-£16,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Glendining, February 1953 (Lots 133 and 134). The small Army Gold Medal awarded to Plenderleath for the battle of Chrystler’s Farm was formerly in the David Spink Collection and now resides in the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa; Dix Noonan Webb, December 2004. Twenty-three medals were issued to the 49th Foot for Copenhagen, together with two to the Rifles and one to the Artillery. The 49th Foot, under Colonel Brock, together with two companies of the Rifle Corps, and a detachment of Artillery, were embarked aboard various ships of the fleet, under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, with Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson as second-in-command. It was during this engagement that Nelson famously ignored Parker’s signal of recall when, with his glass to his blind eye, he said, ‘I have a right to be blind sometimes... I really do not see the signal.’ Charles Plenderleath served as a Captain in the 49th Foot on board the Ardent 64 at Copenhagen, in which battle she formed one of the squadron under the orders of Lord Nelson, and compelled four of the Danish flotilla, one of which was the Jutland of 60 guns, to surrender. The Ardent received considerable damage, and sustained a loss of 29 men killed and 64 wounded, not counting about 40 others who were rendered hors de combat but who were not included in the casualty returns. Early on the following morning, Lord Nelson went on board the Ardent to thank her commander, Captain Thomas Bertie, officers, and people, for their conduct and exertions on the preceding day. In the American war of 1812-14, Plenderleith for the most part had command of the 49th Foot, including the actions of Stoney Creek and Chrystler’s Farm, in both of which actions he was wounded. The following extracts are taken from an account of Stoney Creek given by Lieutenant James Fitzgibbon, 49th Foot, in a private letter, dated 7 June 1813, to the Rev. James Somerville, of Montreal: ‘Major Plenderleath came immediately after to that portion of the line which I had quitted, and, with the men I had left in charge of a sergeant, and a few others, he rushed forward against the guns and took four of them - two and a tumbril were brought away. The others could not be, our men having bayonetted the horses. Major Plenderleath pushed on with about 20 men, following the main road, the men stabbing every man and horse they met with... This handful of men with Major Plenderleath took at this dash, besides the two generals [Chandler and Winder], five field officers and captains, and above 100 prisoners, and brought them off.’ ‘I am of opinion that, had not Major Plenderleath made the dash he did, the Americans would have kept their ground and our ruin would have been inevitable, but finding our people so far advanced in their centre, they broke and fled in every direction and their fire ceased at a time when our line was, as it were, entirely routed.’ Although the Americans claimed Stoney Creek as a victory, their defeat at Chrystler’s Farm was complete. Plenderleath again commanded the 49th and was again wounded. Five Lieutenants of the 49th were also wounded, as well as five men killed and three sergeants and thirty-four men wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Plenderleath subsequently received a C.B. and the Field Officers’ Gold Medal for the action at Chrystler’s Farm. Lieutenant-Colonel Plenderleath was placed on the Half Pay of the 49th shortly afterwards and saw no further active service. He died in 1854.
Four: Captain L. C. Saville, Royal West African Frontier Force and Gold Coast Defence Force War Medal 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1945-48 (Mr L. C. Saville) ‘Mr’ possibly added later; Coronation 1953, unnamed as issued; Efficiency Decoration, G.VI.R., 2nd issue, Gold Coast, with ‘E.II.R.’ Second Award Bar, unnamed, with integral top riband bar, mounted court style for wear; together with a mounted set of four miniature dress medals similar to the above (except E.D. is a ‘G.VI.R.’ first issue, has the ‘Territorial’ top riband bar, and is without the Second Award Bar), good very fine (4) £400-£500 --- Provenance: John Tamplin Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, March 2009. Leonard Charles Saville was born in Deptford on 8 September 1903. On 17 March 1919 he joined the Post Office and was engaged as a Clerk in the Accountant-General’s Department of the G.P.O., London. On 22 June 1927 he was appointed an Assistant Accountant in the Posts and Telegraph Department of the Gold Coast and he arrived to assume his duties there on 6 July 1927. Promoted Accountant in 1938, and on 30 September 1938 he was appointed Assistant Controller of Posts, having previously served for a time as Acting Chief Accountant and Acting Senior Assistant Controller of Posts. In 1943 he moved to Palestine and was appointed Chief Accountant, Posts and Telegraphs. He remained there until 1947 and for his services in latter years was awarded the General Service Medal. On 17 October 1947 he was appointed Assistant Postmaster General and Chief Accountant of the General Post Office in Hong Kong. He served as Postmaster General from 1950 until retiring in 1958. Saville was appointed a Cadet in the Gold Coast Defence Force on 6 June 1928. He was appointed a Second Lieutenant on 1 April 1930 and was promoted to Lieutenant on 6 June 1931 and Captain on 16 September 1935. During the Second World War he served with the Royal West African Frontier Force; he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration (Gold Coast) in 1942, this announced in the Gold Coast Gazette of 14 November 1942. He was awarded a clasp notified in the gazette of 29 May 1954. Sold with copied research.
An Order of St. John Serving Sister’s group of three awarded to Sister E. M. King, St. John Ambulance Brigade The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Serving Sister’s badge, silver and enamel; Defence Medal; Service Medal of the Order of St. John, with 5 Additional Award Bars (28637 A/Sis. E. M. King, No. 1 Dis. S.J.A.B. 1944) re-engraved naming, mounted court style for wear, white enamel damage to first, nearly very fine and better (3) £40-£50 --- Provenance: Eric Smith Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, November 2009.
A fine Second War ‘Tobruk’ Brigade Major’s D.S.O., Order of St. John, group of eight awarded to Major G. Bestford, 6th South African Infantry Brigade Headquarters, 2nd South African Division, a veteran of the Great War who was wounded in action whilst serving in the ranks of the 20th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (1st Tyneside Scottish) on the First Day of the Battle of the Somme. Subsequently commissioned in to the 25th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (1st Tyneside Irish), Bestford joined the South African Police after the Great War. He was mobilised for service during the Second War, and was taken Prisoner of War at the Fall of Tobruk on 21 June 1942. Bestford returned to the South African Police after the War, rose to District Commandant of Durban, and played a prominent role during the Royal Visit to South Africa in 1947 Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R., silver-gilt and enamel, reverse officially dated ‘1946’, with integral top riband bar; The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Serving Brother’s, breast badge, silver and enamels; British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. G. Bestford.) severe edge bruise to BWM; 1939-45 Star; Africa Star; War Medal 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Africa Service Medal, Second War campaign awards all officially impressed (SAP195478 G. Bestford) mounted as originally worn, and subsequently additionally mounted on card for display, generally nearly very fine or better (8) £2,800-£3,200 --- D.S.O. London Gazette 19 December 1946: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services at Tobruk in 1942.’ The original recommendation, given by Brigadier F. W. Cooper, O.C. 6 SA Bde, states: ‘From 10 Jan 42 to 21 Jun 42 Major Bestford was my [Brigadier F. W. Cooper, O.C. 6 SA Bde] Brigade Major. During that period he carried out his duties with entire disregard for his own comfort under what at times were very trying and dangerous conditions. He was mentioned in despatches for his work during operations at Sollum and Halfaya in Jan 42. During the period the brigade was attached to 1 S.A. Div. at Gazala - Mar - Apr 42 and during the period prior to the fall of Tobruk - Apr - Jun 42 his conduct was an example to all the work he put in over the six months, especially during the two vital days prior to the surrender, entitles him, in my opinion, to a D.S.O. for which I recommend him.’ Order of St John, Serving Brother London Gazette 2 January 1953. M.I.D. London Gazette 15 December 1942: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished services in the Middle East during the period November, 1941, to April, 1942.’ George Bestford was one of six sons born to Thomas Bestford, and was born in Gateshead, County Durham, in October 1897. He was educated at the local Higher Grade Secondary School, and at the age of 17 falsified his age to enlist in the 20th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (1st Tyneside Scottish) on 26 October 1914. Bestford advanced to Sergeant, and served with the Battalion in the French theatre of War from 9 January 1916. The Battalion served as part of the 102nd Infantry Brigade on the Somme, and Bestford was wounded in action on 1 July 1916. On the latter date the Battalion were fighting in tandem with the 4th Tyneside Scottish: ‘Owing to the artillery barrage and the intense machine gun fire and the distance (800 yds) of no man’s land to be traversed, the two battalions were almost wiped out, though the positions of the dead showed that they pushed on to the enemy’s second line of trenches before they were annihilated.’ (Battalion War Diary refers) On the first day of the Battle of the Somme, the 20th Battalion suffered casualties of 16 officers and 337 other ranks killed, and 10 officers and 268 other ranks wounded. Bestford was amongst the latter, and was evacuated back to the UK. His South African Police service files show that he subsequently received a G.O.C.’s Divisional Commendation in recognition of his gallantry on 1 July 1916. Whilst recuperating from his wounds, Bestford would have received news that his brother William had been killed in action whilst serving with the Royal Engineers on 21 July 1916. The following month, Bestford transferred as Acting Company Quartermaster Sergeant to the 29th (Reserve) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers. He was subsequently posted to the 3rd Battalion, and then attached to the 84th Training Reserve Battalion at Hornsea. Major A. E. Ken recommended Bestford for a commission in March 1917: ‘This N.C.O. came very much under my observations, while at Home he attended several Courses of Instruction and on each one did very well indeed, on one occasion he came under the notice of the Brigadier who complimented him through his C.O. on his success... On Service he was even better, as a leader of men he is a success, I never knew him to shirk any danger or fatigues, and his coolness under Shell and Rifle fire is splendid. I regret to say his C.O. [Lieutenant Colonel C. Sillery] was killed as I knew that he had marked Sgt. Bestford out for distinction and no officers being left (All either killed or wounded) there was no one to put the recommendation forward. I think with a little training at a Cadet School he will make a very good Officer.’ After the requisite time with an Officer Cadet Battalion, Bestford was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Northumberland Fusiliers in October 1917. He tragically lost another sibling when his eldest brother, Robert, was killed in action serving with the Durham Light Infantry on 1 December 1917. He was then posted to France for service with the 25th (Service) Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers (2nd Tyneside Irish). After the War, he was attached as a Signalling Officer to the 2/4th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry for service in Syria and Egypt. Bestford advanced to Lieutenant in May 1919, and relinquished his commission in March of the following year. He sailed for Natal, South Africa, in April 1921, and joined the South African Police in June 1921, and advanced from Constable to Captain, District Officer and Station Officer by June 1940. He was appointed Captain, 1st South African Police Battalion, Union Defence Force later that month, and was appointed to the Staff Headquarters, 6th Infantry (Police) Brigade. He embarked with the 2nd South African Division, and arrived in Egypt in June 1941. Serving across North Africa, at the Battles of Sollum and Halfaya, he was promoted Major in February 1942. Bestford served as Brigade Major, 6th South African Infantry Brigade Headquarters, and under constant attack from Rommel’s Afrika Korps, the Allied Forces retreated from the Gazala Line throughout May and June 1942. The Garrison at Tobruk became isolated and the majority of the 2nd South African Division was captured there en masse as Prisoners of War on 21 June following General Orders to surrender. Unable to escape, Bestford was taken prisoner by the Italians and interned at Campo 75 (Bari). He was subsequently transferred to Germany, and interned in Stalag VII-A, Stalag V-C, and finally at Oflag XII-B at Hadamar. Repatriated in April 1945, he was recommended retrospectively for the D.S.O. Bestford afterward returned to South Africa, and there resumed his employment with the South African Police. He was appointed Commanding Officer, Police Training Depot, Pretoria. During the Royal Visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to South Africa in 1947, he had the honour of commanding the mounted escort and the Guard of Honour on special occasions throughout the tour. He was presented with his D.S.O. by the King at Voortrekkerhoogte, ...
General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Borneo (23686254 Cpl. H. Mc.Quaid. A & SH.); Volunteer Force Long Service Medal (India & the Colonies), G.V.R. (Pte. L. D. Rebeiro, A.B. Ry. Bn., A.F.I.) impressed naming; Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 2nd issue, Territorial (1468622. Sjt. J. K. Dott. D.L.I.) in named card box of issue, number officially corrected on first, slight edge bruising to second, generally good very fine (3) £80-£100 --- D. L. Rebeiro served with the Assam-Bengal Railway Battalion (Auxiliary Force, India).
Pair: Commander E. T. Inman, Royal Navy, a distinguished Destroyer Captain who was killed in action on 22 January 1917 China 1900, no clasp (Lieut. E. T. Inman, R.N., H.M.S. Dido) rank and first initial officially corrected; British War Medal 1914-18 (Commr. E. T. Inman, R.N.) minor edge bruising, generally very fine and better (2) £400-£500 --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, December 2006. Edward Tyrell Inman, who was appointed a Naval Cadet in July 1892, served aboard the cruiser H.M.S. Dido from May 1899 to November 1902, a period that witnessed his advancement to Lieutenant and active service off China during the Boxer Rebellion - He added the Royal Humane Society’s Certificate on Vellum to his accolades in September 1905, for rescuing a boy from the military moat at Cosham. A Commander by the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Inman initially served in the battleship Dreadnought, aboard which ship he was present at the ramming of the U-29 on 18 March 1915. But shortly afterwards, as recounted by his friend. Lieutenant Lionel Dawson, R.N., he was appointed to the command of the torpedo boat destroyer Mentor at Harwich: ‘Poor “Ted” Inman! It was his great desire to serve in destroyers, and he often discussed it with me. A very shy and reserved man, he unbent with difficulty, was not universally popular, and knew it. I saw a lot of him at Harwich during the ensuing eighteen months, and he was killed on his bridge during a night action soon after I left there. We had always got on together in the Dreadnought, and became intimate friends when he came to destroyers. He loved the life, and brought to his new experience all the throughness and conscientiousness towards his duty that had marked him as a gunnery and executive officer. I know that in him I lost a good friend and the Service an able officer. Like many who fell, I do not think that he had any great confidence in his survival of the War.’ One of Inman’s more notable destroyer actions - a contretemps in the Heligoland Bight on the night of 17-18 August 1915 - is described in Endless Story: ‘The senior officer of the escorting destroyers was Commander E. T. Inman, in the Mentor, and when darkness came the divisions had been disposed on each quarter of the Princess Margaret, a minelayer. It was a very dark night, calm but heavily overcast. Shortly before reaching the area to be mined, the force sighted a division of hostile destroyers, which at once fired torpedoes and then made off at full speed in the darkness. They had fired at the Princess Margaret, which, with her huge hull and three funnels, was a conspicuous and tempting target. The torpedoes luckily missed her; but one unfortunately hit the Mentor, the resulting explosion completely blowing away her bows under water ... The Mentor, meanwhile, seemed to be completely disabled, and found herself quite alone within a few miles of the enemy coast, and in water which generally teemed with German patrol vessels. The lower portion of her bows had been completely blown away, until the deck of the forecastle, from about the foremost gun, hung vertically down towards the water with the stem-head submerged. Realising the danger of capture, Inman destoyed his confidential books. Then, with his guns and torpedoes ready for instant action, he set the rest of his men to work to shore up bulkheads, place collision mats, and do all in their power to make the ship tolerably seaworthy for the 360-mile passage home. Luckily the weather was fine, and showed every prospect of remaining so. While this work was still in progress, Inman sighted some ships in the darkness and wished to ask them to stand by him. To his great annoyance, the smashing of lights and lamps made communications impossible, and the vessels steamed on and vanished in the darkness. It was not until some days later that he blessed the failure of his lights. Those ships were German cruisers. They passed him within a few hundred yards. Had he shown a solitary gleam he would have been sunk outright. Her temporary repairs finished, the Mentor made her tracks for home, gradually working up to 10 knots. At this speed, in the words of her captain, “she pushed the whole ocean in front of her.” The fine weather held, and she duly arrived at Harwich, where we watched her coming up the harbour, an extraordinary sight.’ Inman’s final action, in the Flanders Bight on the night of 22 January 1917, by which stage he was in command of the Simoom, is similarly described: ‘A torpedo exploded under the bow of his ship with such a terrific force that the forepart of the destoyer was blown clean over the foremost funnel. The Captain of the Simoom, Commander Inman, and his First Lieutenant were both killed, but notwithstanding that fact, and indifferent to the damage done to their boat, the after-gun crew fought their gun until the ice-cold sea water reached their knees, and the guns blazed forth in defiance for the last time only when the men were swept off their feet as their ship sank from under them. The miracle is that even 57 of her crew were saved that dark, bitterly cold night.’ Inman is commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial.
1914-15 Star (2) (M. E. Ninnes. B.R.C. & St. J.J.; E. M. Bristowe. B.R.C. & St. J.J.) glue residue to reverse of first, some staining,nearly very fine (2) £60-£80 --- Ethel May Bristowe, a member of the British Red Cross, or Order of St. John of Jerusalem, served during the Great War as a Nursing Sister on the Western Front. Maude Elsie Ninnes, a member of the British Red Cross, or Order of St. John of Jerusalem, served during the Great War as a Nursing Sister on the Western Front. She is also recorded as having nursed wounded Belgian soldiers.
A War Service Cross First Class in Presentation Case and with Matching Maker’s Outer Cardboard Box. The Cross is in mint as new unissued condition, retaining all original bright factory finish. The pin is maker stamped ‘4’ [Steinhauer and Luck, Ludenscheid]. The case is also mint, and is covered in black artificial leather, with a solid image in silver of the Cross printed on the flat lid. Inside it is lined on the lower section in black velvet, and white artificial silk in the top. The outer pale cream cardboard box is somewhat worn and has printed on the top ‘Kriegs Verdienstkreux 1. Klasse’. On the side is printed the maker’s name ‘Steinhauer and Luck, Ludenscheid’, extremely fine £300-£400
Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., Anchor obverse, ‘Inverted’ reverse (Emanuel Joblin Late Gunners Yeoman, H.M.S. Blanche. 28 Years) pierced as issued with small silver ring and larger secondary steel split ring for suspension, and fitted with a contemporary top silver brooch bar, minor edge bruising, good very fine and a rare ‘Inverted’ reverse example £800-£1,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Emanuel Joblin was born at Godshill, Isle of Wight, and is first recorded on the ship’s musters as serving in H.M.S. Leda from November 1809 (with the notation, later Royal Sovereign yacht). He joined H.M.S. Minden at Trincomalee, Ceylon, on 24 June 1815, and is further recorded as serving in H.M. Ships Tartar, Ramillies, Doris and Blanche, entering the latter ship as a Gunners Yeoman on 10 March 1830, aged 47. He was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 28 October 1833, and was discharged to pension at Portsmouth in November 1833. Sold with copied research.
Efficiency Medal (3), G.VI.R., 1st issue, Militia (2557166 Sgln. F. Brown. R. Signals.); E.II.R., 2nd issue (2), Territorial (22271672 Pte. G. W. White. Cheshire), in named card box of issue; T. & A.V.R. (23234635 LCpl R Carson RCT) very fine (3) £100-£140 --- F. Brown was awarded the Efficiency Medal in Army Order 190 of 1938, and a first clasp in Army Order 26/47 of 1947.
Iron Crosses Second Class 1939 in Original Presentation Packets. Two examples, the first by AHP, Hanau in Presentation Packet. Standard Cross in almost factory mint condition, retaining all original finish, but slight tarnishing. Ring stamped ‘25’. Blue paper packet, front printed in Gothic script ‘Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse 1939’, and on the back ‘Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Graveur Gold ud Silberschmeide-Innungen Hanau’, and containing a folded length of riband; the second by Rudolf Souval, in Presentation Packet retaining almost all original bright factory finish, but slightly tarnished. Not maker-marked. Blue paper packet, front printed in Gothic script ‘Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse 1939’, and on the back ‘Rudolf Souval Wien 62/VII.’, and containing a folded length of riband, extremely fine, the first scarce for manufacturer (2) £140-£180
A Second World War 1941 ‘civil division’ B.E.M. awarded to F. W. Clarke, who was employed as a Porter by London Midland and Scottish Railway, and saved the life of a colleague from a signal box which had been destroyed by a bomb during a German raid British Empire Medal, (Civil) G.VI.R., 1st issue (Francis William Clarke) mounted on investiture pin, good very fine £300-£400 --- B.E.M. London Gazette 14 November 1941 [Francis William Clarke, Parcels Porter, London Midland and Scottish Railway]: ‘During a period of heavy enemy air activity a signal box was demolished by a high explosive bomb, the Signalman being injured and buried beneath the debris which was on fire. He managed to extricate himself and his cries for help were heard by Porter Clarke. Although Clarke is only 5 ft. 3 ins. in height he got the Signalman on his back and carried him towards the Station. In the darkness Clarke got entangled with some wires and fell down with the casualty on top of him. He recovered and started out again but was knocked down by a blast of a H.E. bomb which exploded nearby. Although almost exhausted Clarke struggled on and got the injured man to a first aid post. He displayed courage and determination and was responsible for saving the life of the Signalman.’ Francis William Clarke was born in June 1886, and was employed as a Porter by London and South Western Railways from June 1902. Over the next 20 years he was employed as a Porter and a Signalman at Ilfracombe, Sidmouth and Exeter. Clarke was subsequently employed by London Midland and Scottish Railways. Sold with copied research.
The rare and particularly fine Second War 1944 ‘Photo Reconnaissance Unit’ D.F.C., ‘Malta 1940-41’ D.F.M. group of eight awarded to Maryland and Mosquito navigator, Flight Lieutenant J. H. Spires, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, a Blenheim veteran of the Battle of Britain, who went on to distinguish himself flying with some of the most important Reconnaissance Pilots of the Second World War. Spires was posted to No. 431 (General Reconnaissance) Flight on Malta immediately after the Battle of Britain, and here he crewed up with the soon-to-become-legendary ‘Six-medal Warburton’ - who was later described as ‘the most important pilot in the R.A.F.’ by Air Marshal Tedder. Together they were to fly ‘in Maryland AR.713 affectionately known as the “Sardine Tin”... shot up in the air, holed by bomb splinters on the ground, in flight it played “Whistlers Mother.”’ Spires and Warburton provided vital reconnaissance for the Taranto Raid - plotting the positions of the Italian battleships mere hours before the Fleet Air Arm carried out their famous Swordfish attack. Warburton made three sweeps over the fleet at 500 feet and lower, even though ‘the weather was so bad that the birds were walking and the fish were at anchor..... we flew around the harbour twice and plotted the ships... when all hell let lose - Flack, tracer the kitchen sink - the lot.... We went in hugging the water, and the “Ities” were ready and tracer bullets poured towards us, I thought how in the hell can they miss us, but they did and we counted the battleships together, one, two, three, four, five.’ This was not the last of Spires’ adventures with Warburton, as the flight were tasked with carrying out the reconnaissance for Operation Colossus - the first British airborne operation of the Second World War. Warburton and crew took photographs of the Tragino viaduct near Calitri in southern Italy, which was to be the target for ‘X’ Troop, from the near-suicidal height of 25 feet! Having left Malta, Spires then converted to the blue Mosquitos of the P.R.U. and saw out the remainder of the War in the skies above North West Europe. His swan song came when flying with arguably the finest Mosquito and P.R.U. pilot of them all - Wing Commander J. R. H. Merifield, D.S.O., D.F.C. and Bar - when the pair achieved two Atlantic flying records and a trans-Canadian record, flying Mosquito PR34 RG241 'K' in October 1945 Distinguished Flying Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated ‘1944’; Distinguished Flying Medal, G.VI.R. (751252 Sgt. J. H. Spires. R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star, 1 clasp, Battle of Britain; Air Crew Europe Star; Africa Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Air Efficiency Award, G.VI.R., 1st issue (Flt. Lt. J. H. Spires. R.A.F.V.R.) mounted as worn, cleaned, very fine (lot) £10,000-£15,000 --- D.F.C. London Gazette 7 November 1944. The original recommendation states: ‘This officer has an outstanding record as an operational navigator. Since the award of the D.F.M. he has completed many more operational sorties. He has flown on photographic reconnaissance’s over some of the most heavily defended targets in Germany and occupied Europe and has secured much valuable information. Throughout, Flight Lieutenant Spires has displayed skill, determination and great courage.’ D.F.M. London Gazette 17 June 1941. The original recommendation states: ‘While serving in Blenheims with 235 Squadron in the United Kingdom, Sergeant Spires took part in 55 operational flights which included reconnaissance flights over enemy occupied territory and escort duty. On four occasions, the aircraft met with opposition from German fighters. These flights amounted to a total of 157 hours operational flying. He was then posted to 69 Squadron based at Malta and between 1st November, 1940 and 12th February, 1941, has taken part in 38 reconnaissance flights, 28 of these flights were photographic reconnaissance of enemy territory. On seven occasions, the aircraft met with opposition from Italian fighters. He was also the Observer of the aircraft which successfully carried out the special Air Ministry reconnaissance of Southern Italy on 9th February, 1941 [the Tragino Aqueduct near Calitri, Southern Italy - prior to Operation Colossus being carried out by ‘X’ Troop, 10-11 February 1941, the latter being the first British airborne operation of the War], and again on 12th February, 1941. These flights amounted to a total of 160 hours operational flying. His total operational flying from the United Kingdom and Malta amounts to 317 hours. Without exception, the Captains of the aircraft in which Sergeant Spires has flown have the greatest faith in his abilities, which are definitely above the average. 27th May, 1941.’ John Henry Spires was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, in September 1920, and resided at 13 Montrose Avenue, Luton. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Observer Section) at Luton in May 1939. Spires was mobilised in September 1939, and carried out training at No. 6 Air Observers Navigation School, Cheltenham, and at No. 4 B. & G.S., West Freugh. Spires was posted for operational flying with 235 Squadron (Blenheims) as part of Coastal Command on 9 March 1940. The Squadron was tasked with fighter-reconnaissance duties, flying out of Detling and Bircham Newton. When the German invasion of the Low Countries began in May 1940, the squadron flew patrols over Holland and during the Battle of Britain was engaged in convoy protection and reconnaissance missions over the North Sea. In an interview given after the War, Spires commented on this period: ‘The emotion was unmistakable as John Spires spoke of the many friends who didn’t come home. “We would all go to the pub after a mission and then someone would say ‘Where’s old Charlie?’ “Someone else would say ‘He never made it today’. You would think ‘that could have been me.’ “I lost a lot of fine friends..... At the time I don’t think it registered. Survival was everything and King and Country meant everything. We were young, inexperienced and didn’t fully realise the danger,” he said. During the Battle of Britain, Mr Spires was a navigator in a Blenheim 5 used as a bomber/fighter. “We had to intercept enemy planes when they were flying back to Europe from England. But you needed a fair amount of luck and if your gunners were killed you were in trouble,” said the man who was shot down three times. “But it was the ground crew who kept us going,” he said. “We just did what we had to do throughout the war.” Spires was flying with Pilot Officer E. H. McHardy (of 248 Squadron) and L.A.C. Heaviside as gunner, when they shot down a Me110 three miles off Blankenberge, Belgium 18 May 1940. However, it was subsequently claimed that this may have been a French Potez 631.’ After the “Battle”, new friends in Malta - ‘Warby’ Warburton Spires continued to serve with the Squadron throughout the Battle of Britain, before being posted to No. 431 (General Reconnaissance) Flight on Malta at the end of October 1940. The latter was equipped with three Martin 167F Maryland light bombers, which were to provide the island with a reconnaissance facility able to operate over defended areas. Spires soon found himself in the ‘mix’ with the Australian pilot and C/O ‘Tich’ Whiteley, and the soon-to-become-legendary ‘Warby’ Warburton (later dubbed ‘the most important pilot in the RAF’ by...
Iron Crosses Second Class 1939 in Original Presentation Packets. Two examples, the first by Klein and Quenzer, in Presentation Packet, retaining almost all original bright factory finish, but slightly tarnished. Ring stamped ‘65’. Blue paper packet, front printed in Gothic script ‘Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse 1939’, and on the back ‘Klein and Quenzer Oberstein.’, and containing a folded length of riband; the second of French manufacture when under German occupation, retaining most original bright factory finish. Ring stamped ‘333’. Blue paper packet, front printed in Gothic script ‘Eisernes Kreuz 2.Klasse 1939’, no markings on the back, and containing a folded length of riband, extremely fine (2) £140-£180
1939 Black Wound Badges. Three examples, the first by Wilhelm Deumer. Very good quality example in mint condition, retaining all original factory finish. Maker’s mark ‘3’ [Wilhelm Deumer, Ludenscheid] on back; the second by Foerster and Barth. Very good quality example in good condition, slight rubbing to the highlights of the finish. Maker’s mark ‘10’ on pin [Foerster and Barth, Pforzheim]; the third by Overhoff and Cie. Very good quality example in good condition, slight rubbing to the highlights of the finish. Maker’s mark ‘81’ on pin [Overhoff and Cie, Ludenscheid], good very fine (3) £80-£100
Four: Master-at-Arms W. J. Stocks, Royal Navy 1914-15 Star (206861, W. J. Stocks, Sh. Cpl. 1, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (206861 W. J. Stocks. Sh. Cpl. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue, fixed suspension (206861 W. J. Stocks, M.A.A. H.M.S. Pembroke.) mounted as worn, nearly very fine (4) £80-£100 --- Walter James Stocks was born at Stockton-on-Tees, Co. Durham, on 30 July 1884 and joined the Royal Navy as a Boy Second Class on 3 October 1899. He was advanced Ship’s Corporal First Class on 30 July 1912, and served during the Great War in H.M.S. Pyramus from the outbreak of War to 31 March 1916, and then in H.M.S. Hardinge from 1 April 1916 to 30 June 1917. He was advanced Master-at-Arms in H.M.S. Carnarvon on 16 February 1921, and was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 22 August 1921. He was shore invalided to pension on 19 November 1924.
1939 Black Wound Badges in Presentation Packets. Two examples, the first by Fritz Kolm. Late War type with matt black finish in original factory new condition, no maker’s mark. Pale brown paper packet, front printed in black Gothic lettering ‘Verwundeten Abzeichen schwarz’ and maker’s name in black ‘Fritz Kolm Pforzheim’ on back; the second by Steinhauer and Luck. Excellent quality early War type with gloss black finish in very good condition, no maker’s mark. Very slight wear. Pale brown paper packet, with ‘LDO’ logo printed on front in black. Steinhauer and Luck logo, ‘L/16’, and Verwundetenabzeichen schwar…’ stamped in black ink on front. Packet worn, generally good very fine, the first rare by this manufacturer (2) £100-£140
Southern Railway St. John Ambulance Association Service Medal (3), silver-gilt, for 21 Years’ Service ‘Frederick A. Jarvis 1948’, with integral ‘21 Years’ top silver-gilt riband bar; silver, for 14 Years’ Service (2) ‘Clement C. Cook 1925.; Harold W. Churchill 1949’, both with integral ‘14 Years’ top silver riband bars, the first in case of issue; London and South Western Railway St. John Ambulance Association Service Medal for Meritorious First Aid Services ‘J. Martin 1903’; South Eastern and Chatham Railway St. John Ambulance Association Service Medal, bronze, for 7 Years’ Service ‘Augustus Tomsett 1917’, good very fine (5) £100-£140 --- The London & South Western Railway (LSWR), and the South Eastern & Chatham Railway (SE & CR) were both absorbed into the Southern Railway as part of the 1923 Grouping. The Southern Railway was nationalised in 1948, and absorbed into British Railways, meaning that the awards to Jarvis and Churchill will be amongst the last of these medals awarded. Augustus Frederick Tomsett was born in Ashford, Kent, and is recorded on the 1911 Census as a Railway Engine Fitter’s Assistant, South Eastern & Chatham Railway. He had previously served with the 2nd Battalion, East Kent Regiment in South Africa during the Boer War from 22 December 1899 to 1 October 1902 (entitled to a Queen’s South Africa Medal with clasps for Paardeberg, Driefontein, Relief of Kimberley, and Transvaal; and the King’s South Africa Medal with both date clasps); and then again with the East Kent Regiment during the Great War on the Western Front from 1 April 1915. Sold with copied research.
Three: Captain F. G. Doyle, 2nd Dragoon Guards, who served on ‘Special Service’ in the Zulu war of 1879, and who died at home in 1882 of typhoid contracted on active service in Egypt whilst attached to the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards South Africa 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1879 (Capt; F. Doyle. 2nd Dgn. Gds.); Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, dated reverse, 1 clasp, Tel-El-Kebir (Capt. F. G. Doyle. 2nd Dn. Gds.) ‘2nd’ officially corrected; Khedive’s Star, dated 1882, nearly extremely fine and rare (3) £3,000-£4,000 --- Only 9 Zulu War medals issued to the 2nd Dragoon Guards, all with 1879 clasp, Doyle being the senior of the three officers present. Frederick Grenville Doyle was born on 4 April 1848, son of Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, Bart. He entered the army as an Ensign in the 63rd Foot on 20 February 1866, transferring to the 60th Foot on the following 9 March. Promoted to Lieutenant in the 60th Foot on 22 May 1869, he transferred to the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays) on 8 March 1876. He was then made Extra Aide-de-Camp to Governor of Madras, a position he held from January to July 1868, and then to G.O.C. Southern District between 1 April 1874 and 30 June 1877. Doyle accompanied Sir Garnet Wolseley to South Africa in May 1879, and was employed on special service until the conclusion of the campaign in Zululand as Commandant at Headquarters of the army (Medal with Clasp). He passed the Senior Department, Staff College, 1880, and subsequently served in the Egyptian campaign of 1882, attached to the 4th Dragoon Guards, including at the Battle of Tel-el-Kebir (Medal with Clasp, Khedive’s Bronze Star). He was invalided to England and died at home on 12 December 1882 of ‘typhoid fever, contracted in the late Egyptian campaign, while attached to the 4th Dragoon Guards’. He is buried in Meifod Parish churchyard, where the inscription on his headstone reads: ‘In Loving memory of Francis Grenville Doyle 2nd Dragoon Guards eldest son of Francis Hastings Doyle, Baronet and Sidney his wife, daughter of the Honourable Charles Williams Wynne. Born April 1846 - Died 2nd December 1882 at Coed-Y-Maen of fever contracted in the Egyptian Campaign at Magfar, Mahuta, Masemeh and in the Kassassin and Tel-el-Kebir Campaign and entered Cairo with the 1st Detachment. Coming home only to die.’ Sold with copied photograph of the recipient in uniform wearing the first medal together with other copied research.
A Crimean war group of four awarded to Lieutenant-General Charles Bearing, Coldstream Guards, who was severely wounded by a round shot at the battle of the Alma and had his left arm amputated at the shoulder Crimea 1854-56, 2 clasps, Alma, Sebastopol (Captn. Charles Baring. Coldm. Guards.) naming officially engraved by Hunt & Roskell; France, Second Empire, Legion of Honour, 5th Class breast badge, silver, gold and enamels, considerable damage to white enamel arms, both centres dented with total loss of blue enamel; Ottoman Empire, Order of the Medjidie, 5th Class breast badge, silver, gold and enamel, red enamel chipped on crescent suspension, the reverse with cartouche of KRÈTLY No.46 Palais Royal Paris; Turkish Crimea, Sardinian issue, contemporary Tailor’s copy by ‘J.B.’, unnamed, the last three all fitted with silver ribbon buckles, unless otherwise described nearly very fine (4) £800-£1,000 --- Charles Baring was born on 26 June 1829, son of Major Henry Bingham Baring and Lady Augusta Brudenell (sister of the 7th Earl of Cardigan, later of Balaklava fame). Educated at Eton, he joined the Coldstream Guards as an Ensign and Lieutenant by purchase on 2 July 1847. Six years later he became a Lieutenant and Captain by purchase on 29 April 1853. He served in the Eastern campaign of 1854 and was severely wounded at the Battle of the Alma on 20 September, by a round shot which shattered his left arm causing it to be amputated at the shoulder. Invalided to England in October 1854, he was later Mentioned in Despatches (12 December) and made Brevet Major. On 18 May 1855, he was among those presented with their Crimean medals by Queen Victoria on Horse Guards Parade. Baring returned to Crimea in June 1855, where he took part in the siege of Sebastopol; he was invalided back to England that autumn, however, due to fever, but by the end of the year, on 21 December, he had become Lieutenant-Colonel by purchase. In addition to the Crimean and Turkish medals, Baring was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour (London Gazette 1 May 1857) and awarded the 5th Class of the Medjidie (London Gazette 2 March 1858). He became Colonel in command of the 2nd Battalion, Coldstream Guards, and retired on half-pay on 13 August 1872; he was named Major-General on 25 August 1878, and gained the rank of Honorary Lieutenant-General on 1 July 1881. He was an avid yachtsman and one of the original council members of the Yacht Racing Association, as well as being a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron. Baring’s importance to sailing and to Cowes, Isle of Wight, is best summed up in the following extract from the history of the Island Sailing Club: ‘The Club was really planned and owes its being to General Charles Baring, late of Nubia House, Cowes, who lost his arm in the Crimea and was the first Commodore. The General was a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron and saw the need for democratic amateur sailing and racing - and set about to found the Club. He must have been a very clever prophet of what was wanted in the Solent and he got together all the keen small boat sailors when there were practically no small boats racing in the Cowes area of the Solent. In those days it was only large and expensive yachts that were catered for in the regattas and the small man did not have a look in at all. The General set out to see that the small man did count and could have his own Racing and Club facilities for it. The meeting to form the Club was held on the 2nd March 1889 at the Marine Hotel near the present Club House’. An eminent and wealthy Victorian born into the higher levels of society, Charles Baring was a democrat at heart, and well respected by all. He died at Wilton Place in London on February 7 1890 at the age of 60. Sold with a second Crimea medal, 3 clasps, Alma, Inkermann, Sebastopol, with later engraved naming (Lieut. C. Baring. 1st Bn. Coldm. Gds.) most rivets lacking or broken, together with copied research.
Waterloo 1815 (Jos. Bottomly, 1st Regiment Life Guards.) fitted with steel clip and later ring suspension, good fine and better £1,800-£2,200 --- Joseph Bottomly was born on 18 June 1795 [Dwelly] in the Parish of Almondbury, Yorkshire, and attested for the First Life Guards at Milnsbridge, York, on 28 December 1812 at the age of 17, a carpenter by trade. He ‘served with the First Life Guards in the Peninsula, Netherlands & France, and was present at the Battle of Waterloo.’ He was discharged on 9 August 1836 in consequence of ‘impaired general health and chronic rheumatism contracted in the service.’ Sold with copied discharge papers.
Pair: Private T. Mahoney, King’s Royal Rifle Corps Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 6 clasps, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith, Laing’s Nek, Belfast, Transvaal, Orange Free State, unofficial rivets between all but the first two clasps (5579 Pte. T. Mahoney, K.R.R.C.); King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (5579 Pte. T. Mahoney, K.R.R.C.) cleaned, very fine (2) £160-£200 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Spink Numismatic Circular, December 1981.
Crimea 1854-56, 2 clasps, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Walter Lowe, A.B.) officially impressed naming, contact marks, better than very fine £400-£500 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, December 2000. Approximately 126 Sebastopol and 99 Inkermann clasps awarded to H.M.S. Wasp. Medal and clasps confirmed in the Admiralty Medal roll TNA ADM171/28 page 197. Walter Lowe was born in Greenwich, Kent, on 26 October 1829 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy First Class in H.M.S. Fisgard on 26 October 1849 (when, unusually, he was aged 20 years), and was rated Ordinary Seaman Second Class aboard this ship on 21 April 1850. He subsequently joined the 14-gun Sloop H.M.S. Wasp on 4 October 1850 on her commissioning, and was promoted Able Seaman on 3 April 1853. Landing in the Crimea, he served with the Naval Brigade ashore at the battle of Inkermann on 5 November 1854 and throughout the siege of Sebastopol. For his gallantry during the first attack on the Grand Redan, Sebastopol, on 18 June 1855, Lieutenant Henry Raby of H.M.S. Wasp was awarded the Victoria Cross. Lowe subsequently joined H.M.S. Intrepid on 8 January 1856, and was advanced Quartermaster in H.M.S. Alecto on 5 December 1861. He was shore discharged from H.M.S. Euryalus, time expired, on 11 April 1865, but re-joined under continuous service engagement as Quartermaster in H.M.S. Oberon on 27 November 1865, and was finally discharged to pension on 3 August 1870, after 20 years’ service. Sold with copied service papers and other research.
Six: Chief Stoker R. Steed, Royal Navy, who was awarded the Naval M.S.M. for his service throughout the Great War in H.M.S. Yarmouth, a light cruiser with an impressive war record which included the hunt for the S.M.S. Emden; the Battle of Jutland; the launch of a Sopwith Pup from one of her turrets in June 1917, the first such successful ship launch of an aircraft in history; and the downing of the enemy Zeppelin L23 in August 1918 Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Persian Gulf 1909-1914 (300499. R. Steed, Sto. P.O. H.M.S. Perseus.); 1914-15 Star (300499 R. Steed. S.P.O. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (300499 R. Steed. S.P.O. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue, fixed suspension (300499 R. Steed. Ch. Sto. H.M.S. Wild Swan.); Royal Naval Meritorious Service Medal, G.V.R. (300499 R. Steed. C. Sto. “Yarmouth” Services During War.) mounted as worn, some contact marks and wear but generally very fine or better (6) £500-£700 --- Royal Naval M.S.M. London Gazette 21 June 1919. One of four such awards to Yarmouth. H.M.S. Yarmouth was a Town-class light cruiser launched in April 1911 from the yards of the London & Glasgow Co. On the outbreak of the Great War, Yarmouth was on the China Station and, later in 1914, she was involved in the hunt for the German commerce raider S.M.S. Emden. In October that year she captured two German colliers. She returned to home waters in December 1914 and was assigned to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, and in February 1915 to 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron. Whilst serving with this squadron, she took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May - 1 June 1916. On 28 June 1917, Flight Commander F. J. Rutland, R.N.A.S., took off in a Sopwith Pup from a ‘flying-off’ platform mounted on the roof of one of Yarmouth's gun turrets, the first such successful launch of an aircraft in history. On 21 August a Pup flown by Flight Sub-Lieutenant B. A. Smart flown from Yarmouth shot down the Zeppelin L 23 near Bovbjerg. H.M.S. Yarmouth was re-commissioned at Colombo, Ceylon, in June 1918, and served as part of the 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron. She re-commissioned at Colombo again in March 1919. The flag of Rear-Admiral The Hon. Edward Stafford Fitzherbert, C.B., Commander-in-Chief on the Africa Station, was flown in Yarmouth temporarily. In 1919, she stopped at Tristan da Cunha, the first ship in ten years, to inform the islanders of the outcome of World War I. After the War, she joined the 7th Light Cruiser Squadron on the South America Station. Richard Stephen George Stead (as name amended from ‘Richard Steed’ on his record of service) was born at Ramsgate, Kent, on 20 June 1881, and joined the Royal Navy as a Stoker 2nd Class on 19 May 1902, a bricklayer by trade. He served aboard H.M.S. Perseus from December 1911 to September 1913, including anti-gun running operations in the Persian Gulf. Prior to the outbreak of the Great War he had advanced to Stoker Petty Officer and served aboard H.M.S. Yarmouth from 14 April 1914 until 11 July 1920, by which time he had advanced to Chief Stoker and witnessed the events outlined above. He was awarded his L.S. & G.C. medal in H.M.S. Wild Swan on 23 May 1923, and was ‘Shore Pensioned’ on 29 May 1924. Sold with copied record of service.
1914-15 Star (2) (31 Pte. W. Bird 25/Bn. A.I.F.; 2/1389 Cpl. R. Bestall. N.Z.E.F.) traces of verdigris to obverse of first, very fine (2) £90-£120 --- William Bird was born in London and having emigrated to Brisbane, Australia, attested there into the 25th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force and served during the Great War at Gallipoli from September 1915. Later serving on the Western Front, he was killed in action on 25 December 1917 and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium. Robert Bestall, a bushman from Wanganui, New Zealand, was born in the Transvaal, South Africa. He attested into the New Zealand Field Artillery and served during the Great War in the Egyptian theatre, before seeing later service on the Western Front. He died of wounds on 7 July 1917 and is buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension, France. Sold with an Australian Commonwealth Military Forces cap badge and copied research.
Five: Sergeant R. G. Elderfield, Royal Engineers 1914-15 Star (1272 Spr. R. G. Elderfield, R.E.); British War and Victory Medals (1272 Spr. R. G. Elderfield, R.E.); Territorial Efficiency Medal, G.V.R. (2200045 Sjt. R. G. Elderfield. R.E.); Special Constabulary Long Service, G.VI.R., 1st issue (Reginald G. Elderfield) the first three mounted as worn, generally very fine and better (5) £80-£100 --- Reginald G. Elderfield attested for the Royal Engineers and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from January 1915. He was awarded his Territorial Efficiency Medal in November 1930. Sold with the recipient’s riband bar.
A superb Second War Merchant Navy B.E.M. and Scott’s First Antarctic Expedition group of ten awarded to Chief Petty Officer Thomas Kennar, Royal Navy, also decorated by the Russians for services at Jutland, who first went to sea in 1887 and who died at sea in 1945 British Empire Medal (Civil) G.VI.R., 1st issue (Thomas Kennar); 1914-15 Star (171801 T. Kennar. C.P.O. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (171801 T. Kennar. C.P.O. R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45; Polar Medal 1904, E.VII.R., silver, 1 clasp, Antarctic 1902-04 (Pett. Off. 2nd Class T. Kennar, “Discovery”); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., E.VII.R. (171801 Thomas Kennar Actg. C.P.O. H.M.S. Monmouth); Russia, Empire, Medal of St George, 4th Class, the reverse officially impressed ‘No. 1272961’, mounted court-style for display; together with the recipient’s Royal Geographical Society Special Medal for the Antarctic Expedition 1902-04, silver (Thomas Kennar, R.N.) contained in its Wyon case of issue, edge bruise to rim on last, light contact marks, generally good very fine (11) £30,000-£40,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, April 2006. B.E.M. London Gazette 4 January 1944. The recommendation by the Minister of War Transport states: ‘Thomas Kennar, Able Seaman, s.s. “Llanstephan Castle” (Union Castle Mail S.S. Co. Ltd.). Age: 67 years. Service: 56 years. Long and meritorious service at sea and in dangerous waters during the war. Has served with present Company for 23 years. He first went to sea in 1887 at the age of 11 with the fishing fleet. In 1891 he joined the Royal Navy and went through the various grades to the rank of Chief Petty Officer, retiring in 1919. Between 1901 and 1904 he served as Petty Officer on the “Discovery” with the Scott Antarctic Expedition. A fine seaman and an outstanding example to younger men.’ Thomas Kennar was born at Brixham, Devon, on 11 October 1876. He worked as a deep water fisherman prior to joining the Royal Navy 1891. Kennar was selected for Scott’s Antarctic Expedition in June 1901, and, together with Skelton, Shackleton, Lashley and Heald, underwent ten days’ instruction at the Royal Engineers Balloon Factory at Aldershot, prior to joining Discovery. Thus, he was a witness to Scott’s historic first attempt to explore Antarctica from the air when, on 4 February 1902, Scott ascended to a height of nearly 800 feet in the balloon Eva. Kennar was one of five R.N. Petty Officers to join the expedition, on which he was appointed to act as Quartermaster. He went out with Scott’s Western Party in October 1903, and on 11 November accompanied the geologist Hartley Ferrar, with Able Seaman Weller, to search for fossils on what is today known as the Upper Taylor Glacier. On the 12th they ascended the South West Glacier for 3 miles until they reached the foot of a 500-foot sandstone cliff, where Ferrar found some fossilized plant remains which provided the first recorded evidence of a warmer, even tropical, Antarctic climate that had existed in earlier ages. Despite continuing their search for further evidence, the following week only yielded some specimens of ‘doubtful’ organic matter. By the 19th Weller was complaining of sore feet, so Ferrar and Kennar continued the search alone, again without success. Despite running very low on supplies of food and oil, Ferrar continued the search for another two days. On the 21st, Kennar awoke almost totally snowblind, so Ferrar led the three-hour haul to the depot for new supplies. With both Kennar and Weller now suffering from backaches, Ferrar continued his search for two more days on his own, allowing the others some much needed rest. Despite this, Weller’s feet were still very sore. By the end of the month, with Ferrar suffering from progressively worsening snowblindness, their little expedition slowly ran out of steam. They set off for Discovery on 10 December, allowing three days for the return. However, the three men found they had travelled half of the 30 miles by lunchtime and made it back to the ship at 10 o’clock that evening. Back on ship, his colleagues understood the significance of Ferrar’s fossil finds but none could have foreseen the tragic circumstances in which the next examples would be found among the bodies of Scott and his companions a decade later. He subsequently had named after him Kennar Valley, a small valley, ice free except for a lobe of ice marginal to Taylor Glacier at the mouth, located west of Finger Mountain in the Quartermain Mountains, Victoria Land. Kennar was specially promoted to Petty Officer 1st Class from 2 April 1904, ‘in recognition of his services with Discovery’, and in November 1909 was specially advanced to Acting Chief Petty Officer, after 8 years service as Petty Officer, once more ‘in recognition of his services with Discovery’. During the Great War he served aboard the cruiser Duke of Edinburgh from April 1915 to August 1918, including the battle of Jutland for which he received the Russian Medal of St George 4th Class. He was demobilized in December 1919 and subsequently joined the Merchant Navy. He served during the Second World War, from August 1941 to mid-1943, aboard the Union-Castle Line steamship Llanstephan Castle, commodore ship for the first Allied convoy to Russia. He appears to have been repatriated to the U.K. from Bombay in August 1943 aboard the S.S. Staffordshire, and retired from sea service shortly afterwards, at least according to his record card. His card goes on to record, however, that he joined the Ninella on 23 April 1944, and that he died at sea aboard that vessel of ‘heat and exhaustion’ whilst near Karachi, on 3 August 1945. Sold with a photographic image of the recipient; and copied research.
Great Western Railway Medal for 15 Years’ First Aid Efficiency, gold (9ct., 6.57g), ‘3203 Reginald J. Arthur 1939’; together with the recipient’s St. John Ambulance Association Re-examination Cross, silver, ‘257559 Reginald J. Arthur’, with silver Bars for 1925, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, and 1935, these all engraved ‘257559’, and bronze bars for 1939 and 1939, these both similarly numbered, the first five attached to the cross, the last seven loose, good very fine (2) £80-£100
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