Pair: Drummer J. Nobbin, Grenadier Guards Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, 1 clasp, Suakin 1885 (...mr. J. W. Nobbin, 3/...) ; Khedive’s Star 1884-6, unnamed as issued, suspension claw re-affixed on first, extremely heavy pitting from star obscuring naming, about fair (2) £80-£120 --- John William Nobbin was born in Forest Gate, London, in 1867 and attested for the Grenadier Guards at Westminster Police Court on 21 October 1881, aged 14. He served as a Drummer with the 3rd Battalion in Egypt and the Sudan, and having transferred to the Permanent Staff of the 6th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, was discharged on 26 October 1902, after 21 years and 6 days’ service. Sold with copied research which shows that a man of this name with the same place of birth (although with a somewhat later date of birth) served with the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine during the Great War, and received a 1914-15 Star Trio and a Mercantile Marine War Medal.
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Six: Captain N. L. Stanley, Royal Navy, who was twice decorated by the Royal Humane Society for saving life Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Persian Gulf 1909-1914 (Commr. N. L. Stanley, R.N. H.M.S. Philomel); 1914-15 Star (Capt. N. L. Stanley. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. N. L. Stanley. R.N.); Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (successful) (N. L. Stanley, Midshipman, H.M.S. “Orlando” 1st March 1890); Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (successful) (Comdr. N. L. Stanley. R.N. 22nd Sept. 1913) the first four mounted for display, the last two mounted as worn from a twin bronze buckle brooch, good very fine (6) £300-£400 --- R.H.S. Report: 1890. ‘For saving life of T. Porthouse at Hobart, Tasmania on 1st March 1890. Porthouse who weighed 15 St. fell off pier at 10 p.m. on a very dark night and was very dangerous in the water endeavouring to catch hold of his shirt.’ R.H.S. Report: 1913. ‘At 1.40 p.m. on the 22nd September, 1913, a stoker belonging to H.M.S. Europa fell overboard from the vessel at Portsmouth. Commander Norman L. Stanley at once jumped after him, and, with a lifebuoy, kept him afloat till they were picked up.’ Norman Lichfield Stanley was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 14 May 1872, son of Rev. T. L. Stanley. He joined the Royal Navy on 15 January 1886 aboard the Training Ship Britannia and was rated Midshipman without Examination on 15 June 1888, having gained three months time on passing out of Britannia. He was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant on 14 June 1892; Lieutenant, 30 June 1894; Commander, 31 December 1905; Acting Captain, 3 July 1915. He took command of Philomel on the East Indies station on 17 January 1911, but was invalided at Colombo on 2 September 1911, suffering from ‘varicose eczema of right leg, due to climatic conditions & strain involved in Blockade in Persian Gulf.’ He returned to sea in command of Hermione in February 1912, took command of Europa in August 1913, and of the Armed Merchant Cruiser Oropesa on 23 November 1914, and for services in this ship on Patrol Service he was promoted to Acting Captain on 3 July 1915 (London Gazette 7 August 1915). He took command of H.M.S. Gloucestershire upon commissioning on 5 January 1916, a commercial liner just converted for use as an Armed Merchant Cruiser. Here he remained until 11 July 1917, when he was invalided to Hasler Hospital with a varicose ulcer, perhaps a flare-up of the complaint he contracted in the Persian Gulf which in effect put an end to his active service for the remainder of the war.
Four: Leading Seaman J. Weller, Royal Navy, later Coast Guard Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Persian Gulf 1909-1914 (199287 J. Weller. Lg. Sea. H.M.S. Sheikh.); British War and Victory Medals (199287 J. Weller. L.S. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (199287 Janes Weller, Boatn. H.M. Coast Guard.) mounted as worn, light contact marks, otherwise very fine, the first rare (4) £180-£220 --- 17 European names shown on the roll for H.M.S. Sheikh, of which two are marked as ‘Returned’ and one marked ‘Run’.
Four: Private A. J. Moore, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, late Lincolnshire Regiment 1914 Star, with copy clasp (7239 Pte. A. J. Moore. 2/Linc: R.); British War and Victory Medals (7239 Pte. A. J. Moore. Linc. R.); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Burma 1930-32 (5376426 Pte. A. J. Moore. Oxf, & Bucks. L.I.) the first three heavily polished, fine, the last good very fine (4) £120-£160 --- Albert James Moore served with the 2nd Lincolns in France from 5 November 1914. He afterwards served with the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in the Burma campaign of 1930-32. Sold with copied extract from the Ox. & Bucks Regimental Journal including a photograph of Moore wearing his four medals.
Three: Major G. J. Malcolm, Royal Flying Corps, the first Canadian-born pilot to serve in the Royal Flying Corps, he later commanded 20 Squadron and was killed in France in July 1916 1914 Star, with clasp (2.Lieut: G. J. Malcolm. R.F.A. Attd: R.F.C.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Major G. J. Malcolm.) good very fine (3) £400-£500 --- George John Malcolm was born at Dominion City, Manitoba, to liveryman George Malcolm and his wife Frances in 1891. He was raised in England earning a Bachelor of Science degree at London University in 1911. He served with the university's officer training corps and obtained a commission in the Royal Field Artillery. He earned his Royal Aero Club Aviator Certificate in November of 1913. He was among the first airmen to fly in France and was mentioned in dispatches by Sir John French in January 1915 (London Gazette 17 February 1915. Following a severe flying accident he was promoted Major and commanding officer of 20 Squadron. He and his Observer, Lieutenant G. E. Chancellor, were both killed when the FE2d he was ferrying stalled and crashed on 9 July 1916. He was 26 years old and is buried in Longuenesse (St Omer) Souvenir Cemetery.
The medals awarded to Eric Sawyer and Barry Dierks, two charmers who established and ran a successful architectural practice at Cannes, which flourished at the heart of 1920s and 30s Riviera Society Eight: Lieutenant-Colonel E. G. Sawyer, Intelligence Corps 1914 Star (2. Lieut: E. G. Sawyer); British War and Victory Medals (Major E. G. Sawyer); 1939-45 Star; Italy Star; France and Germany Star; War Medal 1939-45; France, Third Republic, Legion of Honour, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, gold appliqué, and enamel, poincon mark to base of tassel; together with the recipient’s riband bars, with rosette on 1914 Star riband, and M.I.D. oak leaves emblem on Victory Medal riband, very fine and better Four: B. Dierks, American Red Cross United States of America, Freedom Medal, bronze; France, Red Cross Medal, First Class, gilt, the reverse inscribed ‘Offert Par la Croix Rouge Française a Mr. Barry Dierks’, with integral top riband bar; Red Cross Medal, Second Class, silver, the reverse inscribed ‘M. B. Dierks’, with integral top riband bar; Italy, Kingdom, Italian Red Cross Merit Medal, bronze, unnamed as issued; together with the recipient’s Red Cross identity bracelet, silver, this inscribed ‘Barry Dierks Cannes Anglo-American Ambulance Corps’, on fitted chain; and a ‘Liaison Française’ lapel badge, bronze and enamel, good very fine (12) £1,800-£2,200 --- French Legion of Honour, Chevalier London Gazette 21 April 1917. Eric George Sawyer was born in Aldershot, Hampshire, in 1889, and was educated at Cheltenham College. After graduating as an engineer from the Royal School of Mines in London, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant, General List, on 6 August 1914, and served with the Intelligence Corps during the Great War on the Western Front from 13 August 1914. He was promoted temporary Captain on 20 April 1915, and was Mentioned in General Sir Douglas Haig’s Despatch of 30 April 1916 (London Gazette 15 June 1916). He was promoted temporary Major on 1 April 1918, and temporary Lieutenant-Colonel on 8 March 1919. For his services during the Great War, where he latterly held a post in the Claims Commission, he was awarded the French Legion of Honour. He relinquished his commission on 4 July 1919, and was granted the honorary rank of Major. Following the cessation of hostilities, Sawyer remained in Paris, and was appointed managing director of the Choilet Bank. Whilst in Paris he met the American architect Barry Dierks, and soon after they opened an architectural practice together on the French Riviera, with Dierks the architect and Sawyer the manager. With family money they built their home, a villa called ‘Le Trident’, named after a local rock feature on the beach, overlooking the sea at Theoule-sur-Mer. Hewn into the rock, ‘Le Trident’ was an extraordinary achievement. Not only was it the first building that Dierks had designed, but, as it was situated precariously on a steep and rocky cliff, Sawyer’s engineering and mining skills had been vital. Greatly admired, their house became the focal point for both their entertaining and in the cultivation of prospective clients. Their first commission came later that year from the author Somerset Maugham, and over the course of the inter-War period their practice flourished, and they designed and built over 100 houses and villas in and around Cannes and Antibes, of which 28 were for members of the aristocracy. Described as ‘the two charmers’, Sawyer and Dierks were at the centre of Riviera society, and their guests included the Prince of Wales and Mrs. Simpson, Winston Churchill, and various Hollywood stars. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Sawyer initially remained on the Riviera, under the Vichy regime, and attended early meetings of the Resistance movement. Although unconfirmed, it is probable that he was working for the Special Operations Executive during this period, and he assisted in various clandestine operations. In January 1943 his cover was blown, and he fled France across the Pyrenees, his last act at ‘Le Trident’ being to write in the visitors’ book: ‘End of an Epoch. Exeunt Eric and Barry.’ Returning to the U.K., Sawyer formally re-joined the Intelligence Corps on 15 March 1943, and served in North Africa and Italy as a Staff Officer in Civil Affairs, before joining the French section of the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, set-up to plan the invasion of Europe. He relinquished his commission on 18 September 1946, and was granted the honorary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. Returning to ‘Le Trident’ following the cessation of hostilities, he and Dierks resumed their practice, and their social life, the highlight of which was the invitation to the wedding of their near neighbour Prince Rainier to Grace Kelly in 1956. He died at ‘Le Trident’ in 1985, 25 years after Dierks’ death, and is buried alongside him. Barry Dierks was born in Butte, Montana, in 1889, and served during the Great War as a Sub-Lieutenant in the American Army, without seeing active service. Studying architecture at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, he graduated in 1921, and emigrated to Paris. Newly arrived in Paris he met Eric Sawyer in the Ritz bar, and soon afterwards they opened their architectural practice together on the French Riviera. Dierks subsequently served during the Second World War with the American Red Cross, as part of the Anglo-American Ambulance Corps at Cannes, before being interned in Baden Baden after America’s entry into the War, and then, in 1943, being deported, along with the rest of the American internees at Baden Baden, to America. Returning to the south of France following the end of the War, he continued working until his death at ‘Le Trident’ in 1960. Sold with a copy of the book ‘Riviera Dreaming’ by Maureen Emerson, which gives an account of Sawyer’s and Dierks’ lives on the French Riviera from 1920 onwards, the title page inscribed ‘To the keeper of these artefacts- remember two audacious lives’ and signed ‘Maureen Emerson’.
Three: Stoker First Class J. Wilson, Royal Navy 1914-15 Star (SS. 113041, J. Wilson, Sto., 1, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (SS. 113041. J. Wilson. Sto. 1 R.N.) VM officially renamed; very fine Pair: Stoker First Class A. E. Manning, Royal Navy British War and Victory Medals (K. 41236 A. E. Manning. Sto. 1 R.N.) nearly extremely fine Pair: Stoker First Class E. Ruff, Royal Navy British War and Victory Medals (K. 36247 E. Ruff. Sto. 1 R.N.) nearly extremely fine (7) £80-£120
Three: Painter First Class W. O. Smith, Royal Navy 1914-15 Star (M. 7471, W. O. Smith, Ptr., 2, R.N.) ; British War and Victory Medals (M. 7472 [sic]. W. O. Smith. Ptr. 1. R.N.) contact marks, nearly very fine Three: Able Seaman A. J. Warren, Royal Navy 1914-15 Star (142338, A. J. Warren, A.B., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (142338 A. J. Warren. A.B. R.N.) very fine (6) £80-£120
Three: Able Seaman T. Tassell, Royal Navy 1914-15 Star (237735, T. Tassell, A.B., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (237735 T. Tassell. A.B. R.N.) very fine Pair: Electrical Artificer First Class R. C. Tassell, Royal Navy British War Medal 1914-20 (M.28977 R. C. Tassell. E.A.4 R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, coinage head (M.28977 R. C. Tassell. E.A. 1, H.M.S. Cornwall.) light contact marks, very fine or better (5) £80-£120 --- Thomas Tassell was born in Hastings, Sussex in September 1890 and enlisted into the Royal Navy in November 1906 as a Boy Second Class. In the Great War he saw operational service aboard the pre-dreadnought battleship H.M.S. Agamemnon and was in her crew at the time of the ship’s heavy engagement during the Dardanelles campaign of 1915. In February 1918, Tassell was posted to the battlecruiser H.M.S. Inflexible and was present at Scapa Flow for the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet on 21 November 1918. He joined the Royal Fleet Reserve in January 1920 and was recalled between April and June 1921 for service at the shore establishment H.MS. Pembroke. Reginald Clive Tassell was born in Rushden, Northamptonshire in October 1891 and enlisted into the Royal Navy in January 1918 as an Electrical Artificer Fifth Class, serving the remainder of the Great War at the shore establishment H.M.S. Vernon. After a posting aboard the dreadnought battleship H.M.S. Monarch, he was transferred to the icebreaker H.M.S. Alexander in October 1919, at the time it was handed over to the White Russians. Between 1925 and 1928, Tassell was attached to the Fleet Air Arm serving aboard the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Furious and at R.A.F. Gosport. He was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in June 1933 while on the crew of the heavy cruiser H.M.S. Cornwall, having attained the rate of Electrical Artificer First Class. Tassell saw active service during the Second World War aboard the depot ship H.M.S. Sandhurst. He was admitted to the Royal Naval Auxiliary Hospital Barrow Gurney in September 1940 and was invalided out of the service in November 1945.
Six: Acting Sergeant (Artillery Clerk) H. Barret, Royal Garrison Artillery 1914-15 Star (41018 Gnr. H. Barret. R.G.A.); British War and Victory Medals (41018 A. Sjt. H. Barret. R.A.); Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, Regular Army (1409819 W.O. Cl. II. H. Barret. R.A.); Army Meritorious Service Medal, G.V.R., 1st issue (41018 Cpl.-A. Sjt:-A.C.- H. Barret. R.G.A.); Romania, Kingdom, Croix de Virtute Militara, 2nd Class, very fine (6) £180-£220 --- M.S.M. London Gazette 18 January 1919: ‘Valuable services rendered with the Armies in France and Flanders:- Royal Garrison Artillery. 41018 Cpl. (A/Sjt.). (A.C.) Barret. H. 81st H.A.G. (Canada).’ Croiz de Virtute Militara, 2nd Class, London Gazette 20 September 1919: ‘For distinguished services rendered during the course of the campaign:- 41018 Corporal (Acting Serjeant) Artillery Clerk Henry Barret, Clerks’ Section, Royal Garrison Artillery (attached Headquarters, 81st Brigade) (Cheshunt).’ Henry Barret first entered the Egyptian theatre of war on 8 April 1915.
Three: Second Lieutenant S. Thomas, 11th (Cambridge City) Battalion, Suffolk Regiment, late Honourable Artillery Company, who was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916 1914-15 Star (3982 Pte. S. Thomas. H.A.C.); British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. S. Thomas.); Memorial Plaque (Sydney Thomas) the plaque neatly pierced at 6 o’clock and 12 o’clock, otherwise extremely fine (4) £1,400-£1,800 --- Sydney Thomas, a native of Cardiff, was employed as a bank clerk with the London Provincial Bank in Caerphilly. He enlisted on 5 July 1915 as a private in the Honourable Artillery Company in which his elder brother was also serving. He was reported as a fine athlete and the best shot in the battalion. On 10 October 1915, he embarked at Southampton and joined his unit in France some days later. Thomas was commissioned Second Lieutenant on 7 May 1916 and was posted to the 11th (Cambridge City) Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment, which he joined three days later. He was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916. The Battalion War Diary for 1 July 1916 reads: ‘7:28 a.m. The mine opposite left of 101st Brigade was exploded. 7:30 a.m. The infantry assault was launched. The Battalion followed the 10th Lincolns from our assembly trenches down into Sausage Valley and across to the German lines. Owing to the failure of the 102nd Brigade on the left to capture La Boiselle, our advance from the moment it left our assembly trenches was subjected to a very heavy fire from machine guns from La Boiselle. In spite of the fact that wave after wave were mown down by machine gun fire, all pushed on without hesitation, though very few reached the German lines.’ Thomas has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France. Sold with an original letter from the War Office Accounts Department, dated 4 October 1916, detailing the monies due to his estate after his death, showing a total of forty nine pounds one shilling and eleven pence, this amount including a deduction of eleven pounds and five shillings for pay over-issued 2-31 July 1916; and copied research, including a photographic image of the recipient.
Ten: Sergeant A. R. Walker, 5th Battalion, Highland Light Infantry 1914-15 Star (1391 Pte. A. R. Walker. High: L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (1391 Pte. A. R. Walker. High. L.I.); 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1937; Territorial Efficiency Medal, G.V.R. (3299099 Sjt. A. Walker. 5-H.L.I.); Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Territorial, with additional long service bar (3299099 W.O. Cl. II. A. Walker. 5-H.L.I.); Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (successful), (1391 Pte. A. Walker 5/H.L.I. Aboukir. Egypt. 24/6/15) suspension claw re-fixed, the first nine mounted as worn, nearly very fine or better 1914-15 Star; British War and Victory Medals; 1939-45 Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1937; Territorial Efficiency Medal, G.V.R.; Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Territorial; Royal Humane Society, small bronze medal (successful) (10) £180-£220 --- R.H.S. Case No. 42329. Claimant: Pte. A Walker, 1/5 Btn. H.L.I. Subject: Pte. J. Fraser. Time/Place: 11 a.m. 24th June 1915 - Aboukir, Egypt. Particulars: While bathing “Fraser” got outside a reef into deep water where the current was strong. 25 yds. out. Exertions of claimant: “Walker” swam out and brought him some way in when help was given in landing him. Witness: Case sent by the O.C. Battalion. Successful. Alexander R. Walker first served overseas with 1/5th Highland Light Infantry in the Balkan theatre of war (2B) at Suvla Bay on 2 July 1915. Sold with copied Medal Index Card and several extracts from the regimental journal confirming the award of the Territorial Efficiency Medal and Coronation Medal.
Three: Private G. K. Saunders, Gordon Highlanders, who was killed in action on the Western Front on the first day of the Battle of Loos, 25 September 1915 1914-15 Star (1701. Pte. G. K. Saunders. Gord. Highrs.); British War and Victory Medals (1701. Pte. G. K. Saunders. Gord. Highrs.); Memorial Plaque (George Saunders) the plaque lightly polished, otherwise good very fine (4) £120-£160 --- George Kemp Saunders was born in 1895, the son of the Reverend Alex Saunders and his wife Isabel Saunders, of the China Inland Mission, Yangchow, China, and attested for the Gordon Highlanders whilst a medical student at Aberdeen University, preparing for missionary work in China. He served with the 4th Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 13 February 1915, and was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of Loos, 25 September 1915, aged 20. He has no known grave, and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium. For the recipient’s father’s Central China Famine Relief Medal, see Lot 729.
Three: Lance-Corporal A. Jakins, 4th Battalion, London Regiment, who was killed in action on the Western Front on 7 October 1916 1914-15 Star (3081 Pte. A. Jakins, 4-Lond. R.); British War and Victory Medals (3081 Pte. A. Jakins. 4-Lond. R.) latter two in named card box of issue; together with four L.C.C. School Attendance Medals, E.VII.R., 1904; 1905; 1906, 1907, first three in white metal, last in bronze, all named ‘A. Jakins’, good very fine (7) £70-£90 --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, September 2011. Alfred Jakins lived in Walworth and attested for the 4th Battalion, London Regiment at Shaftsbury Street, London, N. He served during the Great War in the Egypt theatre of war from 24 August 1915 and, having been advanced Lance-Corporal, was killed in action on the Western Front on 7 October 1916. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France. Sold together with named Record Office enclosures.
An interesting Great War group of five awarded to Captain M. W. Hilton-Simpson, the noted African traveller and ethnologist who served with the Royal Army Service Corps during the war 1914-15 Star (Lieut: M. W. Hilton-Simpson. A.S.C.); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. M. W. Hilton-Simpson.); France, Third Republic, Legion of Honour, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, silver-gilt and enamels; Belgium, Royal Order of the Lion, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, silver-gilt and enamels, good very fine (5) £500-£600 --- Melville William Hilton-Simpson was born in 1881, oldest child of Rev. William Hilton and Emma Ellen Soames; surname of Simpson added in 1888. He was educated at Wellington College and Exeter College, Oxford, B.Sc. Travelled the Barbary States and Sahara, 1903-06; accompanied Mr Emile Torday on an ethnological expedition to the Kasai Basin, Belgian Congo, to collect for the Department of Ethnography, British Museum, and first traversed the country of the Bakongo and Bashilele, 1907-09; from 1912, excluding the period of the war, has, with his wife, been engaged in a detailed ethnological study of Berber hill tribes in Southern Algeria, among whom they have spent seven winters to date. Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, 1927; Chevalier of the Royal Order of the Lion, 1930; Corresponding Member of the Royal Belgian Geographical Society, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., F.R.A.I.; Rivers Medallist, 1932; member of the Geographical Societies of Paris, America, and Algiers, and of other scientific bodies; served in European War on Western Front; retired with rank of Captain. Publications: Algiers and Beyond; Land and People of the Kasai; Among the Hill-Folk of Algeria; Arab Medicine and Surgery; numerous papers for the journals of various societies, mainly on geographical and ethnological subjects. He died on 17 March 1938. Sold with a first edition (1911) of Land and Peoples of the Kasai, inscribed by the author ‘To E. L. Gowlland in memory of auld lang syne, Nov. 9th 1911’.
Three: Acting Chief Electrical Artificer Second Class H. A. Pike, Royal Navy British War and Victory Medals (M. 27585 H. A. Pike. E.A.5. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, coinage head (M.27585 H. A. Pike, A/C.E.R.A 2, H.M.S. Basilisk.) contact marks and edge bruising, good fine (3) £60-£80 --- Howard Alfred Pike was born at Devonport in April 1899 and enlisted into the Royal Navy in August 1917 as an Electrical Artificer Fifth Class, being first assigned to the Royal Navy’s torpedo school, H.M.S. Defiance. He saw operational service during the Great War aboard the battlecruiser H.M.S. New Zealand, and was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in September 1932 whilst on the crew of the destroyer H.M.S. Basilisk, having been advanced Acting Chief Electrical Artificer Second Class. During the Second World War he served with the shore establishments H.M.S. Defiance and Cochrane.
Three: Acting Leading Seaman H. A. Holding, Royal Navy British War and Victory Medals (J.52710 H. A. Holding. A.B. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, coinage head (J.52710 H.A. Holding. A/L.S. H.M.S. Suffolk.) contact marks, very fine and better (3) £60-£80 --- Henry Albert Holding was born at Worcester in August 1899 and enlisted into the Royal Navy in May 1916 as a Boy First Class. He saw operational service during the Great War aboard the battlecruiser H.M.S. Inflexible and was later awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in October 1932 while part of the crew of the heavy cruiser H.M.S. Suffolk. During the Second World War Holding served aboard the light cruiser H.M.S. Colombo and was released from the Navy in October 1945.
Pair: Stoker First Class T. J. Mansbridge, Royal Navy British War and Victory Medals (K 34899 T. J. Mansbridge. Sto. 1 R.N.) nearly extremely fine Pair: Signaller C. J. Ellingham, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve British War and Victory Medals (L.Z. 5406 C. J. Ellingham. Sig. R.N.V.R.) nearly extremely fine Pair: Able Seaman H. Webster, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve British War and Victory Medals (T.Z. 11557 H. Webster. A.B. R.N.V.R.) nearly extremely fine (6) £70-£90
Three: Engine Room Artificer First Class A. V. M. Roberts, Royal Navy British War and Victory Medals (M.4782 A. V. M. Robert [sic]. E.R.A. 4 R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue, fixed suspension (M.4782 A. V. M. Roberts. E.R.A. 1. H.M.S. Hermes.) polished and worn in parts, good fine (3) £60-£80 --- Albert Victor Maxey Roberts was born at Portsmouth in June 1896 and enlisted into the Royal Navy in July 1912 as a Boy Artificer. He saw operational service during the Great War aboard the battleship H.M.S. Royal Oak and the destroyer H.M.S. Marvel. He was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in July 1929 whilst serving with the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Hermes, having attained the rate of Engine Room Artificer First Class. Demobilised in October 1938 he was recalled the following August and saw active service during the Second World War aboard the light cruiser H.M.S. Caledon.
Three: Surgeon-Lieutenant A. S. Bissett, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve British War and Victory Medals (Surg. Prob. A. S. Bissett. R.N.V.R.); Voluntary Medical Service Medal (Dr. A. Bissett.) in named card box of issue, nearly extremely fine (3) £70-£90 --- Alexander Shanks Bissett was born on Islay on 28 March 1896 and was educated at the University of Glasgow. Enlisting in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve whilst still at university, he was aboard the first ship to sail from Scapa Flow for the Battle of Jutland, the Fleet Minesweeper H.M.S. Gentian. Upon completing his medical training he joined the battleship H.M.S. Caesar in the eastern Mediterranean, and served as a temporary Surgeon-Lieutenant in the Dardanelles before being demobilised on 1 December 1919. In civilian life Bissett became a successful medical practitioner, and died in June 1979.
Four: Warrant Officer Class II J. Scott, Black Watch, late Tank Corps and Machine Gun Corps British War and Victory Medals (201982 Pte. J. Scott. Tank Corps); Territorial Force War Medal 1914-19 (38989 A. Sjt. J. Scott. M.G.C.); Territorial Force Efficiency Medal, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar, this loose on riband (2746858 Sjt. J. Scott. 6-Black Watch.); together with 41 shooting medals of which 20 are cased, awards for local competitions to N.R.A. national tournaments at Bisley, some in silver; the majority named and/or dated, dates from 1906 to 1948, extensive verdigris to second and minor verdigris to third, otherwise very fine (45) £300-£400 --- James Scott, a native of Perth, Scotland, attested for the 4th (Perthshire) Volunteer Battalion, (The Black Watch) Royal Highlanders prior to 1 April 1908 and was serving with A Company of its lineal successor, the 6th (Perthshire) Battalion Royal Highlanders (Territorial Force), in July 1914, in which month he also took first place in the County of Perthshire Shooting Championships. Scott served during the Great War on the Western Front initially with the Machine Gun Corps, subsequently transferring to the 9th Battalion, Tank Corps, with which unit he was present on the Somme in 1917 and then latterly he rejoined the 6th/7th Battalion Black Watch, advancing to Warrant Officer Class II. He was awarded the T.F.E.M. in 1923 and a second award bar in 1928 while still serving with the 6/7th Battalion, although now in the rank of Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant. Sold together with a 5 Franc silver coin, the reverse bearing a finely engraved depiction of a British tank traversing a trench, with detailed edge surround and engraved ‘201982 Sgt. Scott 1917 Somme Tank Corps’.
The Great War pair awarded to Lieutenant Arthur Cyril Ball, Royal Air Force, younger brother of Captain Albert Ball, V.C., D.S.O**, M.C., who was killed in May 1917; Arthur Ball was himself forced down on 5 February 1918 and made Prisoner of War British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. A. C. Ball R.A.F.); together with 9-carat gold and enamelled past-Lord Mayor’s Badge for the City of Nottingham, hallmarked Birmingham 1936, 53.78g gross weight, the reverse engraved ‘Presented by the City Council to Alderman Sir Albert Ball, Kt., J.P., Lord Mayor of Nottingham, in recognition of his services as Lord Mayor 1935-36. Mayor 1920 (part). Mayor 1909-1910.’, nearly extremely fine (3) £800-£1,200 --- Arthur Cyril Ball, or Cyril as he was called to differentiate between him and his famous elder brother Albert Ball, V.C., was born in Nottingham on 10 January 1898, son of Albert Ball, a master plumber who, by the turn of the century, changed his profession to become an estate agent in Nottingham, and who also entered local politics, serving four terms as Mayor of Nottingham and being honoured with a knighthood in 1924. Cyril followed in his elder brother’s footsteps as soon as he was of age, joining the 3/8th Battalion Sherwood Foresters, before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps to train as a pilot. In December 1917, some six months after Albert Ball, V.C., D.S.O., M.C., had been killed on the Western Front, Cyril was posted to France for active service, and joined his brother’s old unit, 60 Squadron, based then at St Marie Cappel, flying SE5As, where he was allotted to ‘A’ Flight.. His Flight Commander, Captain R. L. Chidlaw-Roberts, M.C., said of Cyril, ‘He thought he could carry on like his brother. He was wrong, though full of guts.’ Undoubtedly Cyril Ball felt that as Albert’s brother he had a reputation to live up to, indeed, throughout his life he inevitably suffered ‘comparisons’ with his elder, famous brother, and at times part-resented the continuous comparison. His fighting career with 60 Squadron lasted only a few weeks. On February 5th, 1918, he flew SE5A B533 as part of a fighting patrol deep into German-held territory, and his engine was hit by a stray sliver of a shell from some desultory anti-aircraft fire. With a dead engine, Cyril turned for home, but at that moment the patrol was jumped by Albatros DV scouts from Jagdstaffel 26, and Cyril was singled out for attack by the veteran Leutnant Otto Esswein. With no alternative open to him, Cyril was forced to land and become a captive of some local German troops. That day he was entertained briefly by the pilots of Jagdstaffel 26, and was then whisked away to a prisoner of war camp for the remaining months of the war. In December 1918, he was repatriated to England, and returned to his home in Nottingham, where he married his fiancée, Marie Prince, and commenced in business with his brother’s old firm, the Universal Engineering Company in Castle Boulevard. He maintained his interest in aviation to the extent of flying with the local flying club, the Nottingham Aero Club at Hucknall aerodrome. In 1939, he started the Nottingham unit of the Air Defence Cadet Corps, and when this was turned into the Air Training Corps, became the first Wing Commander R.A.F.V.R. (T) of the Nottingham Wing, a post he held until the end of the war. He remained connected with the A.T.C. until his death. Unlike his father, Cyril had little real ambition in the field of politics, and it was not until November 1947 that he became a city councillor for the Meadows Ward of Nottingham, and was re-elected for the years 1951-54. Only four years later Cyril Ball died on 2 July 1958, in the Nottingham General Hospital after a brief illness. Throughout his life Albert Ball’s father seldom overlooked any opportunity to perpetuate the memory of his eldest son. As Cyril Ball once remarked, ‘Albert, my brother, hated any kind of show at all. My father loved it; he liked being the father of England’s first real ace.’ These medals, together with those of his brother Captain Albert Ball, V.C., D.S.O., M.C., and his nephew Flight Lieutenant G. A. S. Anderson, were exhibited together at the Nottingham Numismatic Congress of 1960.
Pair: Second Lieutenant E. Brandon, Royal Air Force, who was killed in action over the Western Front on 11 August 1918 British War and Victory Medals (2/Lieut. E. Brandon. R.A.F.) edge bruising, traces of acid cleaning to first, therefore nearly very fine and better (2) £140-£180 --- Edgar Brandon was born in Bedford and was educated at Bedford Grammar School. ‘At the age of 21 he went to Tasmania, and remained there until 1913. He then went to Ceylon, where he was for some years with the Ceylon and Indian Planters’ Company. He obtained a year’s leave to come home, but it took him five months to reach England, where he landed in October 1917. He was in the Inns of Court O.T.C. for a time, and then got a commission in the Royal Air Force as an Observer. He had been at the front only a few weeks when he was killed.’ (the recipient’s obituary in Flight magazine refers). Posted to 9 Squadron, Brandon was killed in action on 11 August 1918 when his BE8, piloted by Captain Richard Hilton, was involved in bombing enemy positions. The combat report from his flight states: ‘3-25 lb bombs, 50 Rounds (V) and 100 Rounds (L) on troops in entrances to dugouts along valley. These troops disappeared rapidly but all three bombs fell among dugout entrances. 3-25 lb bombs and 100 Rounds (L) on massed enemy infantry in rough ground. Heavy fire encountered from trench system and much rifle fire. Observer killed.’ Brandon is buried in Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, France. Sold together with a copy of the book ‘Nine Lives’, by the recipient’s pilot, Richard Hilton; and much copied research
Family Group: Pair: Lieutenant L. H. Riddell, Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force, who was shot down, wounded, and taken Prisoner of War on the first day of the Battle of Amiens, 8 August 1918 British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. L. H. Riddell. R.A.F.) nearly very fine British War Medal 1914-20 (J. Riddell.) good very fine (3) £200-£240 --- Leonard Harper Riddell was born in Manchester in 1899 and joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1917. He kept a photograph album and wrote letters home to his parents describing his enthusiasm for flying: ‘I tried my hand at stunts today and attempted three side loops and a spinning nose dive. It’s really a great sensation and gives one a great deal of confidence in both oneself and the machine.’ Promoted Flight Sub-Lieutenant, by March 1918, just five months after he had taken his first solo flight, he had been sent to the Western Front, and was posted to 201 Squadron, flying Sopwith Camels. The level of risk facing him soon became apparent, as his diary entry for 2 April 1918 describes going out on patrol and coming across anti-aircraft fire: ‘Got Archied very badly- heard the bursting shrapnel which indicates that it is time to do a bit of dodging about. Did dodge muchly.’ His luck finally ran out on 8 August 1918, on the first day of the Battle of Amiens. Taking off at 8:30 a.m. in Sopwith Camel D9652 on a line patrol near Bayonvillers, Riddell was hit by anti-aircraft fire, and was seen to crash behind enemy lines shortly after 9:00 a.m. The R.A.F. casualty lists for his day were far higher than any other day during the Great War, especially for 201 Squadron, who had lost seven aircraft. Wounded with a badly broken leg, Riddell was taken prisoner of war and remained in captivity for the rest of the war. Repatriated following the cessation of hostilities, he relinquished his commission on 6 August 1920 on account of his wounds. He died in Yorkshire in 1984. Note: The recipient’s wartime diaries, letters, photographs, and other ephemera are all held by the Imperial War Museum.
Pair: Petty Officer First Class A. H. Dormer, Royal Navy British War Medal 1914-20 (149397 A. H. Dormer. P.O. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., E.VII.R. (149397 A. H. Dormer, P.O. 1Cl., H.M.S. Vernon.) very fine or better (2) £60-£80 --- Alfred Henry Dormer was born at Paddington in November 1873 and enlisted into the Royal Navy in June 1889 as a Boy Second Class. He served with numerous ships including H.M.S. Lion, Imperieuse, Australia, Anson and Powerful, and was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in February 1909 while serving at the shore establishment H.M.S. Vernon, having attained the rate of Petty Officer First Class. He joined the Royal Fleet Reserve in November 1913 and was recalled in August 1914. During the Great War he was assigned to the shore establishment H.M.S. Excellent remaining there until he was invalided out of the service, receiving a Silver War Badge in December 1917.
Pair: Officer’s Steward First Class D. R. Legg, Royal Navy British War Medal 1914-20 (358570 D. R. Legg. O.S.1 RN.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (358570 D. R. Legg, Off. Std. 1.Cl. H.M.S. Maidstone.) very fine (2) £50-£70 --- Douglas Reginald Legg was born at Southampton in November 1879 and enlisted into the Royal Navy in July 1900 as a Domestic Second Class. He saw active service during the Great War aboard the submarine depot ship H.M.S. Maidstone and while still on her crew was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in January 1919, having attained the rate of Officer’s Steward First Class. He was invalided out of the service in June 1925, suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis.
Seven: Shipwright Artificer First Class E. A. White, Royal Navy 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star; Italy Star; War Medal 1939-45; Naval General Service 1915-62, 1 clasp, Near East (C/MX. 51213 E. A. White, Shpt. Art. 1. R.N.) official correction to rate; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 2nd issue (MX 51213 E. A. White Shpt. Art. 2. H.M.S. Ganges) contact marks, very fine or better (7) £120-£160 --- Ernest Arthur White saw operational service during the Second World War and the Suez Crisis of 1956. He was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in October 1951 while serving at the shore establishment H.M.S. Ganges, having attained the rate of Shipwright Artificer Second Class.
Five: Regimental Sergeant-Major Harold Thompson, Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, with overseas clasp; War Medal 1939-45, Canadian issue in silver; Coronation 1953; Efficiency Medal, G.VI.R., 1st issue, Canada (W.O. Cl. I (RSM) H. Thompson RCOC); Canadian Forces Decoration, E.II.R. (S/Sgt. H. Thompson), together with The Lucas-Tooth Boys Training Fund for Efficiency, silvered bronze medal with ‘1922’ ribbon bar and ‘Lucas-Tooth’ top suspension bar (Cpl. H. Thompson, Devonshire Regt.) the first five mounted as worn, very fine (6) £80-£120 --- Sold with a representative group of 6 miniature medals, RCOC cap badge, and Canadian Forces service records for the period September 1940 to August 1955, giving confirmation of medals but no details of place or date of birth but presumably somewhere in the U.K.
Pair: Electrical Mechanic (Air) First Class F. W. Chilton, Fleet Air Arm General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Malay Peninsula (F. 941423 F. W. Chilton. A/L. E.M. (A). R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., E.II.R., 2nd issue (F. 941423 F.W. Chilton. E.M. (A). 1. H.M.S. Seahawk.) contact marks, very fine or better (2) £80-£120 --- Fred W. Chilton served as an Electrical Mechanic (Air) with the Fleet Air Arm. He was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in March 1970 while serving at H.M.S. Seahawk (Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose).
The rare M.G.S. medal for ‘Chrystler’s Farm’ awarded to Captain J. M. Shand, 89th Foot, one of only three officers of the regiment who lived to claim the clasp for this action Military General Service 1793-1814, 1 clasp, Chrystler’s Farm (I. M. Shand, Capt. 89th Foot) correction to first initial, some very minor edge bruises, otherwise good very fine £14,000-£18,000 --- Only three M.G.S. medals with ‘Chrystler’s Farm’ clasp issued to officers of the 89th Foot, out of a total of only 17 officers to receive this clasp from British or Canadian regiments. John Muller Shand was originally commissioned as temporary Lieutenant in the 13th Foot on 15 October 1799, then as Ensign in the 15th Foot on 9 February 1801, but was placed on half-pay on 24 June 1802. He was appointed Ensign in the 89th Foot, from h.p. 15th Foot, on 22 October 1802, and was promoted to Lieutenant on 28 August 1804. He was appointed Adjutant in March 1806 and promoted to Captain on 15 January 1812. He was placed on half-pay on 25 January 1817, upon disbandment of the 2nd Battalion. Captain Shand served in the American War with the 2/89th and was present in the action at Chrystler’s Farm, for which he received the War Medal with one Clasp. Captain Shand died on 30 September 1851, at Horton, Hampshire.
The rare M.G.S. medal for ‘Fort Detroit’ awarded to Major Ebenezer Reynolds, 1st Essex Militia, who commanded the Flank companies of the 1st and 2nd Essex Militia at the first battle of Frenchtown on the River Raisin; he is the only Canadian officer of Field rank on the rolls for Fort Detroit Military General Service 1793-1814, 1 clasp, Fort Detroit (E. Reynolds, Major, Canadn. Militia) extremely fine £8,000-£10,000 --- Provenance: Hayward, August 1971. A total of 31 M.G.S. medals with ‘Fort Detroit’ clasp issued to officers of Canadian units, of which Reynolds is the senior by rank. Major Ebenezer Reynolds, the commander of the Essex Militia, was the son of a Commissary officer to the British troops at Fort Detroit when it was a British possession. In the autumn of 1812 he occupied Frenchtown with two companies of militia and about 200 Pottawattomi native warriors, but on the advance of Colonel Lewis with a superior force, numbering about 680, was obliged to retire. Major Reynolds took part in all the engagements of the Right Division, viz. 1812 - Brownstown, 5 August; Maguaga, 9 August; Detroit, 16 August; 1813 - Frenchtown, 18 January; Frenchtown, 23 January (later known as the River Raisin Massacre); Miami, 1-9 May; Fort Meigs, 5 May; 1814 - Lundy’s Lane, 25 July. Major Reynolds served as a Permanent member of the Militia Pension Board of Upper Canada, established on 24 May 1816. He also received the Prince Regent’s land grant for services during the war. From 10 September 1833 until 7 August 1937, Major Reynolds was Sheriff of the Western District.
A fine group of five awarded to Captain Sir W. Maxwell, K.B.E., who, during a most adventurous career, served as War Correspondent for the Standard at the Battle of Omdurman, and also subsequently during the Boer War where he was shut up with the British forces at Ladysmith. Having witnessed some of the momentous opening exchanges of the Great War on behalf of the Daily Telegraph, he accepted a commission and served as Chief Field Censor on Sir Ian Hamilton’s Staff in the Dardanelles; he was recruited into the Secret Service after the war Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no claps (Mr. W. Maxwell. “Standard”); Delhi Durbar 1911, silver, unnamed as issued; Japan, Empire, Order of the Rising Sun, Fifth Class breast badge, silver-gilt and enamel, with central cabochon; Khedive’s Sudan 1896-1908, 1 clasp, Khartoum, unnamed as issued; Japan, Empire, Russo-Japanese War Medal 1904-05, unnamed as issued, about very fine (5) £1,600-£2,000 --- Provenance: Sotheby’s February 1990, when sold together with K.B.E. neck badge and breast star, and Turkish Order of the Medjidjie Commander’s 3rd Class neck badge; and Spink May 1991 when sold with Turkish Order of the Medjidjie Commander’s 3rd Class neck badge. K.B.E. (Civil) London Gazette 8 January 1919: ‘Captain William Maxwell’ William Maxwell was born in 1860 in Workington, Cumberland to Irish born parents. He was described in the 1881 census as a ‘Newspaper Reporter’ and in 1885 he was assigned by the morning Standard to replace John Cameron in the Sudan, the latter having perished with Hicks relief expedition in 1885. As war correspondent, he experienced the march to Khartoum with Kitchener’s army in 1898 and witnessed the defeat of the Mahdi at the Battle of Omdurman (Queen’s Sudan medal). After describing the spectacular tour of the German Emperor through Palestine and Syria, and covering the first peace conference at the Hague, 1899, he was packed off by his employers to cover the Boer War where he was shut up with the British Forces under White at Ladysmith. Undaunted by this trying experience, he then went to Kimberley and was with Robert’s army in every engagement from the capture of Bloemfontein to the Battles of Lydenburg and Komati Point (medal). He then served as the Standard’s correspondent on the Prince and Princess of Wales’s tour around the Empire, March to November 1901 and the following year published his own account of the voyage - With the “Ophir” Round the Empire. In 1903 Maxwell joined the Daily Mail with which paper he was assigned to cover the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-05. He accompanied General Kuroki’s Army from the Battle of Yalu to the Battle of Shaho and was with General Nogi at the surrender of Port Arthur (Order of the Rising Sun and medal), the campaign was described in his book From the Yalu to Port Arthur: a personal record (1906). This was followed by a number of Eastern trips including the Prince of Wales’ Indian tour and his attendance at the Coronation of the Shah and the Delhi Durbar of 1911 (medal). A journey up the Yangtze to cover the revolution in Peking was then followed by a visit to Borkum to report on the German island defences and he accompanied the Bulgarian forces whilst reporting on the Balkan Wars, 1912. At the outbreak of the Great War Maxwell was in the service of the Daily Telegraph attached to the Belgian Army and, in the first of many adventures during that war, he was arrested by a British patrol outside Mons after fleeing Brussels as it fell to the German Army in August 1914. He was present at the Battles of the Marne and the Aisne and received a commission as Captain on the Special List attached to the Imperial General Staff on 16 April 1915 (London Gazette 16 April 1915). He immediately embarked for the Dardanelles where he joined the Headquarters Staff of Sir Ian Hamilton as Chief Field Censor. Under regulations drawn up and enforced by the British Army, press correspondents at Gallipoli were required to submit all their writings to Captain Maxwell, whose approval was required prior to their transmission. Maxwell therefore played a central role in the unsuccessful attempt to palliate reports about the events unfolding in the Gallipoli Campaign. After the war he became a section head in the Secret Service. Captain Sir William Maxwell died at Wraysbury in 1928, aged 66. Sold with a 1902 copy of With the “Ophir” Round the Empire. Note: No Great War Medal Index Card or medal roll entries for Maxwell have been found. His Great War campaign medal entitlement is therefore not confirmed.
The Queen’s South Africa Medal awarded to Mr. E. A. Brayley Hodgetts, who served as Special Correspondent for the Daily Express in South Africa during the Boer War; a noted and widely travelled journalist and author, his entertaining remembrances were published in 1924 under the title ‘Moss from a Rolling Stone’ Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (Mr. B. Hodgetts. “Daily Express”) good very fine £1,000-£1,400 --- Edward Arthur Brayley Hodgetts was born in Berlin in 1859, a British subject by parentage, and was educated at Moscow. During a highly cosmopolitan career, he served as Russian Correspondent to The Times, the Daily Graphic and and Reuters for several years, was Paris Editor of Dalziel’s Agency, Foreign Editor of the New York World, Librarian to the Institution of Civil Engineers and wrote many books, the first of which - Personal Reminiscences of General Skobeleff - was published by W. H. Allen & Co. in 1884. He was fluent in many languages and widely travelled from a young age, spending time on the Continent as well as in America, Russia and Asia Minor - his experiences of the the latter two were related in two well-received travel memoirs: In the track of the Russian famine; the personal narrative of Journey through the famine districts of Russia, published by T. Fisher Unwin in 1892 and Round about Armenia: the record of a journey across the Balkans through Turkey, the Caucasus, and Persia in 1895, published by Low, Marston, 1896. He translated Johann David Wyss’s The Swiss Family Robinson into a widely read English language version in 1897 and throughout this period authored many articles for The Strand Magazine and The Pall Mall Gazette. Following the outbreak of the Boer War, Sir Arthur Pearson secured the services of Brayley Hodgett to cover the conflict as Special Correspondent for his soon to be launched newspaper, The Daily Express. Having embarked for the Cape in the Dunvegan Castle in mid February 1900, Brayley Hodgetts is known to have been invalided with enteric fever during his time in South Africa. Returning to London, he continued to write, his books now beginning to focus mostly on Russian and German historical themes: The court of Russia in the nineteenth century, Methuen 1908; The House of Hohenzollern: two centuries of Berlin court life, Dutton 1911; The life of Catherine the Great of Russia, Brentano’s 1914 and Glorious Russia : its life, people and destiny, Bristol 1915. In the 1911 census, however, he describes himself as an author of literature and Secretary of a public company in the Dynamite Trade; his book entitled ‘The rise and progress of the British explosives industry’ had been published two years earlier. Towards the end of his career, in 1924, his wrote an entertaining and anecdote filled personal memoir, ‘Moss from a Rolling Stone’, in relation to which the following article appeared in The Scotsman, 31 March 1924: ‘Mr E. A. Brayley Hodgetts makes a very agreeable companion in his recollections of what has been a varied and active career. As a journalist and foreign correspondent he has visited many lands and met all sorts and conditions of men; and he records his impressions effectively, bringing many a good story to his aid. He was born in Berlin - “because a man is born in a stable he is not necessarily a horse, and my being born in Berlin of British parents did not involve the forfeiture of my birthright as an Englishman” - and his earliest recollection of Berlin was - “seeing a rather flush faced officer, clean shaven, in a military cap, and with strange, dreamy, blue eyes, driving in an open carriage. That was Frederick William IV., the mad king of Prussia!” Subsequent memories cluster round New York after the Civil War, London in the ‘eighties, Berlin under William II, Paris under the Republic, St. Petersburg under Alexander III. There are chapters on experiences in the Near East and in South Africa . Among well-known figures of whom there are glimpses in the course of the reminiscences are Ruskin, Bronte Harte, Oscar Wilde, Tolstoy, Gladstone, Joseph Chamberlain, Clemenceau, King Edward VII and Kaiser Wilhelm II.‘ He died at Kensington, London in 1932.
The Queen’s South Africa Medal awarded to ‘painter, etcher, raconteur and rifle-shot’, Mortimer Menpes, who accompanied the City of London Imperial Volunteers to the front during the Boer War as war artist for Black & White illustrated weekly magazine Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp, (Mr. M. Menpes “Black & White.”) very fine £1,400-£1,800 --- Mortimer Luddington Menpes was born in 1855 at Port Adelaide, South Australia, the son of property developer James Menpes and was educated at John L. Young’s Adelaide Educational Institution, although his formal art training began at the School of Art in London in 1878 after his family had moved back to England in 1875 and settled in Chelsea. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1880, and, over the following 20 years, 35 of his paintings and etchings were shown at the Academy. He met James McNeil Whistler on a sketching tour of Brittany in 1880 and became Whistler’s pupil, learning the etching techniques that were to become evident in much of his later work. In 1886 he stood as godfather to Oscar Wilde’s son and the following year, a visit to Japan led to his first one-man exhibition at Dowdeswell’s Gallery in London. In 1900, following the outbreak of war in the Transvaal, Menpes sailed to South Africa as a war artist for the weekly illustrated magazine Black & White, in which, on 3 February 1900, the following appeared: ‘Accompanying the City of London Imperial Volunteers to the front is an artist whose name is known the whole world over, because he is first of all an artist, and secondly a reporter of events. This is Mr. Mortimer Menpes, who is entitled to tag after his name a list of honours and titles of which few artists can boast. Mr. Menpes is the inventor of a process of colour etching, in which, to the sharpness and definition attained by the tools of the etcher, he has added the softness and brilliance of all the rich colours that may be laid on the painter’s palette. Mr Menpes will be able to send us from the front portraits of all the principal Generals and notabilities of the war.’ Menpes’ sketches from the campaign were subsequently transcribed by his daughter Dorothy Menpes and published by Charles Black of Soho Square in 1901 under the title ‘War Impressions, being a record in colour by Mortimer Menpes’. After the war Menpes travelled widely and and many of his illustrations were published in books again accompanied by text written by Dorothy. He painted in oil and watercolour as well as being a prolific printmaker, producing over 700 etchings and drypoints during his career to great acclaim. A definitive catalog raisonné of his printed works was published in 2012 which also included an extensive biography and his exhibition history. He died at Pangbourne in 1938. ‘Menpes, Mortimer, F.R.G.S.; painter, etcher, raconteur, and rifle-shot; inartistically born in Australia; war artist for Black and White in South Africa, 1900. Educ.: nominally at a grammar school in Port Adelaide, but really on a life scheme of his own. His career as a painter began when he was one year old; he is still a painter. He had held more one-man exhibitions in London than any other living painter: viz Japan, India, Mexico, Burmah, Cashmere, France, Spain, Morocco, Egypt, Venice, Beautiful Women, Beautiful Children, The War in South Africa, Venice, exhibitions of Black and White, and of Etchings in colour, thereby reviving a lost art. Publications: a whole series of etchings at different periods; Essays (one called the Actualists, a skit on the Impressionists); War Impressions, 1901; Japan 1901; World Pictures, 1902; World’s Children, 1903; The Durbar, 1903; Venice, 1904; Whistler as I knew Him, 1904; Brittany, 1905; Rembrandt, 1905; India, 1905; Thames, 1906; Sir Henry Irving, 1906; Portrait Biographies, Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener. In the preparation of World Pictures he did the world in record time, being unsurpassed even by Jules Verne. Founder of the Menpes Press; Founder of the Menpes Great Masters, which are reproduced under his direction; Founder and Managing Director of the Menpes Fruit Farms, Pangboume.’ (Who’s Who, 1932) Sold together with a copy of Black & White magazine (cover loose), dated 3 February 1900, containing the above quoted reference to Menpes and his portrait picture; copy of Black & White magazine, dated 5 May 1900, cover loose; a quantity of copies of Menpes’ illustrations and sketches appearing in Black & White magazine during 1900; a letter from Menpes to a Mr Head, written from the Vicarage, Gorelstone in 1902, regarding a sold painting; other copied research and the following 8 hardback books: Deluxe Edition (No 86 of 350 copies and signed by Mortimer Menpes) of War Impressions, being a record in colour by Mortimer Menpes transcribed by Dorothy Menpes published by Adam & Charles Black Soho Square, London 1901, very good condition; another, standard 1901 edition, binding loose; Japan a record in colour by Mortimer Menpes transcribed by Dorothy Menpes published by Adam & Charles Black , Soho Square, London 1901, binding loose; World Pictures by Mortimer Menpes text by Dorothy Menpes published by A. & C. Black Soho Square London 1902; World’s Children by Mortimer Menpes text by Dorothy Menpes, published by Adam and Charles Black, London, 1903, 1st edition, Westbourne School Sheffield 1908 prize label inside front cover - awarded to Dorothy A. Nash, cover of spine weak; India by Mortimer Menpes text by Flora Annie Steel published by Charles Black Soho Square London, 1912 edition, ex public library, spine sun faded; Paris by Mortimer Menpes text by Dorothy Menpes published by Adam and Charles Black 1909, with partially torn dust jacket, inscribed inside front cover ‘with love and good wishes from all at Netherley, Xmas 1909’ Venice by Lonsdale and Laura Ragg illustrated by Mortimer Menpes, published by A. & C. Black Ltd. 4,5 & 6 Soho Square, London, 1916.
The Queen’s South Africa Medal awarded to Mr. Daniel Innes Calder, Special Correspondent for Reuter’s Agency in Basutoland during the Boer War, who was personally complemented by Baron Reuter and made the subject of a substantial testimonial on account of his intrepid reporting during the conflict Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (Mr. D. Innes Calder. “Reuter.”) nearly very fine £1,000-£1,400 --- Daniel Innes Calder was born in Fraserburgh, Scotland in 1866. He served for seven years as a journalist in South Africa, including during the Boer War as special correspondent for Reuter’s Agency in Basutoland, seeing much action and performing some impressive feats of journalism, services for which he was personally complemented by Baron Reuter and made the subject of a special testimonial following his return to Britain in 1901. His brother, also a war correspondent, died of dysentery whilst working for Reuters during the Boer War. The following obituary appeared in print following Calder’s death in 1907: ‘His many friends in Fraserburgh, and in other parts of the country, will regret to hear the death of Mr Daniel Innes Calder, a partner of the printing and publishing firm of Messrs Calder Brothers, Fraserburgh. The sad event took place on Saturday morning at his residence, Seamount, Fraserburgh. Mr Calder had not been in robust health for some time, but he was at work at his office little more than a week ago. He was only 41 years of age, and had an interesting career as a journalist. After having been for several years a reporter on the “Fraserburgh Advertiser,” Mr Calder, prior to leaving Fraserburgh, was editor of the paper, but on account of ill-health he left for South Africa in the end of 1896. On arrival at Cape Town, he made his way to Bloemfontein, where he saw the late President Kruger, and heard him make his speech on the fatal close alliance between the Transvaal and the Free State, the outcome of which was the war. After a short residence in the Orange Free State capital, Mr Calder went to Maseru, Basutoland. Here he met Sir Godfrey Lagden, then Resident Commissioner, and became connected with Reuter’s News Agency. Leaving Basutoland for Swaziland, where he was appointed editor of the “Swaziland Times,” Mr Calder found himself in a different country, and climate, and among quite a different race of people. When he had been about a year and a half in Bremensdorp, the Boers declared war, and Swaziland being under Dutch, or rather Transvaal, administration, all Britishers had to clear out of the country as best they could. There being no railway nearer than the Delagoa Bay line, the long trek to the railway had to be done in waggons. After a visit to Lorenzo Marquez, Mr Calder went back to Basutoland, his brother, another of Reuter’s correspondents, having succumbed to dysentery. It was worthy of note that his brother was the correspondent whose message of the relief of Kimberley was the first information of the great event received in Britain. After a stay of a month or more in Basutoland, during which time Ladybrand, close to Basuto border, was besieged, Mr Calder left to join General Hunter’s forces. There were plenty of “scraping” then, and Mr Calder frequently accompanied Colonel Damant in a skirmish. He was also with the 2nd Brigade, and while attached to saw the burning of Bothaville. He was at the capture of 11 guns, taken from the Boers in a hot action, when the gallant and able Colonel Le Gallais and a number of other officers were killed. During the engagement De Wet was personally in command of the Boers. The report of this important capture of guns Mr Calder had in London five or six hours before Lord Robert’s official despatch was received, and for his smart work he received great credit from Reuter. He continued with General Bruce Hamilton’s forces until ordered north to Kitchener’s great drive, which thanks to the irregularity of the trains, he just missed. Making a short stay in Pretoria, he travelled to Ladysmith, and on to Harrismith, in which district General Rundle was operating. After following the fortunes of the Guerilla warfare for a time, he covered the long journey from Ladysmith to Bloemfontein by train, and thence to Basutoland , where he received leave to return home after a stay of five years in the country. On several occasions he rode, through difficult country, and obtained information of great value, which he managed to transmit by telegraph to his agency, earning from those in whose service he was the highest encomiums for intrepidity, smartness, and accuracy. His services were specially acknowledged when he returned to this country in 1901. Then he was personally complemented by Baron Reuter, the head of the Agency, in London, and made the recipient of a substantial testimonial in recognition of his services. Mr Calder was one of the few war correspondents who received a medal from the Government, as a mark of appreciation of his services in connection with the war. One of his most prized meetings was his interview with Sir Hector Macdonald. He called upon “Fighting Mac” in Aliwal North where General Macdonald was acting as Commandant. The gallant general received him with much warmth and on taking his departure after a long conversation Mr Calder received a hearty invitation to make another call on an early date. Locally Mr Calder was a great favourite, his bright and witty disposition making him very popular wherever he went. He took a great interest in many local institutions, especially those of a sporting and recreative kind. He was a prominent member of the Fraserburgh Liberal Club. In the Mid Street Congregational Church on Sunday afternoon, feeling reference was made by Rev. Thomas Johnstone, to the loss the congregation has sustained by the death of Mr Calder. The funeral which will be a Masonic one, takes place to Kirkton cemetery this afternoon.’ (The Fraserburgh Herald and Northern Counties Advertiser, 19 March 1907)
The Queen’s South Africa Medal awarded to Sir George V. Fiddes, G.C.M.G., K.C.B., formerly Political Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, South Africa, 1900, and afterwards Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (G. V. Fiddes, C.B, Esq. Secty: to C.C.) toned, extremely fine £300-£400 --- G.C.M.G. London Gazette 12 February 1917. K.C.M.G. London Gazette 1 January 1912. C.M.G. London Gazette 1 January 1905. K.C.B. London Gazette 1 January 1919. C.B. London Gazette 8 January 1901. George Vandeleur Fiddes was born at Great Yarmouth on 4 September 1858, and was educated at Dulwich College and at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he gained a second-class degree in Classical Moderations in 1879. He entered the Colonial Office in 1881 and was promoted to First Class Clerk in 1896, after long service as private secretary to the Earl of Onslow, Lord Pirbright, and Sir Richard Meade, He went on to be appointed as Imperial Secretary and Accountant to Sir Alfred Milner, High Commissioner for South Africa 1897-1900, and as Political Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief, South Africa, 1900. He was also Secretary to the Transvaal Administration, 1900-02, and returned to the Colonial Office as Principal Clerk in 1902. He became Assistant Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in 1909, and was Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1916-21. Sir George Fidddes died on 22 December 1936.
Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (1779 Ord: B. L. Brooksbank. St John Amb: Bde:); together with St John Ambulance Association re-examination medal (90315 Benj. L. Brooksbank) and three small silver S.J.A.B. competition medals, ‘Ambulance Patient, Keighley 1900’, ‘Shipley 1st Prize’, these two with monogram ‘BLB’, and ‘S. & D. F. & T.S. Amb. Comptn. 1902 B. L. Brooksbank’, first with small edge bruise, otherwise very fine (5) £100-£140
Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 1 clasp, Cape Colony (R. Lowe, Scottish Hosp:) small official correction, otherwise nearly extremely fine and scarce £400-£500 --- Provenance: John Tamplin Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, September 2003. The Scottish National Red Cross Hospital was organised in the first instance by the St Andrew’s Association and was funded by voluntary donations. The organisation of the hospital commenced in January 1900, the personnel eventually consisting of an officer in charge, 18 civil medical officers, 1 Quartermaster, 1 Warrant Officer, 2 secretaries, 35 nursing sisters of the Army Nursing Service Reserve, 45 first-class orderlies, all of whom were medical students, and 57 second-class orderlies, making a total of 160. The first section arrived at Cape Town on 13 May 1900, and the hospital was opened for patients on 4 June, at Kroonstadt. Previous to that time however, the hospital staff had been employed on duty in the military hospitals at Bloemfontein and Kroonstadt. It remained during the whole period at Kroonstadt, and its equipment was handed over to the Government, when it ceased to exist as a private hospital, on 14 October 1900.
Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 2 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State (Whrmn: J. Hamilton, Irish Hospital) nearly extremely fine and scarce £400-£500 --- Provenance: John Tamplin Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, September 2003. The Irish Hospital was offered to the Central Committee of the British Red Cross, in December 1899, by Lord Iveagh, who generously offered to pay for equipping the hospital for service in South Africa. He proposed that ‘it should be as far as possible a mobile unit and that the management should be left to whatever civilian medical gentleman he should select’. The hospital was formally established on 28 December 1899, and the first personnel and equipment sailed for the Cape in the following February. On arrival at Cape Town the staff went into camp at Green Point and then moved by rail to Naauwport, arriving there on 10 March. The following day two surgeons, two dressers and eighteen orderlies, with stores, were sent by rail to De Aar. The remainder of the unit, being under orders to move to Bloemfontein, were unable to operate at Naauwport. The final move was made between 10th and 12th April and the De Aar detachment joined the main body on 21 April at Bloemfontein. On 10 May 1900 a section under Sir William Thomson marched out to join Lord Roberts’ force at Kroonstadt, were attached to the 11th Division on the advance which commenced on 22 May, and reached Pretoria on 6 June. On 14 June the Irish Hospital commenced operations in the Palace of Justice and by 19 June had had 93 admissions. The original capacity of 100 beds was soon extended to 250 beds and by 10 July there were 500 beds, the staff being supplemented by military personnel. No patients were admitted after 30 September 1900 and the unit left South Africa on 15 October, handing over its last 180 patients to the Royal Army Medical Corps. The medal roll for the Irish Hospital shows a total of 67 members entitled to the medal with various clasps. Also included in the roll are three members of the R.A.M.C. and 25 Nursing Sisters of the Army Nursing Service Reserve. Hamilton is one of two Washermen shown on the roll and, interestingly, is one of only two recipients to receive just these two clasps.
Crimea 1854-56, no clasp (Qr. Mr. J. Leahy. 4th. Regt.) officially impressed naming, light scratches to rank, generally very fine and a scarce casualty to the Regiment £240-£280 --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, December 2011. John Leahy attested for the 4th Regiment of Foot on 23 January 1839 and was appointed Probationary Orderly Room Clerk (with the rank of Sergeant) on 26 July 1840. He was promoted Quartermaster Sergeant on 8 November 1848, and was commissioned as Quartermaster of his regiment on 9 December 1849, having received a glowing testimonial from the Regimental Commanding Officer. The 4th Foot landed at Old Fort, Calamita Bay, in the Crimea on 14 September 1854. Four days later the Cholera that had been raging through the invading army took the life of Quartermaster Leahy, the first of only three officers of the regiment to lose their lives in the Crimea. He is buried by Lake Tuzla, north of the river Alma. His widow was granted a pension of £36. Sold with copied research.
Five: Bandmaster H. A. Kenney, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Cyprus (5671005 W.O. Cl. 1, H. A. Kenney. Oxf. & Bucks.); Coronation 1953; Army L.S. & G.C., E.II.R., 1st issue, Regular Army (5671005 W.O. Cl. 1. H. A. Kenney. Oxf & Bucks) together with mounted set of five miniature dress medals, light contact marks, otherwise very fine £260-£300 --- Warrant Officer Kenney is first mentioned in the 1949 Chronicle as Bandmaster on 31st December. In 1954 he wrote a slow march ‘The Troop’, and a quick march ‘Waterloo’. On 6 May 1954, the Colonel of the regiment presented him with his L.S. & G.C. medal. In 1955 he wrote ‘The 52nd Colours’. On 6 April 1960, he was posted to the Royal Artillery band at Plymouth and commissioned as Director of Music He also played hockey and played for the Army in 1958. Sold with a copied group photograph of the N.C.O’s of the 43rd and 52nd Light Infantry in Cyprus 1957.
Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 9 clasps, Belmont, Modder River, Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast, South Africa 1901 (8344 S:S: Clr: Mkr: S. G. Frost, A.S.C.) nearly extremely fine and scarce £600-£800 --- Roll confirms first eight clasps as Staff Sergeant Collar Maker with 20 Company Army Service Corps and notes ‘Invalided Home 22/4/01’. South Africa 1901 clasp confirmed on Supplementary Roll as Saddler Staff Sergeant, A.S.C., dated 16 February 1903.
India General Service 1908-35 (2), 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1908 (8502 Corporal D. Rose 1st. Bn. Seaforth Highlanders); 1 clasp, North West Frontier 1930-31 (2816216 Pte. J. Cullen. Seaforth.) rank partially officially corrected on first, and unit partially officially corrected on second, edge bruise to latter, otherwise extremely fine (2) £100-£140
The 1914-15 Star awarded to Lieutenant H. A. Hodges, Monmouthshire Regiment, an all-round sportsman who played First Class Cricket for Nottinghamshire and was capped twice by England for Rugby Union playing against Wales and Ireland in the 1906 Home Nations Championship; he was twice mentioned in despatches and was killed in action in March 1918 1914-15 Star (Lieut. H. A. Hodges. Monmouth. R.) extremely fine £300-£400 --- Harold Augustus Hodges was born at The Priory, Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire, on 22 January 1886, the son of William A. Hodges, J.P. and Augusta Hodges of 'Oaklands', Bromley Park, Kent. He was educated at Roclareston School and from January 1899, Sedbergh School. He entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1905, and following university he studied at the Sorbonne, Paris, for a short period before joining Tonbridge school as a master in September 1909. He played Rugby Union for England and Oxford University (Blue); Lacrosse for Oxford University (Blue), and also played for Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club (1911). He served in France with the 3rd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment, attached 11th Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment. He was twice mentioned in Despatches (25 May and 24 December, 1917) and was promoted to Captain. He was reported missing believed killed on 24 March 1918, but his death was not confirmed until the following October, when it was reported that 'On the night of 22 March 1918, he entered a small factory on a road between Ham and Eppeville, hoping to make contact with a British battalion. He instead encountered enemy troops and was shot dead.’ He is buried in Roye New British Cemetery.
The Victory Medal awarded to Captain C. I. Prowse, Royal Navy, commanding officer of H.M.S. Queen Mary who was killed at the battle of Jutland when a German shell ignited Queen Mary’s magazines Victory Medal 1914-19 (Capt. C. I. Prowse. R.N.) extremely fine £200-£300 --- Cyril Irby Prowse was appointed Captain of the battle cruiser Queen Mary on 13 October 1914. During the battle of Jutland she engaged the Derfflinger, putting one of her turrets out of action, and then scored four hits on SMS Seydlitz. The German battlecruiser hit back striking ´Q´ turret before sending more 12 inch shells to hit near ´A´ and ´B´ turrets before scoring another hit on ´Q´ turret. Queen Mary´s forward magazine exploded, the ship listed to port and began to sink amid more explosions with the loss of 1,245 men. There were just 18 survivors. Prowse's younger brother, Brigadier-General Charles Bertie Prowse, C.B., D.S.O., was killed a month later on 1 July during the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He had decided to move his 11th Brigade headquarters into the captured German front line, and while assembling men of the Seaforth Highlanders in the British trenches he was shot in the back by machine gun fire. The brothers are remembered on the Prowse window at St John the Baptist Parish Church, Yeovil, Somerset, and by a memorial tablet at St Mary Magdalene Church, Taunton, Somerset.
Family group: The 1902 Coronation Medal attributed to Sir Alfred Seale Haslam, Kt., M.P., Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme 1901-04 Coronation 1902, Mayors’ and Provosts’ issue, silver, unnamed as issued, together with a miniature of the same, both contained in red leather Elkington & Co. Ltd. cases Four: Lieutenant E. S. Haslam, 4th North Midlands Howitzer Brigade, Royal Field Artillery 1914-15 Star (Lieut. E. S. Haslam. R.F.A. British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. E. S. Haslam); Coronation 1937, together with mounted group of four miniature medals, extremely fine (10) £200-£260 --- Sold with a coat button of the Derbyshire Volunteer Corps of 1800, in excavated condition and lacking reverse fitment, with vellum note of attribution dated ‘Little Chester, 1886. Mr. A. S. Haslam’. Alfred Seale Haslam was born on 27 October 1844, 4th son of William Haslam, Derby. He trained as an engineer at Midland Railway Works, Derby, later under Lord Armstrong’s Company. He started Haslam Engineering Works in Derby in 1868, and was the first to invent, manufacture, and to fit up Haslam’s patent refrigerating plant in the Colonies, and to fit up the machinery and cold chambers on board ship and on shore, which established an important business in conveying perishable food from the Colonies to Great Britain; Mayor of Derby, 1890-91, when he received H.M. Queen Victoria when she paid a State visit to the town, and was knighted in 1891; Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme, 1901-04; contested Derby as Liberal Unionist, 1892; M.P. (L.U.) Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs., 1900-06; donated to the Nation statues of Queen Victoria erected in the City of London, Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Derby. He lived at Breadsall Priory, near Derby, and died on 13 January 1927, leaving a son and two daughters. Eric Seale Haslam served in France as a Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery from 1 March 1915. He was also a Captain in the 4th North Midland Brigade, R.F.A. (T.F.), known as the ‘Derbyshire Howitzers’.
Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension, engraved naming (Geo. Cole. Carp. Mte. H.M.S. Aurora.) light contact marks, good very fine £120-£160 --- George Cole was born in Minwear Landshipping, Pembrokeshire on 24 August 1833. He enlisted into the Royal Navy in June 1864 and was first posted to H.M.S. Saturn. He went on to serve with H.M.S. Nankin and Cadmus before transferring to H.M.S. Aurora in February 1875. It was whilst part of this ship’s crew that Cole was awarded a Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. His later naval career included service with H.M.S. Royal Adelaide, Zephyr, Bellerophon, Indus, Valiant and Impregnable. He was discharged with a pension in July 1884.
Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension, engraved naming (Js. Burne Gunrs. Mte. H.M.S. Eagle.) light contact marks, very fine £120-£160 --- James Burne was born in Plymouth on 29 September 1838. He enlisted into the Royal Navy in August 1854 as a Boy 2nd Class and first served with H.M.S. Algiers. Shortly after joining this ship, Burne sailed to the Crimea, receiving a Crimea Medal with the clasp ‘Sebastopol’. Following his return home, he continued his service with several other ships including H.M.S. Ajax, Exmouth, Caesar, Cambridge, Liverpool and Juno. He joined H.M.S. Eagle in October 1873 and whilst serving in this ship was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He was discharged with a pension in October 1876.
Family Group: Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension, impressed naming (F. J. Starr, Ch. Sto. H.M.S. Camperdown.) very fine Three: Able Seaman W. A. Starr, alias W. A. Blake, Royal Navy British War and Victory Medals (J.42753 W. A. Starr. A.B. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 3rd issue, coinage head (J.42753 W. A. Blake. A.B. H.M.S. Curacoa.) light contact marks, very fine (4) £200-£240 --- Frank James Starr was born in Frome, Somerset on 17 October 1861. He enlisted into the Royal Navy in July 1882 as a Stoker 2nd Class and first served in H.M.S. Asia. He later served with numerous other ships including H.M.S. Neptune, Duke of Wellington, Serapis, Magicienne and Fox. In July 1900 Starr was sent to H.M.S. Camperdown and it was whilst with this ship that he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He transferred to the Royal Fleet Reserve in August 1902 and was finally discharged in October 1911. Following the outbreak of the Great War, he re-enlisted into the Royal Navy at the age of 51, and served as a Chief Stoker with H.M.S. Victory II from August to September 1914. William Albert Starr was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire on 3 November 1899, the eldest son of Frank James and Jessie Sophia Starr. He enlisted into the Royal Navy in November 1915 as a Boy Second Class under the alias of William Albert Blake and first served with the shore establishment H.M.S. Ganges. In February 1916 he was posted to the armoured cruiser H.M.S. Drake and was part of her crew when she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-79 on 2 October 1917, off the northern coast of Ireland. The surviving crew were taken off before she capsized. For the remainder of the Great War he served with the dreadnought battleship H.M.S. Monarch. Following the war he served with several ships and shore establishments including the destroyers H.M.S. Winchester and Venomous, and the battlecruiser H.M.S. Renown. He was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal whilst serving with the light cruiser H.M.S. Curacoa. On the outbreak of the Second World War, Starr was serving with the shore establishment H.M.S. Raven before transferring to the Fleet Air Arm depot ship H.M.S. Mashobra in October 1939. After this ship was bombed off Harstad, Norway by Luftwaffe aircraft, Starr was transferred to H.M.S. Victory. He died in service on 24 June 1945 and is buried in Portsmouth (Kingston) Cemetery.
Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension, impressed naming (H. E. Cook, Ch. Sto., H.M.S. Endymion.) nearly extremely fine£100-£140 --- Henry Edward Cook was born in Sheerness, Kent on 28 March 1866. He enlisted into the Royal Navy in March 1885 and first served with H.M.S. Pembroke, transferring to H.M.S. Penelope the following June. He went on to serve with other ships and shore establishments including H.M.S. Comus, Terror and Wildfire II. He was posted to H.M.S. Endymion in June 1899 and it was whilst serving with this ship that he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He later served with H.M.S. Severn and Bacciante and died of Acute Peritonitis at Naples on 28 April 1903 whilst on the crew of the later vessel.
Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension, impressed naming (F. Miller, Sto., H.M.S. Hibernia.) edge bruising, very fine £100-£140 --- Frank Miller was born in Valetta, Malta on 11 December 1856. He joined the Royal Navy in May 1877 as a Stoker 2nd Class and was first posted to the flagship of Malta’s naval base, H.M.S. Hibernia. He later served with many other ships and shore establishments including H.M.S. Condor, Euphrates, Thunderer, Polyphemus, Dolphin and Nile. In March 1896, for the sixth time during his career, Miller was posted to H.M.S. Hibernia, and it was during this period that he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He was discharged with a pension in June 1897.
Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., V.R., narrow suspension, impressed naming (Wm. Hy. Simmonds, Blksh, H.M.S. Neptune) minor edge bruising, good very fine £100-£140 --- William Henry Simmons was born in Devonport, Devon on 6 March 1850. He enlisted into the Royal Navy in March 1868 and was first posted to H.M.S. Prince Consort as a member of the blacksmith’s crew. He served with numerous ships including H.M.S. Black Prince, Vanguard, Magpie, Hercules and Arab. In July 1882 he was posted to the wooden screw corvette H.M.S. Thalia and was part of her crew during operations off the coast of Egypt. For this service, Simmonds was awarded the Egypt Medal and Khedive’s Star. He remained with Thalia until December 1882 and following this went onto serve with H.M.S. Indus, Victor Emmanuel, Albatross and Hotspur, finally joining H.M.S. Neptune in May 1887. It was whilst serving with this ship that he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal. He was discharged with a pension in April 1888.
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