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Lot 118
AN 18CT GOLD AND DIAMOND HALF ETERNITY RING having seven small diamond brilliants within a white gold rub-over setting, totalling 0.35cts approx, marked 750, ring size O, 3grams; sold along with a yellow metal and diamond solitaire ring, testing as high carat gold, having a single central diamond brilliant measuring 0.18cts approx. ring size O. 2grams.
Lot 6
AN 18CT GOLD DIAMOND AND GARNET RING having three oval cut garnets intersperced by two old cut diamonds totalling 0.16cts approx., ring size O, marked 18, 4grams; sold along with an 18ct gold wedding band, marked 750, ring size N, 1gram and a foreign yellow metal ring, testing as high carat gold, inset with two small sapphire chips, ring size Q. 2grams.
Lot 1180
A Box of toys including Lego farm tractor, Britain`s farm toys including 8 wheeled trailer, New Holland 376 baler, Silage trailer, forage harvester, Manure spreader, Nordsten lift-o-matic drill, two slurry tankers, Landrover horse box, and other oddments including Matchbox Super Kings Car transporter trailer, Lesney Massey Ferguson 780 speeded Combine and a Lledo promotional (Yorkshire tea) model of a 1930`s Police van.
Lot 990
A rare Meccano O gauge train set manufactured by Bing, 040 locomotive inscribed "George V 2663", complete with tender, two carriages and quantity of stock, in original box (box part af). This boxed set was made for Hornby and was one of a consignment that reached England just before the outbreak of the 1914-18 War with Germany. No more were to come and only a few went on the market as a "Meccano" product. Obviously Frank Hornby of "Meccano" was toying with the idea of entering the model railway business. Some of the sets went on sale but the remainders were kept stacked away at the Binns Road factory, Liverpool, until peace returned and re-issued after the war. Frank Hornby was obviously a patriot at heart! They appeared in the first post-war Hornby catalogue alongside Hornby`s new range of model railway items. They no longer appeared in ensuing catalogues. The Bing versions appeared with reversible mechanisms - curiously the post-war survivors could only run in a forward direction round the tracks (Illustrated).
Lot 991
A Hornby O gauge L16 no.2 special tender 4-40 locomotive no "1185" (front wheels detached but present), complete with tender, LMS gunpowder van, three passenger coaches, three goods wagons and a large quantity of wooden backed three rail track contained in a purpose built stained wooden cabinet (Illustrated).
Lot 1105
Ty-Phoo Tea football cards – 24 Team shots to inc Fulham, Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield Utd, Rangers, Glasgow Celtic, Stoke City, Sunderland, West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Leeds Utd, Nottingham Forest, |Leicester City, Manchester City, Manchester Utd, Everton, Liverpool, Burnley, Chelsea, West Ham, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal together with16 single player portraits to inc R McFarland, Bobby Moore, Alan Mullery, John O`Hare, Joe Royle, Gary Sprake, Colin Stein, Ian Storey-Moore, Ray Wilson, Bobby Tambling, Martin Peters, Terry Paine, Billy McNeill, Eddie McCreadie
Lot 41
Original 1953 Davis Cup tennis film titled "Slazenger Proudly Present Davis Cup 1953" – original black and white 16 mm (54 minutes with sound) showing extended coverage of The Challenge Round Final held in Kooyong Melbourne. The film begins with a look back at the history of the Davis Cup and shows fine and extensive slow motion archive footage of the early Australian/USA players in action – Norman Brookes, Gerald Patterson, Bill Tilden, Pat O`Hara-Wood and Bill Johnston. The film charts the progress of the United States and Australian teams as they fought their way through to the challenge round. Consequently many world-class players are seen including four Musketeers Cochet, Brugnon, Lacoste and Borotra, Jack Crawford, Alison, Hopman, Perry, Vines, Budge, Bromwich, McGrath, Quist, Kramer, Schroeder, Parker, Mulloy, Trabert, Seixas, Hoad, Brichand, and Talbot. There is in depth coverage of the Challenge round rubbers. This was the fourth consecutive year that Australia had won the title. Couple of very interesting scenes show Billy Knight, Tony Picard, George Worthington, Neale Fraser, Rory Emerson, Rex Hartwig, Ken Rosewall, Lew Hoad, and Mervyn Rose going through their training schedules. Of particular interest is a scene showing Lew Hoad playing his tennis at the tender age of 11 yrs in 1946. Truly a fine archive record of tennis heritage which comes complete with its own DVD copy.
Lot 574
Collection of Open golf and other programmes and tickets – from 1947 onwards but mostly 1990`s and some signed to incl Open Tickets from 1959 signed by winner Gary Player, with others from 1960, 1962, 1964 with others from 1995 (16), other tickets from 1959 to incl Professional Tournament Dalmahoy ticket and programmes signed by the winners Eric Brown and Christie O`Connor and others players, Swallow & Penfold Tournament ticket signed by the winner Peter Butler, other ticket incl 1959 Walker Cup, Dunlop Tournament tickets signed by the joint winners (11) plus various golf programmes incl a selection of 1960`s professional tournaments, US PGA and later Open programmes from the 1990`s onwards – a lot
Lot 14
* KUSTODIEV, BORIS 1878-1927 Worker and Farmer. Cover Design for the Anniversary Issue of the Magazine "Petrograd" signed and dated 1923 Pencil and watercolour on paper, 27 by 23 cm. "Provenance: Collection of I. Angenitski, KievExhibited: Vsesoyuznaya vystavka proizvedenii B.M. Kustodieva, The Kiev State Museum of Russian Art, label on the reverse.Literature: Etkind, M.G. (ed.), Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev, Leningrad-Moscow, 1960, p. 205. Etkind, M.G. (ed.), Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev, Leningrad, Khudozhnik RSFSR, 1967, p. 258. Boris Mikhailovich Kustodiev, Moscow, Sovetski Khudozhnik, 1982, p. 368, No. 2300, listed.Boris Kustodiev’s fame as an outstanding painter sometimes eclipses his evident success in the area of graphic design. However, there is no branch of graphic art in which the artist could not have demonstrated real mastery as a draughtsman and watercolourist. He practised easel-painting — both landscape and portrait graphics — as well as theatre design, book illustration, woodcut printing, magazine covers and propaganda posters. Kustodiev was a genuine virtuoso in all graphic techniques.Executed with the humour and elegance for which he is renowned, the economy of a poster design and a particular “fairground” decorativism unique to Kustodiev, the Cover we now present also has historical and artistic validation. For Kustodiev’s close friend, the artist Vsevolod Voinov, wrote in his diary for 1923 the following: “9 October. Around six o’clock went to Kustodiev’s. Boris Mikhailovich showed me his most recent works and those done in the summer, which I hadn’t yet seen. Among them the cover for the anniversary issue of Petrograd magazine. A splendid watercolour. It shows a peasant and a worker, sitting by a column, above which flies a red flag with the letters ‘USSR’. At the feet of the peasant, a mound of fruit and sheaves of corn. The worker reads aloud from a book. In the background, a village and a town. Cranes, a railway, factories, fields and so on. A beautiful sky with white clouds.” (M.G. Etkind, 1967, p. 258)."
Lot 329
* ROERICH, NICHOLAS 1874-1947 Rocks and Cliffs, from the series "Ladoga" signed with a monogram, also numbered "N19" by the artist, and further numbered "164" by the Roerich Museum, with an old label on the reverse, c. 1917-18 Oil on panel, 32.5 by 40 cm. "Provenance: Roerich Museum, New York, 1924–1935. Nettie & Louis Horch collection, USA, from 1935. Private collection, USA. Private collection, Europe. Authenticity certificate from the expert O. Glebova, Senior Researcher at the Roerich Museum, Moscow.Exhibited: The Nicholas Roerich Exhibition, Travelling exhibition in the USA, 1920–1923. Roerich Museum, New York (permanent collection), 1923–1935, no.164.Literature: C. Brinton, The Nicholas Roerich Exhibition, New York, 1921, no.152–172. Roerich Museum Catalogue, 8th ed., New York, Roerich Museum, 1930, p. 16, no.151–164.Nicholas Roerich spent most of 1917 and 1918 in the Lake Ladoga area where he moved his family away from the chaos and destruction unleashed by the Russian revolution. He was also suffering from a chronic lung disease. His letters to friends from this period, especially 1917, reveal a sense of desperation and gloom that he had probably never experienced before, and many of his paintings are detached, somewhat emotionless observations of nature. However, depression was never in the artist`s nature, and his health restored, Roerich soon plunged himself back into social and artistic activity. This painting exhibits a naive, almost excessive optimism in its simple composition and diluted colour patches, as though Roerich wanted to return to an iconic landscape form in order to play with light and shadow in their most abstract manifestations.He included it among the works of the travelling exhibition that visited more than 20 cities in the United States during 1920–1923. After that, it stayed in the Roerich Museum’s permanent collection."
Lot 343
MANE-KATZ, IMMANUIL 1894-1962 Ukrainian Landscape signed Oil on canvas, 72 by 91.5 cm. Provenance: Distinguished collection of René Lavigne, Geneva. Anonymous Sale; Auction of the Collection of René Lavigne, Phillips, London, 29 June 1987. Private Collection, UK.Literature: R.S. Aries, Mane-Katz. 1894-1962. The Complete Works, Vol. I, published by Editions d`Art Jacques O`Hana, 1970, London, page 142, No. 464, illustrated.
Lot 541
* § RABIN, OSCAR B. 1928 Soldes signed and dated 1991 Oil and mixed media on canvas, 130 by 195 cm. Provenance: Private collection, France. Authenticity certificate from the artist. The work will be included in the forthcoming catalogue raisonne, prepared by Marc and Michèle Ivasilevitch.Exhibited: E. Neizvestny, O. Rabine. O. Tselkov. La Galerie le Monde de l`Art, Paris, 29 April-13 June 1992.Literature: Exhibition catalogue, E. Neizvestny, O. Rabine. O. Tselkov. La Galerie le Monde de l`Art, Paris, 1992, p. 53, illustrated.
Lot 331
Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (82951 Gnr: J. O’Hara, 4th Bty: R.F.A.) good very fine £100-120 This Battery received an Honour Title for “Cole’s Kop” in recognition of their hauling two 15-pounder guns some 800 feet up the precipitous sides of this hill. From this elevated position the battery was able to open fire on the rear of the Boer positions and fired over 2,000 shells, all of which had to be hauled up the cliffs. At the end of the action one gun was successfully lowered down again but the second gun had to be thrown over the cliff after time ran out.
Lot 504
‘Bravery at Sea’ Medal, obverse, Queen Victoria ‘Jubilee’ bust facing left; reverse inscribed, ‘Presented to Thomas Scarll of the Rival L.T. 428 for Bravery at Sea, Oct. 1887’, 36mm., silver, with silver buckle engraved, ‘For Bravery at Sea’, very fine £100-140 The medal has a ‘home-made’ look, being converted from a double florin (4/-) of the period which has had its obverse inscription and reverse details erased and its edge smoothed. ‘RESCUE OF A SHIPWRECKED CREW. GALLANT CONDUCT OF LOWESTOFT SMACKSMEN - On Thursday morning at eight o’clock the smack Rival, owner Mr W. Doughty, brought in the captain and crew of the Dutch vessel Yminden, which was abandoned on the high seas on Tuesday afternoon. The crew, which numbered twelve, together with the captain’s wife, were at once conveyed to the Sailors’ Home, where they received every attention. The captain, L. Wiersma, ... states that the Yminden sailed from the port of Zaandam with ballast bound for Wyboug. All went well until Monday night, when they encountered a fierce gale from the north-west, thirteen miles east of Texel. Captain Wiersma says he has been master of a craft for eleven years, and he never remembers such dreadful weather. The sails were torn to ribbons, and at half-past two o’clock on Tuesday morning the ballast shifted, causing the vessel to heel over. From that moment they were helpless, and expected every moment to be washed overboard. When they began to give up all hope the Lowestoft smack Rival hove in sight, and after lying by the Yminden a considerable time the captain and crew were all rescued by the Lowestoft men at great personal risk, and taken aboard the smack. ....’ With copied extract from the Lowestoft Weekly Press and some other details.
Lot 511
Netherlands, Royal South Holland Society Medal for Saving Life from Shipwreck, 45mm., silver, reverse inscribed, ‘William Noakes, 22 Januan 1881’, unmounted, edge bruising, very fine £120-160 On the 18th January the steamer Ingerid stranded on the Sunk Sand, in thick fog and a snowstorm. In the evening of the 20th a message about this arrived at Harwich, upon which the lifeboat had to be launched from the harbour, in bitter cold [weather] and a storm at about seven o’clock. It made the trip to Sunk Sand with a crew of 11 men, under the command of the coxswain W. Britton, and the district inspector of lifeboat-stations was also aboard. In the early morning they arrived at the steamer, which had sunk, and the remaining crew had been lashed to the rigging, half-frozen, for two days. With much effort they were taken aboard the lifeboat, being almost half-dead. They arrived at the pier in the morning between 9 and 10 o’clock and were immediately taken ashore and received medical treatment. Captain Van der Hoop, the mate Poppinga, the engineer Heerard, a stoker and three sailors had been saved. On Wednesday-morning a sloop had left the ship with 7 men and two men had drowned trying to get aboard the sloop. However the sloop has not been found, so nine people have lost their lives. The Board of Directors decides to award a gold medal to Mr. A. St. Vincent Nepean, captain of the naval reserve and inspector; the large silver medal to coxswain Wm. Britton and the silver medal and a certificate to the crew members Benjamin Dale (second coxswain of the lifeboat Springwell), William Ward, Alfred Holden, George Fenner, William Morris, Alfred Lee, Robert Scarlett, John Mills, John Lambeth, Robert Fenner and William Noakes’. (ref. Minutes of the Board of Directors (translation)). Captain St. Vincent Nepean, R.N., District Inspector of Lifeboats and Assistant Coxswain William Britton, of the Harwich Lifeboat, were additionally both awarded the R.N.L.I. Silver Medal Ð voted 3 February 1881. ‘20-21 January 1881: The 438 ton Dutch screw steamship Ingerid of Rotterdam on passage from Norway to Naples, Italy, with a cargo of fish, struck the Sunk Sand, off Clacton, Essex, on 17 January. Seven men left the steamship the next day in one of her boats, whilst two more men were lost overboard, which left the Master and six men lashed to the foremast in bitterly cold conditions. When the wreck was finally reported by the Cork lightship on the 20th, the Harwich lifeboat Springwell set out at 7pm, but the frost had been so severe that a way had to be cut through the ice to the harbour mouth. After a difficult journey the lifeboat found the wreck between 4 and 5am and, at the second attempt, put a line aboard. The lifeboat crew, led by Mr Britton and including Captain Nepean, boarded and helped the survivors into their boat which set off on the return journey. Arriving at the Cork lightship, they encountered the Lowestoft tug Despatch which took them in tow, and they reached Harwich, just before 10am on the 21st.’ (Ref. Lifeboat Gallantry, by Barry Cox)
Lot 533
Chester Royal Infirmary Nursing Medal, obverse: John Haygarth F.R.S.; reverse inscribed (name and date engraved) ‘Awarded by the Governors to Nurse Vera E. Davies, 1933’, 36mm., silver, hallmarks for Birmingham 1933, pierced for suspension, some edge bruising; Guy’s Hospital Nursing Medal, obverse: Thomas Guy; reverse inscribed (name engraved) ‘To Kathleen O. Turner Certificated Nurse on completing seven years service’, 32mm., silver, with pin-fitting, edge bruise, fine; St. George’s in the East Infirmary Nurse Training Medal, obverse: St. George and the Dragon; reverse engraved, ‘Ellen Humphreys, 9th July 1917.’ 39mm., silver, ring suspension, good very fine except where stated (3) £70-90
Lot 808
A well-documented and important Second World War C.B.E., Great War Royal Naval Division Antwerp 1914 operations D.S.C. group of ten awarded to Air Commodore C. O. F. Modin, Royal Air Force, late Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Royal Marines and Royal Flying Corps, who was decorated for being among a handful of men to evade internment in Holland, witnessed further action with the R.N.D. in Gallipoli and the Dardanelles, and afterwards qualified as a pilot in the R.F.C.: an Air Commodore in Singapore by 1941, he was taken P.O.W. after an A.S.R. Launch was sunk by enemy aircraft - and his subsequent experiences as a prisoner, including witness statements of war crimes, are fully described in the extensive report he delivered on his liberation The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Military) Commander’s 2nd type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel, in its Garrard & Co. case of issue; Distinguished Service Cross, G.V.R., hallmarks for London 1914; 1914 Star, with slide-on clasp (Sub. Lieut. C. O. F. Modin, R.N.V.R., Benbow Bttn. R.N.D.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Capt. C. O. F. Modin, R.M.); 1939-45 Star; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Jubilee 1935; Coronation 1937, the Great War awards a little polished, otherwise generally very fine or better (10) £6000-8000 C.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1941. D.S.C. London Gazette 1 January 1915. Charles Oscar Frithriof Modin was born in January 1889 and educated at Sevenoaks Grammar School and in France. A pre-war member of the London Division, R.N.V.R., who qualified as a Swedish interpreter in 1909, he was mobilised as a Sub. Lieutenant in August 1914 and, shortly afterwards, embarked for Dunkirk, and thence by rail to Fort No. 4 near Antwerp, with Benbow Battalion, Royal Naval Division. And it was in this capacity that he won his D.S.C., for withdrawing with a party of his men along the Dutch frontier and avoiding internment. An old typescript account of his journey to freedom, written by a fellow officer, is included, and from which the following extracts have been taken: ‘I shall never forget my nights at Fort 4. We didn’t know then what power was in front of us. But we did get our first knowledge of modern artillery as the German shells whizzed into us and over us. Mostly over us in Antwerp. What a sight behind us! There appeared to be a vast mileage of flames ... It was a bad night, especially when we found, at about 2 in the morning, that we had been left behind. The Division had retired, in accordance with plans, and the order hadn’t reached ‘B’ Company in Fort 4. Well, well - it was a bit of a blow, but somebody always fits into these starts. In this case it was M. [Modin]. What a small hero he was! And how some of us tried to fit in with him. That assembly in the dark. “Get’em together boys, we’ve got to get out of this somehow.” No maps, no knowledge. What a war! However, we did manage to pack ourselves together, and marched out in decent order from Fort 4. We left behind one Belgian officer of artillery (I salute that officer), who was the sole occupant. All his men had left him. And so back to Antwerp, a blaze of fire now in front of us. It was a dreadful march, with shells falling round us and whizzing over us all the time ... And so on, on. We fell in with a wretched little Belgian cyclist (we thought he was a spy) and collared him good and hearty. Anyhow, he didn’t want to guide us at all, but S. and I, with bayonets very near his left and right kidney, showed him a far better way. And so on to Antwerp ... The city was deserted. The oil tanks at Hoboken a mass of flames. The only bridge over the Sheldt (a pontoon one) sunk by Belgian gunfire. So there again, we were stuck again. Or were we? Good heavens, no! Why M., who didn’t know two words of French, got busy again and lo and behold, “Penny Steamers” and tugs appeared to take us to Fort St. Marie. It was here that I got my first wound in the War, a bit of shell that sliced my shin ... And so to Fort Marie we went, where the authorities were opening the sluices to flood the country. We disembarked, and then had to march, or walk, by which we arrived on the Belgo-Dutch frontier, where a lot of our troops were going into Holland, under orders, for internment. That was dreadful to see our fellows handing over their rifles, ammunition and equipment and so not to be lost for who knows how long? It wasn’t at all a nice idea after what we had struggled through, and didn’t appeal to M. or S., or myself at all, so we cheerfully revolted. This was rather disastrous, temporarily, because M. was promptly put under arrest for refusing to be interned ... A contretemps, this, which was soon overcome by M. and escort, silently and stealthily deserting the Dutch frontier, with about 25 other stouthearts, for pastures new. And so we met at the back of the village, in a Belgian soldiers’ billet, and eat and drank horse soup with those good lads. What a meal! It was the first, excepting raw sugar-beet, we had eaten for about four days ... But we had no maps and the idea was to get to a port - we had a very big palaver. We must keep together (this 30). We must keep near the Dutch frontier (We would not go over the Dutch frontier). And so on pave roads littered with refugees, Belgian soldiers, and every kind of “odd and end” you can imagine, we got through St. Gillaes, Waesse, Stekene, Moerbeke, a host of small villages, and then to Salzaete, where we got a train to Ostend. I believe it was the last train through, but I’ve never had this confirmed. And thus the small 30 arrived at Ostend to be welcomed by all the Staff there, and fed ... ‘ Having received his resultant D.S.C. at a Buckingham Palace investiture on 13 January 1915, Modin transferred to the Royal Marines and witnessed further active service with the R.N.D. in Gallipoli and the Dardanelles, but in 1916 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, qualifying for his Aviator’s Certificate in January 1917. Ending the War as a Captain in the Royal Air Force, he was posted to Felixstowe in 1920, at which station he was lucky to survive a flying accident that April, Seaplane No. 4044 crashing nose first into the sea about a mile from the beach - four members of crew were killed, including the well-known aviator Squadron Leader E. R. Moon, but Modin and a fellow officer survived with minor injuries. Advanced to Flight Lieutenant in November 1923, he went on to serve in aircraft carriers on attachment to the Fleet Air Arm. Steady promotion followed, too, and he was appointed a Group Captain in 1935, his early wartime appointments including service as Station C.O. of R.A.F. Feltwell, Norfolk, scene of at least two royal visits during his period of command, one by H.M. the King and another by H.R.H. the Duchess of Gloucester. Further appointments in Egypt, Malta and Iraq having followed, he was appointed C.B.E. and advanced to Air Commodore in March 1941, shortly before his arrival at H.Q. Singapore as Air Officer Administration. And it was here, after attempting to escape the Japanese in an R.A.F. launch, that he was taken P.O.W. on 15 February 1942, an incident neatly summarised by Christopher Shores and Brian Cull in Bloody Shambles (Volume II - the Defence of Sumatra to the Fall of Burma): During the afternoon of the 15th, one of the Air-Sea-Rescue launches (H.S.L. 105) which had departed Singapore with A.H.Q. Staff on board, including Air Commodore C. O. F. Modin, Group Captain E. B. Rice (former A.O.C. 224 Group), Wing Commander R. A. Chignell (former O.C. Kallang) and Squadron Leaders Wilf Clouston and Frank Howell, former commanders of 488 and 243 Squadrons respectively, was attacked seven times in the Banka Strait. A direct bomb hit after about 20 minutes severely damaged the craft, a splinter kill
Lot 836
An outstanding Second World War Greek operations C.G.M. group of six awarded to Leading Seaman G. R. Fuller, Royal Navy, who, though badly wounded, fought his gun to the last aboard the destroyer H.M.S. Wryneck - nor did he ever complain about his stomach and thigh wounds during the 48-hour open-boat voyage that ensued Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, G.VI.R. (C/JX. 138699 G. R. Fuller, L. Smn., H.M.S. Wryneck); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Pacific Star; War Medal 1939-45, nearly extremely fine (6) £8000-10000 C.G.M. London Gazette 11 November 1941: ‘For gallantry and distinguished services in operations in Greek Waters.’ Under which heading, and the award of the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, appears the name of Leading Seaman G. R. Fuller: ‘Though badly wounded, fought his gun to the last, and when his ship was sunk, heartened the survivors by his courage and cheerfulness.’ George Robert Fuller was decorated for his gallantry on the occasion of the loss of the destroyer H.M.S. Wryneck on 27 April 1941, a day that cost the Navy dearly - H.M.S. Diamond and the transport Slamat being sunk on the same occasion, all three ships having come under sustained enemy air attack while conveying British troops from Greece to Suda Bay: Crete 1941 - The Battle at Sea, by David A. Thomas, takes up the story: ‘The Wryneck, in company with the Diamond, was attacked simultaneously and the pattern of attack upon her closely resembled that made upon the Diamond. Firstly came a raking of the decks with machine-gun and cannon fire, killing and wounding many of the guns’ crews in exposed positions. Secondly, there came the bombing attacks. The first bomb burst near the ship and was followed almost immediately by another explosion close alongside. The destroyer heeled over to port. The stokers’ messdeck forward was shattered and the casualties among the soldiers and the ship’s company were heavy. The Wryneck, like her consort, was also struck in the engine room and she was brought to a standstill, clearly doomed. She filled with water rapidly while the ship was abandoned. In fifteen minutes the destruction was complete. Both destroyers had gone. The Gulf of Nauplia became a scene littered with the grisly flotsam of war at sea.’ As quoted in Greek Tragedy, by Anthony Heckstall-Smith, D.S.C., and Vice-Admiral H. T. Baillie-Grohman, C.B., D.S.O., O.B.E., Fuller was among the few gunners who managed to respond to the enemy attack: ‘Like Diamond, Wryneck’s crew were fooled by the friendly markings on the wings of the fighter that came gliding down out of the sun to sweep her decks with cannon and machine-gun fire. In fact, they were taken so completely by surprise that her 4-inch guns never had a chance to come into action because their crews were all killed or wounded in a matter of seconds. But some of her close-range guns opened up before the alarm sounded on the bridge. And one of them was manned by Leading Seaman Fuller, who after being shot through the belly and thigh, kept on firing until the ship sank under him ... ‘ The Wryneck carried a complement of about 120, of whom seven were officers, including Commander R. H. D. Lane, R.N., and 98 ratings were lost in addition to the soldiers, bringing the total to approximately 950 for both ships. Only around 50 of all services were saved, in itself another chapter of courage and endurance - Greek Tragedy continues: ‘Mr. Waldron [Wryneck’s Warrant Engineer], after floating in his lifebelt for half an hour, was hauled on to a raft. Later, he was taken into Wryneck’s whaler which had been lowered soon after she was hit. Two Carley floats were taken in tow, and the whaler continued on its slow search amongst the debris and the dead and living. Its crew paddled around until both rafts were fully laden and until she had 23 men on board, including a Troop Sergeant-Major of the Gunners and Leading Seaman Fuller. That night, when darkness fell, Waldron, Fuller and Gordine and 49 sailors, together with eight soldiers were all who had survived the three ships ... Wryneck’s whaler leaked badly. For a time, the men in her took it in turns to sit on the holes made by the bomb splinters and the machine-gun bullets, while others baled her out with a tin hat. But when they had finished their search for survivors, Mr. Waldron set them to work patching the holes with a half a bar of soap and some scraps of wood. Throughout the whole afternoon of Sunday, 27 April, those who had strength enough pulled slowly on the four oars. Paddling and drifting, with the two Carley floats laden with men in tow, the whaler made its way roughly eastwards. Only very roughly, for the compass had been smashed by a cannon shell. It was hot, thirsty work rowing the heavy, water-logged boat, but there was only a damaged keg half filled with contaminated water for the 23 men. There were also two tins of biscuits, a case of bully beef, a box of Verey pistols and cartridges, and a boat’s ensign. The wind freshened considerably towards dusk and the sea rose with the wind. And as it rose, it kept picking up the Carley floats and hurling them against the whaler so that they were in danger of wrecking one another. Just before dark, Mr. Waldron was forced to cast the floats adrift for they were threatening to sink the whaler. At 2.30 the next morning, the two rafts with their 50 men were picked up by Griffin, which had been sent out from Suda in search of them. But the Griffin did not find the whaler. During the night, the wind blew hard from the west, and since there was no material from which to make a sea anchor, Waldron turned her stern to sea. The weary sailors kept enough way on her with the oars to prevent her broaching to. Then, Waldron picked a suitable star down wind, and managed to steer by it. But the weather worsened and she shipped so much water that the men worked in shifts baling her out. They were soaked to the skin and bitterly cold for most of them were wearing only their singlets and trousers. Waldron kept waking them up to take turns on the oars. Between times, they huddled together and slapped one another to keep their circulation going. For most of the night Waldron sat at the tiller or beside the coxswain with the seas and spray breaking over him as he conned the whaler by the stars. And all the time he kept Fuller warm by the heat of his own body, for Fuller had lost a lot of blood from the wounds in his belly and thigh, and was trembling with the cold. When the dawn broke, Waldron thought he recognised the hump of Milos Island against the pale sky. Although he reckoned it must be 30 miles away, he shaped course for it. Some time after sunrise, they sighted an Ajax class cruiser heading south at full speed in company with a destroyer. They fired Verey lights, flashed the lid of a tin in the sun, and waved the ensign. But the ships did not see them, and their disappointment was bitter as they watched the two ships disappear over the horizon. Later, they saw two more destroyers and three Blenheims, but they, too, failed to see the signals. Fortunately for them, several Stukas and Ju. 88s were equally unsuccessful at spotting them. During the morning, they were cheered a little when they retrieved an orange from the sea. Dividing it, they shared it amongst them to augment their meagre ration of bad water. At noon, the whaler appeared to be closing a small rocky island. And since it needed by a slight alteration of course to steer directly for it, Waldron told his men that he had made up his mind to make for it. They were all nearing the point of exhaustion, and, although he never complained, Fuller had grown so weak that Waldron doubted that he would survive another night at sea. As the whaler approached a small cove in the island at about four o’clock, they saw a caique lying at anchor, and a little group of people, standing on a narro
Lot 47
A very good Great War ‘Western Front’ D.C.M., M.M. group of five awarded to Sergeant G. H. Pye, 1st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, an early M.M. recipient, he was subsequently awarded a D.C.M. for gallantry at Guillemont on 21 August 1916 and taken prisoner of war Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (8654 Sjt., 1/R. Fus.); Military Medal, G.V.R. (8654 Sjt., 1/R. Fus.); 1914 Star, with clasp (L-8654 Cpl., 1/R. Fus.); British War and Victory Medals (L-8654 Sjt., R. Fus.) minor contact wear, generally very fine or better (5) £1800-2200 D.C.M. London Gazette 20 October 1916 ‘For conspicuous gallantry in attack. Although wounded he twice attempted to take a message back under heavy fire. Being unable to do this he crawled back to the new position, and whilst his men were consolidating he effectually supported them with fire.’ M.M. London Gazette 3 June 1916. George H. Pye served in France and Flanders with the B.E.F. from 7 September 1914 and was taken prisoner of war on 31 October 1916. Sold with copy of m.i.c. which confirms. The following in relation to Sergeant Pye’s D.C.M. winning exploits is extracted from The Royal Fusiliers in The Great War, by H. C. O’Neill, OBE: ‘At Guillemont on 21 August 1916 the 1st Battalion had on this occasion two companies, A and D engaged with the 3rd Rifle Brigade on the left and the 8th Queen’s on the right. The Fusiliers advanced at 3:30pm. ‘Hill Street’ and ‘Brompton Road’ were the objectives. The 1st Battalion got away with great dash, and after a strenuous fight drove the enemy out of the trench in front of Hill Street; but the flanking battalions were both held up, and, although the Fusiliers pushed well ahead, it was necessary to withdraw to the trench already mentioned... The headquarters bombers did good service, and Sergeant Pye though wounded, volunteered to take a message to his company commander. He was wounded again as he returned.’
Lot 104
The exceptional Great War 1914 ‘Festubert’ D.C.M. and Russian Cross of St George group of five awarded to Sergeant Hugh Coldwell, 1st Battalion, Connaught Rangers - After his death in action in 1915 his Colonel paid the following tribute “He was the bravest of the brave and knew no danger - the true type of a Ranger” Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (9054 Sjt., 1/Conn. Rang.); 1914 Star, with clasp (9054 Cpl., 1/Conn. Rang.); British War and Victory Medals (9054 Cpl., Conn. Rang.) surname spelt ‘Caldwell on pair; Russian Cross of St George, 4th class, reverse officially numbered ‘127169’; together with memorial plaque (Hugh Coldwell) and a poignant letter written by the recipient to his parents in June 1915, good very fine (6) £2000-2500 D.C.M. London Gazette 1 April 1915 ‘For gallant conduct on 30th November 1914, near Festubert, when he led 12 men and reoccupied a trench which was being heavily assailed by the enemy’s bombs.’ Russian Cross of St George London Gazette 25 August 1915. The following in relation to the action in which he gained the award of his D.C.M. is extracted from, The Connaught Rangers, Volume I, by Lieut. Col. H. F. N. Jourdain, CMG: ‘On 30 November 1914, early in the afternoon came news that a sudden attack was being made on a weak place in the line near Le Plantin, where the trenches held by the Poona Horse and the 7th Dragoon Guards connected. Sergeant Caldwell and twelve men of ‘D’ Company were at once sent off to assist the Poona Horse. Then, shortly after two o’clock, another message was received to the effect that the trenches of the Poona Horse had been rushed and were in possession of the Germans. Second Lieutenant Badham and twelve more men of ‘D’ Company were now sent off. Information, however, came to hand shortly afterwards that the situation had been retrieved, and at 3:40pm Second Lieutenant Badham and his party returned. The party sent earlier, of whom Sergeant Caldwell of the Rangers was in charge, remained behind to hold the Poona Horse trench. They had done excellent work. When they first received orders to go to the aid of the Poona Horse, Sergeant Caldwell and his men were occupying a trench 250 yards away. They rushed along the trench and reoccupied the evacuated Poona Horse trench, driving back the Germans and pushing on to the sap-head. The trench was without protection, the parapet having been almost completely blown away. Sergeant Caldwell and four men, with the utmost pluck and coolness under a continuous sniping fire from the Germans near by, built up and re-vetted the parapet and then held both trench and sap-head for the rest of the day. They remained there until six in the evening when they were relieved by the return of Second Lieutenant Badham and thirty men. Sergeant Caldwell was awarded the D.C.M. for his gallant services.’ Sergeant Coldwell is again mentioned in the regimental history for distinguishing himself in the action at the Second Battle of Ypres on 26 April 1915: ‘Sergeant H. Caldwell distinguished himself during the advance by taking command of his company, on all the officers being hit, and leading boldly and with the finest determination. Caldwell had already won the D.C.M. at Neuve Chapelle and for the Second Ypres was awarded the Russian Order of St George, 4th class.’ Hugh Coldwell was born in Cavan, lived at Mountnugent, Cavan and enlisted in London. He died of wounds in France and Flanders on 18 October 1915 whilst serving with the 1st Battalion, Connaught Rangers. He has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Loos Memorial. Of his death the regimental history states: ‘Sergeant Caldwell, whose fine courage and gallant leadership on many occasions, notably at Neuve Chapelle and at the Second Ypres, where he won the D.C.M. and the Russian St George Medal, was mortally wounded near Neuve Chapelle, during the Rangers’ last tour of duty in the trenches there. The top of his left shoulder was smashed, and after amputation he succumbed. “Seldom” says Father Peal, “has a soldier received more merited praise than the Colonel gave Sergeant Caldwell when announcing his death to the battalion. He was the bravest of the brave and knew no danger - the true type of a Ranger.’ The following is transcribed from the original poignant letter written by Sergeant Hugh Coldwell to his parents ‘in the field’ on 7 June 1915: ‘My dear parents, Just a few lines after a lapse of many years. I had a letter from Bernard and he told me that you were all in the best of health. The reason I did not write before now was because I did not like to let you know I was in the army. I have been fighting here in Belgium since the outbreak of war. We came from India. I was there for 7 years. I was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal on 30.11.14 for bravery in the field, as you can see by the attached cutting from a paper. The last big fight I was in was on 26th & 27th April and all the officers got either killed or wounded. I led my company right through the attack. I got a couple of slight wounds which were practically nothing. I have been again mentioned in despatches and recommended for the Victoria Cross and a commission. Things are very quiet here at p[resent] as the Germans had to withdraw a lot of their troops from our front to put against the Italians as the Austrians are nearly wiped out. It is terrible what the Germans done on the poor nuns and priests. I could not explain as it would take me weeks and would horrify the world. You must excuse this scribble. I have nothing more to say at present, but will write a long letter in a few days time when I come out of the trenches for a rest. Remember me to Granny, Uncle John and Paddy, Master Gillick, Brothers and Sisters and all the neighbours in Dungannon. Your loving son, Hugh
Lot 140
Four: Corporal H. O’Connor, Royal Irish Fusiliers, killed in action, 12 September 1918 Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (6964 Pte., Rl. Irish Fus.); 1914 Star, with clasp (6964 Pte., R. Ir. Fus.); British War and Victory Medals (6964 Cpl., R. Ir. Fus) mounted for wear, some contact marks, very fine and better (4) £450-550 Henry O’Connor was born in Newry, Co. Down, lived in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire and enlisted at Hamilton, Lanarkshire. Serving with the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers, he entered the France/Flanders theatre of war on 12 September 1914. Serving with the battalion he was killed in action on 2 September 1918. He was buried in the Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery, Heuvelland, Belgium. With copied research including m.i.c., roll extracts and a copied photograph.
Lot 234
Four: Rear-Admiral M. S. L. Peile, Royal Navy Baltic 1854-55, unnamed but with erasure at 6 o’clock; Crimea 1854-56, 1 clasp, Sebastopol (M. S. L. Peile, Lieut. R.N.) contemporary engraved naming; Ashantee 1873-74, no clasp (Capt. M. S. L. Peile, R.N. H.M.S. Simoom. 73-74); Turkish Crimea, British issue, unnamed, very fine or better (4) £700-800 Mountford Stephen Lovick Peile was born on 27 August 1824. He joined the Royal Navy sometime in 1843 and served aboard H.M.S. Gladiator in the Baltic in 1854-55 and in H.M.S. Sphinx at Sebastopol during the Crimean war. Promoted to Commander in April 1862 he had command of the steam gun vessel Espoir, for service on the west coast of Africa, from November 1864 until December 1867. In May 1866 he received the thanks of the Administrator of the Gold Coast for services rendered. He was promoted to Captain in September 1867 but, after paying off Espoir the following December, spent the next five years ashore on half pay for lack of a command. During this period he underwent a course of instruction at the Royal Naval College and obtained a 3rd Class Certificate in Steam. In May 1873 Peile was appointed to the command of the troopship Simoom and in this vessel took part in the Ashantee war of 1873-74. He was twice mentioned in despatches, firstly when he landed in command of 40 bluejackets from Simoom to defend the denuded Cape Coast Forts; and when he landed in charge of 66 men from Simoom to protect posts at Dunquah, Akraful and at Abrakrampa in December 1873. He was one of a small number of officers who were landed and saw active service, but who did not cross the Prah River and therefore did not qualify for the Coomassie clasp to their Ashantee war medal. On paying off from Simoom in August 1876 he once again went on half pay until he was placed on the Retired List in August 1879, having reached the age limit of 55 years. He was promoted to Rear-Admiral on the Retired List in April 1885 but died shortly afterwards at Stonehouse, Devon, on 23 September 1885. Sold with full research.
Lot 253
Waterloo 1815 (John Kelsall, Royal Artillery Drivers), original steel clip and split ring suspension, obverse with heavy edge bruise at 6 o’clock, slight edge bruising elsewhere, otherwise nearly very fine £700-800 John Kelsall served in Captain Henry Lane’s ‘F’ Troop, Royal Artillery Drivers, in the Waterloo campaign.
Lot 176
Cartier, Ceinture, a lady’s 18 carat gold wristwatch, circa 1970, no. 1205730, the two piece stepped octagonal case with a recessed winding crown, white dial, black Roman numerals, and blued steel hands, the Cartier secret signature at 7 o’clock, the 25 jewel Cartier automatic movement, cal. ETA 2671, the case 3cm, on a blue crocodile Cartier strap with 18 carat gold deployant buckle
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