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Group of various power tools to include belt sander, circular saw and drill.

Box of power tools including Worx, hammer drill, circular saw, jigsaw, cordless drill etc

1 Large 20th century hand carved signed pearl button.This button believe it or not was hand carved by an artist in 1996. When we looked at the button we were sure it was a division one smokey pearl button beautifully carved, but when turned over we saw the signature and date of 1996. A very detailed and fine example and work of art by this talented artist "Kyxma" whoever they may be. From the collection of the late Jean Young of California. Issued: DIVISION 1=PRE 1918 AND DIVISION 3 IS AFTER 1918Dimensions: SM=Less than 3/4", Medium=3/4" to 1 1/4". Large=1 1/4" and above, extra large=1 3/4" and above

“Pilots and Observers, always full of determination and keenness, unselfish and cheerful at all times, won for themselves and the Squadron the greatest admiration. Like gentlemen and sportsmen, they played the game throughout. The every day order of our much respected Chief - General Trenchard - to “keep going” was carried out to the letter....” (Recipient reflecting on his command in The Annals of 100 Squadron) The fascinating Great War O.B.E. group of four awarded to Wing Commander C. G. Burge, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, both observer and pilot; commanding officer of 100 Squadron, June - December 1918; respected aviation author - including the Squadron History for the Great War; one time personal assistant to Lord Trenchard; Head of an S.O.E. Intelligence Subsection dealing with planning operations, and acting as Liaison with the Air Ministry on all targets during the Second World War; and Uncle of the legendary Battle of Britain fighter Ace Douglas Bader The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.), (Military) Officer’s 1st type, silver (Hallmarks for London 1919); 1914-15 Star (Lieut. C. G. Burge. York & Lanc. R.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Major C. G. Burge. R.A.F.) medals mounted for wear, generally very fine or better (4) £800-£1,200 --- O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1919. M.I.D. London Gazette 1 January 1916. Cyril Gordon Burge was an early, if not the first, Adjutant to R.A.F. Cranwell (1920-1922), a onetime personal assistant to Lord Trenchard (from August 1926), and the ‘exciting and friendly uncle’ who actively encouraged the legless ace Sir Douglas Bader to set out on his legendary career. The son of a J.P. for the Cinque Ports, Burge was born in May 1893 and was educated at St Lawrence’s College and Sandhurst. Described as a natural ‘gentleman, leader & organiser’, he was commissioned into the York and Lancaster Regiment in 1913 and was posted to the overseas battalion in India. Promoted Lieutenant on 28 October 1914, he joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915 and first flew as an Observer with 12 Squadron (R.E.7’s) on the Western Front. It did not take long for Burge to be chucked in at the deep-end, when on 12 October 1915: ‘Capt. Lawrence and Lt Gordon Burge of No. 12 Squadron in a R.E.7 with 2 Lewis guns when engaged in guarding Capt. Christie who was employed on a special mission engaged an Albatross 3 miles South of Lille. Simultaneously another hostile machine appeared and drew in on the left rear of the R.E.7. Both these hostile machines seemed to be slower than the R.E.7. Lt. Burge engaged the Albatross which was the nearer of the two and when just West of Tournai it threw out two white lights. No anti-aircraft gun fire followed this. In a few seconds two more lights were thrown out, again without effect. Both of these hostile machines fired a good deal at the R.E.7. When near Mouscron 2 more machines appeared from above and coming from the South. The first, an Albatross, began to draw up on the left rear firing very accurately. The R.E.7 was struck 30 or more times. When he was at between 50 and 80 yards range Lt Burge fired and this Albatross drew away. He came up again and after firing at it again went away. This occurred a third time when near Gheluvelt and the German machine went away to the South. Meanwhile another machine, an L.V.G. had remained further off and above the R.E.7 firing a good deal. The two machines originally encountered were gradually left behind.’ (Squadron War Diary refers) Burge, this time piloted by Second Lieutenant R. Newman, had to make a forced landing whilst out on patrol, 5 December 1915. Later he trained as a pilot, and according to Bader’s biographer ‘Laddie’ Lucas, saw ‘much of the fighting with the Royal Flying Corps over France and Flanders’. By February 1918 he had accumulated 450 flying hours, and commanded 100 Squadron (F.e.2b’s and later HP O/400’s as part of Independent Force), June - December 1918. Indeed he later wrote the Squadron History for the Great War - The Annals of 100 Squadron, with a foreword being provided by Lord Trenchard (the squadron was in Trenchard's chain-of-command from its formation until the end of the war in Nov 1918). In August 1919 he was granted a Permanent Commission in the R.A.F. with the rank of Lieutenant and was subsequently appointed Adjutant at the former R.N.A.S. air station west of Sleaford in Lincolnshire where the elite officer cadre of the fledgling service was to be trained. Meantime, he married Hazel McKenzie, sister to Douglas Bader’s mother. In the spring of 1921 the boy Bader was invited by the Burges to spend part of the Easter holidays with them at Cranwell. ‘From Hazel and Cyril the welcome was warm. Only just thirteen, Douglas had never been near aeroplanes before, and when the quiet, good-humoured Cyril sat him in the cockpit of an Avro 504 trainer the thick hair almost vanished as the boy bent over the controls and dials like a terrier. Later he stood for hours in Cyril’s garden watching the bellowing Avros taking off over his head ... Cyril thought he had a convert then but he was a little premature ....’ Five years later at St Edward’s School in Oxford Bader was cautiously considering a university career when the visit of an Old Boy then at Cranwell, reminded Bader of his enjoyable stay there, and he wrote at once to ‘Uncle Cyril’ to find out about becoming a Cranwell cadet. Burge had left the R.A.F. College but was then personal assistant to Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff, and ‘with the satisfaction of a match-maker, Cyril wrote back saying that Douglas was just the type they wanted and he would do everything he could to help which from the p.a. to the C.A.S., sounded considerable.’ Well primed by Burge, Bader duly presented himself before the board of interviewers for Cranwell at Burlington House in London in June 1928, and, ‘trying not to sound to well rehearsed’, successfully gave the answers ‘Uncle Cyril’ knew the board wanted to hear. The following December Burge retired from the service with a gratuity and over the next few years wrote several published works on British aviation. Following Bader’s famous crash at Woodley Aerodrome, near Reading, on 14 December 1931, Burge was immediately summoned from nearby Aldershot. He reached the Royal Berkshire Hospital to find that the surgeon Leonard Joyce had removed Bader’s right leg and that his nephew’s life was hanging in the balance. Burge was given a room for the night, and twice when it seemed that Bader was dying was called to the patient’s room but on each occasion Bader rallied. In the morning Bader was still alive but had not recovered consciousness since the amputation of his largely severed right leg. Joyce told Burge that if Bader lasted another day he might have a chance provided the left leg did not become sceptic. At length Bader came round, and, examining him, Joyce recognised signs of incipient septicaeima in the left leg. With Bader’s mother close to hysteria and with no time to lose, Joyce sought Burge’s permission to cut off the remaining leg, warning him that Bader would certainly die if the leg stayed, and that he would probably die from operative shock if they tried to take it off. It was the only chance and Burge instantly nodded his assent. With family trials over, Burge then embarked on a period of drama of his own making. His S.O.E. Personnel History Sheet (released in 2003) gives the following with regards to his application to join the service, and in what capacity he was eventually emp...

A Crimean War C.B. group od seven awarded to Vice Admiral Arthur Parry Eardley-Wilmot, C.B., Royal Navy The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s breast badge, 22 carat gold and enamels, hallmarked London 1815, maker’s mark ‘TD’ over ‘HD’ for Thomas and Henry Davies, fitted with later silver-gilt ribbon buckle; Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Syria (A. P. E. Wilmot, Lieut. R.N.); Baltic 1854-55, unnamed as issued; Crimea 1854-56, 1 clasp, Sebastopol, unnamed as issued; Ottoman Empire, Order of the Medjidie, 3rd Class neck badge converted for breast wear, silver, gold and enamel; St. Jean d’Acre 1840, silver-gilt; Turkish Crimea, Sardinian issue, the first with one or two very minor blemishes to enamel, light contact marks but generally good very fine (7) £4,000-£5,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Arthur Parry Eardley-Wilmot was born in April 1815, the fourth son of Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, Bart., M.P. for Warwickshire, and Governor of Van Diemen's Land, and entered the Royal Naval College in 1828. He joined H.M.S. Wolf, fitting for the East Indies, in 1830 as a 1st Class Volunteer, and subsequently saw active service against the Malay Pirates and in the blockade of the fortress of Quedah. In 1832 he was at Canton when the Chinese 'first displayed the symptoms of insolence and aggression'. He returned to England in October of the latter year as Midshipman in the Crocodile, and next joined Sir William Parker's Flagship, Asia, at Lisbon where he witnessed the expulsion of Don Miguel from Portugal during the Civil War with Don Pedro. Having passed for Mate in 1833, he visited 'the South Sea Islands, protecting British interests in the Sandwich Islands, the missionary interests at Marquesas, and the peace and good order in the Rio de la Plata'. During this latter commission a group of islands was discovered and named after the Actaeon. Promoted Lieutenant in July 1840, he was appointed to the Powerful the following November, and, under Commodore Sir Charles Napier, served off Syria and in the blockade of Alexandria. In the Wolverine he sailed for China, and was employed at the close of the Opium War in the blockade of the Canton River. He then served as Flag-Lieutenant to William Parker in the Cornwallis on the East Indies Station and in the Hibernia in the same capacity in the Mediterranean. Advanced to Commander in 1847 he was nominated acting Captain of the Spartan off the coast of Syria and then second Captain of the Superb. In 1851 he was appointed Commander of the Brig Harlequin, and, as there was no standard uniform for sailors at that time, he followed the lead of other Captains who dressed their crew, particularly the crew of the gig boats, according to their own taste. Wilmot's gig, manned by 'multi-coloured Harlequins', was consequently never hard to make out. In the Harlequin Wilmot distinguished himself in anti-slavery operations on the coast of West Africa, where he made several treaties, and subsequently received from the King of Dahomey, as 'a tribute of esteem and friendship', an ornamental purple velvet Cap and Silver Staff in the form of an alligator Fetish. In December 1853 The Illustrated London News wrote of this prize, 'The Staff is an emblem of high rank, and gives to the possessor the title of Great Chief. Whenever the person carrying the Staff is seen, the natives fall prostrate upon the ground, and, according to the homage paid to Royalty, throw dirt over their heads ...' Promoted Captain in 1854, Wilmot went aboard the Royal William (Captain Kingcome) as a volunteer for operations in the Baltic ending with the capture of Bomarsund. At Fort Nott, 'owing to the truce having expired', he was taken prisoner but the Russians chivalrously agreed to release him and he returned home in the Royal William to take command of the Paddle Steamer Sphinx, destined, with a cargo of ammunition and explosives, for Sebastopol. Commended in numerous despatches and created a C.B. for services in the Crimea, especially for organising the expedition to Kertch and superintending the landing of the Turkish army at Eupatoria. He was appointed in 1862 Captain of the wooden Corvette Rattlesnake, in which he was instructed to hoist the Broad Pennant of Commodore on the West Coast of Africa, where he spent the next four years stamping out the slave trade. On his return to England he was nominated a Naval A.D.C. and appointed Superintendent of Deptford Dockyard until his promotion to Rear-Admiral in 1870. On 2 October of that year he was appointed Second-in-Command of the Channel Fleet under Admiral Wellesley and hoisted his flag on board the Agincourt. In 1871 during a visit to Gibraltar, the Agincourt, leading the inshore Squadron, ran on the Pearl Rock and became stranded, causing considerable comment and controversy at the time. The mishap proved 'a deathblow' to Wilmot's seagoing career, and he retired as Vice-Admiral on 18 June 1876. He was author of The Midshipman’s Friend, or Hints from the Cockpit, 1845; Manning the Navy, 1849; and Complete and Universal Dictionary of Signals, 1849. He died at Torquay on 2 April 1886.

India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Waziristan 1925 (345547 L.A.C. F. Manning. R.A.F.) minor edge bruise, good very fine £1,200-£1,600 --- Frank Manning was born in 1889 and attested originally for the 11th Battalion, Worcestershire Regiment. He saw further service with the 6th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment (Territorial Force), before transferring once more into the Royal Air Force and, although he has a medal index card for the Great War, it does not list any medals as having been issued. He served with the Royal Air Force in Waziristan in 1925, and was still serving during the Second World War, dying in service on 13 July 1944, aged 55. He is buried in Birmingham (Lodge Hill) Cemetery, Warwickshire.

Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Books pertaining to Wing Commander J. G. Calvert, D.F.C., 640 Squadron, Royal Air Force, a Halifax pilot who completed a tour of 33 night time and daylight sorties against some of the most heavily defended enemy targets in the Ruhr valley; post-War, he subsequently flew another 163 sorties during the Berlin Airlift 1948-49 Five Log Books, the first a Royal Canadian Air Force Pilot’s Log Book covering the period 5 September 1942 to 7 June 1948, well-annotated with details of all operational sorties undertaken; the second to fifth the recipient’s post-War Royal Air Force Pilot’s Flying Log Book covering the periods August 1948 to June 1951; July 1951 to September 1953; September 1953 to December 1958; and May 1959 to March 1965, some pages slightly loose, and the spines damaged and reinforced with sellotape throughout, otherwise good condition (5) £400-£500 --- D.F.C. London Gazette 22 May 1945. The original Recommendation states: ‘On the night of the 2nd February 1945, this Captain was detailed to attack Dusseldorf and during the bombing run his aircraft was attacked by a J.U. 88. In spite of this Flying Officer Calvert was determined to hold the same course, in order to allow the Bomb Aimer to release his bombs on the objective. The decision on the part of the pilot to disregard the danger of fighter attack called for the highest degree of fortitude and determination to successfully conclude his mission. Once again, on the night of the 17th December 1944, the target being Duisburg, this Captain's aircraft was attacked by an enemy night fighter a few miles from the target, and a running fight followed, with the result that the enemy aircraft was claimed as destroyed. Although considerable height was lost during the combat, Flying Officer Calvert settled down to a bombing run and it was not until his bombs had found their objective that the pilot set course for base. The above are but two of the instances where this officer has shown the utmost disregard for his personal safety, placing the satisfactory completion of his mission before all other considerations. He has also led his Squadron on daylight attacks to the most heavily defended Ruhr cities, displaying leadership and courage of the highest order. I therefore have no hesitation in recommending this officer for the non-Immediate award of the Distinguished Flying Cross. Remarks by Station Commander: During his operational tour this Officer has carried out a number of varied and difficult sorties which have included a series of attacks, both by day and by night, on Ruhr targets, and others of equal importance throughout Germany which were vital to the enemy's war effort and where the opposition was powerful. During this time Flying Officer Calvert has displayed consistent flying skill and efficiency of a high order, and his courage and dash have always served as a valuable example to other crews. His fine offensive spirit and operational record fully merit the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross.’ James Gordon Calvert was born in August 1923, and commenced his training at No. 32 E.F.T.S. in Alberta, Canada in September 1942. Returning to the U.K. in October 1943, and having attended further courses, he was posted to No. 640 Squadron, a Halifax unit operating out of Leconfield, Yorkshire, in early October 1944, in which month he completed six sorties, including two strikes against the Krupps works at Essen, a raid on Cologne, and two trips to Holland against enemy gun positions in support of the 1st Canadian Army. Calvert flew another half dozen operations in November, all against German targets, the first to Dusseldorf on the night of the 7th-8th, when his Halifax was coned by searchlights amidst heavy flak - and attacked by a Ju. 88. Bochum having been attacked on the 8th-9th (’Intense flak. Two searchlights’), and Gelsenkirchen on the 9th-10th (’Heavy flak. Saw several a/c go down’), he flew on strikes against Julich, Munster and Sterkrade. In December, after a sortie to Solst, Calvert and his crew were ordered to attack Osnabruck on the night of the 6th-7th, his Flying Log Book once more noting heavy flak - and a feathered port outer engine. Duisburg ten days later proved even more challenging, his Halifax being attacked on four occasions by an enemy night fighter ... ‘Destroyed same. Lost 6,000 feet.’ And a sharp reminder of ever present threat of enemy night fighters came again on the night of 5-6 January 1945, during a raid on Hannover, Calvert noting ‘Bags of N. Fighters. 32 lost on this night’s sortie.’ Luckily his trips to Dortmund, Ludwigshaven and Stuttgart in the same month appear to have been of a smoother nature. February 1945 witnessed Calvert flying several more sorties, including strikes against Mainz, Goch and Wanne Eickel, but it was an attack against Worms on the night of 21st-22nd that proved the highlight, his Flying Log Book noting, ‘Intense searchlight activity. Moderate flak. Saw seven a/c shot down by fighters.’ While in March, the final month of his operational tour, he appears to have enjoyed smoother trips against Hemmingstedt, Homburg and Witten. Tour expired, he was awarded the D.F.C. and posted to Transport Command. Post-war, Calvert joined No. 47 Squadron, a Hastings unit based at Dishforth, in which capacity he flew a remarkable tally of 163 sorties during the Berlin Airlift, between November 1948 and August 1949. He then instructed on Meteors with Flying Training Command, in addition to similar duties on secondment to the Luftwaffe in the early 1960s. Having then been advanced to Wing Commander, and attended the N.A.T.O. Defence College in Rome, he was posted to N.A.T.O’s Southern Europe H.Q. in Naples, from which latter establishment he returned to the UK in 1975; shortly after which, as a result of ill-health, he was placed on the Retired List. Sold with details of the recipient’s operational sorties, taken from the Squadron Operations Book; copied birth and death certificates; various newspaper cuttings; and other ephemera, including a NATO Defense College bronze medallion embossed ‘Wing Commander J. G. Calvert’.

A Second War ‘Operation Pedestal’ D.S.C. group of seven awarded to Lieutenant-Commander A. J. Thomson, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, who served as Commanding Officer of 887 Squadron, and was additionally Mentioned in Despatches for his services in action against the Tirpitz Distinguished Service Cross, G.VI.R., reverse officially dated 192 and additionally privately engraved ‘Sub Lieut (A) A. J. Thomson R.N.V.R.’; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf, mounted court-style for display, nearly extremely fine (7) £1,200-£1,600 --- D.S.C. London Gazette 10 November 1942:
‘For bravery and dauntless resolution while serving in H.M. Ships, H.M. Aircraft-Carriers, Merchantmen, and Oilers when an important Convoy was fought through to Malta in the face of relentless attacks by day and night from enemy submarines, aircraft and surface forces.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 16 January 1945: ‘For undaunted courage, skill, and determination in carrying out daring attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz.’ The original recommendation (originally for a decoration, rather than a Mention) states: ‘As Senior Pilot in 887 Squadron this officer has taken part in three fighter sorties during recent operations, and has assisted in the destruction of several enemy aircraft on the ground, together with hangars at Banak and a radar station at Ytteroerne. He has displayed great courage and determination in his attacks, providing an excellent example for younger pilots and supporting his Squadron Commander with skill.’ Andrew John Thomson was commissioned Sub-Lieutenant (Air) in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve on 9 August 1941, and was posted to 800 Squadron on 11 October of that year. He is is mentioned a number of times by Commander R. Crossley in his book ‘They gave me a Seafire’: they served together in 800 Squadron in 1942 when the unit re-equiped with Sea Hurricanes, and acquiring the nickname of Greyhound, Thomson was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his gallantry during Operation Pedestal, the Malta convoy, whilst serving in H.M.S. Indomitable. It was subsequently with this unit and on the carrier H.M.S. Biter that Thomson saw action on the opening morning of Operation Torch over Oran in French Morocco, where he was credited with the shooting down of one French Dewoitine D520 that day. Transferring to 759 Squadron, based at R.N.A.S. Yeovilton, on 28 December 1942, Thomson was promoted Lieutenant (Air) on 1 September 1943, and transferred to 887 Squadron on 14 January 1944, being appointed the Squadron’s Commanding Officer on 19 August 1944 whilst at sea on H.M.S. Indefatigable on a mission off the Norwegian coast. He remained the Squadron’s commander until May 1945 and lead them through their deployment to the pacific theatre. Remaining in the service following the cessation of hostilities, Thomson was appointed Commanding Officer of 807 Squadron on 8 July 1948, and was promoted Lieutenant-Commander on 30 November 1951. His final posting was to the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Bulwark in January 1956. Sold with named Director of Naval Pay and Pensions, Ministry of Defence enclosure for the Second War awards; two group photographs of the Officers of 887 Squadron, H.M.S. Indefatigable, in which the recipient is identified; and copied research.

Pair: Captain R. A. Maby, Gloucestershire Regiment, Parachute Regiment, and Royal Army Ordnance Corps Africa General Service 1902-56, 1 clasp, Kenya (2/Lt. R. A. Maby. Glosters.); General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Malay Peninsula (Capt. R. A. Maby. RAOC.) mounted as worn, edge bruising to AGS, toned, good very fine (2) £300-£400 --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, September 2015. Rene Alexis Maby was born in Headington, Oxford, on 22 July 1932, the son of the physicist Joseph Maby, the scientist who helped develop the early radar systems. Commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Gloucestershire Regiment on 22 July 1953, he was promoted Lieutenant on 22 July 1955, and served with the 1st Battalion in Kenya in 1955 as commander of the Anti-Tank Platoon. Undergoing parachute training, he transferred to the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment in 1958, and was promoted Captain on 22 July 1959. He served with them in Cyprus from December 1959, before transferring to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on 29 August 1961, and saw further service in Malaya. Sold with array of the recipient’s unit cloth badges ands patches, including his Pegasus patch and Parachute Wings; and three photographic images.

A fine ‘Mekran Expedition 1898’ C.B. group of nine awarded to Colonel R. C. G. Mayne, Bombay Army The Most Honourable Order of the Bath, C.B. (Military) Companion’s breast badge converted for neck wear, silver-gilt and enamels; Afghanistan 1878-80, 1 clasp, Kandahar (Lt. R. C. G. Mayne, 29th Bo. N.I.); Kabul to Kandahar Star 1880 (Lieut: R. C. G. Mayne 29th Bombay N.I.); Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, dated reverse, 1 clasp, Tel-El-Kebir (Lieut: R. C. G. Mayne, 2nd Belooch: Regt.); China 1900, no clasp (Lt. Col: R. C. G. Mayne, C.B., A.D.C., 30 Belooch: Inf:); Coronation 1902, silver; Delhi Durbar 1903, silver; Coronation 1911; Khedive’s Star, dated 1882, mounted court-style, minor enamel chips to the first, the earlier campaign medals with pitting from star, otherwise very fine and better (9) £2,800-£3,400 --- Richard Charles Graham Mayne was born on 27 August 1852 in Simla, India, the son of Major Robert Graham Mayne, and Eliza Anne Landale. He was sent back to England to be educated at Wellington College, and then attended the Royal Military College Sandhurst, being commissioned as an Ensign into the 83rd County of Dublin Regiment of Foot in 1872. Mayne then transferred to the Indian Army, and was appointed a Lieutenant with the 29th Bombay Native Infantry, which was otherwise known as the Balooch Regiment. He saw service during the Second Afghanistan War of 1878-80, being present during Lord Robert's famous march from Kabul to Kandahar during August 1880, and was then present at the capture of Kandahar on 1 September 1880. Mayne was then present with the Indian Contingent sent to Egypt during the Egyptian War of 1882, being present in action at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir on 13 September 1882. Mayne was promoted to Captain in 1884, and then to Major in 1892, followed by Lieutenant Colonel in 1898, and appointed to command the 30th Bombay Native Infantry which was otherwise known as the 3rd Balooch Regiment. It was in this year that Mayne performed his most distinguished services for the Indian Army when he commanded the forces during the little known but important Mekran Expedition. At the turn of the 19th Century, the Mekran area of north-west India (now Pakistan) and adjacent south-east Persia was a remote dry strip of land running along the northern coastline of the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. This was, and remains today, one of the most hostile and inaccessible regions in the world. Mountains rising to over 10,000 feet formed a backdrop to the coastal desert. Habitation inland followed watercourses that ran through gorges in the hills where date gardens could be irrigated. Coastal communities existed on fishing and smuggling, with Muscat, in Oman across the Straits of Hormuz, being a major source of illegally-imported weapons. The camel provided a transport resource, as well as milk and meat. The standard of living was very low, bordering on wretched, for many inhabitants. The people were hardy and lawless Muslim Baluch tribesmen who resisted outside interference and who constantly intrigued and fought amongst themselves. In the British-administered portion of Mekran government of a sort was achieved by tribal treaty supervised by British Political Agents. The British presence was most evident on the coast where a telegraph line ran from Persia to Karachi. However, by 1898, British survey parties were working inland. In January 1898, conflict broke out in Kej, where the Hindu Nazim Diwan Udho Das (a district administrator who reported to the ruler of the region, the Khan of Kalat) was disliked and disrespected by the Baluch sardars (leaders) Baluch Khan and Mehrab Khan Gichki. The latter, with the complicity of Baluch Khan, attacked Diwan Udho Das on 6th January, imprisoned him in Kalatuk Fort and looted his treasury. Meantime, the unsuspecting British had deployed four surveyors, with Punjabi civilian support staff, into the Kolwa and Kej valleys, depending on the Baluch sardars' levies for security. On 9th January, the camp of one of the surveyors, Captain J. M. Burn, Royal Engineers, was attacked by local tribesmen. The fifteen-man levy escort team, commanded by Rhustam Khan, brother of Mehrab Khan Gichki, stood aside as sixteen support staff were slaughtered. The attackers and the escort party then seized thirty-five rifles and 15,000 Rupees. Captain Burn had been sleeping on a hill three miles away, and he was alerted by one of his men who had escaped from the camp. Burn started off on foot to Balor, thirty-five miles away. At Balor he sent messengers to alert the other surveyors, and he obtained a camel to ride to Urmara, whence on 11th January he telegraphed a report to Brigadier-General T. A. Cooke, the Officer Commanding Sind District, at Karachi. Within two hours of the report's arrival, a military response was initiated. Lieutenant-Colonel R. G. C. Mayne, commanding 30th Bombay Infantry (3rd Baluch Battalion), was ordered to proceed with 250 men to Urmara, seventy-five miles east of Pasni. Transportation was provided by the tug Richmond Crawford, with a local boat in tow carrying followers, baggage, 400 rounds per rifle, and rations for one month. Three British officers and one medical officer accompanied Mayne. Parties from the 21st Bombay Infantry were despatched to Chabbar and Jask in Persian Mekran to protect British telegraph facilities in those locations. Meanwhile those sardars wishing to avoid direct conflict with the British escorted the three remaining surveyors and their men into Urmara. At Urmara, Colonel Mayne landed his men, horses and supplies by using local bunder boats (ship-to-shore coastal boats). More troops were being organised to join Colonel Mayne, and Pasni was chosen as the operational base. From Pasni, a direct route led north to Mehrab Khan's fort at Turbat and the nearby fort at Kalatuk where Nazim Diwan Udho Das was jailed. Colonel Mayne marched on 19th January with his men along the 100 miles of telegraph line to Pasni, repairing the line as he went. The hostile sardars had sent instructions that the British were not to be offered camels to assist with transportation, but the British Political Agent for South-East Baluchistan, Major M. A. Tighe, quickly found camels for Colonel Mayne. None of the beasts were strong due to recent droughts in the region and many died under the pressure of work. By 27th January, Colonel Mayne had under his command at Pasni the 30th Bombay Infantry (400 rifles), a section of No 4 Hazara Mountain Battery (two 7-pndr guns), and eighty-eight transport mules. Two days later the following troops left Karachi to join Colonel Mayne: 6th Bombay Cavalry (half-squadron); 30th Bombay Infantry (eighty rifles, tasked with guarding telegraph facilities at Urmara, Pasni and Gwadur); Bombay Sappers and Miners (one British and one Indian officer with twelve other ranks); No 42 Field Hospital ('C' and 'D' Sections); an additional twelve transport mules. Colonel Mayne left Pasni with his men and the two mountain guns on 27th January, knowing that Baluch Khan intended to block his advance to Turbat. Four dry and dusty days later at 08.00 hours, the column came across the hostile Sardars and 1,500 of their men on hills 300 feet above the mouth of a narrow six-mile long defile. When the advance guard under Lieutenant N. R. Anderson got within 850 yards of the enemy, it came under breech-loading rifle fire. Captain A. Le G. Jacob, with fifty rifles, was deployed onto a hill on the enemy's left flank where he met stiff opposition. Lieutenant J. H. Paine and his gunners now delivered destructive blows by blasting the sardars' forces with shells. Colonel Mayne sent Captain R. Southey with fifty rifles to drive the enemy off low hills to the left (west) of the defile. At that moment Lieutenant H. T. Naylor appeared with thirty-two sabres from the 6th Bombay Cavalry. ...

Pair: Private J. F. C. Eaton, Kent Cyclist Battalion, later Royal West Kent Regiment British War Medal 1914-20 (G-27106 Pte. J. F. C. Eaton. Kent Cyc. Bn.); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 (G-27106 Pte J. F. C. Eaton. R. W. Kent. R.) good very fine (2) £80-£100 --- John F. C. Eaton attested into the Kent Cyclist Battalion and served in India during the Great War with the 1/1st Battalion. He saw further service with the Royal West Regiment during the Afghanistan North West Frontier campaign and was discharged on 30 March 1920. Sold with copied Medal Index Card (which confirms that this is the recipient’s complete entitlement), and copied medal roll extract.

Three: Sister Florence D. W. Stock, Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve 1914-15 Star (Sister F. D. W. Stock. Q.A.I.M.N.S.R.); British War and Victory Medals (Sister F. D. W. Stock.) mounted as worn, good very fine (3) £140-£180 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Florence Doris Wood Stock joined Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service Reserve on 30 July 1915, and served during the Great War initially at No. 8 General Hospital, Rouen, from August 1915. She saw further service at No. 44 Casualty Clearing Station; No. 24 General Hospital, Etaples; No. 11 Casualty Clearing Station; No. 32 Casualty Clearing Station; and No. 14 General Hospital, Boulogne.

An extremely rare Boer War R.R.C. pair awarded to Nursing Sister Helen Hogarth, Army Nursing Service Reserve, one of just three such decorations granted for services in hospital ships in the Boer War, in her case as a hand-picked member of staff aboard the Princess of Wales Royal Red Cross, 1st Class, V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, on lady’s bow riband; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (Nursing Sister H. Hogarth) enamel somewhat chipped on upper arm of RRC, otherwise good very fine, extremely rare (2) £3,000-£4,000 --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, June 2008. Only three ladies received the R.R.C. for services in hospital ships during the Boer War: Superintendent Miss M. C. Chadwick; Nursing Sister Miss H. Hogarth (both of the Princess of Wales); and Mrs. G. Cornwallis-West (of the privately funded Maine). The award of the Royal Red Cross itself for the Boer War is scarce, with just 77 awarded – one fewer than the number of Victoria Crosses awarded for the same campaign. R.R.C. London Gazette 26 June 1902: ‘Miss H. Hogarth, Army Nursing Service Reserve, Hospital Ship Princess of Wales.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 17 June 1902. Miss Helen Hogarth was one of just four nursing staff hand picked by H.R.H. Princess Christian to serve on the royal hospital ship Princess of Wales during the Boer War. Hospital Ship Princess of Wales Much of the history behind the creation of the Princess of Wales is well documented in the columns of The Times, Lord Wantage having corresponded with the newspaper in October 1899 about the creation of the Central British Red Cross Committee, including the Army Nursing Service Reserve, whose President was H.R.H. Princess Christian. In turn she became Honorary President of the newly formed Committee, out of which emerged the funding for a fully equipped hospital ship. The vessel in question, the well-known yachting steamer Midnight Sun, was chartered for the purpose and sent to the Armstrong works for the necessary alterations into a 200-bed hospital ship, ready to leave for South Africa by the end of November 1899. In addition to assisting with the cost of fitting the ship, Her Royal Highness spent more than £1,000 in luxuries and comforts for the sick and wounded soldiers and, at the express wish of the Central British Red Cross Committee, consented that the ship be called the Princess of Wales. In the company of her husband, she visited the ship at Tilbury Docks in late November, just before her departure for South Africa - painted white, the Princess of Wales had the Geneva Cross ‘standing out in bold relief on her side’. The Times continues: ‘The interior fittings have been swept away, commodious wards taking the place of dining room, music room, and so on, and the ship now represents a perfectly equipped floating hospital. There are three large wards, and one small one, the last being for officers, and altogether cots are provided for about 200 patients ... The operating room is on the lower deck, in the middle of the ship, and is fitted, not only with a cluster of electric lights showing right down on the operating table, but with the Rontgen rays, as well. Then there is a well-arranged dispensary and also an isolation ward. In addition to the wards already spoken of there are some private cabins available for sick and wounded officers. Three refrigerating rooms with a total capacity of 2,200 feet, have been arranged, in order to allow of an adequate supply of fresh meat being carried for the long voyage. The Principal Medical Officer will be Major Morgan, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, and he will have three assistants from the same corps. Of nursing sisters there will be four – one, who will superintend, from the Army Nursing Service, and three from the Army Nursing Service Reserve of the Central British Red Cross Committee. The three have been personally selected by Princess Christian, who has taken the greatest interest in the arrangements ... The nurses (Sisters Chadwick, Brebner, Hogarth, and Spooner), the staff and the men of the Royal Army Medical Corps who go out with the vessel were drawn up on deck as the Royal party came on board. Passing through commodious wards the Royal visitors entered the officers’ ward, into which the dining and music rooms have been converted, and inspected the numerous appliances provided for the relief of the patients ... To the personnel as well as to the vessel the Princess of Wales devoted much attention. Her Royal Highness presented to each nurse a distinguishing badge and addressed to them individually a few words of encouragement and approbation ... The Princess then proceeded along the line of R.A.M.C. men, 23 in number, and to each she handed a badge. To a similar number of the St. John Ambulance Brigade Her Royal Highness also gave badges and expressed special interest in this branch of the hospital staff, who, for the first time, are being sent abroad for service.’ Those services were much required by the time the Princess of Wales reached South Africa in the wake of ‘Black Week’ in December 1899, unprecedented British casualties having emerged from the battles of Magersfontein, Stormberg and Colenso. In all, the Princess of Wales made three voyages to South Africa and on each occasion that she berthed back at Southampton H.R.H. the Princess of Wales made private visits to the ship to meet the nursing staff and the sick and wounded. And the first such occasion was in February 1900, when she was cheered into port by nearly 500 men about to depart for South Africa in the Goorkha. The Times once more covered events in detail:
‘Then away to the Empress Dock close to the embarkation office where the Princess of Wales, formerly the Midnight Sun, was being slowly warped up to the quayside. Her bulwarks were lined with as healthy looking a lot of men in blue uniform as ever I saw, but one imagined that below there must be many worse cases. But it was comforting to find on asking Major Morgan, who was the R.A.M.C. surgeon in charge, that, as a matter of fact, there was only one man out of the 174 who was not on deck, and that he was carried on deck every day. In fact, the state in which the men arrived did every credit to Major Morgan and Miss Chadwick, the superintendent nursing sister, and to the nurses, female and male, who have been in charge of them. Of limbs lost there appeared to be but a small percentage, but of a sort of partial paralysis following upon a wound from a Mauser bullet there were a good many cases among these victims of Magersfontein and the Modder River ... ’ The Prince and Princess of Wales visited the officers, nursing staff and wounded men on board the ship the day after it had docked at Southampton, carrying out a ‘friendly inspection’ of each and every ward, The Times’ correspondent reporting that ‘there is not one of the 176 men on board the Princess of Wales who cannot boast that the wife of the Prince of Wales has spoken to him words of comfort and encouragement.’ On 14 April 1900, the Princess of Wales left Southampton for Table Bay, Cape Town, where she worked as a floating hospital until returning home with more wounded and invalids that July - as was the case before, H.R.H. the Princess of Wales inspected the ship and met all of the 170 casualties and the nursing staff, Major Morgan and the Nursing Sisters being presented to the Princess as she arrived on board. So, too, on her return from her third and final trip in December 1900, when H.R.H. the Princess of Wales was introduced to two particularly bad cases:
‘The cases that aroused the deepest sympathy of Her Royal Highness were those of two men named Stoney, of the Liverpool Regiment, and Dyer, of the Scots Guards. St...

A Great War ‘Western Front’ M.C. group of four awarded to Lieutenant C. A. Trimm, Royal Field Artillery Military Cross, G.V.R., reverse privately engraved ‘Awarded to Lieut C. A. Trimm R.F.A. Sept. 1917. Presented by King George V. July 31st. 1919.’; British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. C. A. Trimm.); Defence Medal, mounted court-style, nearly extremely fine (4) £600-£800 --- M.C. London Gazette 18 October 1917: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when the battery position was being heavily shelled. The camouflage of two guns caught fire, and this officer at once ran out and, filling buckets from adjacent shell holes, succeeded, in extinguishing the fire, although the sandbags around the guns had caught alight. After he had got under cover he saw that an ammunition dump had been hit and was alight, and he, accompanied by a gunner, again went out to extinguish the fire.’ Charles Algernon Trimm was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery Special Reserve on 23 December 1916 and served with the Artillery during the Great War on the Western Front from 30 March 1917, being awarded the Military Cross for his gallantry in September 1917. Promoted Lieutenant on 23 June 1918, he saw further service during the Second World War with the Surrey Army Cadet Force as part of the Territorial Army Reserve of Officers.

New Zealand 1845-66, reverse dated 1860 to 1864 (302 J. Williams, 40th Regt.) good very fine £400-£500 --- John Williams was born at Ennis Town, County Clare, and enlisted into the 40th Regiment at Melbourne on 13 October 1859, a labourer aged 19. He saw service in New Zealand and was present at Mahoetahi and Matarikoriko. Discharged in England on 13 July 1869, he died on 20 April 1871.

South Africa 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1879 (Major F. S. Russell, 14th. Hussars.) contact marks and edge bruising, nearly very fine £700-£900 --- Francis Shirley Russell was born in Scotland on 13 December 1840 and was educated at Radley and Balliol College, Oxford. He entered the 14th Hussars as a Cornet on 6 February 1863 and was appointed Aide-de-Camp to the Commander-in-Chief in Ireland in 1869. Attending Staff College in 1872, he saw special service during the Ashantee War from 17 December 1873 attached to Wood’s Regiment, and commanded the post of Accrofoomu on the line of communication (Medal with clasp and Brevet Major), and was appointed Instructor of Tactics at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, in 1876. Posted to the Intelligence Department, Russell served in South Africa during the latter part of the Zulu War as Deputy Assistant Adjutant General of the 2nd Division, and was present in the engagement at Ulundi (Medal with clasp), and then during the First Boer War. He was appointed Commanding Officer of the 1st Royal Dragoons, with the rank of Colonel, on 1 July 1885, before taking up an appointment as Military Attaché, Berlin, in 1889. Appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 1891, he later served as Brigadier-General commanding Aberdeen Defence Brigade from 1892, and was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 1st Royal Dragoons in 1900, being awarded the Prussian Order of the Crown First Class in 1903 by the Regiment’s Colonel in Chief, H.M. Kaiser Wilhelm II. He died in the rank of Major-General on 18 March 1912.

A Great War Royal Naval Division M.C. group to Lieutenant W. Barnett, Anson Battalion, R.N.D. late East Yorkshire Regiment (Hull Commercials), who was later wounded in action and taken prisoner of war Military Cross, George V, the reverse engraved ‘Lieut. W. Barnett, Anson Battn. R.N.D., Sept. 1918’; 1914-15 Star (10-699 Sjt. W. Barnett. E. York. R.); British War and Victory Medals (S. Lt. W. Barnett. R.N.V.R.) mounted for wearing, nearly extremely fine (4) £1,400-£1,800 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Sotheby, December 1998. M.C. London Gazette 11 January 1919: ‘T./Sub. Lt. Walter Barnett, Anson Bn., R.N.V.R., R.N. Div. For conspicuous gallantry during an attack. Under heavy machine-gun fire he successfully led his company forward by rushes to the final objective. Twenty-seven enemy machine guns were afterwards counted on the ground over which his company passed, and it was chiefly owing to their determined advance that the battalion was able to reach its final objective. He showed fine courage and leadership.’ Sold with the following documentation and artefacts: i) four original photo-postcards, of Barnett in uniform, two of them with fellow officers; ii) Case of issue for M.C., related cap badge, an Australian Military Forces cap badge, ribbon bar, whistle, and two military sports medals, in silver; iii) Buckingham Palace P.O.W. ‘welcome home’ letter, with original envelope; iv) two local newspaper pages (Hull Daily News and Eastern Morning News, 15/16 January 1919), containing the following article: ‘Lieutenant Barnett is the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Barnett, 162 Blenheim Street, and was engaged with Messrs. Dawson and Loncaster, solicitors. He joined the Hull Commercials in September 1914, and saw service with them in Egypt and France. In August 1917 he was granted a commission in the Royal Naval Division, and returned to France in May 1918. The brave act for which he was granted the decoration occurred in connection with the breaking of the Hindenburg switch line on the 2nd September last. Lieutenant Barnett subsequently saw very heavy fighting, but escaped unwounded down to the 30th September, when, in an attempt undertaken by him to silence an enemy machine-gun, he had the misfortune to lose his right eye, and was taken prisoner. He returned to Hull from Germany last month, and is at present at the Brooklands Hospital for officers, Cottingham Road.’

General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Kurdistan (Capt. C. A. Wood. I.M.S.) edge bruise and minor abrasions to obverse field, very fine £200-£240 --- M.C. London Gazette 14 January 1916. M.C. Second Award Bar London Gazette 25 August 1917. M.I.D. London Gazette 1 January 1916. Charles Albert Wood was born on 16 May 1886 and trained at Guy’s Hospital, London. He was commissioned Lieutenant in the Indian Medical Service on 28 January 1911, and was promoted Captain on 28 January 1914. He served during the Great War on the Western Front, was Mentioned in Despatches, and was awarded the Military Cross and a Second Award Bar. Post-War, he saw further service in Kurdistan, was promoted Major on 28 July 1922, and Lieutenant-Colonel on 30 July 1930. Sold with copied research.

A 1913 Sea Gallantry Medal awarded to Assistant Scout Master W. F. Vowles, Port of London Sea Scouts Sea Gallantry Medal, G.V.R., bronze (William Fletcher Vowles, “Mirror”. 25th. October, 1913.) with top bronze riband buckle, nearly extremely fine £300-£400 --- ‘At about 11.00 p.m. on 25 October 1913, a collision occurred in Gravesend Reach, River Thames between the steamship Hogarth of Aberdeen and the ketch Mirror of Dartmouth used for the purpose of training Boy Scouts, by which the Mirror was sunk and four lives were lost. When the collision occurred the crew of the Mirror clambered on board the Hogarth, but Mr. Vowles immediately went to the forecastle hatchway and saw that the Boy Scouts were coming on deck. Finding that the Mirror was sinking fast and being uncertain as to whether all the boys had come up, he went below although the water was well up in the forecastle, and, by shouting and splashing satisfied himself that no one was left. As he came up on deck again the Mirror sank bow first and those on board were all thrown into the water. Mr. Vowles then swam to the Hogarth’s port bow, calling for ropes, which were thrown over from that vessel, and seeing Assistant Scout Master Cornall floating unconscious near him, he attempted to rescue him, but Cornall slipped from his grasp and was drowned. Three of the boy scouts were picked up by a boat from the Hogarth and Mr. Vowles and two others were hauled on board that vessel by ropes.’ William Fletcher Vowles, Assistant Scout Master, Port of London Sea Scouts, was presented with the his Bronze Sea Gallantry Medal by King George V on 29 June 1914. He also received a Lloyd’s Silver Medal for this action. On board the Mirror at the time of the incident were Assistant Scout Masters Vowles and Cornall; and 11 Sea Scouts. A memorial to the four who lost their lives was unveiled by Prince Leopold in St. Agatha’s Church, Finsbury Avenue, in 1914.

A Great War ‘Egyptian Expeditionary Force’ M.C. group of four awarded to Captain J. Ford, 23rd (County of London) Battalion, late 5th (City of London) Battalion (London Rifle Brigade), London Regiment Military Cross, G.V.R., the reverse contemporarily engraved ‘Lt. J. Ford. 2/23. L.R., Jerusalem 19.2.18; 1914 Star, with clasp (9822 Pte. J. Ford. 5/Lond: R.); British War and Victory Medals (Cpt. J. Ford.) mounted court-style for display, lacquered, good very fine (4) £700-£900 --- M.C. London Gazette 22 June 1918: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led his company with the greatest coolness across a narrow ravine, which had led to a hill under point-blank machine gun fir, capturing two machine-guns and many prisoners. When after dawn the position was shelled, and he was wounded, he remained at his post and consolidated the position.’ John Ford attested for the London Regiment and served with the 5th Battalion (London Rifle Brigade) on the Western Front from 4 November 1914. Advanced Sergeant, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant on 23 January 1916, and saw further service with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. Sold with copied medal index card and other research.

Three: Lance-Corporal C. R. Bowers, Royal Marines Light Infantry 1914 Star, with copy clasp (CH8191. Pte. C. R. Bowers. R.M. Brigade.); British War and Victory Medals (Ch. 8191 L. Cpl. C. R. Bowers. R.M.L.I.) toned, nearly extremely fine (3) £120-£160 --- Charles Richard Bowers, a milkman from Surbiton, Surrey, attested into the Royal Marines on 17 January 1895. Discharged to the Royal Fleet Reserve on 30 May 1905, he was recalled for service during the Great War and served on the Western Front at Dunkirk from 20 September 1914 until being moved to serve in the Defence of Antwerp from 3 to 9 October. He saw further service at Gallipoli in 1915 and was advanced Lance Corporal on 20 September 1915, before being invalided from the service on 13 June 1916. Sold with copied service papers.

Four: Sergeant W. Scott, Balloon Section, Royal Engineers, who was taken Prisoner of War during the Boer War Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (7 Corpl. W. Scott. R.E.) engraved naming; King’s South Africa 1901-02, 2 clasps, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (7 2nd. Cpl. W. Scott. R.E.); British War Medal 1914-20 (7 Sjt. W. Scott. R.E.); Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (7 Sjt: W. Scott. R.E.) light contact marks and minor edge bruising, very fine (4) £400-£500 --- William Scott was born in Hull, Yorkshire, in 1876 and attested for the Royal Engineers at Beverley, Yorkshire, on 13 April 1896. He served with the Balloon Section in South Africa during the Boer War from 7 March 1900 to 2 March 1902, and was captured and taken Prisoner of War, being released at Frederikstad on 19 July 1900. Advanced Sergeant, he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal with Gratuity per Army Order 412 of 1914, and saw further service during the Great War with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force from 15 September 1916 to 25 July 1918 (also entitled to a Victor Medal). He was finally discharged on 22 August 1918, after 22 years and 132 days’ service. Sold with copied record of service; a 101st Anniversary of the Battle of Paardeberg 1st Day Cover, dated 17 February 2021; and copied research.

Pair: Nursing Sister Clara L. Travis, Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service Reserve Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (Nursing Sister C. L. Travis.) officially re-impressed naming as typically encountered with QSAs to Nurses; King’s South Africa 1901-02, no clasp (Nursing Sister C. L. Travis.); together with the recipient’s Maidstone Typhoid Fever Medal 1897, silver, the reverse engraved ‘C. Travis’, last lacking integral top riband bar, light contact marks, very fine, the last scarce (3) £500-£700 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Clara Louise Travis trained at the West Kent General Hospital at Maidstone, Kent, and was one of the nurses on the Maidstone Corporation Staff engaged in the town in connection with the typhoid epidemic in 1897, for which she was presented with the medal. She joined Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service Reserve as No. 291 on 2 February 1900, and sailing on the Canada on 14 April 1900 served in South Africa during the Boer War, first at No. 1 General Hospital, Wynberg; and then at No. 13 General Hospital, Johannesburg. She saw further service at home during the Great War with Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service from 27 July 1916. Maidstone Typhoid Fever Medal A major epidemic of Typhoid Fever broke out in Maidstone, Kent during late August 1897. By 9 September, 117 cases had been reported, rising to 774 by the end of the month and by 9 October the number had risen to 1,200, with 42 deaths. The cause was never fully identified but the reservoir at Barming, the spring at Tutsham, and various pumping stations were all found to be contaminated - all this compounded by the poor sewage system then in operation at Maidstone. In the highly charged atmosphere of the times, irresponsibly defecating hop-pickers also were blamed for the outbreak! The Town Council also came in for some criticism in having, as an economy measure, reduced the number of times a year the water purity was tested. In response to the outbreak, suspect water supplies were cut and Barming Reservoir was chlorinated. The Town Council issued handbills to the townspeople recommending the boiling of all drinking water and a free laundry was opened for the washing of all clothes and bedding from infected households; these same houses were then thoroughly disinfected. Emergency hospitals were opened, and such was the need, that doctors and nurses from outside the area were brought in to tend to the sick and dying. A subscription to help the poorer townsfolk was also opened. By rigourous methods the epidemic was brought under control, and by the end of December it was largely over; the total number of reported cases being 1,847, with 132 deaths. Medals were awarded to the nursing staff who served in the town during the epidemic. Many were presented by the Mayor of Maidstone at a special ceremony held at the Museum and Technical School on Wednesday 8 December 1897; an account of the presentation being given in the South Eastern Gazette of 14 December 1897. Some 700 people attended the presentation, including members of the Town Council, Magistrates, Clergy and other people of note. The Mayor of Maidstone (Councillor J. Barker) gave a speech before the presentation, paraphrased by the newspaper, ‘... While they must be filled with regret for those who had been taken away ... it was a matter of congratulation to know that the epidemic which overtook them three months ago, had been stamped out thanks to the efforts of their Medical Officer, the medical men of the town, and ... through the sturdy and gallant conduct of every inhabitant of Maidstone ... and, in addition to the help received from the residents in the town and neighbourhood, they had an army of trained nurses to assist them. ... He now wished on the part of every inhabitant of the borough of Maidstone, ... to thank the nurses who had assisted them during their great trouble ... and he was going to ask them to accept a small medal as a token of esteem for the work they had done ...’

Pair: Lieutenant F. C. Cantrill, South African Constabulary later 13th Battalion Canadian Infantry and Canadian Forestry Corps Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902, date clasp block loose on riband (1849 Corpl: F. C. Cantrill. S.A.C.); British War Medal 1914-20 (Lieut. F. C. Cantrill.) nearly extremely fine (2) £120-£160 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Frederick Charles Cantrill was born in Derby on 5 April 1871 and attested for the South African Constabulary at Prince Albert on 29 January 1901. Promoted Corporal on 26 April 1901, he was discharged by purchase on 12 February 1903. He saw further service during the Great War, being commissioned Second Lieutenant on 188th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, on 28 March 1916, and served in England with the 15th Reserve Battalion and the Canadian Forestry Corps (not entitled to a Victory Medal). He was discharged, unfit for General Service, on 5 April 1918. Sold with a repaired SAC shoulder title; and copied service papers.

Three: Acting Chief Petty Officer W. C. Browning, Royal Navy East and West Africa, 1 clasp, 1891-2 (W. C. Browning, A.B., H.M.S. Racer); Queen’s South Africa, 6 clasps, Cape Colony, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Belfast (136960 P-O: W. C. Browning, H.M.S. Monarch); Naval Long Service and Good Conduct, E.VII.R. (W. C. Browning, Act. C.P.O., H.M.S. Medea), contact wear and edge bruising, otherwise generally about very fine and rare (3) £700-£900 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Douglas-Morris Collection, Dix Noonan Webb, February 1997. Only 63 six-clasp Queen’s South Africa medals to the Royal Navy, including 50 to Monarch. Acting Chief Petty Officer William Charles Browning was born at Crewkerne, Somerset, in January 1871 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class aboard H.M.S. Impregnable, aged 15 years. Advanced to Boy 1st Class in April 1887, to Ordinary Seaman in January 1889 and to Leading Seaman in February 1890, he joined H.M.S. Racer in April 1891. In this latter ship he was landed with the Naval Brigade sent to punish Chief Fodeh Cabbah. Further promoted to Petty Officer 2nd Class in November 1895 and to Petty Officer 1st Class in March 1897, he next saw active service in H.M.S. Monarch, which ship he joined in July of the latter year. Landed for service with the Naval Brigade in the Boer War, he saw extensive service which qualified him for a six-clasp medal. Awarded his L.S. and G.C. medal and advanced to Acting Chief Petty Officer in 1904, Browning was invalided ashore in February 1909, suffering from ‘mental deficiency’. A closing statement on his Service Record states that his name was put forward for financial assistance from the Royal Patriotic Fund. Sold with copied record of service.

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, no clasp (Nursing Sister H. M. Young) nearly extremely fine £200-£240 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Helena Mary Young joined Princess Christian’s Army Nursing Service on 2 July 1900, and served in South Africa at N. 9 General Hospital, Bloemfontein. She saw further serve at home during the Great War as a a Lady Superintendent, British Red Cross, in Norfolk from October 1915.

Family Group: Three: Acting Warrant Officer Class II A. Parker, King’s Own Scottish Borderers 1914 Star, with clasp (9096 Sjt. A. Parker. K.O. Scot: Bord.); British War Medal 1914-20 (9096 Sjt. A. Parker. K.O.S.B.), replacement naming; Victory Medal (9096 A. W.O. Cl. 2. A. W. Parker K.O. Sco. Bord.) mounted for wear, verdigris stains to top of obverse on star, otherwise very fine Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Laing’s Nek, Cape Colony, South Africa 1901, unofficial rivets connecting top two clasps (682 C. Sgt W. J. Parker, Vol: Coy Middx: Regt.) slight contact marks, nearly extremely fine (4) £180-£220 --- Arthur Parker, believed to be the son of W. J. Parker, attested into the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and served during the Great War on the Western Front with the 2nd Battalion from 15 August 1914. Appointed Acting Company Sergeant Major, he saw later service with the 7/8th Battalion. Sold with copied medal roll extracts, Medal Index Card, confirming the replacement of his British War Medal at public expense, on 9 April 1925, and the award of a clasp for his 1914 Star.

Pair: Lieutenant L. H. Forrest, Royal Flying Corps and 47th Sikhs, a DH9 pilot of 27 Squadron who was shot down, wounded and taken Prisoner of War whilst trying to carry out a raid on the bridge at Voyenne, as part of the first day of the Battle of Amiens British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. L. H. Forrest. R.A.F.) minor edge bruising, generally nearly very fine (2) £300-£400 --- Lionel Hugh Forrest was born in May 1897, the son of H. E. Forrest, a musical instrument dealer. Forrest was educated at Bishop Vesey’s School, Sutton Coldfield. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 47th Sikhs in November 1915, and advanced to Lieutenant later the following year. Forrest transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in early 1917, and carried out initial training as a pilot. He was posted as a pilot for operational flying with 27 Squadron (D.H.9’s) on the Western Front in July 1918. The Squadron was tasked with bombing and reconnaissance operations, and Forrest often found himself crewed with Lieutenant S. W. P. Foster-Sutton as his Observer. The fate of the pair is described in The Flying Elephants: The History of No. 27 Squadron RFC/RAF 1915 to 1969, by Chaz Bowyer: ‘By the end of July preparations were complete for the first main Allied offensive since the perilous days of March 1918. Accordingly at the beginning of August, IX Brigade left the French zone, 27 Squadron moving to Beauvois on August 8. This same day saw the start of the Battle of Amiens and 27 were in action immediately. Just after dawn fourteen DHs attacked St. Christ aerodrome in the Peronne sector, while at mid-day a mixed force of DH4’s and 9’s bombed bridges over the Somme at Bethencourt, Voyennes and Offoy from low level. Once lightened of their bombs all aircraft dropped down to deck-level and completed their sorties by strafing German troops, transport and emplacements with machine-gun fire. German fighters scoured the whole battle front offering fanatical resistance to the Allied aircraft, among them the Richthofen “Circus” which claimed thirteen victims on that date. None of these belonged to 27 but the squadron was attacked by a flight from Jasta 29 and lost three bombers. These were DH9 D 1719 (to Oberleutnant H. Auffarth), DH9 D 7317 (Vizefeldwebel Gregor) and DH4 B 2133 (victor unknown). Of the crews, Lts. H. M. Brown, L. H. Forest [sic] and S. W. P. Foster-Sutton survived as prisoners of the Germans.’ Both Forrest and Foster-Sutton were wounded, and taken Prisoner of War by the Germans. Their aircraft was claimed as shot down by the German Ace Lieutnant Richard Wentzl of Jasta 6. Forrest was repatriated in December 1918, and relinquished his temporary commission in the R.A.F. to return to the Indian Army in October 1919. In later life resided at Old Parrs, Middletown, Welshpool. Sold with extensive copied research, Combat Reports, ORB entries etc.

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Relief of Ladysmith, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Tugela Heights, unofficial rivets between first and second, and between third and fourth clasps (727 Pte. H. J. Peake, Impl: Lt. Infy.) good very fine £100-£140 --- Herbert John Peake attested for the Imperial Light Infantry on 23 November 1899, and was discharged on 19 January 1900. He re-enlisted (for special service) in the Natal Carbineers on 21 January 1900, and served during operations at the Relief of Ladysmith, Tugela Heights and at Laing’s Nek. he was discharged on 8 September 1900, and re-enlisted on the same day into Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry. He saw further service during the latter stages of the Boer War in the Prince of Wales’s Light Horse; the Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Volunteer Rifles; and as a Corporal in the Transkei Mounted Rifles. He was finally discharged on 14 April 1902

A superb campaign group of nine awarded to First Sea Lord, Admiral Lord Hood of Avalon, G.C.B., Royal Navy Naval General Service 1793-1840, 1 clasp, Syria (A. W. A. Hood, Midshipman.); Crimea 1854-55, 1 clasp, Sebastopol, unnamed as issued; China 1857-60, 2 clasps, Canton 1857, Fatshan 1857, unnamed as issued; Canada General Service 1866-70, 1 clasp, Fenian Raid 1866 (Captain Lord Hood of Avalon, H.M.S. Pylades) Canadian style impressed naming; Jubilee 1897, silver; Portugal, Kingdom, Military Order of Christ, breast badge, gold and enamels; Ottoman Empire, Order of the Medjidie, 5th class, silver, gold and enamel; St Jean d’Acre 1840, silver; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinian issue, light contact marks, otherwise good very fine or better (9) £4,000-£5,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Arthur William Acland Hood was born on 14 July, 1824, the younger son of Sir Alexander Hood of St. Andries, Somerset, second baronet, and grandson of Captain Alexander Hood, who was mortally wounded when in command of the Mars, in her action with the French 74-gun ship l'Hercule, and died in the moment of victory, on 21 April, 1798. The baronetcy was conferred on Captain Hood's brother Samuel, who commanded the Zealous in the battle of the Nile, and died in 1815, whilst Commander-in-Chief in the East Indies. He had no issue, and the title, by special remainder, passed to his nephew. Belonging to a family so distinguished in our naval annals, Arthur Hood's career was almost naturally shaped out for him, and he entered the Navy in August, 1836. He saw some little fighting on the north coast of Spain, where the Civil War was then raging, and afterwards on the coast of Syria, where, in 1840, he was present at the reduction of Acre. In 1844-45 he went through a course of mathematics and gunnery on board the Excellent and at the college in Portsmouth Dockyard. He then was appointed to the President, flagship of Rear-Admiral Dacres at the Cape of Good Hope, and a few months later, on 9 January, 1846, was promoted to be one of her lieutenants. He remained in the President till she was paid off in January 1849, and after a year's holiday he was appointed, in January 1850, to the Arethusa, then commissioned for the Mediterranean by Captain Symonds, afterwards very well known as Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas Symonds. With Symonds, in the Arethusa, Hood continued for nearly five years, and was promoted to the rank of commander on 27 November 1854, for service with the naval brigade before Sebastopol. In 1856 he commissioned the Acorn brig for China, where he took part in the action with the junks in Fatshan Creek on 1 June 1857, and served with the naval brigade at the capture of Canton in the following December. For this he received his promotion to captain on 26 February 1858. He had now several years on shore, and it was not till December 1862, that he was appointed to the Pylades for the North America Station, where he remained for nearly four years, when he was recalled to England to take the command of the Excellent, then as now the headquarters of instruction in naval gunnery. He held this command for three years, and for the five following years was Director of Naval Ordnance, in which post he showed himself a careful, painstaking officer, though without the genius that was especially wanted at a period of great change. Irrespective of politics, Hood was by temperament a very old-fashioned conservative, and clung to the ideas of the past after they had ceased to be suitable for the present. The C.B. was conferred on him on 20 May 1871, and, in June 1874, he was appointed to command the turret ship Monarch in the Channel Fleet. On 22 March 1876, Hood was made a rear-admiral, and in January 1877, he accepted a seat at the Admiralty. From December 1879, to April 1882, he commanded the Channel Fleet, and in June 1885, he was appointed First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, in succession to Sir Cooper Key, and in the administration of Lord George Hamilton. The four years which followed were years of great change and great advance, but it was commonly supposed that Hood's efforts were mainly devoted to preventing the advance from becoming too rapid. Like his predecessor he scarcely understood the essential needs of England as a great naval Power, and several of his public declarations might be thought equivalent to an expression of belief that, useful as the Navy was, the country could get on very well without it. On 14 July 1889, having reached the age of 65, he was put on the Retired List, and at the same time resigned his post at the Admiralty. He continued, however, to take an active interest in naval affairs; and, somewhat curiously, showed in occasional letters in our columns and elsewhere a more correct appreciation of the problems of naval supremacy than he was supposed to have done during his official life. He had obtained the rank of vice-admiral on 23 July 1880, and of admiral on 18 January 1886. In December 1885, he was made a K.C.B., and a G.C.B. in September 1889. In February 1892, he was raised to the peerage as Lord Hood of Avalon. He married, in October 1855, Fanny Henrietta, third daughter of Sir Charles Fitzroy Maclean, and had issue two daughters.

Three: Lieutenant-Commander I. McLaren, M.B.E., Royal Navy, who was Mentioned in Despatches for his services in H.M.S. Gloucester during the First Gulf War, almost certainly for the part he played in the shooting down of a Silkwork Missile fired at the U.S.S. Missouri by firing off a salvo of Sea Dart missiles; the first successful missile verses missile engagement at sea in combat by the Royal Navy South Atlantic 1982, with rosette (Lt I Mc.Laren HMS Fearless) an official replacement, the edge stamped ‘R’; Gulf 1990-91, 1 clasp, 16 Jan to 28 Feb 1991, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt Cdr I Mc.Laren RN); Oman, Sultanate, Peace Medal, bronze, with Omani crown emblem on riband, mounted court-style as worn, edge bruising to first, good very fine and better (3) £1,000-£1,400 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 15 June 1996. M.I.D. London Gazette 29 June 1991: ‘In recognition of service during the operations in the Gulf.’ Ian McLaren joined the Royal Navy and served as a Lieutenant in the amphibious assault ship H.M.S. Fearless during the Falklands War; Fearless was quickly in the thick of the action in San Carlos Water, successfully landing her embarked forces on 21 May 1982, and subsequently undertook tasks such as ferrying Welsh Guards around the coast. McLaren is also recorded as serving ashore as part of Naval Party 2160, and was given command of the MV Monsunen, a Falkland Islands coastal vessel used for inter-island use, that had originally been captured in the course of the Argentine invasion, and was requisitioned by the Royal Navy after the Battle of Goose Green. Advanced Lieutenant-Commander, McLaren saw further service during the First Gulf War, as Operations Officer in H.M.S. Gloucester, and was Mentioned in Despatches, almost certainly for the part he played in the shooting down of a the Silkwork Missile fired at the U.S.S. Missouri by firing off a salvo of Sea Dart missiles; the first successful missile verses missile engagement at sea in combat by the Royal Navy. Remaining in the Royal Navy, he was created a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1996.

Four: Private P. Day, 7th Dragoon Guards, later 5th Dragoon Guards Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902, unofficial rivets between state and date clasps (5015 Pte. P. Day. 7th. Dragoon Gds:); 1914 Star, with clasp, the clasp loose (4980 Pte. P. Day. 5/D. Gds.); British War and Victory Medals (5015 Pte. P. Day. 5-D. Gds.) nearly extremely fine (4) £240-£280 --- P. Day attested for the 5th Dragoon Guards before transferring to the 7th Dragoon Guards and served with them during the Boer War in South Africa. Reverting back to the 5th Dragoon Guards on 16 January 1903, he saw further service with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 15 August 1914, before transferring to the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) on 14 December 1916. He was killed in action on 29 November 1917, and is buried in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, Belgium. Sold with copied medal roll extracts and medal index card.

A Great War ‘Mesopotamia’ O.B.E. group of three awarded to Major W. C. Reid, 32nd Lancers, Indian Army, who was also Mentioned in Despatches; he later served as Commandant of the Myitkyina Battalion, Burma Military Police The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1919; 1914 Star, with clasp (Capt. W. C. Reid, 32/Lncrs.); British War Medal 1914-20 (Maj. W. C. Reid.) mounted court-style together with the riband for the Victory Medal with M.I.D. oak leaves; together with the recipient’s related group of four miniature dress medals and riband bar, all housed in a Spink, London, fitted case, gilding somewhat rubbed on OBE, generally very fine (3) £400-£500 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- O.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1919: ‘For valuable services rendered in connection with military operations in Mesopotamia.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 5 June 1919 (Mesopotamia). Walter Clarke Reid was born in London, Ontario, on 12 April 1881, and was educated at Huron College School and the Royal Military College. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant on the Unattached List on 27 August 1902, and was appointed to the Indian Army on 28 January 1904. Posted to the 32nd Lancers, he was promoted Lieutenant on 27 November 1904, and Captain on 27 August 1911. He was appointed Assistant Commandant, Burma Military Police Battalion at Taunggyi on 10 April 1912, before reverting to Regimental duty in 1914, and served with the 32nd Lancers during the Great War on the Western Front from 26 August 1914 to 15 June 1917. Promoted Major on 27 August 1917, he saw further service in Mesopotamia from 14 August 1918, and for his services there was Mentioned in Lieutenant-General Sir W. R. Marshall’s Despatch of 7 February 1919, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. Post-War, Reid was appointed Squadron Commander of the 32nd Lancers on 1 January 1919, and then Commandant of the Myitkyina Battalion, Burma Military Police, on 24 May 1923. He retired on 23 October 1928, and died in Canada on 4 June 1934. Sold with the following related items: i) The recipient’s Mess Jacket, waistcoat, and sash, these severely moth damaged ii) A hallmarked silver cigar box, the lid engraved with the bade of the 32nd Lancers; together with a small vesta box iii) The recipient’s Journal for the Summer of 1907, spent on a Bear-hunting trip with a friend called Hogg to Chamba in the foothills of the Himalayas, type-written with a good selection of photographs, including various photographs of the various Bears that the recipient bagged, the first few pages water damaged, and the spine and front cover board missing iv) Four original studio portrait photographs of the recipient; together with a photograph of the recipient mounted on a horse v) 32nd Lancers unit insignia; and copied research.

‘Of course, I did not know this would be my last assignment in mines disposal work when I left the Admiralty before breakfast that morning and was carried by car to Hoxton. At the back of the minds of us who did this work was an acceptance that there probably would be a ‘last.’ In defence of our sanity, perhaps, to stop us leaping from the cars that carried us to each assignment, or maybe just in case we began to think ourselves heroes, we did not dwell on this probability. It was there. But suppressed. If and when the ‘last’ mine came … well it came. Several of our section had found it; some, less fortunate than I, did not live to tell the story. My ‘last’ buried me in rubble for several hours with my back broken and other injuries, and it kept me in plaster for the best part of a year.’ Lieutenant Jack Easton, G.C., R.N.V.R., as quoted in Wavy Navy: By Some Who Served. The outstanding ‘London Blitz’ G.C. group of seven awarded to Sub. Lieutenant J. M. C. Easton, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, a member of the Admiralty’s secretive Land Incident Section who was buried alive by the detonation of a parachute mine in London’s East End in October 1940. When eventually pulled from the debris, he was found to have suffered a fractured skull, a broken back and broken legs: his gallant assistant – Ordinary Seaman Bennett Southwell – was less fortunate, his decapitated body being discovered six weeks later Easton was no stranger to the nerve-wracking business of mine disposal, having earlier made safe 16 such devices, including one which had crashed through the roof of the Russell Hotel in Bloomsbury and ended up hanging from the chandelier in the main dining room: the grateful hotel owner presented Easton with a cheque for £140 - and an offer of Sunday lunch for his family for life - but both had to be rejected ‘as a matter of honour’ George Cross (Sub-Lieut. Jack Maynard Cholmondeley Easton, R.N.V.R. 23rd January, 1941.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Coronation 1953, unnamed as issued; Jubilee 1977, unnamed as issued, mounted as worn, very fine (7) £80,000-£120,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- G.C. London Gazette 23 January 1941: ‘For great gallantry and undaunted devotion to duty.’ Jack Maynard Cholmondeley Easton was born at Maidenhead, Berkshire on 28 May 1906 and was educated at Brighton College and Pangbourne Nautical College, prior to training as a solicitor and joining his grandfather’s law firm in the City of London. Understated designation: The Admiralty’s ‘Land Incident Section’ A keen sailor, Easton was a perfect candidate for the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and attended the training establishment H.M.S. King Alfred at Hove, Sussex prior to being appointed a probationary Temporary Sub. Lieutenant in September 1940. As related in Wavy Navy: By Some Who Served, it was at King Alfred that he was one of twelve officers who volunteered for a secret mission: ‘I was, with others, to learn that, as far as the Navy was concerned, volunteering for anything is foolish vanity. Within eight hours of volunteering for this intriguingly phrased ‘secret mission’ I, with eleven brother officers, was reporting to H.M.S. Vernon, the gunnery and mines school at Portsmouth.’ Here, they discovered their pending fate, namely immediate membership of the Admiralty’s Land Incident Section and a crash course in mine disposal: ‘So many unexploded mines were sticking in the ground or hanging by their parachutes that the small, trained band of R.N. specialists engaged in rendering mines safe where they could be approached was unable to cope with the work. Somewhat grudgingly, perhaps out of consideration for our complete rawness or from an expert’s distrust of the amateur, the R.N.V.R. was being called in to share the Navy’s task.’ Easton continues: ‘There were many speculations as to why the mines had not exploded, even on contact. But that their mechanisms would start operating again to even the slightest movement or tap (as you might start a stopped watch by the gentlest finger-nail tap on its face glass) was something known. Our warning that the mine was alive again was the ticking of its mechanism, and when we heard that we knew we had a maximum of twelve seconds to get to safety. In certain situations, this time margin meant nothing … as it meant nothing to a Sub. Lieutenant who died while dismantling his first mine: no part of him was found, not even a uniform button or badge. He just disintegrated.’ Easton’s first mine was located at a farm in Norfolk, buried to half its length in a chicken run: ‘I confess to feeling very much alone in the world at that moment: the farmhouse was, of course, evacuated, and my police inspector, and his assistants had gone. We worked entirely alone on our tasks, for although each officer had the assistance of a trained rating, it was the ‘etiquette’ of the job to keep the rating out of the danger area until the real fang of the mine, the bomb fuse, had been drawn. So I was in that farmyard quite alone. I don’t think I have ever been so much alone in my life. Our instructor had not mentioned this, as he had not mentioned the queer chill at the base of the spine. I gave one last look at the empty world I inhabited, then got on my knees beside them mine and began scraping away the earth … ’ After careful digging to reach the fuse, he emerged triumphant, as he did from his next fifteen assignments. 12 seconds to live As cited above, however, disaster struck on 17 October 1940. Easton takes up the story: ‘It was, as I have said, in Hoxton in the East End of London. One morning before breakfast a car took me to the district. As usual, I was greeted by the A.R.P. authorities, and, with my rating [Ordinary Seaman Bennett Southwell] by my side, I listened to what information they had. A large area of tenement property had been evacuated and ‘Unexploded Bomb’ notices erected round it. The tenant of the house, a bit excited and self-important, described what he believed to be the position and size of the mine. Then, supplied with all available information, the rating and I set off down the drab street. Those solitary walks towards the location of a mine always reminded me of the last scenes in the pictures of Charlie Chaplin. I had the feeling that a vast audience was watching the way I walked. It had been a last scene for several men I knew, though such morbid thoughts were absent that day. I was looking for the house described. It was easily discovered for the mine had crashed through the roof and made a great ragged-edged hole, and the slates littered the street and pavement. It was the usual type of working class home in the East End of London, one of a continuous structure of two-storied, drab erections, more miserable than usual because of the stillness, the emptiness of the houses. Through the windows one saw the miserable interiors, the little proud possessions in ornaments, plants, enlarged and coloured photographs of soldier and sailor sons, the parlour luxuries of poor folk. There was a rigidity and pathos in the long rows of small homes. The shattered roof was an outrage, somehow. The front door was open and I entered a narrow hall. The thick dust here was familiar and eloquent to me now, and I moved cautiously, in case a too heavy footfall set the mine mechanism going again. The door on my...

Four: Lance-Corporal W. Reynolds, Durham Light Infantry, later East Yorkshire Regiment and 44th Signal Company 1914-15 Star (11105 Pte. W. Reynolds, Durh. L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (11105 Pte .W. Reynolds. Durh. L.I.); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919 (11105 L.Cpl. W. Reynolds. 44 Sig. Coy.) unit officially corrected on last, edge bruising and contact marks, nearly very fine (4) £70-£90 --- William Reynolds attested for the Durham Light Infantry and served with them during the Great War in the Hedjaz theatre of War from 21 August 1915. He later transferred to the East Yorkshire Regiment, and saw further service during the Third Afghan War.

Pair: Lieutenant-Colonel R. F. Brewster, Royal Garrison Artillery British War Medal 1914-20 (Lt. Col. R. F. Brewster.); Delhi Durbar 1911, silver, privately engraved ‘Major R. F. Brewster. R.G.A.’, with the edge prepared prior to naming, court mounted for display, good very fine (2) £70-£90 --- Robert Ferdinand Brewster was born in Braintree, Essex, on 16 July 1867. An accountant by profession, he was appointed Major in the Royal Garrison Artillery 2 November 1904 and served in India as Lieutenant Colonel from August 1914. Described in The Hampshire Telegraph and Post as ‘One of those simple-hearted, square-set men, who saw his duty to God and his neighbour most clearly’, Brewster died in 1931.

Four: Able Seaman W. C. Hills, Royal Navy, later Royal Fleet Reserve 1914-15 Star (J.11393, W. C. Hills, A.B., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (J.11393 W. C. Hills. A.B. R.N.); Royal Fleet Reserve L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue (J.11393 (Ch. B.15624) W. C. Hills. A.B. R.F.R.) nearly very fine (4) £100-£140 --- Wilfred Charles Hills, a shop boy from Gravesend, Kent, was born on 26 May 1895. He attested into the Royal Navy as a Boy on 24 February 1911. Advanced Able Seaman on 27 September 1914, at the start of the Great War he was serving in H.M.S. Hibernia and served at Gallipoli. He saw later service afloat in Q-14 H.M.S. Viola, and afterwards in H.M.S. Warwick, with whom he was wounded during the Second Ostend Raid on 10 May 1918. Discharged to shore on 31 March 1920, he joined the Royal Fleet Reserve the following day. Sold with copy service papers and the book ‘From Great War to Grytviken, Viola, The life and times of a Hull Steam Trawler’. In 1982, Viola became quarry for the infamous Argentine scrap metal expedition to South Georgia, which initiated the Falklands War.

Three: Acting Corporal R. B. Muir, Royal West Surrey Regiment 1914 Star, with copy clasp (L-9709 Pte. R. B. Muir. 2/The Queen’s R.); British War and Victory Medals (9709 A. Cpl. R. B. Muir. The Queen’s R.) very fine (3) £60-£80 --- Reginald Bruce Muir attested for the Royal West Surrey Regiment, and served with the 2nd Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 4 October 1914. He also saw service with the 30th Battalion, London Regiment, and the Royal Engineers.

Three: Corporal R. C. Newson, Border Regiment, who was twice wounded on the Western Front 1914-15 Star (8840 Pte. R. C. Newson. Bord. R.); British War and Victory Medals (8840 Cpl. R. C. Newson. Bord. R.) very fine (3) £60-£80 --- Robert C. Newson attested into the Border Regiment for service during the Great War, and served during the Great War at Gallipoli with the 1st Battalion from 25 April 1915, the first day of the landing at Cape Helles. He saw later service on the Western Front and was reported as being wounded in The Times casualty list of 8 August 1916 and was further reported wounded on 29 November 1916. He appears to have later qualified as an Assistant Instructor at Western Command Anti-Gas School, No. 1 Area. Sold with copied research.

Four: Cooper R. R. Hogg, Royal Navy Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 1 clasp, Defence of Ladysmith (R. R. Hogg, Car: Cr: H.M.S. Powerful) impressed naming; British War and Victory Medals (340625 R. R. Hogg. Cpr. 1. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., E.VII.R. (340625 R. R. Hogg, Cooper, H.M.S. Latona.) contact marks, nearly very fine (4) £300-£400 --- Robert Rutherford Hogg was born at Melrose, Scotland, on 20 February 1876; a carpenter by trade prior to joining the Royal Navy, he naturally enlisted as Carpenter’s Crew on 23 April 1895, and served in H.M.S. Powerful from 8 June 1897 to 8 June 1900 (published transcription of medal roll gives entitlement to a no clasp Queen’s South Africa Medal; however, a contemporary newspaper account written by the recipient, dated 20 December 1899, states that he had been up at Ladysmith before he was sent back, and so perhaps he felt that he deserved the Defence of Ladysmith clasp as a result!). Promoted Cooper on 16 February 1905, Hogg served in H.M.S. Latona from 16 September 1909 to 8 April 1911, and was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 10 December 1910. He saw further service during the Great War in the battleship H.M.S. Queen Elizabeth from 8 March 1916 to 15 April 1919, and was shore demobilised on 16 December 1919. Sold with copied research.

An inter-War ‘Naval Review’ M.B.E. group of nine awarded to Engineer Lieutenant E. S. Stribley, Royal Navy, who was killed in action during the evacuation from Dunkirk The Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) 2nd type breast badge; 1914-15 Star (271973, E. S. Stribley, E.R.A.3, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (271973 E. S. Stribley. C.E.R.A.2 R.N.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45; Coronation 1937; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue with fixed suspension (271973 E. S. Stribley. C.E.R.A.2 H.M.S. Hood) very fine or better (9) £500-£700 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- M.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1937: ‘For services during the Naval Review at Spithead during the ceremonies attendant to the Coronation of King George VI.’ Ernest Stanley Stribley entered the Royal Navy as a Boy Artificer and progressed through the rates during the Great War to Chief Engine Room Artificer 2nd Class. He was appointed Warrant Engineer in October 1923; Commissioned Engineer in October 1933; and Lieutenant (E) in August 1938. Between the Wars he served aboard H.M.S. Bruce on the China Station, H.M.S. Penzance on the Red Sea Patrol, and with the Home Fleet on Sabre and Stronghold. In August 1939, Stribley was appointed to the destroyer Havant and served in that ship during her short career on operations to Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and finally four successful trips from Dunkirk to Dover, full of troops. He was killed in action on 1 June 1940 when Havant was attacked by German dive bombers. Commander Burnell-Nugent later wrote: ‘…we got sunk on the 5th trip. June 1st was the last day of the evacuation and I think only one or two destroyers made trips after we were sunk. Lieut (E) E. S. Stribley was the Engineer Officer of the ship and I knew him well. He was killed instantly - literally blown to pieces - when a bomb from a German dive bomber hit above the engine room. I personally saw his body - or what was left of him. Badly damaged in the attack, Havant was finally sunk by gunfire from H.M.S. Saltash, as the ship was by then a total loss.’ Sold with named Admiralty condolence slip (Lieutenant (E) Ernest Stanley Stribley. M.B.E. R.N.), case of issue for M.B.E., and a letter from his commanding officer giving the above quoted details of his death.

Pair: Major A. C. Pearson, Royal Marine Light Infantry, 2nd in Command of the R.M. detachment at Abu Klea and Mentioned in Despatches Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, 2 clasps, The Nile 1884-85, Abu Klea (Captn. A. C. Pearson, R.M.L.I.) impressed naming; Khedive’s Star, dated 1884-6, good very fine and rare (2) £2,600-£3,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: Dix Noonan Webb, September 1998. Only four Royal Marine Officers were present with the Camel Corps at Abu Klea, including Lieutenant C. V. F. Townshend who was later to come to prominence as the defender of Kut in 1915. Aylmer Charles Pearson was born in Upton St Leonards, near Gloucester, on 2 August 1849, and entered the Royal Marine Light Infantry as a Lieutenant at the age of 19 in 1868. Promoted to Captain in July 1881, he took passage aboard the S.S. Duncan in May 1884 to Egypt, where he joined the Royal Marine Battalion at Port Said, and later Suakin. He was detailed for Special Service and Second in Command of the Royal Marines Detachment, comprising 4 officers and 86 N.C.O.s and men, for service as the 4th Company of the Guards Camel Regiment, Nile Expeditionary Force. He was present at the battle of Abu Klea, the actions at Gubat and Metemmeh, and the attack on the convoy on 13 February 1885. When his Commanding Officer Major W. H. Poe was severely wounded and invalided, he commanded the Royal Marine Camel Corps from 22 January 1885, until its return to England the following July. Pearson was referred to in Lord Wolseley’s despatch in the London Gazette of 25 August 1885 as ‘deserving of special mention.’ He was promoted to Brevet Major on 15 June 1885, ‘in recognition of services rendered during the recent operations in the Sudan’, and received the medal with two clasps and the Khedive’s bronze star. He saw no further active service and retired on full pay in August 1891, and later became a Recruiting Officer at Cambridge for a brief period. He died on 4 February 1938 at the age of 88.

Four: Corporal J. Miller, Derbyshire Yeomanry, late Highland Light Infantry Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 5 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (6423 Pte. J. Miller. Highland. L.I.); 1914-15 Star (2697 Pte. J. Miller, Derby. Yeo.); British War and Victory Medals (2697 Cpl. J. Miller. Derby. Yeo.) minor edge bruise to QSA, good very fine (4) £220-£260 --- John Miller, a packer from Ardwick, Manchester, attested into the Highland Light Infantry on 14 January 1897 and served during the occupation of Crete and in South Africa during the Boer War. Transferring to the Army Reserve on 22 October 1904, he was discharged on 13 January 1909. Whilst working as a bookmaker’s clerk in Derby, he attested into the Derbyshire Yeomanry on 14 June 1915 for service during the Great War and served in the Egyptian theatre from 17 December 1915. He saw later service in Salonika from 20 January 1916 and was discharged on 26 March 1919. Sold with copied research.

Vintage large antler handled horseman's/coachman's multi-tool pen knife, with mutliple blades including saw, a corkscrew etc, blade stamped Wilkinsons & SonCondition ReportLength 14.5cm, Width 4.5cm unopened

Erbauer 254mm (10") single bevel sliding mitre saw on mitre saw stand with adjustable height rollersCondition ReportItem turns on and blade spins. Unable to say whether in full working order. We do not offer a packing and postage service. Item is in timed auction so we are unable to take commission bids. Once registered for that auction you can leave your highest bid amount.

Black & Decker 7308 - 47 7 1/4" circular saw, Bosch PSS 23E orbital sander and other power tool and accessories, and a cast iron fire grate

Elektra Beckum BAS 316 G floor standing band saw

Power craft PS-700 jig saw, Wickes 850w belt sander, Erbauer ERB900 biscuit jointer (3)

A Hobbies painted metal fret saw, tredle plate looseno belts, possibly incomplete

Dr. Who Toys Including Jig Saw Puzzles, Sonic Screwdriver, Tardis Moneybox, etc.

A work bench, saw etc.

An Erbauer mitre saw

A Performance compound mitre saw.

A 600 Watt bridge saw tile cutter.

A Parkside PDK2 120 A2 table saw.

James Walker, Watercolour, A Saw Mill, 29x38cm

A Skil Saw Classic along with boxed Black and Decker Dust Buster car vacuum.

A vintage Myblo table saw along with a router sled for fluting.

Evolution Rage 185mm Multipurpose Circular Saw (In original case with spare blades) together with Dualsaw CS450 in original box with spare blades

Exakt Saw EC310-N together with Parkside Angle Grinder PWS230A1 (2)