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Lot 1393
Sold by Order of the Family an outstanding Second World War bomb disposal George Cross group of eight awarded to Brigadier W. M. Eastman, Royal Army Ordnance Corps: with little relevant training, Eastman and a fellow officer rendered safe some 275 UXBs on Malta in 1940 - ‘Their courage was beyond all praise and it was a miracle that they both remained alive’ George Cross (Lieut. William Marsden Eastman, R.A.O.C., 24th December 1940); 1939-45 Star; Africa Star, clasp, 8th Army; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals; Coronation 1953; Jubilee 1977, mounted court-style as worn, lacquered, very fine and bettter (8) £15000-20000 g.C. London Gazette 24 December 1940: ‘For most conspicuous gallantry in carrying out very hazardous work.’ The original recommendation - written in conjunction with that for fellow R.A.O.C. officer, Captain R. L. J. Jones - states: ‘On various dates Lieutenant Eastman, with Captain R. L. J. Jones, R.A.O.C., worked under dangerous and trying conditions and performed acts of considerable gallantry in dealing with large numbers of various unexploded bombs, some of which were in a highly dangerous state and of the German delay type. on one occasion, these officers showed particular gallantry in dealing with an 1100lb. German bomb. Two attempts were made to explode this bomb but it failed to detonate; at the third attempt when it was in a most dangerous state, they succeeded in detonating it. on a second occasion, these officers, assisted by a Master Rigger of H.M. Dockyard, succeeded in removing a 400lb. high explosive Italian unexploded bomb which had been under water for a week in a 20ft. deep well inside a house. This bomb, fused at both ends, was in a dangerous state. It had to be raised to the ground floor by means of a gin, tackle, sling and ropes. This operation was doubly dangerous, as: (a) There was a possibility of the sling slipping while the bomb was being hauled up and (b) The bomb was two and half ft. long, the mouth of the well three ft. one inch wide, and for safety the bomb had to be kept horizontal, if possible, and pulled up thus. Lieutenant Eastman assisted the Master Rigger, guided the bomb from the floor of the well, and Captain Jones went to the top to guide it through the opening. They succeeded in getting the bomb out although there was only a six inch clearance as it came through the mouth of the well.’ William Marsden ‘Bill’ Eastman was born in Brentford in October 1911 and was educated at Uppingham and Cambridge University, but had to leave the latter seat of learning on his father’s death, in order to take over the family dyeing and dry-cleaning business. And it was as a result of his knowledge of chemicals drawn from that business that he was recommended for a commission in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps on volunteering shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. Having then attended the Inspecting Ordnance Officer’s course at Bramley, he was embarked for Malta in March 1940. Subsequent events are best summarised by Brigadier Sir John Smyth, V.C., in The Story of the George Cross: ‘At this period of the war in Malta, no expert Royal Engineer Bomb Disposal units had been formed and the job of attending to unexploded bombs and mines dropped on the Island had to be handled by the R.A.O.C. - in fact Jephson Jones and Eastman. They had no great special equipment, no trained staff and very little knowledge of the mechanism of German and Italian missiles. They just had to learn as they went along. they were told that they would have to deal with all unexploded bombs and mines which fell on the Island except those which dropped in the dockyard area and on airfields, which were dealt with by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. No one imagined - or at any rate no one in Malta had imagined - that Malta would become such a target for the venom, first of the Italian Air Force and then of the Germans. But between 10 June and mid-November 1940, when their job was taken over by a properly constituted and trained R.E. Bomb Disposal unit, Jephson Jones and Eastman dealt with some 275 unexploded bombs. Their courage was beyond all praise and it was a miracle that they both remained alive. they were awarded the George Cross on Christmas Eve 1940 and were given a choice of receiving the decoration immediately from the Governor or waiting until they were posted back to the Middle East or the United Kingdom. They both chose the latter and were invested together by the King at Buckingham Palace in December 1944.’ A number of anecdotes survive from Eastman’s hair-raising sojourn in Malta, one of them recounting the occasion he worked in his shirt-sleeves on a hot day as a UXB was dug out, but then donned his tunic and Sam Browne before returning to diffuse it - when asked why by an onlooker, he replied, ‘If I have to die, I might as well die decent’; while another describes the occasion he journeyed to a UXB site on a motorbike, with his girlfriend, Yvonne Vassallo, along for the ride - she unhesitatingly accepted his invitation to sit on the UXB and steady it as he went about his perilous work! eastman was posted to G.H.Q., Cairo as Chief Ordnance Officer in 1942, but not before carrying out further gallant deeds, a case in point being his ‘clearance’ - over three days - of the valuable cargo of ammunition, kerosene and aviation fuel aboard the merchantman Talabot, which ship was eventually sunk at her moorings in Marsaxlokk harbour; so, too, on a later occasion, his clearance of a cargo of ‘infamous Dutch Anti-tank Mines’ from the holds of no less than seven ships, all the while conscious of the fact a mere 18-inch drop would set-off their hyper-sensitive detonators. remaining in the Regular Army after the War, he was latterly a popular Commandant of the R.A.O.C. Training Centre at Blackdown, and finally retired as Brigadier in 1966. Settling in Malta in the same year, he died at Sliema in April 1980 and is buried in Ta’ Braxia Cemetery; see One Step Further, Those Whose Gallantry Was Rewarded With The George Cross, by Marion Hebblethwaite, for further details. sold with a quantity of original documentation, including four ‘Investiture Day’ photographs and a later portrait, in uniform, as a Brigadier, wearing his Honour & Awards; his Buckingham Palace investiture letter and admittance ticket, dated 12 December 1944; his membership certificate for the Royal Society of St. George, dated 14 May 1942; his M.O.D. retirement letter, dated 19 October 1966; some post-war V.C. & G.C. Association tickets, invitations and programmes, etc., and several newspaper cuttings. £15000-£20000
Lot 1398
A rare Great War East Africa operations C.M.G. group of nine awarded to Colonel C. U. Price, Indian Army, C.O. of Jacob’s Rifles and a successful Column Commander whose forces captured Dar-es-Salaam in September 1916 the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; East and Central Africa 1897-99, 1 clasp, Uganda 1897-98 (Lieut., 3/Baluch L.I.); China 1900, no clasp (Captain, 30/Baluch L.I.); 1914-15 Star (Lt. Col., 1/130 Baluchis); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Col.); Delhi Durbar 1903, impressed naming, ‘Colonel C. V. Price, 130th Baluchis’; Delhi Durbar 1911, unnamed as issued; Russian Order of St. Anne, 3rd class breast badge, with swords, by Osipov, St. Petersburg, gold and enamel, manufacturer’s initials on reverse, ‘56’ zolotnik mark for 1909-17 on eyelet, and other stamp marks on sword hilts, generally good very fine (9) £3500-4000 c.M.G. London Gazette 26 June 1916. mention in despatches London Gazette 30 June 1916, 7 March 1918 and 6 August 1918 (all East Africa). russian Order of St. Anne London Gazette 15 February 1917. charles Uvedale Price was born in May 1868 and was educated at the United Services College, Westward Ho! and the R.M.C., Sandhurst. Originally commissioned into the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in February 1888, he transferred to the Indian Army in January 1890 and served in the Zhob Valley on the North West Frontier in the same year, afterwards gaining an appointment as a Wing Officer in the 30th Regiment of Bombay Infantry (3rd Baluchis). in January 1897, however, he was attached to the 27th Bombay Infantry (1st Baluchis) as Adjutant, and went on to win his first campaign medal with them in the Uganda operations of 1897-98. During this latter campaign he was engaged against the Sudanese mutineers, including the operations at Jeruba and Kijangute, and in Budda and Ankoli, gaining a mention in despatches. shortly afterwards he sailed for China, and served as a Captain in the course of the Boxer Rebellion. Then in 1903, back in India, Price attended the Delhi Durbar, attached as a Political Officer to His Highness the Mir of Khairpur. He was advanced to Major in February 1906. appointed a Double Company Commander in the 130th K.G.O. Baluchis (Jacob’s Rifles) in October 1911, Price assumed command of the regiment in the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in April 1915, and went on to serve with distinction in the operations in East Africa. in July 1915, in the fighting in the Mbuyuni region, he was appointed to the command of the flanking column, comprising Jacob’s Rifles, the 4th K.A.R. and Cole’s Scouts, sent by Brigadier-General Malleson to envelop the enemy’s left. Carrying out a well timed circuitous night march, Price attacked at daybreak on the 14th, but by 8 a.m. his force was checked by strong enemy resistance, and it became necessary to await more positive news from the main attacking force to the Germans’ front. This initiative, however, also lost momentum, and by the time Malleson’s order to call off the assault reached Price, his force had been under a lively hostile fire for at least an hour. Unperturbed, Price disengaged and ‘brought away his force in a steady and well-executed withdrawal, with slight loss’ (Official history refers). in early July 1916, as C.O. of a 500-strong force, comprising the 5th Light Infantry and a company of the 101st Grenadiers, Price was given the task of capturing Tanga. Carrying out a successful landing on the southern shore of Manza Bay on the 5th, he moved his force inland towards Amboni, ‘which was reached next day after disposing of some slight resistance on the way’. And on the 7th, he and his men crossed the Zigi River, the final natural barrier between them and their goal. Tanga, however, was found to have been deserted by the enemy, although some had remained behind in the surrounding bush from where they sniped at the British with good effect. Flushing out such opposition by means of frequent patrolling, Price moved on to Kange on the 17th. then in early August, he was given overall command of two columns, numbering in total some 1400 men, to secure the crossings of the Wami River. This he successfully accomplished in little more than a week, thereby assisting in opening up the way forward to attack Dar-es-Salaam. For the final advance on the seat of government and principal port of German East Africa, Price’s force was bolstered in strength by some 500 men and equipped with 20 machine-guns. The whole was assembled at Bagamoyo at the end of the month, and on the 31st, in two columns, it advanced on Dar-es-Salaam, while two smaller parties penetrated north to secure the railway line and some important bridges. Just four days later, having encountered little opposition, Price’s main force was assembled on the heights near Mabibo, from which the port could be seen less than three miles away. And early on that morning, after the Royal Navy had despatched a delegation aboard the Echo with a formal summons to surrender, the 129th Baluchis, which had acted as Price’s advanced guard throughout the operation, entered and took over the town. Once again, the Germans had made a hasty retreat, leaving behind 80 hospital patients and 370 non-combatants. for his part in some of the above related operations in German East Africa, Price was awarded the C.M.G and mentioned in despatches, in addition to gaining appointment to the Russian Order of St Anne. And in the later operations of that theatre of war between 1917-18, he again distinguished himself and was twice more the recipient of a ‘mention’. The Colonel, who retired to South Africa, died in May 1956. £3500-£4000
Lot 414
A set of eight walnut framed high back dining chairs In the late 17th century Dutch manner each with a baroque style carved and pierced vase shaped back splat above red damask upholstered seat, on cabriole legs with hairy hoof feet, joined by an H-stretcher with scroll carved central section (8)
Lot 473
A 19th Century Coalbrookdale “Gothic” pattern white painted cast iron garden seat, the one piece back panel with central shield pattern cartouche and bold leaf scroll ornament, conforming shaped end supports and cast iron slatted seat, 60ins wide x 40ins high Note : Alastair Morris’ book “Antiques from the Garden”, published by the Antique Collectors Club notes that this design was included in the 1875 Coalbrookdale catalogue, section III, page 253, No. 22, and was available painted in green or chocolate, or with bronze finishProvenance : Purchased Sothebys, Sussex, Sale of Garden Statuary, 20th September 2005 - lot 153
Lot 508
A 17th Century walnut armchair of Carolean design, the cresting and back fretted and carved with shell and leaf scroll ornament, spiral turned uprights, leaf capped arms, cane panelled seat and back, on spiral turned front supports with conforming front stretcher and spiral turned H-pattern lower stretcher
Lot 463
A William IV mahogany framed and leather upholstered cockfighting chair, the horseshoe shaped toprail with buttonback green leather upholstery with brass studded finish and mahogany show frame, above a stuffover seat and raised on octagonal turned and tapering supports with brass cup castors (Illus.)
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