In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFive: Attributed to Flight Lieutenant F. G. Marshall, Royal Air Force 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, all contemporarily engraved ‘R.A.F. 116726 F/Lt. F. G. Marshall.’, mounted as worn, good very fine Pair: K. W. Freeman, Australian Forces War Medal 1939-45; Australia Service Medal 1939-45, both officially named ‘Q265578 K. W. Freeman’, good very fine 1939-45 Star (6); Africa Star; Burma Star (2); Italy Star; France and Germany Star (2) Defence Medal (8); Defence Medal, Canadian issue in silver; War Medal 1939-45 (8); War Medal, Canadian issue in silver, generally good very fine and better Miniature Awards: 1939-45 Star (2); Atlantic Star: 2); Pacific Star (2); Defence Medal (2); War Medal 1939-45 (2), good very fine (47) £100-£140
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In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websitePair: Alison A. Gibson Defence Medal; Voluntary Medical Service Medal, silver, with five additional service clasps (Alison A. Gibson) mounted as worn, good very fine (2) £30-£40
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThree: Corporal P. J. Stanley, Royal Signals General Service 1962-2007, 1 clasp, Borneo (23466438 Cpl. P. J. Stanley. R. Signals.); Oman, Sultanate, Peace Medal, bronze; 10th Anniversary Medal, silver, mounted as originally worn, generally very fine (3) £70-£90
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteHonourable East India Company Medal for Ceylon 1795-96, silver, a later striking from rusted dies on a larger flan, silver loop for suspension, residue of silicone requires removal from reverse, otherwise good very fine £300-£400
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteA Great War M.B.E. pair awarded to Captain (Quartermaster) G. B. Baillie, Royal Army Service Corps The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 1st type breast badge, silver, hallmarks for London 1919; Army L.S. & G.C., E.VII.R. (10746 S.S. Mjr: G. B. Baillie. A.S.C.) good very fine (2) £140-£180 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1919: ‘For valuable service rendered in connection with the War.’ George Bertram Baillie was born on 28 February 1874, and attested for the Army Service Corps on 3 May 1892. He was advanced 1st Class Staff Sergeant Major on 1 February 1906, and was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal on 1 July 1910. Commissioned Lieutenant (Quartermaster) on 15 December 1914, Baillie was promoted Captain (Quartermaster) on 15 December 1917, and for his services at home during the Great War was created a Member of the Order of the British Empire. He did not serve overseas and this is his full medallic entitlement.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteA Great War ‘Western Front’ D.S.O. group of five awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel J. N. Semmens, 78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top ribbon bar; British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Lt. Col. J. N. Semmens); Canadian Volunteer Service Medal; War Medal 1939-45, Canadian issue in silver, these last two unnamed as issued, mounted for display, obverse centre a little depressed on the first and minor enamel damage to wreaths, very fine, otherwise nearly extremely fine (5) £1,000-£1,400 --- D.S.O. London Gazette 3 June 1918: ‘Major John Nelson Semmens, Inf.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 28 December 1917 and 28 May 1918.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFive: Private J. S. Anderson, 78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, afterwards Edmonton Regiment, who was wounded at Vimy Ridge on 9 April 1917 British War and Victory Medals (624135 Pte. J. Anderson. 78-Can. Inf.); Defence Medal, Canadian issue in silver; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, with overseas clasp; War Medal 1939-45, Canadian issue in silver, these last three unnamed as issued, mounted for display, good very fine and better (5) £80-£100 --- James S. Anderson joined the 78th Battalion in the field on 21 January 1917, and was wounded by gun shot resulting in a compound fracture of the right arm at Vimy Ridge on 9 April 1917. Sold with Silver War Badge (C29222); Great War aluminium identity bracelet (78 Bn. Canadians); small 78 Winnipeg Grenadiers badge, fittings removed; two 49 Edmonton Regiment badges, large and small; and three various war service or veteran lapel badges.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteA rare inter-War M.B.E., Great War D.S.M. and ‘Russia 1919’ operations Second Award Bar group of six awarded to Lieutenant-Commander J. P. Canty, Royal Navy The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 1st type breast badge, the reverse hallmarked London 1930; Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar, the reverse officially impressed, ‘Baltic. July 15. 1919.’ (342015. J. P. Canty, Sh. Std., “Godetia” Minesweeping. 1917.); 1914-15 Star (342015 J. P. Canty, Sh. Std. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (342015 J. P. Canty. V.C.P.O. R.N.); Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (J. 342015. J. P. Canty, Sh. Stewd., H.M.S. Hollyhock.) minor contact marks, otherwise generally very fine or better (6) £4,000-£5,000 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1932. D.S.M. London Gazette 17 April 1918: ‘In recognition of their services in minesweeping operations between 1 April and 31 December 1917.’ Bar to D.S.M. London Gazette 14 May 1920: ‘For services in Russia, 1919.’ The original recommendation states: ‘H.M.S. Lupin. Mining and sinking of H.M.S. Gentian and H.M.S. Myrtle. Baltic July 15, 1919. ‘I cannot only endorse the remarks of the Medical Officer of H.M.S. Lupin concerning this Chief Petty Officer, but can from personal observation that he volunteered for the dinghy’s crew earlier in the day and performed the unaccustomed task of pulling an oar two and a half miles in a rough sea. He was also always to be found on the spot when boats were coming alongside and was among the first to man a painter or a fall.’ John Patrick Canty was born in Portsmouth in December 1882, the son of an Able Seaman then serving as a rigger aboard the royal yacht Victoria & Albert, and entered the Royal Navy as a Ship’s Steward (Boy) in March 1898. In the previous year, while a pupil at Greenwich School, he won the Royal Humane Society’s Medal in bronze for saving a Royal Marine from drowning in the sea at Sandgate (R.H.S. Case No. 29,272 refers). A Ship’s Steward aboard the gunboat H.M.S. Skipjack on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, he remained similarly employed until removing to the sloop Hollyhock in June 1915. His C.O. in the Skipjack was Commander L. G. P. Preston, R.N., affectionately known as “L.G.P.” to his subordinates, who rose to become Admiral Sir Lionel Preston, K.C.B. And so commenced an uninterrupted wartime career in minesweeping, the details of which may be traced though his seagoing commissions in Taffrail’s Swept Channels. Thus the author’s detailed description of the occasion when Skipjack and some trawlers ran into a large minefield laid by the Kolberg off Scarborough in mid-December 1914: ‘The Skipjack was quite close to the trawlers when the stillness of the morning was rudely shattered by the thudding boom of a heavy explosion. A column of white water mingled with greyish smoke leapt out of the calm sea. It was as high as a church spire, and seemed to hang for a moment in mid-air before curling over to fall sizzling and hissing back to the surface in the midst of a blackened area dotted with silver bodies of dead fish. The detonations continued, one after the other. Within five minutes eighteen mines were swept up, or had exploded in the trawlers’ sweeps. The Kolberg’s cargo had been very thickly sown. Never afterwards throughout the whole period of the war were mines discovered in such profusion, or so close together. But the situation was alarming. The ‘safety period’ had passed. The tide was falling fast, and every minute brought the mines nearer the ships’ bottoms. The scene was extraordinary. Trawlers, most of them with their sweeps parted, were intermingled with mines torn from their moorings and floating ominously on the surface. The mines were being fired upon. Two trawlers had been blown up. One, the Orianda, unable to stop her engines, steamed on, sinking as she went, until nothing remained but the tip of her masthead travelling along the surface like the periscope of a submarine. Then this last trace of her disappeared. A second trawler, Lieutenant Parsons’ Passing, was down by the bows, badly on fire, and blowing off dense clouds of steam from the severed steam-pipe. Her sweeping consort promptly went alongside to render what help was possible. A third little ship, commanded by Lieutenant Crossley, R.N.R., was in immediate danger of sinking owing to leaks caused by the heavy explosions close alongside her. Crossley himself was below in the cramped space near the screw shaft trying to stop the inflow of water by divesting himself of his clothing and stuffing it into the stern gland. He plugged it sufficiently to allow the pumps to keen down the inrush of water, and so saved the ship. It was a hideous melee of trawlers and unexploded mines drifting with the tide. The rattle of rifles and heavier guns rent air. Now and then a mine hit by gunfire detonated with a mighty roar, or was punctured and sank bubbling to the bottom. Low water was rapidly approaching. The extent of the minefield was unknown. Commander Preston was the senior officer on the spot at the moment. In the midst of this hideous danger he did not hesitate, but gave the order to anchor as the only possible method of avoiding further heavy loss. Many men, confronted with the same problem, would have trusted to luck and beat a hasty retreat. But Preston argued to himself that the ships would be comparatively safe at anchor until the tide turned. And when it did turn, the risk of striking mines as the ships swung was infinitesimal compared with the danger of trying to extricate the whole flotilla then and there. At high water all vessels could be withdrawn in safety. So the anchors rattled down to the bottom, and for a time there was peace ... ’ In June 1915, Canty accompanied “L.G.P.” to his next command, the sloop Hollyhock, and again, in June 1916, to his final seagoing command, the Lupin, evidence indeed of how much he was valued by the future Director of Minesweeping Operations at the Admiralty. But it was during his next seagoing appointment, in the sloop Godetia, that he won his D.S.M. for minesweeping duties in 1917. A glimpse of the deeds behind that distinction being found in a recommendation for promotion for Canty, written by the C.-in-C. Fleet Minesweepers in January 1918: ‘He has been present at the clearing of all the minefields dealt with by the Fleet Minesweepers since the commencement of hostilities and has carried out his duties under the arduous conditions of minesweeping in Northern Waters in a cheerful and able manner.’ In May 1919, Canty removed to his old ship the Lupin, off Russia, a posting that would result in the award of his second D.S.M. for the above cited deeds on 15 July, when the Myrtle and Gentian were mined with heavy loss of life and casualties. The Surgeon who was lent to Lupin to treat the wounded also wrote in glowing terms of Canty’s deeds: ‘Final...
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe Orders and Medals attributed to P. E. Lembcke, Peruvian Army, later Peru’s Consular General and Charge d’affaires in London Coronation 1902, silver, unnamed as issued; Coronation 1911, silver, unnamed as issued; Peru, Republic, Cross for Callao (1866), being a five pointed star, silver and enamel, damage to enamel and one finial ball bent; Spain, Kingdom, Order of Isabella the Catholic, Grand Cross Star, silver, gold and enamel, in case of issue, damage to red enamel on second arm; Peru, Republic, Veterans Society Commemorative Medal for the 1866 Battle of Callao, silver-gilt; Veterans Society Commemorative Medal for the 1879 Battle of Tarapaca, silver-gilt, generally very fine (6) £400-£500 --- Provenance: Acquired by the vendor direct from the great granddaughter of the recipient. Pedro Eduardo Lembcke was born in Lima in 1846 into a family with origins in Prussia. He served as an officer in the Peruvian Army, participating in the Battle of Callao in 1866 against the Spanish during the Cincha Islands War. He later took part in the War of the Pacific against Chile, being present at the Battle of Tarapacá in 1879 following which, with Peru under pressure after the withdrawal of their Bolivian allies, Chilean forces marched on Lima where they met the remains of the Peruvian forces at Miraflores in January 1881. Here Lembcke served as second in command of the 12th Reserve Battalion holding redoubt No. 7. The battle, a bloody affair which saw both sides losing about thirty percent of their combatants, culminated in a defeat for the Peruvians, and the Chileans occupied Lima. Leaving his military career behind him, Lembcke turned to commerce and, in 1886, he took his family to London where, as befitting a wealthy merchant, they lived in some comfort, renting a property on Queen Anne’s Gate and employing eight servants. In 1895 he was appointed as Consul-General of Peru at London - there was at that time no Peruvian ambassador to the Court of St. James as these duties were covered by a resident minister based in Paris: ‘The resident representative of the Republic in London is Senor Don Eduardo Lembcke, Charge d'Afaires and Consul-General. The Legation is at 104, Victoria Street, S.W. Senor Don Lembcke is a highly cultured and accomplished man, well versed in diplomatic matters, and both speaking and writing English with great fluency and accuracy. Senor Lembcke creates an immediately favourable and sympathetic impression with all who have business with the Legation, and his ability in dealing with the complicated questions which not infrequently arise, show him to be a thorough man of the world’. (Peru Of The Twentieth Century by Percy F. Martin, F.R.G.S refers) Now moving in very fashionable circles, in 1902 Lembcke attended the Coronation of King Edward VII and in 1906, Senora de Lembcke, as the wife of the Peruvian Charge d’affaires, was invited to launch the cruiser ‘Coronel Bolognesi’ which was built by Vickers at Barrow for the Peruvian Navy. After the launch she was given a gold bracelet, set with emeralds, as a souvenir of the occasion. Lembcke was also present at the funeral of King Edward VII in 1910, as one of the 25 dignitaries who walked behind the carriage bearing HM Queen Alexandra and the Empress Maria Feodorovna of Russia during the procession to Westminster Abbey. The following year he was present the coronation of HM King George V. In 1912, following the upgrading of the status of the Peruvian embassy, Don Carlos Lembcke became Peru’s Minister Plenipotentiary, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident. He retired late during the Great War due to poor health and died in 1919. On 27th September 1919, the Catholic News Weekly, reported: ‘We regret to announce the death of Mr. Edward Lembcke, a Knight of the Order of St. Isabella the Catholic, which sad event took place on the 17th inst., at the age of seventy-four, at his residence, 121, Cromwell Road, S.W. Mr. Lembcke had been ill for some time, but the end came rather suddenly, to the deep sorrow of a very large circle of friends, by whom he was extremely respected. He was well known in British and South American diplomatic and commercial circles, and during the war did a great deal of active and useful work for the Allies' cause in various parts of South America. The funeral took place on Monday, at St. Mary's Cemetery, Kensal Green, after a Requiem at the Church of Our Lady of Victories, Kensington, celebrated by Father Dillon Doyle. The chief mourners were: Mrs. E. Lembcke (widow), Major Charles E. Lembcke, D.S.O., of the Intelligence Department, War Office (son), and Mrs. C. E. Lembcke, and Miss Lembcke (daughter). Two other sons, Mr. Richard Lembcke, and Mr. Michael Lembcke and Mrs. M. Lembcke, being abroad, were unable to attend.—R.I.P.’ For the recipient’s son’s medals see lot 183 For the recipient’s miniature medals see lot 722.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteCoronation 1911, silver, unnamed as issued; Jubilee 1935, unnamed as issued; Coronation 1937, unnamed as issued (2); Coronation 1953, unnamed as issued, generally very fine (5) £50-£70
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteColonial Auxiliary Forces Officers’ Decoration, E.VII.R., silver and silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1908, lacking integral top riband bar, otherwise good very fine £50-£70
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 1st type, silver, medallion, 56mm (For nobly proceeding in British Queen’s Boat to assistance of Crew of Schooner Happy Return on Burbo. Sea dangerous & capsized the Boat, June 1864) additionally inscribed in obverse field ‘Ed. Jones’, fitted with a contemporary silver claw and loop suspension with silver ribbon buckle, edge bruise, otherwise very fine £280-£320 --- Extract from Society Records: ‘The two latest Medals awarded were, a gold one to Mr Daniel H. Morison, and a silver one to Edward Jones, for their heroic conduct on the late occasion of the wreck of the Happy Return on Burbo, from being struck by a sea which opened the stern, filled the cabin, and damaged her rudder, so that she was not under command of the helm. On the accident being seen from the screw steamer British Queen, then entering the river, six men, all who volunteered for the service, manned one of the steamer’s boats, and under the command of Mr Morison, second officer of the steamer, succeeded in reaching the wreck after an ineffectual attempt in the gig, but so fearful a sea was running that, while they were saving the schooner’s crew, and had already got two men into the boat, a heavy wave struck it and drowned five seamen of the British Queen and the two men of the Happy Return, only Mr Morison and Edward Jones being saved.’
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 1st type, silver medallion, 56mm, unnamed and unmounted, edge bruising and contact marks, otherwise nearly very fine £60-£80
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, silver (Geo. Rees. 3rd Officer. S.S. Malta for Having with Boat’s Crew Rescued Crew of S.S. Dhooliah. 21/12/76) with silver brooch buckle, very fine £140-£180 --- Extract from Society Records: ‘To Captain Thomas Durrant, S.S. Malta, Mr Rees, third officer, George Black and William Robertson, quartermasters. On the 21st December 1876, at daylight, the Malta, while homeward bound, fell in with the steamship Dhooliah in the Bay of Biscay in a sinking state. Three boats from the Dhooliah brought a portion of the crew on board the Malta, all of whom refused to go back to rescue their shipmates. There was a heavy sea running. Mr George Rees, third officer of the Malta, with a crew of five volunteers, went in one of the Dhooliah’s boats and rescued all but the master and one of the crew. The Dhooliah’s boat having been stove in alongside the Malta, the same boat’s crew went in one of the Malta’s boats and succeeded in saving the master and one seaman who had remained in the Dhooliah. in all, 43 of the crew of the Dhooliah were saved. While effecting this rescue, George Black had his hand crushed and has since died from the effects of the injuries he received.’ Sold with copied certificates of competency as Only Mate, First Mate, and Master.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, silver (Mitchell Gibson. 2nd Offcr. S.S. “Canada”. For Rescuing With Boat’s Crew 10 Men From Barque “Anna” 30/11/81) with silver brooch bar, edge bruise, otherwise good very fine £140-£180 --- From Society Records: ‘A Silver Clasp to his medal and a vote of thanks to Captain John Robinson of the S.S. Canada for having on the 30th November 1881, during a hard N.W. Gale in the Atlantic Ocean rescued the crew of the Barque Anna which vessel had signalled ‘Rudder is gone, am in a sinking condition.’ A Silver Medal and vote of thanks to Mr Mitchell Gibson, second officer for having with a boat crew, at great risk from the high breaking sea, rowed to the Barque and rescued her crew, ten in number. The weather was so bad that after getting the people on board the Canada the boat could not be hoisted up and had to be abandoned.’
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, silver (Capt. Alfred H. Highton. S.S. “Yucatan” for Rescuing 15 of The Crew Of “Petit Bourgeois” in A Gale, Dec. 24. 1892) with silver brooch buckle, very fine £140-£180 --- Extract from Society Records: ‘A Silver Medal and Vote of Thanks to Captain Alfred H. Highton, S.S. Yucatan, for having stood by the French barque Petit Bourgeois, for about twelve hours during a heavy gale and high sea, and finally having rescued the crew of fifteen persons; the vessel had to be abandoned on the 24th of December 1892, because she was in a waterlogged and sinking condition, and was fast breaking up.’ Alfred Halewood Highton was born at Bootle cum Linacre, Lancashire, on 21 March 1850. He joined the merchant navy, passing for Second Mate in October 1868, First Mate in April 1872, and Master in December 1876. He was employed by the White Star Line and served in the merchant navy during the Great War earning the British and Mercantile Marine War medals. He died at Maghull, Lancashire, on 13 April 1927.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThree: Hugh Blain, Mercantile Marine British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals (Hugh Blain) officially impressed later issues; Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, silver, the reverse hallmarked Birmingham 1934 (To Hugh Blain, for Gallant Service. 7/7/1894.) officially re-engraved naming, with silver brooch bar, the second gilded, otherwise nearly extremely fine (3) £80-£120
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, silver (Mr. Robert P. Gittins. 2nd Officer S.S. “Londonian” A Volunteer in S.S. “Vedamore’s” Boat After Being Himself Rescued From The “Londonian” On 26/11/98) with silvered brooch buckle, minor contact marks, otherwise nearly extremely fine £200-£260 --- The heroic efforts made in rescuing men from the stricken Londonian is related in the Dictionary of Disasters at Sea, by Charles Hocking: ‘The (Wilsons & Furness - Leyland Line) liner Londonian, Capt. E. B. Lee, left Boston, Mass., for London on November 15th, 1898, with a company of 70. The cargo consisted chiefly of grain, there being also 150 head of cattle. After about a week at sea the ship ran into foul weather, increasing later to a gale, and she began to make water; her steering-gear jammed and it became impossible to keep her head-on. The ship broached to and she was thrown on her beam ends, and her engine room flooded. The cattle were driven overboard to lighten the ship which continued to drift for two days and nights, until the morning of the 25th when she was sighted by the Johnston liner Vedamore, Capt. Bartlett. The captain of the Londonian asked to be taken in tow, but this the Vedamore’s captain declined to do, though he was prepared to take off the crew. About noon therefore Capt. Lee decided to abandon his ship and the Vedamore made an attempt to get a boat alongside, but after three hours struggle the boat returned without having rescued a single man. Other efforts by rocket and line from windward of the derelict were equally unsuccessful and operations had to be suspended until daybreak when lines attached to life-buoys were floated down to the Londonian. After many hours one of these was picked up and a heavier line taken on board. A lifeboat was lashed to this and was hauled to and fro between the ships, 22 men being saved in the first journey. At the second attempt the rope broke and the boat capsized. Another boat under Mr Doran, the first officer, was lowered by the Vedamore but this was smashed, the crew barely escaping with their lives. These efforts had lasted throughout the day and there was another pause during the hours of darkness. Next morning one of the Londonian’s boats was got over the side where it at once capsized, drowning all its occupants. A second boat got away with 23 men who were taken on board the Vedamore. All day attempts to effect further rescues continued but without success. At dawn on the morning of the 28th those on board the Vedamore saw no sign of the Londonian, so with the survivors on board the ship proceeded on her way to Baltimore. Meanwhile the derelict Londonian with Capt. Lee and seven men still on board was drifting helplessly with the gale. At midnight on the 28th one of their flares was seen by the German steamship Maria Rickmers, Capt. Grolsh, which sent a boat under Mr Lenz, the second officer. After a struggle of many hours a line was passed to the ship and all the survivors were taken off. The number of drowned was 17, and 45 men were rescued by the Vedamore and eight by the Maria Rickmers’. Robert Philip Gittins was born in Liverpool in January 1866. He joined the merchant navy, passing for Second Mate in June 1890, First Mate in September 1891, and Master in February 1893. For the Londonian incident Gittins was also awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal in silver; and a gold watch and chain from the citizens of Baltimore, U.S.A., in recognition of their services in rescuing their shipmates when the “Londonian” was abandoned in the North Atlantic. For service in the Great War as Master of the S.S. Antillian, he was awarded the British and Mercantile Marine War medals. He died in Cheshire on 19 March 1956.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, silver (To Mr. Robert Parry. Chief Officer S.S. “Brittany” for Gallant Service On 3rd Oct. 1907.) with silver brooch buckle in its R. C. Oldfield fitted case of issue, good very fine £140-£180
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, silver (To Second Officer S. C. Grant. S.S. “Orduna” for Gallant Service. 24th Jan: 1915.) with silver brooch buckle, extremely fine £200-£260 --- The S.S. Orduna was a 15,500 ton ocean liner built in 1913/14 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast for the Pacific Steam Company. During the Great War she was utilised as an auxiliary cruiser and troopship. In her latter guise she transported troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool. 2nd Officer Grant was awarded the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society Medal for his part in the rescue of the Russian crew of the sailing ship Loch Torridon which had sprung a leak while transporting timber off the west coast of Ireland on 24 January 1915. The Orduna continued to have an eventful war, being targeted by a U-Boat in 1915, the fired torpedo missing its target, and in 1918 she accidentally collided with and sank the 4,400 ton steamer Konkary. Sidney Crossland Grant was born in Liverpool on 5 February 1884. He joined the merchant navy, passing for First Mate in March 1907, Master in October 1908, and Extra Master in July 1909. He was awarded the British and Mercantile Marine War medals for services as Second Officer of the S.S. Orduna, and was awarded the O.B.E. (Civil) for services as Captain of the M.V. Laguna when torpedoed by a U-boat and damaged in the Caribbean on 17 August 1942 (London Gazette 13 April 1943).
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, silver (To Walter Coubrough, for Gallant Service. 3/4/1937) with silver brooch bar in its fitted case of issue, nearly extremely fine £160-£200 --- Walter Coubrough was one of the 30 volunteers who manned the lifeboats of the T.S.S. Vandyck awarded the Silver Medal and Certificate in recognition of gallant service rendered in rescuing the crew of 25 of the S.S. Standale which foundered off the Portuguese Coast on the 3rd April, 1937. During the rescue operations, which occupied five hours, oil was pumped overboard which, in some degree, helped to break the force of the sea. These awards were presented by The Lord Mayor of Liverpool (Alderman William Denton, J.P.) at the Town Hall, on the 16th June 1937. Sold with full report on this rescue from Society’s records.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteLiverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society, Marine Medal, 3rd type, bronze (To James Porter, for Gallant Service. 2/11/34.) with bronze brooch bar in its fitted case of issue, nearly extremely fine £180-£220 --- James Potter was one of seven crew members from the S.S. Lady Leinster awarded the Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society Medal for the rescue of the crew of the yacht Thursday, which was sinking in the Irish Sea: ‘When on the passage from Dublin to Liverpool at 2.57 a.m. on the 2nd November 1934, when about four miles North of Point Lynas, Anglesey, a flare was sighted by the officer of the watch. Working engines as required he approached within hailing distance and found the occupants of the vessel were unable to leave their own boat. The wind at this time was fresh Northerly with a nasty choppy sea, but the launching of the Lady Leinster’s No.1 Lifeboat was safely accomplished and under the command of Mr Gallimore successfully took off the four survivors and transferred them to the Lady Leinster. At this time the Thursday was awash forward and settling rapidly’. ‘Resolved that for the rescue of the crew of the Thursday, an Illuminated Address be presented to Captain John Gill, Commanding the Dublin S.S. “Lady Leinster”, a Silver Medal and Certificate of Thanks be presented to John Gallimore, Chief Officer, in charge of the lifeboat, and Bronze Medals and a Certificate of Thanks each be presented to the following members of the lifeboat’s crew: A.B.’s James Potter (sic), James Finigan, George Popplewell, George McKane, Michael Purcell and Reginald Davis in recognition of gallant service rendered in rescuing the four occupants of the 76 ft. barge-built yacht Thursday, which sprang a leak when five miles off Point Lynas, on 2nd November 1924.’ (Royal Liverpool Shipwreck and Humane Society Annual Report 1935 refers).
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In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday Medal of Valour awarded to Gunner W. Hall, Royal Artillery, for his gallantry in saving the lives of a man and his three children from a house filled with potassium cyanide fumes in Clerkenwell, London, on 28 December 1898, an act of valour for which he also received the Royal Humane Society’s Stanhope Gold Medal for the outstanding rescue act of the year Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday Medal of Valour, 36mm, silver, the reverse inscribed ‘William Hall. Clerkenwell. December 28th. 1898.’, with straight bar suspension and top Spink, London, silver riband bar, good very fine, rare £300-£400 --- William Hall, a Gunner in the Royal Artillery, was born in St. Pancras, London, in 1875 and attested for the Royal Artillery on 15 February 1893. He was awarded the Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday Medal of Valour ‘for his conspicuous gallantry, while on furlough, in saving the lives of 4 persons from certain death in Clerkenwell on Wednesday, December 28th, 1898.’ For his gallantry that day Hall was also awarded the Royal Humane Society’s Silver Medal (case no. 29,865), the citation stating: ‘At 3.40 p.m. on the 28th December, 1898, a man named Carrington Franklin was at work in an electro-plating establishment in an upstairs room at 42, Clerkenwell Close, Clerkenwell, London, when he was visited by his wife and three children aged respectively ten, four, and two years. On the floor were various vessels containing chemicals used in the business, and it is supposed that the children in their play upset two basins containing cyanide of potassium and vitriol. Fumes of prussic acid were at once generated and filled the room, rendering Franklin and the children unconscious. Mrs Franklin managed to escape, and called for help. Gunner Hall, who was on furlough, happened to be passing, and on being told what had occurred he, without hesitation, stuffed his handkerchief into his mouth, and rushing in found the eldest boy near the bottom of the stairs and carried him out. He then made three journeys up the stairs and into the room where the others lay, bringing out first the children and last of all the father. From inhaling the fumes he was now so exhausted that he fell with Franklin at the foot of the stairs, and was assisted out by his brother, who had come on the scene. When outside he became unconscious, but soon recovered. Extreme risk was incurred, and without doubt all four persons would have lost their lives but for his prompt action and presence of mind.’ Hall was further awarded the Royal Humane Society’s Stanhope Gold Medal for 1899, his act of bravery having been adjudged the outstanding life-saving feat of the previous year.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteA rare King Edward VII ‘Royal Souvenir’ attributed to Casiniro Gatto, Warrant Officer of the Royal Bodyguard of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy, as a memento of his visit to London in November 1903 Oval gold pendant badge with cut-out EVIIR cypher within Garter with motto enamelled in blue, surmounted by crown and small ring for suspension, 40mm x 20mm excluding ring, the reverse set with hinged swivel-mounted gold frame containing reversible hard stones of carnelian and bloodstone, unmarked, in its R. & S. Garrard & Co. fitted red velvet covered presentation case, velvet worn, otherwise in excellent condition and extremely rare £2,200-£2,600 --- Casiniro Gatto, head of the Squadron Carabinieri Guards of King Vittorio Emanuele III, was awarded the Royal Victorian Medal in silver by Kind Edward VII on 30 April 1903, on the occasion of King Edward’s visit to Rome. It is believed that the above ‘Royal Souvenir’ was presented to Gatto by Edward VII on the occasion of the visit to Britain of King Vittorio Emanuele III on 17-21 November 1903. Sold with two group photographic images including Gatto and copied certificate from Ministry of Foreign Affairs allowing Gatto to be awarded the R.V.M.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteEaling Fire Brigade Medal for Services Rendered during the Great War, bronze, unnamed as issued, with integral top riband bar, in case of issue; Nottingham City Special Constable Fire Brigade lapel badge, silver and enamel; Corporation of the City of London Private Fire Brigades Challenge Shield Competition Prize Medal, silver, the obverse depicting firemen fighting a building building, the reverse engraved ‘O. Waring. 1930.’; together with a B.C.Y. Fire Brigade Guildhall Competition Shield Medal, gold (9ct., 8.04g) and enamel, the reverse engraved ‘1930 O. Waring’; an unnamed Fire Brigades prize medal, silver; and a Liverpool Special Constabulary Shield for Services Rendered during the Great War, inscribed ‘Sergt. W. J. Colson 1915-1918’, generally very fine (6) £80-£120 --- Sold together with a Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. Christmas Greetings 1902 compass; and a Kent Fire Brigade shoulder patch, numbered ‘B6129’.
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In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteBristol Tramways and Carriage Co. Ltd. Medal for Loyalty 1901, 38mm, silver, the obverse featuring St. George and the dragon, the reverse inscribed ‘Presented to Dvr. A. Boyles for Loyalty’, with top silver brooch bar, extremely fine £60-£80 --- Archie Boyles was born in Bristol on 12 March 1878 and entered the service of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company in 1899, and was employed for them for a period of 47 years, retiring on 30 September 1946. He died in Horfield, Bristol, on 26 December 1956. In 1901 there was a major dispute between the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company and its employees, caused by the change over from horse-drawn to electric trams, which culminated in the majority of the Company’s employees walking out of their jobs over the August Bank Holiday week-end. Those workers who went on strike were dismissed, but 302 of the 1,200 employees refused to strike and continued working, even though they suffered much abuse from the strikers. In recognition of their loyalty they were presented with the above specially commissioned medals at a dinner held at Colston Hall on 20 December 1901. Sold with copied research.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteSold by Order of the Family for the Benefit of the Fawcett Society. The Women’s Social and Political Union Medal awarded to Miss Nellie Godfrey, who was arrested and imprisoned for throwing a missile at Winston Churchill’s car as he attended an election rally in Bolton in December 1909 Women’s Social and Political Union Medal for Valour, 22mm, silver, the obverse inscribed ‘Hunger Strike’, the reverse named ‘Nellie Godfrey’, the suspension bar dated ‘December 7th. 1909’, complete with integral top ‘For Valour’ brooch bar, the lettering on the top brooch bar, suspension bar, and medal obverse enamelled in the colours of the W.S.P.U., in original case of issue, the inside silk interior lining of lid with gold blocked inscription, ‘Presented to Nellie Godfrey. by the Women’s Social & Political Union in recognition of a gallant action, whereby through endurance to the last extremity of hunger and hardship a great principle of political justice was vindicated’, the lining now somewhat distressed and worn but name still legible, the medal nearly extremely fine £6,000-£8,000 --- Nellie Godfrey joined the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1909, and was first arrested in the summer of 1909, appearing before Bow Street Magistrates on 9 July 1909. She was arrested for a second time on 7 December of that year, charged with throwing a missile at Winston Churchill’s motor car, as he travelled to an election rally in Bolton in the run-up to the January 1910 General Election. At the time Churchill, the Member of Parliament for Dundee, was President of the Board of Trade, and was undertaking a campaign tour of Lancashire. Suspecting trouble ahead of his address, the police had erected strong barricades along the route of his journey, but Miss Godfrey managed to break through the timber barriers and threw a piece of iron at his car. The iron was wrapped in paper bearing the message ‘Thrown by a woman of England as a protest against the Government’s treatment of political prisoners.’ (Votes for Women, 9 December 1909 refers) Appearing at Bolton Magistrates Court the following day, Miss Godfrey pleaded guilty, and was fined 40 shillings. Refusing to pay, she was sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment. Released from Manchester Prison on medical grounds (most likely under the ‘cat and mouse’ system, whereby those political prisoners who embarked upon a hunger strike were released as soon as their condition started to deteriorate, in order that they should not become a political martyr), she returned to London, and two years later appeared again before Bow Street Magistrates on 27 November 1911. Sold with a portrait photographic image of the recipient wearing her medal, and various photographic images of the recipient in later life.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe Royal Warrant Holders Association Medal awarded to the fashion designer Hardy Amies, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel while organising sabotage assignments with the Special Operations Executive in Belgium during the Second World War and subsequently built a hugely successful fashion label, his designs finding favour with the young Princess Elizabeth who granted him a Royal Warrant on her accession to the throne Royal Warrant Holders Association Medal, E.II.R., 1977 Silver Jubilee Medal (Hardy Amies) nearly extremely fine £400-£500 --- Edwin Hardy Amies was born on 17 July 1909 at Maida Vale, London and was educated at Latymer Upper School and Brentwood. It was suggested that he should work for a scholarship to Cambridge, but Amies wanted to become a journalist. His father arranged a meeting with R. D. Blumenfeld, the editor of the Daily Express, who told him: ‘We don’t want academics in the journalistic world. We want men of international culture. Send him abroad to learn French and German. Make him work.’ After spending three years in France and Germany - learning the languages and working for a customs agent, an English School and a wall tile factory - Amies returned to England and became a weighing-machine salesman for W & T Avery. It was his mother’s contacts in the fashion world together with his own facility with the written word that secured him his first job in fashion. His vivid description of a dress, written in a letter to a retired French fitter and brought to the attention of the owner of the Mayfair couture house Lachasse, made a strong impression. The wearer of the dress was the owner’s wife. In early 1934, with no previous experience, he succeeded the designer manager, Digby Morton, who had left Lachasse to set up his own house. By the time war intervened, he was designing the whole collection. At the outbreak of the Second World War, with his language experience, Amies was called to serve in the Special Operations Executive. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant from Officer Cadet Training Company on to the British Army General List on 18 May 1940, and was transferred from the General List to the Intelligence Corps on 15 July 1940. Amies suspected that S.O.E.’s commander Major General Colin Gubbins did not regard a dressmaker as suitable military material; but his training report stated: ‘This officer is far tougher both physically and mentally than his rather precious appearance would suggest. He possesses a keen brain and an abundance of shrewd sense. His only handicap is his precious appearance and manner, and these are tending to decrease’. Posted to Belgium, Amies worked with the various Belgian resistance groups and adapted names of fashion accessories for use as code words, while he organised sabotage assignments and arranged for agents to be parachuted with radio equipment behind enemy lines, into the Ardennes. Amies rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, but outraged his superiors in 1944 by engaging famed photographer Lee Miller and setting up a Vogue photo shoot in Belgium after D-Day. In 1946, he was created an Officer of the Belgian Order of the Crown on 17 September 1948 by the prince regent of Belgium. Amies was an integral part of Operation Ratweek, an assassination project developed by the S.O.E. to eliminate double agents and Nazi sympathisers in Belgium. In 2000, a BBC 2 documentary entitled Secret Agent named Amies as one of the men who helped to plan the killing of dozens of Nazi collaborators, but Amies disclaimed all knowledge of the matter. Hardy Amies was quirky, yet conservative; for example, having his British Army uniform tailored on Savile Row. Years later, Hardy recalled that Kim Philby was in his mess; and, on being asked what the infamous spy was like, Hardy quipped, ‘He was always trying to get information out of me, most significantly the name of my tailor.’ On demobilisation, Amies bought the lease of a house in Savile Row, built by Lord Burlington in 1735 and damaged in the Blitz, and set up his own business. It was not long before he was designing clothes for Princess Elizabeth. ‘A very grand lady asked me to make coats and skirts for what she called her “gels”’, he recalled, ‘and they turned out to be ladies-in-waiting to Princess Elizabeth. The Princess saw them and asked me to make clothes for her visit to Canada in 1948.’ His royal warrant dated from her accession to the throne. The Queen wore a Hardy Amies pink silk dress and coat for the Silver Jubilee and a Hardy Amies yellow coat on her 60th birthday. In 1950, recognising a need for cheaper, instantly available clothes, Amies expanded his business by opening a ready-to-wear boutique. He designed uniforms for the police, British Airways, the South African defence force, male nurses at Broadmoor and the staffs of W H Smith, the London Hilton, and Wall’s ice-cream. In 1967, he was commissioned by director Stanley Kubrick to design the costumes for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). In 1973 Amies sold his business to Debenhams, with a view to further expansion, but in 1980 bought it back with the profits of his success with menswear in Canada, Australia, Japan, America and New Zealand (where, he estimated in 1979, 55 per cent of men wore suits in whose design he had a hand). Eventually, he had more than 40 overseas licensees. Handsome, with aquiline features and a full head of hair, Amies was proud of his athletic figure and played tennis well into his eighties. His other principal love was gardening, and he built from scratch an elaborate traditional garden. Hardy Amies was appointed CVO in 1977 and KCVO in 1989. In 2000, Amies sold the house to the Luxury Brands Group and announced his formal retirement. He died at home in 2003, aged 93, and is buried in the village churchyard at Langford, Oxfordshire.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteA Selection of Licensed Victuallers Asylum, Benevolent Institution, and School Badges, comprising the Asylum Coronation Medal 1902; Trustee’s Badge; and Governor’s Badge; the Benevolent Institution Stewards Badges for the 97th Anniversary Dinner in 1924; the Centenary Anniversary Dinner in 1927; the 102nd Anniversary Festival in 1929; and the 106th Anniversary Festival in 1933; three School Badges, for 1900, 1901, and undated; a City of London Committee Member’s Badge; a York Member’s Badge; ands a Licensed Victuallers Association (Ireland) President’s Badge 1900, the obverse impressed ‘W. T. Paulin Esq. President’, silver, silver-gilt, gilt, and enamel, generally good very fine (13) £140-£180
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteAncient Order of Foresters Merit Cross (3), 56mm, silver, two with horn at centre; one with crossed keys at centre; together with an Ancient Order of Foresters Torquay High Court 1967 enamel pin badge; and two Ancient Order of Foresters riband sashes, one made up for wear, the other unmade, in card box of issue, good very fine (3) £80-£120
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In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteShanghai Jubilee Medal 1893, silver ‘L. Da Roza.’, edge bruise and minor edge nicks, good very fine £500-£700
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteA Second War M.B.E. group of six awarded to Captain T. W. Gill, 14th/20th Hussars The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Military) Member’s 2nd type breast badge, silver, with Royal Mint case of issue; 1939-45 Star; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Army L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue, Regular Army (543875 W.O. Cl.2. T. W. Gill. 14-20 H.); together with the recipient’s riband bar and related miniature awards, good very fine (6) £200-£240 --- M.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1944. Thomas William Gill was born in Croydon, Surrey, on 18 March 1903 and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the 14th/20th Hussars on 11 January 1943, having previously served in the ranks. Advanced Captain on 8 September 1952, he died in Worthing, Sussex, in 1983. Sold with named Buckingham Palace enclosure for the M.B.E., and a photograph of the recipient escorting H.M. the King in 1945.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteAn interesting Elkington & Company silver-plate sugar or bonbon bowl belonging to the XVIII Madras Native Infantry, in the Rococo style, circa 1860, 205mm in width, 130mm in height, engraved with the badge of the XVIII Madras Native Infantry and battle honour ‘Ava’, possibly the only piece in existence as in 1864 the regiment was disbanded for misconduct and erased from the books of the Madras Presidency, good condition for age £150-£200 --- In 1863, it was found when on examining the cash chest of the Military Pay Office at the station of Cannanore, that a considerable sum had been extracted. No marks of violence were noted and the robbery had been committed by the means of false keys. A pecuniary reward was issued to induce some of the perpetrators to “peach” on others to find the actual robbers. This indeed happened and the actual robbers turned out to be a sergeant and a private of the 18th who had been on guard that day. The 18th seemed incapable of investigating the affair internally and it was handed over to a Mr W. Robinson of the Madras civil police who simply didn't believe anybody. Events spiralled out of control with the first casualties being the Subahdar-Major and Native Adjutant, who with over 40 years service with the regiment, was dismissed the service with ignominy and without trial or court martial. An anonymous letter totalling 40 pages to The Examiner, London relates the full story and includes Mr Robinson's findings. The anger felt in Madras is best expressed in the last paragraph of the letter: ‘The Commander-in-Chief's order has converted every Corps in the Madras Army into a Penitentiary and the stigma thus inflicted will become indelible unless steps are taken to remove it. The Madras Army produced Clive, it won Assaye – it was loyal in 1857 when disloyalty would have been our ruin. It is now threatened with intolerable disgrace, not because it has ceased to deserve well of England but because England has placed it under the command of a man incapable by his own showing of discriminating between allegation and proof... It is for the reader to say whether the appeal is unwarranted, the prayer unreasonable.’
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In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteCopy Medals (4): Jummoo and Kashmir 1895, 1 clasp, Chitral 1895, cast copy; British North Borneo Company Medal 1897-1916, 1 clasp, Punitive Expeditions, silver issue, edge stamped, ‘copy’ ; British North Borneo Company Medal 1897-1916, 1 clasp, Punitive Expedition, bronze issue, edge stamped, ‘copy’ ; British North Borneo Company Medal 1898-1900, 1 clasp, Tambunan, bronze issue, edge stamped, ‘copy’, the first very fine, otherwise nearly extremely fine (4) £60-£80
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe mounted group of eight miniature dress medals worn by the Great War fighter Ace W. G. ‘Billy’ Barker, VC., D.S.O. and Bar, M.C. and Two Bars, Canadian Mounted Rifles, Royal Flying Corps, and Royal Canadian Air Force, who with three foreign decorations and three Mentioned in Despatches, is the most decorated serviceman in the history of Canada Victoria Cross; Distinguished Service Order, gilt and enamel, with Second Award Bar and integral top riband bar, lacking central medallions; Military Cross, G.V.R., with unofficial Second Award Bar, suspension broken and cross unofficially re-affixed; British War and Victory Medals; France, Third Republic, Croix de Guerre, bronze, reverse dated 1914-1918, mounted as originally worn on a J. R. Gaunt, Montreal, riband bar, light traces of adhesive to reverse, generally very fine (6) £1,800-£2,200 --- Provenance: Donated by the recipient’s family to Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame Museum. A letter written in August 1995 by Captain Jack Boddington, Curator of Honours at the Museum, states: ‘When received the group of miniature medals was in damaged condition (DSO centre missing and MC suspender broken) and incomplete when compared to Barker’s full sized group, and was therefore relinquished by the Hall of Fame. The Hall Curator has studied the group and has come to the conclusion that when additional medals were to be added (about 1919-20) the damaged condition caused the group to be left as is, and another full group assembled for use by Barker.’ V.C. London Gazette 30 November 1918: ‘On the morning of the 27 October 1918, this officer observed an enemy two-seater over the Foret de Mormal. He attacked this machine and after a short burst it broke up in the air. At the same time a Fokker biplane attacked him, and he was wounded in the right thigh, but managed, despite this, to shoot down the enemy aeroplane in flames. He then found himself in the middle of a large formation of Fokkers who attacked him from all directions, and was again severely wounded in the left thigh, but succeeded in driving down two of the enemy in a spin. He lost consciousness after that, and his machine fell out of control. On recovery, he found himself being again attacked heavily by a large formation, and singling out one machine he deliberately charged and drove it down in flames. During this fight his left elbow was shattered and he again fainted, and on regaining consciousness he found himself still being attacked, but notwithstanding that he was now severely wounded in both legs and his left arm shattered, he dived on the nearest machine and shot it down in flames. Being greatly exhausted, he dived out of the fight to regain our lines, but was met by another formation, which attacked and endeavoured to cut him off, but after a hard fight he succeeded in breaking up this formation and reached our lines, where he crashed on landing. This combat, in which Major Barker destroyed four enemy machines (three of them in flames), brought his total successes to fifty enemy machines destroyed, and is a notable example of the exceptional bravery and disregard of danger which this very gallant officer has always displayed throughout his distinguished career.’ William George ‘Billy’ Barker was born at Dauphin, Manitoba, on 3 November 1894 and attested for the Manitoba Regiment on 1 November 1914, and served on attachment with the Royal Air Force. ‘The value of his services may be measured by the number of decorations and ‘Mentions’ he received - no fewer than twelve - including the Victoria Cross, and French and Italian ones. He began by obtaining the Military Cross for contact patrol at the capture of Beaumont Hamel on 20 November 1916. At the capture of Bullecourt he obtained a Bar to the Military Cross on 9 April 1917, again for contact patrol. He then received the Companionship of the Distinguished Service Order, for destroying enemy aircraft on 5 January 1918. He was awarded a Second Bar to the Military Cross, for destroying enemy aircraft on 24 April 1918; a Bar to the Distinguished Service Order for destroying enemy aircraft on the Western Front, 26 May 1918; the French Croix de Guerre; and the Italian Bronze and Silver Medals for valour for destroying aircraft on the Italian Front. This magnificent record was crowned by the award of the Victoria Cross. He was also three times Mentioned in Despatches.’ (The V.C. and the D.S.O. refers). Barker returned to Canada after the War as Canada’s most decorated serviceman: his ‘haul’ of six British gallantry medals put him level with Mick Manncok and James McCudden, but with his three foreign medals and three Mentions in Despatches, he received a total of 12 awards for gallantry. He was killed in a demonstration flight for the R.C.A.F. at Ottawa on 12 March 1930, aged 35; over 50,000 spectators lined the streets of Toronto for his funeral. Sold together with a signed photograph of the recipient; and an autograph album page signed by the recipient (and several other notable personalities, including the Antarctic explorer Thomas Orde-Lees; the sculptor Kathleen Scott (the widow of Captain Robert Scott, of Antarctic fame); the actor Leslie Faber; the pioneering aviator Herbert G. Brackley; and the Russian Princess Nina and Xenia). Note: Despite being entitled to the 1914-15 Star, for some reason Barker never never wore it, with contemporary photographs of the recipient showing it missing from his chest. it was only after the recipient’s death that his widow, Jean, applied for the Star, prior to donating his medals to the Canadian War Museum.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe mounted group of four miniature dress medals worn by Physician Frederick Montizambert, C.M.G., I.S.O., Medical Officer, Quebec Military District, during Fenian Raid 1866 The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, silver-gilt and enamels; The Imperial Service Order, G.V.R., silver, gilt and enamels; The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, silver and enamel; Canada General Service 1866-70, 1 clasp, Fenian Raid 1866, very fine (4) £150-£200 --- Frederick Montizambert was born in Quebec on 3 February 1843. He was educated at Montreal High School; Grammar School, St Johns, Quebec; Upper Canada College; Laval University; Edinburgh University (M.D., 1864)’ Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.; Lennoxville University (D.C.L., 1888). He practised at Quebec up to the time of entering public health service of Canada; served as Principal Medical Officer, Quebec Military District, during the Fenian Raid of 1866 (Medal and Clasp); Medical Superintendent, St Lawrence Service, 1869; General Superintendent, St Lawrence Service, 1894; Director-General of Public Health and Sanitary Adviser of the Government of Canada, 1899; Deputy Minister by Order-in-Council, 1899; Deputy Minister by Statute, 1905; C.M.G., 1916; F.R.C.S., Edinburgh, 1884; I.S.O., 1903; President, Canadian Branch, St John’s Ambulance Association, 1910-14; Knight of Grace, Order of St John of Jerusalem, in England, 1911; author of numerous reports and papers bearing on public health. Confirmed on the roll for Fenian Raid 1866 as Surgeon, Quebec Garrison Artillery.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe Lembcke family group of miniature medals: The D.S.O. group of ten miniature dress medals attributed to Lieutenant-Colonel C. E. Lembcke, Northumberland Fusiliers, late Royal Fusiliers and Gloucestershire Regiment Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902; 1914-15 Star; British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaves, these first five mounted as worn; Peru, Republic, Commander of the Order of Ayucucho, silver-gilt and enamel; Order of Aeronautical Merit, including condor suspension, 1st issue, silver-gilt and enamel; Bronze Cross of the Society of the Founders of Independence, 1st issue; Centenary of Independence Medal 1921, silver-gilt; Centenary of the Battle of Ayacucho Medal 1924, silver-gilt, these last five mounted as worn, good very fine The group of three miniature dress medals attributed to P. E. Lembcke, Peruvian Army, later Peru’s Consular General and Charge d’affaires in London Coronation 1902, silver; Coronation 1911, silver; Peru, Republic, Cross for Callao (1866), being a five pointed star, silver and enamel, mounted as worn, minor enamel damage to last, good very fine (13) £200-£300 --- Provenance: Acquired by the vendor direct from the granddaughter of Lieutenant-Colonel C. E. Lembcke. For the two recipient’s full-sized medals see Lots 183 and 604.
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe group of six miniature dress medals worn by Lieutenant-Colonel J. M. H. Hailes, Royal Artillery Distinguished Service Order, G.VI.R. [sic], silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; 1939-45 Star; War Medal 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 2 clasps, Palestine 1945-48, Malaya, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Korea 1950-53, 1st issue; U.N. Korea 1950-54, mounted as worn, generally very fine and better (6) £200-£300 --- D.S.O. London Gazette 24 April 1953: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished flying services in Korea’. The original recommendation states: ‘Major Hailes has been in command of 1903 Air OP Flight RAF since July 1952. He joined the Flight at a time when two pilots had been shot down and two others had changed. There was therefore concern at the possibility of the operational efficiency of the Flight dropping considerably. In the event this did not happen and, in fact, the reverse was the case as the Flight went from strength to strength. The credit for this rests entirely with Major Hailes. From the very outset he was complete master of the situation and displayed leadership of the highest order in all spheres but most particularly from the operational aspect. He himself did far more flying than his duties as Flight Commander called for and it was characteristic of his him that he would always use the most doubtful aircraft leaving the others for the remaining pilots. His magnificent example, efficiency and courage during this difficult period was a great inspiration to the more experienced pilots and filled the younger ones with unshakeable confidence. While going to great pains to train his younger pilots he carried, at the same time, an even greater share of the operational sorties than would have been his in a normal situation. He has personally flown 125 sorties and conducted 166 shoots with guns of the Divisional and Corps artillery. In doing this he has been responsible for inflicting many casualties of both men and equipment on the enemy. The whole Division has the greatest respect and admiration for the Air OP Flight and this is a direct result of the magnificent leadership, courage and conscientiousness consistently displayed by Major Hailes throughout the period. His work in all spheres has been far above what one would expect in the normal line of duty and I recommend services of such a high order be recognised in the form of an appropriate award.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 7 January 1949 (Palestine) ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Palestine during the period 27 March to 26 September 1947.’ M.I.D. London Gazette 27 April 1951: ‘In recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Malaya during the period 1 July to 31 December 1950.’ John Martin Hunter ‘Jack’ Hailes was born on 27 January 1920 in Maymyo, a pleasant hill station in central Burma where, in the early 1920’s, George Orwell served as Assistant District Superintendent of Police. As a young boy he lived in Mandalay, where his father was a District Superintendent of Railways. He was educated at Cheltenham College, his father’s alma mater. As war approached, Hailes decided to join the regular army and entered the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich in January 1939. As war became inevitable, the pace of his training was accelerated and he was sent to 122 Officer Cadet Training Unit in August. He was commissioned Second Lieutenant, Royal Artillery, on 9 December 1939, with regimental seniority from 4 November 1939, and was posted as a Troop Commander to 51st Anti-tank Regiment, 51st (Highland) Division, which landed in France in January 1940 to join the British Expeditionary Force. The Battle of France On 19 April 1940 the 51st Division was detached from the rest of the B.E.F. It was put under French command and moved to a section of the Franco-German frontier just south of Luxembourg and in front of one of the most powerful and impressive showpiece underground fortresses of the Maginot Line, the Ouvrage Hackenburg, which had been inspected by King George VI. The intent was to stiffen Allied defences at the northern end of the Maginot Line in case of a German attack on the western front during the invasion of Norway. France had briefly invaded German Saar in this sector in September 1940 when its ally Poland was attacked. Since Norway was now under German attack, the French High Command deemed it prudent to anticipate possible enemy action on the Western Front. The Germans did not oblige the French generals by attacking their Maginot defence works. They simply outflanked them and by the end of May had trapped the entire Allied northern forces in the Dunkirk beachhead. Meanwhile, the French desperately tried to form a new defence line along the River Somme in Picardy. Fortress Hackenburg was harassed by German forces but never directly attacked. The 51st Division was withdrawn from Lorraine and moved by train and road to Picardy. It saw much action assisting the French in their futile attempts to repulse the Germans from the Somme bridgeheads at Abbeville. After further clashes at Huchenneville, the Division was reduced to half its fighting strength by 6 June and was desperately short of supplies, especially ammunition. The only remaining option was evacuation by sea. 154 Brigade was rescued from Le Havre and Cherbourg but the rest of the Division was encircled. The Royal Navy landed at the small port of St Valery-en-Caux near Dieppe on 10 June to try to snatch as many men as possible. Unfortunately, the retreat of 51th Division to the coast had been held up, and a thick fog descended during the night of 11-12 which made it too risky for ships to enter and leave the port. All artillery ammunition had run out and the Division was forced to surrender to overwhelming German forces on 12 June. Hailes joined some 10,000 men who were marched off to prisoner-of-war camps in the Reich. Hailes was promoted to Lieutenant on 9 June 1941 and remained a Prisoner of War in various camps in Poland, Germany and Austria until 13 April 1945. After his return to England, Hailes was assigned to a number of refresher courses and training appointments to prepare him for his promotion to Captain on 1 July 1946. Northern Italy, Egypt, Palestine and Malaya Early in 1946 Hailes decided that he wished to become a Royal Artillery Air Observer. The tethered kite balloons of the Great War had been very effective in acquiring targets far behind the frontlines and directing artillery to neutralise them, but balloons were useless for mobile warfare. They were replaced by small light aircraft, fitted with radios. Controlling artillery from the air was a specialised and technical skill, which the RAF had no interest in developing. However, since the days of Trenchard, the RAF hierarchy had insisted that anything that flew ‘belonged to them’. The agreed compromise was that the Air Observation Post (AOP) units themselves were part of the RAF, as were the aircraft and the more skilled members of the ground crew. The artillery would provide all the observers, and the non-technical ground staff. To be an air observer, Hailes had first to learn to fly a...
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteThe Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, breast badge, gold and enamel, with gold riband buckle; Royal Niger Company Medal 1886-97, silver, 1 clasp, Nigeria 1886-1897, nearly extremely fine (2) £80-£120
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteChina, Republic, Order of the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain, 26mm including wreath suspension x 20mm, silver-gilt and enamel, good very fine £60-£80
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteAustria, Empire, Honour Decoration of the Red Cross, Second Class breast badge, 47mm x 38mm, silver and enamel, with War Decoration wreath, in G. A. Scheid, Vienna, case of issue; Silver Medal (2), silver and enamel, both with War Decoration wreaths, one on lady’s bow riband; Red Cross Medal, silver and enamel; Military Merit Medal, Karl I, silver, edge bruise to last, generally very fine Austria, Republic, Medal for Distinguished Services in the Austrian Fire Brigades, Second Class Cross, silver and enamel, very fine (5) £140-£180
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteBenin, French Colonial, Order of the Black Star (3), Commander’s neck badge, 81mm including wreath suspension x 55mm, gilt and enamel, with neck riband; Officer’s breast badge, 57mm x 39mm, gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband; Knight’s breast badge, 57mm x 39mm, silver and enamel, generally good very fine (3) £100-£140
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteChina, Empire, Order of the Double Dragon, 2nd type, Second Class, Third Grade neck badge, 48mm, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, with engraved red coral centre stone and smooth red coral upper stone, lacking suspension loop, nearly very fine £600-£800
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Second Empire, Medaille Militaire, silver, gilt, and enamel, with Eagle suspension, nearly very fine France, Third Republic, Medaille Militaire, silver, gilt, and enamel, with Trophy of Arms suspension, very fine France, Fourth Republic, Medaille Militaire (2), silver, gilt, and enamel, with Trophy of Arms suspension; Korea Medal, bronze; U.N. Korea Medal, French issue; Indochine Medal, bronze, 2 clasps, Indochine, Die Bien Phu, nearly very fine and better (7) £100-£140
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Legion of Honour, Commander’s neck badge, 82mm including wreath suspension x 62mm, silver-gilt and enamel, unmarked, with neck riband, in embossed case of issue, minor enamel damage in parts, generally very fine £80-£120
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Legion of Honour (3), Officer’s breast badge, 56mm including wreath suspension x 42mm, silver-gilt and enamel; Chevalier’s breast badge (2), 56mm including wreath suspension x 42mm, silver, gilt, and enamel, all with poincon marks to base of tassel, last in Lemoine Fils, Paris, embossed case of issue; the first two with enamel damage to central medallions, and centre loose on second, therefore good fine; the last good very fine (3) £120-£160
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Order of Maritime Merit, Commander’s neck badge, 57mm, silver, silver-gilt, and enamel, unmarked, with neck riband, very fine £80-£120
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Order of Maritime Merit (2), Officer’s breast badge, 42mm, silver-gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband; Knight’s breast badge, 42mm, silver and enamel, both unmarked, damage to tips of points of star on both, therefore nearly very fine (2) £70-£90
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Order of Agricultural Merit, Commander’s neck badge, 95mm including wreath suspension x 50mm, silver-gilt and enamel, unmarked, with neck riband, minor white enamel damage to tips of two points of star, very fine £60-£80
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Order of Agricultural Merit (3), Officer’s breast badge (2), 62mm including wreath suspension x 36mm, silver-gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband; another, similar but lacking wreath suspension, with rosette on riband; Knight’s breast badge, 62mm including wreath suspension x 36mm, silver and enamel, all unmarked, blue enamel damage to band around central medallions on first and last, and white enamel damage to tips of some points on all, generally nearly very fine (3) £70-£90
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Order of Agricultural Merit, Officer’s breast badge, 60mm including wreath suspension x 37mm, silver-gilt and enamel; Croix de Guerre, bronze (3), reverse dated 1914-1916; reverse dated 1914-1918 (2), both of the latter with bronze star emblems on riband; Croix de Guerre des Theatres Operations Exterieures, bronze; Cross for Military Valour, bronze, with bronze star emblem on riband; Croix du Combattant, bronze; Medal of Honour of Civil Merit, bronze; Wound Medal, gilt and red enamel; Aeronautical Medal 1945, gilt and enamel, in case of issue; together with an unofficial colonial award for Service in North Africa, modelled on the Order of Saharan Merit, silver and enamel, with ‘blue hand’ of the Order of Djebel suspension, generally very fine (11) £100-£140
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Order of Public Health (2), Officer’s breast badge, 40mm, silver-gilt and enamel, with rosette on riband; Knight’s breast badge, 40mm, silver and enamel, both unmarked, both with blue enamel damage to motto around central medallion and to tips of points of star, nearly very fine (2) £60-£80
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Medal of Honour for Acts of Devotion, Ministry of the Interior, silver, reverse embossed ‘Riout Pierre M.A. 1876’; Medal of Honour for Merchant Marine, silver, reverse officially named ‘J. Couvelard 1937’; Medal of Honour for Social Service (2), silver-gilt, with rosette on riband, naming erased from reverse; another, silver, reverse officially named ‘G. F. Thevénin 1925’; Medal of Honour for Trade an Industry, silver, reverse officially named ‘J. Perret 1898’; Medal of Honour for Industry, silver, unnamed, in card box of issue; Medal of Honour for Commerce and Industry, silver, reverse officially named ‘J. Renaud 1908’; Medal of Honour for Social Insurance, bronze, unnamed; Medal of Honour for Police Service (2), silver, one unnamed, the reverse of the other officially named ‘Pasqualin Ange’, both with wreath suspension, very fine (10) £180-£220
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Colonial Medal (10), silver and silvered base metal, with collectively 12 clasps, Afrique, Extreme-Orient (2), Fezzan, Indochine, Libye, Maroc (2), Maroc 1925, Tonkin (2), Tunisie, generally very fine (10) £80-£120
In order to view full details and any additional images for this lot as well as place advanced bids or bid live, please click here to view this lot on the auctioneer's websiteFrance, Third Republic, Commemorative Medal for the Great War 1914-18, bronze (6); Verdun Medal 1916, ‘Prudhomme’ issue, bronze; Dardanelles Campaign Medal, bronze; Orient Medal, bronze (3); Victory Medal 1914-19, bronze (3), officially issue, by Morlon; unofficial issue by Pautot-Mattei; unofficial issue by Charles; Lebanon Medal 1926, bronze; Medal of the Society for the Relief of the Military Wounded 1864-1866, silver, with original embroidered riband; Union Nationale des Combattants Medal, bronze, generally very fine (17) £80-£120
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