GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY 1704
A good Great War M.C., M.M. group of five awarded to Lieutenant J. R. Wilson, East Surrey Regiment
MILITARY CROSS, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; MILITARY MEDAL, G.V.R. (10668 L. Sjt. J. Wilson, 7/E. Surr. R.); 1914 STAR (L -10668 Pte. J. Wilson, 1/E. Surr. R.); BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS (2 Lieut. J. Wilson), the first in its case of issue and the remainder mounted as worn, contact marks, thus nearly very fine (5)
£1200-1500 M.C. London Gazette 7 November 1918:
‘For conspicuous gallantry in action. Notwithstanding a thick mist this officer lead his company on to the line of consolidation and held his position in spite of intense machine-gun fire from the front and flanks. Later on he led his company with great courage, overcoming the determined resistance of the enemy and successfully reaching his objective. He set a splendid example to his men throughout the operations.’
M.M. London Gazette 21 September 1916.
James Ralph Wilson, who was born in August 1896, enlisted in the East Surrey Regiment at Kingston-on-Thames in June 1913 and was studying for his 1st Class Army Certificate of Education on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914. Embarked for France with the 1st Battalion in the same month, he was wounded by a bullet in the back in early October and evacuated home.
Returning to active service in France as a Lance-Sergeant in the 7th Battalion in March 1916, he was probably awarded the M.M. for gallantry on the Somme, where his unit carried out a successful attack south-west of Ovillers on 8 July. And he was later recommended for a commission by the Brigadier-General commanding 37th Infantry Brigade.
Duly appointed a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion in June 1917, he returned to active service and was awarded his M.C. in respect of his gallantry west of Bapaume on 21-23 August 1918. Having then gained advancement to Lieutenant in December 1918, Wilson was placed on the Reserve of Officers in July 1919.
He died at Matlock Sanatorium, Derbyshire, in April 1925, and his widow, Cissie, was awarded a War Office pension of £120 per annum, and their first born child, Cynthia, an annual allowance of £36. Tragically, however, Cissie died in December 1926, at which point the children’s appointed guardian, Stephen Hewitt, late Corporal, Gordons and Surrey’s, applied for a further annual allowance for the second child, though the outcome of his application remains unknown.
1705
A Great War M.C. group of four awarded to Major V. F. Stapleton-Bretherton, Royal Engineers
MILITARY CROSS, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; 1914-15 STAR (Lieut. V. F. Stapleton-Bretherton, R.E.); BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS, M.I.D. oak leaf (Major V. F. Stapleton-Bretherton), mounted as worn, contact marks, otherwise generally very fine (4)
£700-900 M.C. London Gazette 7 January 1918: ‘For valuable services in connection with military operations in the Field.’
Vincent Francis Stapleton-Bretherton was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd (The St. Helens) West Lancashire Field Company, R.E. in September 1914 and first entered the French theatre of war in early January 1915. Advanced to Acting Major in December 1917, he was awarded the M.C. and a brace of “mentions” (London Gazettes 4 January and 18 May 1917 refer). After the War, he settled at Rainhill, Lancashire.
1706
A Great War ‘First Day of the Somme’ M.C. group of four awarded to Captain M. R. Anderson, Royal Field Artillery, late Dorset Regiment
MILITARY CROSS, G.V.R., unnamed as issued; 1914-15 STAR (2 Lieut. M. R. Anderson, Dorset R.); BRITISH WAR AND VICTORY MEDALS (Capt. M. R. Anderson), good very fine (4)
£900-1200 M.C. London Gazette 20 October 1916:
‘For conspicuous gallantry during a heavy bombardment. He repeatedly visited his guns and observed fire from exposed positions under heavy fire. On one occasion he located and silenced a machine-gun, which was firing at our attacking troops.’
Matthew Roy Anderson, who first entered the French theatre of war as a subaltern in the Dorsets in December 1915, was attached to a Trench Mortar Battery in the Royal Field Artillery at the time of the above cited deeds on 1 July 1916 (official records refer).
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