A Collection of Medals to the South Wales Borderers 967
Pair: Private G. Rugen, 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers, who was killed in action in during the Battle of the Lys on 11 April 1918, a day when the battalion lost three-quarters of its men British War and Victory Medals (46448 Pte. G. Rugen. S. Wales Bord.) good very fine
Pair: Lance Corporal W. E. M. Davies, 10th (1st Gwent) Battalion, South Wales Borderers, who died of wounds received on the Western Front on 2 July 1918
British War and Victory Medals (44146 Pte. W. E. M. Davies. S. Wales Bord.) good very fine (4) £100-£140
George Rugen was born in Liverpool in 1899, and attested for the South Wales Borderers. He served with the 2nd Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front, and was killed in action on 11 April 1918 during the Battle of the Lys, an action which the regimental history describes in some detail: ‘The fight which the Twenty-Ninth Division put up on April 11th was well worthy of its record. Over-matched and out-flanked, it held on long enough to give time for other units to come up and take post on a more defensible line in rear, the Thirty-First Division on its left rear near Vieux Berquin and Merris, the Fifth further to the right and nearer Merville. In this stand the 2nd S.W.B played their full share. It was difficult in that enclosed country to cover much ground to the flank, and after nearly two hours of fighting the enemy, taking advantage of the cover of the hedges, managed to work round the battalion’s left and roll it up. Captain Bennett and his men were rushed from behind, while successfully keeping the enemy in their front at bay. Battalion Headquarters, taken in flank and rear by the German advance, put up a desperate fight, Major Somerville and his men being last seen defending a trench with the enemy right round their flank on top of them. Their resistance enabled a substantial portion of B and C Companies on the right to get away, though their casualties were heavy and it was only in small and disorganised parties that they extricated themselves… All that could be collected of the 2nd S.W.B., barely 150 men with three officers, of whom Captain W. Davies was the senior, being placed on its left about la Ferme Prince. Three-quarters of the battalion were gone, but the time its resistance had gained was invaluable.’ (The History of the South Wales Borderers 1914-18 by C. T. Atkinson refers).
Rugen has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial, Belgium.
William Evan Morgan Davies was born in Newport, Monmouthshire, in 1894 and attested for the South Wales Borderers. He served with the 10th Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front, and died of wounds on 2 July 1918. He is buried in Varennes Military Cemetery, France.
Sold with copied Medal Index Card and other research.
968
Pair: Acting Sergeant E. Harrison, 12th (3rd Gwent) and 1st Battalions, South Wales Borderers British War and Victory Medals (34214 Pte. E. Harrison. S. Wales Bord.); together with a Royal Order of the Antideluvian Buffaloes badge, bronze and enamel, unnamed, good very fine
Pair: Corporal R. S. C. Hill, 12th (3rd Gwent) and 2nd Battalions, attached 9th Entrenching Battalion, South Wales Borderers British War and Victory Medals (28526 Cpl. R. S. C. Hill. S. Wales Bord.), with torn outer envelope of issue, addressed to ‘Mr. H. C. Hill, “Belgaum”, Castle Road, Ke...’, mounted as worn, edge bruising, very fine
Pair: Private E. Jones, 8th Battalion, South Wales Borderers and Labour Corps British War and Victory Medals (15895 Pte. E. Jones. S. Wales Bord.) with lid of named card box of issue, good very fine (7)
£60-£80
Ernest Jones attested for the South Wales Borderers and served with the 8th Battalion during the Great War from their first arrival on the Western Front on 5 September 1915 (entitled to the 1914-15 Star). He later transferred to the Labour Corps and was discharged to the reserve on 4 March 1919.
Sold with copied Medal Index Cards and other research.
969
One: Private W. H. Jones, 1st Battalion, South Wales Borderers, who was killed in action at Langemarck on 21 October 1914
1914 Star, with copy clasp (8946 Pte. W. H. Jones. S. Wales Bord.); Memorial Plaque (William Henry Jones) good very fine (2)
£200-£240
William Henry Jones was born in Swansea and attested there for the South Wales Borderers in 1905. He served with the 1st Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 13 August 1914, and was killed in action on 21 October 1914 when his Battalion, as part of the advanced-guard of the 1st Division, was ordered to clear Elverdinghe, and advance on Poelcappelle, passing through Langemarck. The attack made good progress under heavy shell-fire but casualties began to mount up and under a series of formidable German counter attacks the battalion suffered further losses before consolidating the gained ground near Langemarck. The 1st Battalion lost 2 Officers and 19 other ranks known to be killed, but 65 other ranks were reported missing and 1 Officer and 62 other ranks were wounded.
Jones has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium. Sold with copied Medal Index Card and other research.
970
1914 Star, with copy clasp (6747 Pte. H. Crook. S. Wales Bord.) good very fine
£100-£140
Harry Crook was born in Battersea in 1880 and attested for the South Wales Borderers on 12 May 1900. He served with the 2nd Battalion in South Africa during the Boer War, and received the Queen’s South Africa Medal with clasps for Belmont, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902.
He served with the 1st Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 27 August 1914, and was wounded in action. Returning to England he died, aged 35, at the Royal Victoria Military Hospital, Netley, on 27 September 1914. and is buried in Netley Cemetery, Hampshire.
Sold with copied Medal Index Card and other research including War Diary pages for September 1914.
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