A Collection of Gallantry Awards to the Lincolnshire Regiment 160


A post-War O.B.E group of seven awarded to Lieutenant-Colonel D. R. Wilson, who commanded the 1st Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment shortly after D-Day, being wounded twice in North West Europe in 1944, and going on to command the 2nd Battalion in Palestine, 1945-1947 and the 1st Battalion again in the Canal Zone, Egypt 1951, where he survived a bomb attack on his car


The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 2nd type breast badge, silver-gilt, gilding almost all completed rubbed; 1939-45 Star; France and Germany Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; General Service 1918-62, 1 clasp, Palestine 1945-48 (Lt. Col. D. R. Wilson. R. Lincolns.); Coronation 1953, mounted as worn together with the related miniature awards, good very fine (7)


£400-£500 O.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1957.


Douglas Richard Wilson was born in 1912, into a family closely associated with the Lincolnshire Regiment, his father, Lieutenant- Colonel R. H. G. Wilson, having commanded the 1st Battalion during the Great War and afterwards in Ireland. Commissioned into the regiment as Second Lieutenant in 1932, he was advanced to Lieutenant in 1939 and Captain in 1941. He served during the Second World War in North West Europe post D-Day, and was injured on 12 June 1944 while serving as Temporary Major with the 2nd Battalion, and again on 7 August 1944 holding the rank of Acting Lieutenant-Colonel.


Wilson later served in Palestine, where he commanded the 2nd Battalion, Royal Lincolnshire Regiment from November 1945 to May 1947, and subsequently commanded the 1st Battalion in the Canal Zone, Egypt, where he was reported to have survived a bomb attack on his car, with the incident taking place in December 1951 on the outskirts of Ismailia. He retired with the rank of Honorary Brigadier in 1960.


Sold with the Bestowal Document for the O.B.E., dated 1 January 1957, in envelope addressed to ‘Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas R. Wilson, O.B.E., The White Cottage, Wylye, Wiltshire; named Buckingham Palace certificate for the Coronation Medal 1953; Letter from the War Office, dated 5 April 1960, passing on The Queen’s thanks for long and valuable service; and two mounted photographs, dated 5 May 1956, of the ‘World War I’ and ‘World War II’ Veterans of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps.


Note: A contingent of Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps men was attached, as an extra Company, to the Lincolnshire Regiment in the Great War, the association being made official between the wars and a contingent of the B.V.R.C. again served, re-badged, with the Lincolns (mostly 2nd Battalion) in the Second World War. Individuals in these photos would therefore have served under both Wilson and his father.


161


An inter-War M.B.E. group of three awarded to Captain J. V. J. Merchant, Lincolnshire Regiment, who served for over 27 years with the Regiment


The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, M.B.E. (Civil) Member’s 1st type breast badge, silver, hallmarks for London 1919; British War and Victory Medals (Capt J. V. J. Merchant.) very fine or better (3)


£140-£180


M.B.E. London Gazette 30 March 1920: ‘Captain John Victor Jabez Merchant. Honorary County Secretary, Lincolnshire Branch, British Red Cross Society.’


John Victor Jabez Merchant was born in Cirencester in 1864, the son of David and Hester Merchant. He attested for the Lincolnshire Regiment on 25 June 1883 aged 18 years and was advanced through the ranks to Colour Sergeant by 1890. After the outbreak of the South African War he became Sergeant Instructor for the newly formed 2nd Volunteer Battalion and served in South Africa with them from 21 March 1901 to 25 June 1902 receiving his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in July 1902 and the Queen’s South Africa Medal with 3 clasps. He continued serving in the regular forces until 1908 after which he was discharged from the 4th Battalion, his conduct and character with the colours having been ‘exemplary, no offence in whole service of 25 Years and 98 days’. He then served a further 4 years with the Territorials and took on the role of County Secretary to the British Red Cross Volunteers.


On 19 January 1916 Merchant was commissioned Second Lieutenant and instantly promoted Temporary Captain in the 5th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment (Territorial Force). His medal index card also records prior service with the Durham Light Infantry. Notably, his son, Francis Victor Merchant, was awarded the M.C. and D.C.M. while serving with the Royal Engineers in the Great War. Merchant retired from the Army in 1920 with the rank of Captain, resumed his work for the Red Cross and was awarded the M.B.E. and British Red Cross War Medal in 1920. He died in Skegness in 1932.


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