Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry


Together with the C.O. (Major Majendie) and Second Lieutenant Antrobus, Captain Ponsonby was one of the 4th Battalion’s three surviving officers following Frezenberg Ridge. His Military Cross was gazetted the following month and The King’s Royal Rifle Corps Chronicle 1916 confirms that it was awarded for Ypres May 1915.


Ponsonby embarked for Salonika with the 4th Battalion in November 1915 and then joining the staff in February 1916, he was appointed G.S.O. 3, 10th Division and then Brigade Major, 78th Brigade in May 1916. He received his second mention for distinguished services rendered with the British Salonika Force during the six month period leading up to 29 March 1917. Returning to field duties, on 18 June 1917 he was attached to and given command of the 10th (Service) Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, which he led as Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel until shortly before the conclusion of hostilities in Salonika in September 1918, receiving the D.S. O. for his distinguished services in that theatre and earning a third mention in despatches for the period 21 September 1917 to 28 February 1918. Returning to his parent regiment, on 11 September 1918, Ponsonby took command of the 3rd Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps fighting, right up until the armistice in the Salonika theatre on 30 September 1918, while the battalion’s ranks were continually thinned greatly by both disease and enemy action. For his services during the Salonika campaign, the King of the Hellenes conferred on him the Greek Military Cross 2nd Class.


Remaining with the 3/K.R.R.C. for a time after the conclusion of the war, Ponsonby saw service in India and then held a succession of staff appointments leading to his promotion to Colonel of the 1st Queen’s Royal Regiment in China from 1928 -1932. His final command was that of the 6th Infantry Brigade from 1935-1939 and the retired Brigadier Ponsonby died in 1953. Something of his character is revealed by this excerpt from his obituary:


‘In sport he showed equally outstanding ability, and no doubt in this he was helped by his Irish ancestry. He was a first class shot with a gun and rifle, a first class fisherman, and during his Mastership of the Peshawar Vale Hunt he showed as good if not better sport than any previous Master who carried the horn. Perhaps most of us will remember him best with a hawk on his hand. His knowledge of falconry was deep and he trained his hawks himself in so much that he would have a row of hawks on the end of his bed - peregrines, shikras, and his pet goshawk - and yet all would sit with their tails outward.’


Sold with copied research including a copy of the May 1915 War Diary of the 4th Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps.


www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 24% (+VAT where applicable)


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227  |  Page 228  |  Page 229  |  Page 230  |  Page 231  |  Page 232  |  Page 233  |  Page 234  |  Page 235  |  Page 236