Miscellaneous 776
The 88th Foot Order of Merit for 10 actions awarded to Private Robert McGrath, who was slightly wounded in the left arm at Vittoria
88th Foot Order of Merit 1818, 2nd class medal, 38mm, silver, the obverse featuring Hibernia seated with harp, holding forth a wreath of laurel, the reverse with 88th above and inscribed with 10 battle honours for Orthes, Badajoz, Vittoria, Salamanca, Fuentes D’Onor, Ciudad Rodrigo, Pyrenees, Toulouse Nivelle, Nive, the edge named ‘Robert McGrath’ either side of suspension clasp, this re-fixed, with silver bar suspension inscribed ‘Peninsula’, minor test cut to edge, nearly very fine
£1,200-£1,600
Robert McGrath was born in Ballymote, co. Sligo, on 16 December 1791, and attested of the 88th Foot at Sligo town on his 17th Birthday. Posted to No. 8 Company, 1st Battalion, he joined the Regiment in the Peninsula, where it was part of General Picton’s 3rd Division, and served with them throughout the Peninsula campaign. He was slightly wounded in the left arm at the Battle of Vittoria, 21 June 1813, when the 88th Foot were involved in some of the heaviest fighting, taking part in a series of bayonet charges, and suffering 210 casualties as a result.
McGrath was still with the 88th Foot when it was sent to Canada in June 1814. Recalled to Europe after Napoleon escaped from Elba, they arrived back too late for the Waterloo campaign, but subsequently formed part of the army of occupation, before finally returning to Ireland. He was discharged on 24 November 1818 on the reduction of the Regiment, with his conduct listed as ‘good’.
In 1833 McGrath is noted as being employed as a Weaver; there is no further trace of him and no claim was made for the Military General Service Medal.
777
7th Foot Medal, by Phillips, 39mm, white metal, the obverse featuring Pallas and Victory crowning an aged, seated veteran with a wreath of laurel, in exergue, ‘Order of Merit estab. MDCCLXXXVIII’; the reverse featuring a rose encircled by a garter in splendour, with crown above, ‘Military Virtue Rewarded’, in exergue, ‘VII Regt. or Royal Fusiliers’, unnamed, with claw and small ring suspension, very fine
£50-£70 Referenced in Balmer R188c. 778 Memorial Plaque (2) (James Clements Barber; William Charles Haddock), good very fine (2) £80-£120
James Clements Barber, who was born in London, died at home, aged 51, on 21 March 1916, while serving with the 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters). He was buried at Hampstead Cemetery.
No William Charles Haddock has been traced in Soldiers Died in the Great War or in the C.W.G.C. records; but William Funston Haddock, son of W. C. Haddock, a clerk of Coutts and Co. bank (formerly of the Income Tax Department), was killed in action when the 1st Battalion Civil Service Rifles went 'went over the top at 6 a.m. the following morning at High Wood, after which engagement he was listed as "missing" and subsequently reported as "presumed killed" (The War Record of Coutts and Co., refers).
779
Memorial Plaque (2) (John James Heward; Walter Wilson Knight), the first polished, the second heavily scratched on reverse, very fine (2)
£70-£90
John James Heward, who was born in Ripley, Yorkshire was killed in action on the Western Front on 10 June 1917, while serving with the 11th Battalion, Prince of Wales’s Own West Yorkshire Regiment, and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
Walter Wilson Knight died on 15 February 1919, while serving with the Central Works Directorate, Tank Corps, and was buried at Hove Old Cemetery.
780
Memorial Plaque (2) (George Frederick Briars; Harold Stevens), the first polished and remnants of glue and verdigris on reverse, traces of verdigris on second, very fine (2)
£70-£90
George Frederick Briars, who lived in Purley, Surrey, was killed in action on 26 July 1917, while serving with the 18th Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers.
There are several men with the name ‘Harold Stevens’ on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Roll of Honour.
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