Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry
Major Woodman was present at all the actions up to May 2nd, 1915, when he suffered from the infamous German gas attack. In consequence of this he was sent to England, and for a short time commanded a detachment of the 3rd Battalion at Withernsea.
He was subsequently appointed second in command of the 12th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers, and with this Battalion he met his death in France between the 25th and 27th September, 1915. A soldier of studious habits, he found pleasure in the study of languages. He was thorough in all that he undertook. Reserved in manner, it was the reserve that comes to one who has felt the bitterness of disappointment in some of the tenderest relationships of life. With those under him he was strict and not very genial, and yet they were devoted to him, with an absolute confidence.
During the winter of 1914-15 he was selected to take temporary command of the Monmouths, and in the short time he was there he impressed all ranks with his qualities as a commanding officer.’ (The Lancashire Fusiliers Annual for 1915 refers)
Woodman was promoted to Major on 1 September 1915 and was killed in action in the battle of Loos on 26 September 1915. The Officer Commanding the 12th Northumberland Fusiliers wrote: ‘Major Woodman was with us through the bad time the battalion had on Saturday, 25 September, and after orders were received to take the German trenches by assault on the morning of Sunday, 26 September, he came up the hill with us and encouraged the men in the charge. The men could not run up the hill without a rest to get their breath again, and it was then that Major Woodman sat up and put up his field glasses to look at the enemy’s position. He was immediately shot through the heart, and fell over on his side. He was a brave and gallant officer, and you have the satisfaction of knowing that he died at the head of the battalion, facing the foe. We suffered very badly; only seven of our officers remained with the battalion after the charge, and of these only two were unhit. We all deplore Major Woodman’s loss, as he was a man of very wide experience, and was of the greatest help to us. One of the last things he did was to tell my servant to get back down the hill, as the boy had been wounded in the wrist, but still was going on.’
Sold with the following original documents: M.I.D. certificates dated 8 October 1914 and 14 January 1915 (F.M. Sir John French’s despatches of those dates); another related M.I.D. certificate for ‘Lieut. C. E. T. Woodman, 20th Hussars’, dated 7 November 1917 (F. M. Haig); Royal Warrant for the D.S.O., dated 28 November 1914, and signed by Kitchener, together with a copy of the Statutes and War Office enclosure letter, and various registered envelopes addressed to his next of kin; and Memorial Scroll (Major James E. S. Woodman, D.S.O. 2nd Lan. Fus. attd. 12 Northumberland Fusiliers) in its card tube addressed to his next of kin.
34
A Great War O.B.E. group of eight awarded to Captain G. A. C. Ward, Royal Navy, latterly Captain in charge Naval Base, Poole, 1915-19
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, the reverse hallmarked London 1917; Egypt and Sudan 1882-89, undated reverse, no clasp, unnamed, not erased; China 1900, no clasp (Lieut. G. A. C. Ward, R.N., H.M.S. Dido.); 1914-15 Star (Commr. G. A. C. Ward. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Commr. G. A. C. Ward. R.N.); Khedive’s Star 1882, unnamed; Japan, Empire, Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd Class neck badge, silver, gilt and enamels, complete with neck cravat and usual fitments, damage to several red ‘jewels’ on the last, otherwise about extremely fine (8)
£400-£500
O.B.E. London Gazette 3 June 1918. Order of the Sacred Treasure, 3rd Class London Gazette 11 August 1919.
George Augustus Crosbie Ward was born at Monkstown, Dublin, on 14 August 1865, son of The Hon. Somerset Richard Hamilton Augustus Ward, J.P., Captain, 72nd Highlanders. He joined the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet on 15 January 1879, and was promoted to Midshipman on 22 January 1882. He was Midshipman of Achilles during the war in Egypt in 1882. Promoted to Sub-Lieutenant in April 1886, and to Lieutenant in June 1889, he served aboard H.M.S. Dido during the war in China in 1900, and was promoted to Commander on 31 December 1901. During the Great War he was Captain in charge Naval Base, Poole, from August 1915 to January 1919. Commander G. A. C. Ward died on 6 April 1920, at Manchester Square, London.
35
A Great War Dental Surgeon’s O.B.E. group of three awarded to Surgeon-Lieutenant J. G. A. Fairbank, Royal Navy
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, hallmarked London 1919; British War and Victory Medals (Surg. Lt. J. G. A. Fairbank. R.N.); mounted as worn together with British Red Cross Society medal for war service 1914-1918, and related mounted group of four miniatures, extremely fine (8)
£300-£360
O.B.E. (Military) London Gazette 19 August 1919: ‘For valuable services in H.M.S. Bacchante and at the R.N.B. Chatham. This officer entered the R.N. on 24 November 1916, and served in H.M.S. Bacchante and at the R.N.B. Chatham as Inspecting Medical Officer for Dentistry. He is a very able Officer and has effected many improvements in the War in dentistry.’
John Gerald Atkinson Fairbank qualified M.B. St Barts. 1903; Royal Dental Hospital 1905; Temporary Surgeon-Lieutenant R.N., 24 November 1916, serving at R.N.H. Plymouth, and in H.M. Ships Bacchante (1917) and Pembroke (1917-18). In total 88 Dental Surgeons saw service during the course of the war, five of these receiving the O.B.E. in recognition of their services and four being mentioned in despatches.
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