The Barry Hobbs Collection of Great War Medals 119


Pair: Major W. St. John-Spencer, 9th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, late Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry, a veteran of the North-West Frontier and the Boer War he was wounded eight times and invalided out of the Army in 1916


British War and Victory Medals (Major W. St. John-Spencer.) good very fine (2) £140-£180


William St. John-Spencer was born in 1876 and served during the Boer War in South Africa as a Lieutenant in Thorneycroft’s Mounted infantry (Q.S.A. with 3 clasps and K.S.A. with 2 clasps). With the onset of the Great War in 1914 he was a Lieutenant on the Territorial Force General List (Poplar Battalion, National Reserve) and he was appointed Temporary Captain in the 12th (Bermondsey) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment on 12 July 1915.


St. John-Spencer served during the Great War on the Western Front in the rank of Temporary Major as second in command of the 9th (Service) Battalion, East Surrey Regiment from 28 August 1916, and was invalided to England on 18 November 1916. Admitted to Mill Bank Hospital, London with a head wound on 21 November 1916, he was discharged 1 month later with permanent injuries.


Following his death in 1937, a number of newspaper articles and obituaries stated that Major St. John-Spencer had been aide-de-camp to H.M. King George VI when he was Duke of York and that he had been wounded eight times in all throughout his service in the Boer War, the Great War and on the North-West Frontier of India.


120 Four: Sergeant W. F. Jones, East Surrey Regiment


British War and Victory Medals (200060 Sjt. W. F. Jones E. Surr. R.); Territorial Force War Medal 1914-19 (864 Pte. W. F. Jones. E. Surr. R.); Territorial Efficiency Medal, G.V.R. (200060 Sjt. W. F. Jones 5-E. Surr. R.) light contact marks, nearly very fine (4)


£200-£240


William Frank Jones was awarded the Territorial Efficiency Medal per Army Order 51 in February 1922. Sold with the recipient’s two metallic identity tags.


121


Three: Private J. C. Adams, 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, who was killed in action at the First Battle of the Aisne on 14 September 1914


1914 Star, with clasp (7347 Pte. J. Adams. 1/D. of Corn: L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (7347 Pte. J. C. Adams. D. of Corn. L.I.); Memorial Plaque (Joseph Adams) nearly extremely fine (4)


£240-£280


Joseph Charles Adams was born in 1883 at Homerton, Middlesex. He attested for the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry on 20 April 1903 and served with 1st Battalion during the Great War from 20 August 1914. He was killed in action at the Battle of the Aisne on 14 September 1914, aged 31 years. He was the husband of Edith Maud Adams, 19, ‘P’ Block, Peabody Buildings, Stamford Street, Blackfriars, London and is buried in Vauxbuin French National Cemetery, France. His headstone bears the inscription, ‘In loving memory of my dear husband from wife and son’.


122


Three: Private T. Letten, 1st Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, who was killed in the attack on the Chivres Spur, during operations on the Aisne, on 14 September 1914


1914 Star, with clasp (7798 Pte. T. Letten. 1/D. of Corn: L.I.); British War and Victory Medals (7798 Pte. T. Letten. D. of Corn. L.I.) nearly extremely fine (3)


£200-£240


Thomas Letten was born in 1886 at Butts Green, Hornchurch, Essex. He attested for the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry at Romford in 1903 and served with the 1st Battalion during the Great War from 20 August 1914. Following their retreat from Mons, his battalion began advancing toward the Aisne on 6 September, crossing the river a week later, north of Chacrise. On 14 September, the 1st D.C.L. I. took part in the attack on the German positions on the Chivres heights but heavy machine-gun and rifle fire forced their withdrawal to Missy. 151 officers and men of the battalion were killed or wounded on this date. Private Letten was among the dead.


Private Letten was the husband of Elizabeth Emily Letten and, having no known grave, is commemorated on the La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial, France.


123


Four: Private W. Kirk, 2nd Battalion, Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding Regiment), who was killed in action near Veldhoek Chateau during the First Battle of Ypres on 11 November 1914


Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 3 clasps, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (6411 Pte. W. Kirk. W. Riding Regt.); 1914 Star, with clasp (6411 Pte. W. Kirk. 2/W. Rid: R.); British War and Victory Medals (6411 Pte. W. Kirk. W. Rid. R.) first with slight edge bruising, good very fine and better (4)


£260-£300


William Kirk was born in 1877 at Lincoln, and resided in Undercliffe, Yorkshire. He attested for the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment at Bradford, Yorkshire in June 1900 and served with the 1st Battalion in South Africa during the Boer War from 31 May 1901 to 27 March 1902 (QSA with 3 clasps). This was followed by 4 years in India with the 2nd Battalion and, having extended his terms of service in 1904 to complete 8 years with the colours, he was transferred to the reserve in 1908.


Mobilized from the reserve at Halifax on 5 August 1914 following the outbreak of war, he served with the 2nd Battalion on the Western Front from 11 September 1914. The 2nd West Riding saw action in the attack on Violaines (22 October 1914) during the Battle of La Bassée, and then moved through Ypres on 5 November. They were next engaged in a fierce attack near Hermitage Chateau to regain lost trenches before moving to new positions at the Veldoek Chateau on 10 November - the woods of these two old estates being separated by the Ypres-Menin Road.


The enemy then attacked in force the following morning at about 8 am; Major E. G. Harrison kept a diary which noted: ‘Exceptionally heavy shelling started 7 a.m., practically all shrapnel, covering the whole position from the firing line to the reserves, continuing the bombardment till 8 a.m., when it abated. At this time a message came to me by an orderly from Lieut. R. O. D. Carey, saying, “Am very hard pressed but will hang on as long as possible.” I then advanced with the remainder of my force. We found the Germans had advanced past the Veldoek Chateau, but we managed to repulse them, gaining back the ground, being nearly as far as our old firing line, which Lieut. R. O. D. Carey with D Company had been driven out of. We could have actually regained these trenches if the troops on the right and left of us had been up.’


The battalion had suffered casualties between 5 and 15 November of 7 officers and approximately 380 other ranks with Private Kirk being among those killed in action. Having no known grave, he is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.


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