The Barry Hobbs Collection of Great War Medals 152
Three: Private A. J. Payne, 1st Battalion, Princess Charlotte of Wales’s (Royal Berkshire Regiment), who was killed in action near Zonnebeke during the First Battle of Ypres on 26 October 1914
1914 Star (7378 Pte. A. J. Payne. 1/R. Berks: R.); British War and Victory Medals (7378 Pte. A. J. Payne. R. Berks. R.) contact marks, nearly very fine (3)
£200-£240
Albert James Payne was born at Compton, Berkshire, and attested for the Royal Berkshire Regiment at Reading in September 1903. He served with the 1st Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 12 September 1914 and was killed in action on 26 October 1914. On this date, his battalion were in support of an attack by the 1st King’s Liverpool Regiment to clear the remaining Germans from Molenaarenshoek, 1 mile south-east of Zonnebeke, after which they continued their advance up the Becelaere Road.
He was the son of David and Martha Payne and, having no known grave, is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.
153
Pair: Private H. W. Bradley, 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), who was killed in action at Wasmes during the retreat from Mons on 24 August 1914
1914 Star (L-8123 Pte. H. W. Bradley. 1/R. W. Kent R.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (L-8123 Pte. W. H. Bradley. R. W. Kent. R.) good very fine (2)
£140-£180
Henry William Bradley (later known as William Henry) was born in 1886 at Stone, near Dartford, Kent and attested for the Royal West Kent Regiment at Maidstone on 8 September 1905. He served with the 1st Battalion as part of the 13th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division, II Corps during the Great War on the Western Front from 15 August 1914 and was killed in action during the retreat from Mons on 24 August 1914.
On 24 August at 2:00 a.m., II Corps were ordered to retreat into France to a defensible position along the Valenciennes to Maubege road, fighting a number of sharp rearguard actions against the pursuing Germans as they did so. At Wasmes, units of the 5th Division came under a heavy assault from German Artillery which began bombarding the village at dawn, followed a few hours later by an infantry assault by German III Corps who advanced in columns and were ‘mown down like grass’ by British rifle and machine gun fire. Soldiers of the 1st West Kents, 2nd King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 2nd Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, and 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment held off repeated German assaults on the village, and then, despite taking heavy casualties, retreated in good order to St. Vaast at midday.
154
Three: Private F. Slack, 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), who was killed in action at Wasmes during the Retreat from Mons on 24 August 1914
1914 Star (L-7415 Pte. F. Slack. 1/R. W. Kent R.); British War and Victory Medals (L-7415 Pte. F. Slack. R. W. Kent R.); Memorial Plaque (Frederick Slack) very fine (4)
£240-£280
Frederick Slack was born in 1886 at Nottingham and attested for the Royal West Kent Regiment at Maidstone, Kent in 1904. He served with the 1st Battalion as part of the 13th Infantry Brigade, 5th Division, II Corps during the Great War on the Western Front from 15 August 1914 and was killed in action at Wasmes during the retreat from Mons on 24 August 1914.
Prior to this, the 1st Royal West Kents had engaged the enemy at Mons on 23 August. A German Grenadier present that day with the 1st Battalion, 12th Brandenburg Regiment wrote of his encounter with the Slack’s Battalion, south of Tertre, outside Mons: ‘The Brandenburgers deployed and advanced by rushes, fired at by an always invisible foe and losing men every time they rise... the enemy seems to have waited for the moment of a general assault. He has artfully enticed us to close range in order to deal with us more surely and thoroughly. A hellish fire broke loose and in thick swathes the deadly leaden fire was pumped on our heads, breasts and knees. Wherever I looked, to the right and left, nothing but dead, and blood-streaming, sobbing, writhing wounded.’ (The Advance from Mons by Walter Bloem)
The enemy continued to advance however, shelling the 1st Royal West Kents from close range necessitating the order to retire to be given at 7pm. Later that night at 2am, II Corps were ordered to retreat into France to a defensible position along the Valenciennes to Maubege road, fighting a number of sharp rearguard actions against the pursuing Germans as they did so. At Wasmes, units of the 5th Division came under a heavy assault from German Artillery which began bombarding the village at dawn, followed a few hours later by an infantry assault by German III Corps who advanced in columns and were ‘mown down like grass’ by British rifle and machine gun fire. Soldiers of the 1st West Kents, 2nd King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, 2nd Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, and 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment held off repeated German assaults on the village, and then, despite taking heavy casualties, retreated in good order to St. Vaast at midday.
Private Slack was the husband of Jessie E. Gallant, (formerly Slack) of 19 Banstead St., Nunhead, London and, having no known grave, is commemorated on the La Ferte-sous-Jouarre Memorial, France.
155 Family group:
Three: Private C. G. Lovell, 1st Battalion, Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), who was wounded and taken prisoner of war at Mons in August 1914 1914 Star, with clasp (L-7139 Pte. C. G. Lovell. 1/R. W. Kent R.); British War and Victory Medals (L-7139 Pte. C. G. Lovell. R. W. Kent. R.) nearly extremely fine
Three: Private A. W. Lovell, 1/5th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) (Territorial Force), who was killed in action at Kut-al-Amara on 13 January 1916 1914-15 Star (1391 Pte. A. W. Lovell. E. Kent R.); British War and Victory Medals (1391 Pte. A. W. Lovell. E. Kent R.); Memorial Plaque (Augustus William Lovell) nearly extremely fine (7)
£300-£400
Charles George Lovell was born in 1886 at Goudhurst, Kent, the son of Albert and Caroline of Clay Hill Mount Goudhurst, Kent and attested for the Royal West Kent Regiment in 1902 or 1903. Following the outbreak of the Great War he sailed for France with the 1st Battalion on 14 August 1914 and fought at Mons where he was wounded and taken prisoner of war. He was still in Germany on 26 February 1916 according to a report in the Maidstone Telegraph of that date.
Augustus William Lovell, younger brother of the above, was born in 1892 at Goudhurst, Kent and attested for the 1/5th Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment) in October 1914. He sailed with the battalion for India in November 1914 and continued to serve with them in the Mesopotamia Theatre from 9 December 1915. A good stringed instrumentalist, he had for many years been a member of the Goudhurst Village Band, and while stationed in India played the Euphonium in the regimental band. He was killed in action on 13 January 1916 near Kut al Amara during the attempted relief of the besieged British forces, and is buried in the Amara War Cemetery.
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