The Barry Hobbs Collection of Great War Medals 177
The Memorial Plaque to Private D. J. Nicholas, 2/8th (Ardwick) Battalion, Manchester Regiment (Territorial Force), who was killed in action on the Western Front on 20 October 1918
Memorial Plaque (David John Nicholas) nearly extremely fine £80-£120
David John Nicholas, a native of Goodwick, Pembrokeshire, Wales, attested for the Manchester Regiment on 15 January 1916 aged 19 years and was posted to the 2/8th (Ardwick) Battalion (Territorial Force) on 29 August 1916. He served with them during the Great War on the Western Front and later transferred to the 1/10th Battalion (Territorial Force.) He was killed in action serving in France on 20 October 1918, and is buried in Belle Vue British Cemetery, Briastre, France.
Sold together with the recipient’s Soldiers’ Pay Book (cover muddied) with the following interesting hand written message inside the back cover:
‘New Zealand Forces - Finder of this book on the 25 October 1918 No. 2/1621 Dvr. C. E. Hamill, 1st N.Z. D.A.C., France. Perhaps this book may be of some interest to you, so I though I might send it along with a few of the photos that were in another wallet. Hamill’
178
Three: Private H. E. Allcock, 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment, who was killed in action at Radinghem on 18 October 1914 - positively identified 100 years later as one of the ‘Beaucamp Ligny Fifteen’, he was finally laid to rest in 2014 at Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois Grenier
1914 Star, with clasp (6774 Pte. H. E. Allcock. 2/York: & Lanc: R.); British War and Victory Medals (6774 Pte. H. E. Allcock. Y. & L. R.); Memorial Plaque (Herbert Ernest Allcock) in card envelope, extremely fine (4)
£400-£500
Herbert Ernest Allcock was born in 1882 at St. Simon’s, Leeds, the son of Charles and Emma Allcock. He attested for the York and Lancaster Regiment at Pontefract in June 1902 and served eight years with the Colours, three years being spent in India. He rejoined at the outbreak of the Great War and served in France with the 2nd Battalion from 9 September 1914, the battalion initially seeing action during the ‘Race to the Sea’ in October at the Battle of Armentieres. On 18 October 1914, the 2nd Battalion along with the 1st Battalion, Buffs (East Kent Regiment), both of the 16th Infantry Brigade, 6th Division, advanced and took the village of Radinghem in a fast reconnaissance in force before coming under fierce enemy machine gun fire. The two battalions were forced back by an aggressive German counterattack but according to Marden's Short History of the 6th Division, the situation was saved by Major Bayley's company from the Yorks and Lancs, who worked their way around the left flank of the Germans, forcing them to halt their attack. The German regiment opposite was probably the 179th (Saxon) Infantry Regiment of the German Army's 24th Division.
The War Diary of the 2nd York and Lancs tells the story in reasonable detail and a brief personal account from the diary of Sergeant Lewis Sylvester survives in the York and Lancaster Regimental Museum: ‘Radinghem Sunday 18 October. Drove enemy out of positions at bayonet point. Company Casualties 60. Entrenched. Brother wounded by shrapnel.
Monday 19 October. Handed over the position to the Buffs who were very severely handled by the enemy but who kept them back.’
During the engagement on 18 October, the 2nd Yorks and Lancs in fact lost 13 killed, 93 wounded and 27 missing (of whom 21 are believed also to have been killed). 32 of the 34 dead were commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing, the other two being buried in Bois Grenier cemetery. Private Allcock was one of those killed in action whose body was never found. In 2009, multiple human remains were discovered during an excavation near the crossroads between Radinghem and Beaucamps Ligny. After extensive DNA testing, 11 of the 15 bodies, including that of Allcock were positively identified. The 11 identified men were: Private Herbert Allcock, Private John Brameld, Private William Butterworth, Corporal Francis Dyson, Private Walter Ellis, Private John Jarvis, Private Leonard Morley, Private Ernest Oxer, Private John Richmond, Private William Singyard, and Lance-Corporal William Warr
In 2014, all 15 men were finally laid to rest in a ceremony at Y Farm Military Cemetery, Bois-Grenier, France, attended by many proud descendants. The personal inscription on Allcock’s headstone reads, ‘Husband of Ethel, father of Ellen and Winifred, remembered always.’
179
Three: Private W. Adams, 1st Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders (Duke of Albany’s), who died of wounds on 6 November 1914
1914 Star (817 Pte: W. Adams. 1/Sea: Highrs.); British War and Victory Medals (817 Pte. W. Adams. Sea. Highrs.); Memorial Plaque (Walter Adams); Memorial Scroll ‘Pte. Walter Adams, Seaforth Highlanders’, the scroll with a small tear and slightly worn at the edges having previously been mounted, otherwise nearly extremely fine (5)
£260-£300
Walter Adams was born in 1892 at St. Peters, Leicester. A blacksmith by trade, he attested for the Seaforth Highlanders in 1911 and served with the 1st Battalion during the Great War from 12 October 1914. Although delayed by the slow transport vessels and the activities of the German raiders Emden and Konigsberg operating in the Indian Ocean, he arrived in France, direct from India, with the rest of his Battalion and other regiments belonging to the Dehra Dun Brigade of the 7th Meerut Division on 12 October 1914. The division was was swiftly engaged during the ‘Race to the Sea’ campaign, after which the 1st Seaforth Highlanders occupied trenches at La Bassée near Neuve Chapelle, from 29 October, having relieved the 1st Royal West Kent Regiment following their epic six day stand. Private Adams died on 6 November 1914 of wounds received in action. He was the son of Samuel Adams of 20 Derwent Street, Leicester and is buried in Beuvry Communal Cemetery Extension, France.
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