TOPIC:

Picture courtesy of eBay

MM GV (27472 BMBR: D.W. CLARKE 130/BY. R.F.A.);
QSA (5) Belmont, Modder River, Paardeberg, Johannesburg, South Africa, 1901 (27472. GNR. D.W. Clarke. 75th BTY RFA:;
1914 Star (27472 GNR: D.W. CLARKE RFA);
BWM (27472 Cpl D.W. Clarke R.A.);
[ VM ]

Sold for GBP 550

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

MM GV (4490 Sgt. J. Rogers. Essex. R.) officially renamed;
[ QSA and KSA ];
1914 Star (47010 Sgt. J. Rogers. Essex. R.);
British War and Victory Medals (47010 Sgt. J. Rogers. M.M. Essex. R.) area of erasure before number on BWM, number on VM officially corrected;
Army LS&GC GV 2nd issue with fixed suspension (4490 Pte. J. Rogers. Essex. R.)

MM London Gazette 11 November 1916.

John Rogers served with with the Essex Regiment, and was attached to No. 3 Section, Burma Mounted Infantry in South Africa from 24 January 1900. He was severely wounded near Hartenbosch, 8 April 1902. Rogers served with the 2nd Battalion, Essex Regiment during the Great War on the Western Front as a Private from 22 August 1914. The Battalion took part in the battle of the Somme in 1916, where they Battalion advanced at 8.35am on the 1st July; and were beaten back by strong enemy counter-attacks. The Battalion’s strength at the close of the day was 2 officers and 192 other ranks, out of a total of 24 officers and 606 men who had gone into action.

Noonan's note that another MM group to this man, correctly named in all respects, was sold at Spink in 2005, including a QSA (3) Cape Colony, Driefontein, Transvaal, and a KSA (2), possibly indicating that the above is a replacement or duplicate group.

KSA listed on WO100/335p205

Picture courtesy of Noonan's

MM GV (855 Sjt. J. Ellis. 6/Conn: Rang:);
QSA (4) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902 (6783 Boy 1. Ellis. Connaught Rang:);
1914-15 Star (855 Sjt. J. Ellis. Conn: Rang:);
British War and Victory Medals (855 Sjt. J. Ellis. Conn. Rang.);
Efficiency Medal, GVI, 1st issue, Territorial (2021994 Sjt. J. Ellis. R.E.)

MM London Gazette 13 March 1918.

James Ellis attested for the Connaught Rangers as a Musician, aged 14 years and 2 months, and served as a Boy soldier with the 1st Battalion in South Africa during the Boer Ear. Advanced Sergeant, he saw further service during the Great War, initially in the Gallipoli theatre of war from 21 July 1915, and then with the 6th Battalion on the Western Front. He was awarded an Irish Brigade Certificate for gallant conduct and devotion to duty in the field on 20 November 1917, on which date the Battalion was involved in an attack on ‘Tunnel Trench’ at Bullecourt, on the first day of the Battle of Cambrai, and it was almost certainly for this action that he was awarded his Military Medal. He was discharged Class ‘Z’ Reserve on 28 February 1919, and subsequently served with the Royal Engineers (Territorial Force).

Picture courtesy of Spink

[ MM GV ];
QSA (3) Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal (9783 Gnr: P. R. Olverson. R Bty., R.H.A.);
[ KSA (2) ];
[ 1914-15 Trio ]

MM London Gazette 19 February 1917.

Peter Read Olverson was born at Liverpool, Lancashire in 1877 and enlisted there on 5 June 1895. Posted as a Gunner to the Royal Horse Artillery he entered the Anglo-Boer War in South Africa on 24 October 1899 with 'R' Battery. He was not to serve with them for long however, being attached to 1/1 PomPom Section on 1 February 1900 and it was with them that he found himself near Basberg in the Orange Free State. The Gazetteer refers to the following events, stating:

'On 16-17 February 1902 a British column was attacked resulting in one dead, one wounded and three other missing or captured who later rejoined their units.'

The wounded man was Olverson whose service papers note a slight wound. Promoted Bombardier on 1 December 1902 he was ordered back to Britain on 31 May 1903 and remained there until 1907 when he joined the Army Reserve.

Returning to the colours in 1915 as a Sergeant he arrived in France on 19 May 1915. Arriving in Salonika on 10 December 1915 he was to serve there for the rest of the war, being wounded in action on 18 November 1916 and was awarded the MM around the same time. Appointed Battery Sergeant-Major on 31 May 1917 he served in this rank until 7 June when he reverted to Sergeant. Olverson suffered from ill health throughout 1918 and was discharged on 8 April 1919.

Sold for a hammer price of GBP 200. Totals: GBP 248. R 5,570. AUD 460. NZD 500. CAD 420. USD 310. EUR 280.

Military Medal group to A/Cpl Guy Flecknoe 328 MT Coy, Royal Army Service Corps (late 81st Sharpshooters Imperial Yeomanry Company)
MM for Italy - must be a scarce combination with QSA.

GvR Military Medal "M2-047800 PTE - A.CPL- G. A. FLECKNOE R.A.S.C."
Queen's South Africa Medal, clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902, "21728 PTE G. A. FLECKNOE. 81ST COY IMP: YEO:"
1914/15 Star "M2-047800 PTE G. A. FLECKNOE. A.S.C."
British War & Victory Medal "M2-047800 A.CPL. G. A. FLECKNOE. A.S.C."

Service papers show that Guy Flecknoe was from London. He had seen service with the 13th Middlesex Volunteer Rifle Corps, and enlisted in the 81st (Sharpshooters) Imperial Yeomanry Company on 20th January 1901 for service in the Boer War. He served in South Africa from 14/3/1901 to 10/8/1902.

A motor lorry driver by trade he enlisted in the Army Service Corps at Grove Park on 11/2/1915 and was posted to 328 MT Coy, remaining with this unit, which provided logistical support to 48th (South Midland) Division. He landed in France on 29/3/1915, and served in France, Flanders and Italy. The award of his Military Medal was recorded on his papers on 7/12/1918 (authority XIV Corps Heavy Artillery) and published in the London Gazette on 29/4/1919.

Recently sold on ebay, £491.

A unique group to the Essex Regiment, to which I had drawn attention in a post on page 10 of this topic, because of the Serbian Medal. But we can now add that the recipient, George William Standing, also earned the MSM (Geo VI). His father served with 44th Foot in the Crimea and China to boot!

Being sold by auction at Adam Partridge, 16th September 2024 (I am not the seller and have no connection with the seller.)