Medals from the Collection of Peter and Dee Helmore

Pair: Corporal R. W. Bretherton, Grenadier Guards, who lost his left arm in the trenches before Sebastopol

Crimea 1854-56, 4 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Corpl. R. W. Brotherton [sic] Grenr. Gds.) contemporarily engraved naming; Turkish Crimea 1855, Sardinia issue, unnamed as issued, pierced as issued with small ring suspension, edge bruising, nearly very fine (2) £500-£700

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals from the Collection of Peter and Dee Helmore.

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Richard Wynn Bretherton was born in Warrington, Lancashire, in March 1834, the son of a butcher, and attested there for the Grenadier Guards on 8 May 1854. He served with the 3rd Battalion in the Crimean War and was promoted Corporal 1 June 1855. Present during the actions at Alma, Balaklava and Inkermann, his left arm was shot off and three ribs fractured before Sebastopol. He was discharged on 13 October 1855 in consequence of having lost his left arm in action, his total service being 1 year and 157 days. His medical report dated 23 October 1855 states ‘Loss of the left arm by shell in the trenches, unfit for further service’, and he was awarded a Pension 1/3d per diem together with the Crimea Medal 1854 with 4 clasps and Turkish Crimea Medal. Disregarding the loss of left arm, he resumed his trade as a butcher for the next 40 years and he is reported in the local press as having killed a mad dog with a poker in Bridge Street, Warrington on 10 June 1887. He died in Warrington on 19 February 1899, aged 63.

Sold with copied research.