A Great War ‘First Day of the Somme’ M.M. group of five awarded to Sergeant J. F. Smith, Machine Gun Corps, late 1/5th Battalion, Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment, who was awarded the M.M. for bravery on 1 July 1916 at Gommecourt

Military Medal, G.V.R. (1067 Pte. J. F. Smith. 1/5 N. & D.R.-T.F.); 1914-15 Star (1067 Pte. J. F. Smith, Notts. & Derby. R.); British War and Victory Medals (1067 Sjt. J. F. Smith. Notts. & Derby. R.); Territorial Force Efficiency Medal, G.V.R. (1067 Pte. J. F. Smith, 5-Foresters), minor official correction to unit on the last, some minor edge bruising to first, otherwise generally good very fine (5) £1200-1500

M.M. London Gazette 23 August 1916.

An award ‘For gallantry and devotion to duty when in the attack on Gommecourt Wood on 1st July 1916’ (British Gallantry Awards, The Sherwood Foresters, compiled by C. Housley, refers).

John F. Smith, who came from Ripley, Derbyshire, arrived in France on 1 March 1915, where he joined the Machine Gun Section of the 1/5th Battalion, Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire Regiment.

On 1 July 1916 he went ‘over the top’ with his comrades in the attack on Gommecourt and got to within three or four yards of the German trenches when his officer was hit. Under a barrage of bombs thrown from the enemy trench, he managed to get the officer away and later returned to his machine-gun, being the only survivor of the gun crew. He was awarded the M.M.

It is worth speculating that his wounded officer was in fact the Brigade Machine Gun Officer, Captain Anderson, who features in the citation for the posthumous V.C. won that day by Captain John Green, the M.O. of 1/5th Sherwood Foresters.

Smith was later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps, served as a Sergeant and was wounded on 8 August 1917. He was disembodied on 15 January 1919, when he returned to Ripley; sold with copied research.