Pair: Private A. Harper, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, killed in action at Clary Nord, 27 August 1914

British War and Victory Medals (11188 Pte. A. Harper. R. D. Fus.) nearly extremely fine (2) £80-120

Arthur William Harper was born in 1882 in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, and was serving with the 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment in 1911. Transferring to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, he served with the 2nd Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 23 August 1914. 4 days later he was killed in action on 27 August 1914 at Clary and is buried in Honnechy British Cemetery, near Le Cateau.

The 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers arrived in France on 23 August 1914 and entrained for Le Cateau. On 25 August, the battalion fired its first shots at enemy cavalry, reportedly bringing two down. On the morning of 26 August, the battalion engaged the enemy at Fontaine-sur-Tetre inflicting heavy losses before retiring. By a quirk of fate, the battalion took up position on the right of Harper’s old battalion, 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment, at Haucourt. Enemy shelling on Haucourt began at 2pm, followed later by infantry attack. At this point, troops around Haucourt began to withdraw in some confusion, and in small, mixed detachments. ‘A’ and ‘D’ companies (about 400 men) commanded by Major H Shewan, of the Dublin Fusiliers, were left behind and retired about midnight on the 26-27th August. On approaching Clary, they came under fire. Captain Trigona believed the fire may be from British troops and signalled that they were Royal Dublin Fusiliers, to which the response was “Dublin Fusiliers, right, come on”. However, German uniforms were spotted and the detachment began to fall back on Ligny. Whilst the detachment was fully engaged with the enemy and being surrounded, small ‘rushes’ were made to get away, but each of these suffered heavier casualties than the last. At the end of the day, the 400 strong detachment had been reduced to two Officers and 30 men who’d escaped. One officer was killed, 6 P.O.W., and 44 men killed or mortally wounded, the remainder P.O.W. Ironically, on 27 August the remnants of the 2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers and 1st Battalion Royal Warwickshire Regiment were formed into a temporary Composite Battalion, but by then Private Harper was dead.

Note: The recipient’s Medal Index Card and the 1914 Star roll note that Harper’s 1914 Star was returned under 992 King’s Regulations (1923). The BWM and VM appear to be the only medals issued.