Five: Staff Sergeant E. Hickson, Army Veterinary Corps, late Coldstream Guards, who was twice Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Meritorious Service Medal

1914 Star, with copy clasp (321 Sjt. E. Hickson. A.V.C.); British War Medal 1914-20 (Reg-321 T.S.Sjt. E. Hickson A.V.C.) re-impressed naming; Victory Medal 1914-19, erased; Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (7757050 S. Sjt. E. Hickson. R.A.V.C.); Meritorious Service Medal, G.V.R., 1st issue (321 A. S. Sjt. E. Hickson. A.V.C.) very fine (5) £200-£240

M.S.M. London Gazette 17 December 1917
‘In recognition of valuable services rendered with the Armies in the Field during the present War.’

Ernest Hickson was born in 1883 in Wiltshire and attested for the Coldstream Guards on 3 June 1908. He transferred to the Army Veterinary Corps on 9 March 1910 and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 15 August 1914. He served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force from 17 October 1915 until 17 January 1918, was awarded the M.S.M., and was Mentioned in Lieutenant-General Milne’s Salonika Despatch of 29 March 1917 ‘for distinguished service rendered during the past six months in this theatre of operations’ (London Gazette 21 July 1917).

Hickson subsequently served in Italy from 21 January 1918 until 19 December 1919, and was mentioned in Field Marshal Haig’s Despatch of 16 March 1919 (London Gazette 10 July 1919). Advanced Staff Sergeant, he was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal prior to being discharged on 2 March 1929. Major G. L. Godwin’s final assessment of him was as follows: ‘Military conduct: exemplary; Testimonial: A thoroughly reliable, hardworking, capable N.C.O., good disciplinarian, sober, good knowledge of care and first aid of horses, handles men very well.’

Sold with the recipient’s two original Mentioned in Despatches Certificates, these glazed and framed; Certificate of Service Red Book; three original photographs of the recipient in uniform; and a Coldstream Guards cap badge and shoulder title; Army Veterinary Corps cap badge and shoulder title; and a Royal Army Veterinary Corps cap badge and shoulder title.