Four: Sergeant A. J. Lawrence, Rifle Brigade, late Hampshire Regiment, who recorded his service in South Africa in his diary, and was killed in action on the Western Front on 26 April 1915

Queen’s South Africa 1899-1902, 4 clasps, Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 (31 Pte. A .J. Lawrence, 2nd. Hampshire Regt.); 1914-15 Star (484 Sjt. A. J. Lawrence. Rif: Brig:); British War and Victory Medals (484 Sjt. A. J. Lawrence. Rif. Brig.); Memorial Plaque (Alfred James Lawrence) in card envelope, with Buckingham Palace enclosure, nearly extremely fine (5) £200-£240

Alfred James Lawrence was born in Houghton, Hampshire, in 1876 and served with the Volunteer Company, 2nd Battalion, Hampshire Regiment in South Africa during the Boer War. He saw further service with the Rifle Brigade during the Great War on the Western Front from 26 January 1915, and was killed in action on 26 April 1915 He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.

Sold with the recipient’s original hand-written diary from the Boer War; original Record Office notifications of the recipient’s death, addressed to ‘Mrs. Lawrence, c/o Mrs. Jenkins, Rohilla, St. Mawes, Cornwall’; postcard from the recipient home; and copied research.