Four: Private A. Hance, 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, who was captured and taken Prisoner of War during the Retreat from Mons on 24 August 1914

1914 Star, with copy clasp (7074 Pte. A. Hance. Ches: R.); British War and Victory Medals (7074 Pte. A. Hance. Ches. R.); Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 2nd issue with fixed suspension (4114201 Pte. A. Hance. Ches. R.) nearly very fine (4) £140-£180

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Medals to Recipients of the 1914 Star.

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Archibald Hance was born at Gosport, Hampshire on 6 October 1883 and served with the 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment during the Great War on the Western Front from 16 August 1914. He was captured on 24 August 1914 near Audregnies and held prisoner of war at Munsterlager, Germany.

In open fields near Audregnies, on 24 August 1914, the 1st Cheshires were exposed to the brunt of four German Regiments, each of three battalions, while acting as flank guard to the 5th Division. The Cheshires’ actions caused them to suffer 78% losses in one day due to men killed, wounded and taken prisoner of war but bought valuable time for the rest of the British Expeditionary Force during the retreat from Mons. Afterwards Brigadier-General Count Gleichen, commander of 15th Infantry Brigade, paid tribute to the Cheshires, saying:
‘The battalion behaved magnificently in the face of terrible odds and immense difficulty, one could not expect more of them. They did their duty, and did it thunderingly well, as I should have expected from such a gallant battalion, and I am only grieved that they had such terrible losses.’