Y.M.C.A. ‘Lena Ashwell Concert Party’ Badge, gilt and enamel, with pin-back suspension, good very fine, rare £60-£80

Lena Margaret Ashwell, Lady Simson was a British actress and theatre producer, who during the Great War was the first person to organise large-scale entertainment for the troops at the front. Partly due to the influence of her acquaintance Princess Helena Victoria, and her connections to the Y.W.C.A., she was given permission to take a group of entertainers to the Western Front to perform concerts for the troops, and to help raise morale. For her services during the Great War she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.