Orders, Decorations and Medals

Family group:

Three: Second Lieutenant H. V. Day, 13th Battalion Royal Fusiliers, late 7th Battalion London Regiment, killed in action at the Battle of Arras, 9 April 1917

1914-15 Star (3040 Pte., 7-Lond. R.); British War and Victory Medals (2 Lieut.); Memorial Plaque (Hubert Victor Day)

Three: Private A. E. Day, 7th Battalion London Regiment, awarded the D.C.M. for the Battle of Festubert; mortally wounded at the Battle of Loos, 25 September 1915

1914-15 Star (3064 Pte., 7-Lond. R.); British War and Victory Medals (3064 Pte., 7-Lond. R.); Memorial Plaque (Albert Eustace Day) generally extremely fine (8) £600-700

Hubert Victor Day was born on 6 July 1893 and was the second son of the Rev. John Day and Caroline Rushton Day. His father was a Wesleyan Minister and was an officiating Chaplain to the troops at Colchester. He was educated at Jersey Modern School and at the Kingswood School, Bath. He was employed as a Clerk in the Westminster Branch of the London City and Midland Bank. He joined the 7th Battalion London Regiment on 5 October 1914 and entered France on 17 March 1915. On 25 September 1915 he was severely wounded in the attack on the Double Crassier (twin mining spoilheaps near Loos) and was invalided home. This was the same attack in which his younger brother was fatally wounded. Having applied for a commission, Hubert Day was gazetted as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 13th Battalion Royal Fusiliers on 26 January 1916. He underwent training at Oxford and Troon and was appointed Bombing Officer whilst at Portabello Camp. He accompanied the battalion to France in September 1916 and was later recommended for a Military Cross for his work during the Aisne Offensive. He was killed in the opening day of the Battle of Arras, 9 April 1917, whilst leading an attack on Monchy-le-Preux. He was buried on the battlefield but his grave was lost during the later fighting. His name is therefore commemorated on the Arras Memorial. Sold with copied research.

Albert Eustace Day was born in Louth on 5 March 1895 and was the third son of the Rev. John Day and Caroline Rushton Day. He was educated at the Kingswood School, Bath. He was employed as a Clerk at the Guildhall, employed by the City of London Corporation. He joined the 7th Battalion London Regiment, two days after his brother, on 7 October 1914 and entered France in March 1915. He won the Distinguished Conduct Medal on 16 May 1915 during the first day of the battle of Festubert. His citation (London Gazette 5 August 1915) reads:

For gallant conduct during an attack on German trenches, he rescued a man, Pte. Wyld, who was unable to extricate himself from a water course, and succeeded in bringing him to safety under heavy shellfire’.

In a letter from Ross Wyld to the parents of Hubert and Eustace Day, dated ‘No.12 General Hospital, Rouen, 20-5-15’, Wyld makes it clear that both brothers had a hand in his rescue, and writes:

‘Dear Mr and Mrs Day, I am taking the liberty of writing to you, to tell you what your two sons did for me on Monday last. I got stuck in the mud of a communication trench, and could not move my feet, as I was in the mud up to my knees. I dared not stand upright, or I should have got a bullet through my head. Your two sons, Hubert and Eustace, at great risk, came to my aid, and by their help I managed to get free, and was very thankful, I can tell you. In order to understand the pluck of your lads, I must tell you that to reach me they had to cross several dangerous spots, with practically no cover whatever, and that the corner where I was stuck was bespattered every now and then with earth thrown up by shells, so near were they. The man next to me was shot in the arm because he could not keep down. So altogether I think you will agree with me that your two lads were very brave. ...’

On 25 September 1915, on the opening day of the Battle of Loos, Private Eustace Day was mortally wounded whilst taking part in the attack on the Double Crassier. He succumbed to his wounds on the following day, dying at the 6th London Field Ambulance Post. He was buried in the Noeux-les-Mines Communal Cemetery. Sold with copied research.