Orders, Decorations and Medals

A fine Great War O.B.E., M.C. group of nine awarded to Brigadier D. V. M. Balders, Suffolk Regiment, who was twice wounded in 1915, on the latter occasion at the battle of Frezenberg Ridge, when, ‘amid the roar of battle vile yellow-green poison gas floated like a spectre through the British lines, and before it men reeled back, livid, choking and blinded

The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, O.B.E. (Military) Officer’s 1st type breast badge, silver-gilt, hallmarks for London 1919; Military Cross, G.V.R., the reverse privately inscribed, ‘Capt. D. V. M. Balders’; 1914-15 Star (Capt. D. V. M. Balders, Suff. R); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oakleaf (Major D. V. M. Balders); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, privately inscribed, ‘Brig. D. V. M. Balders’; Jubilee 1935; Coronation 1937, mounted as worn, together with a set of related miniature dress medals, the earlier awards somewhat polished, otherwise generally very fine or better (18)
£1200-1500

M.C. London Gazette 3 June 1918.

Dudley Vere Morley Balders was born in October 1883, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Balders, King’s Dragoon Guards, of West Barsham, Norfolk - and ‘came from a soldier family, every male member since the time of his great-grandfather (who retired in 1803) having served in the Army; save two who were sailors. They numbered twenty-five. One of Balders’ ancestors, Lieutenant Peter Campbell, served in the 12th Foot at Minden and commanded the Battalion at the close of the battle’ (The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1928-1946, refers).

For his own part, young Dudley was educated at Isle of Wight College and the R.M.C. Sandhurst, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Suffolk Regiment in April 1903.

Advanced to Lieutenant in April 1905 and to Captain in February 1914, he served as Adjutant of the 1st Battalion out in France and Flanders from January to October 1915, in which period he was twice wounded - firstly on 26 April, when he remained on active duty, and secondly, at Ypres, on 8 May, this time seriously so. On that date, The History of the Suffolk Regiment 1928-1946, by Colonel W. N. Nicholson, states:
‘The Adjutant’s [Balders] warning to the 1st Battalion was not delivered in vain, for at dawn on 8 May, the storm returning burst over ravaged Ypres, and violent shelling began all along the line. At about ten o’clock a determined attack was launched against the point of the salient, and soon the battle of Frezenberg Ridge was raging in all its fury. As for the 1st Battalion, they had a galling time. The din was terrific. The enemy were sending over projectiles of every calibre and description. High-explosive shells crashed in all directions, scattering bricks and timber like chaff before the wind. Huge guns and howitzers roared incessantly, shaking the earth; and the cackle of machine-guns and musketry, mingling with the boom of mortars and bombs, made a noise that sounded like an army of riveters at work during some titanic thunderstorm.

Amid the roar of battle vile yellow-green poison gas floated like a spectre through the British lines, and before it men reeled back, livid, choking and blinded ... The casualties on 8 May amounted to over four hundred, including the following officers ... Captain and Adjutant D. V. M. Balders.’

Having recovered from his wounds, Balders served as an instructor to the London University O.T.C., was appointed a Staff Captain in 198th Infantry Brigade in March 1916, and Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General and Quarter-Master General, 2nd Cyclist Division, that September. By new year, however, he had been transferred in the same appointment to 66th Division, in which capacity he returned to France in February 1917 and was still serving there at the War’s end in the rank of Major. He was awarded the M.C.

Similar appointments followed in Holland, France and Flanders 1919-20, until his return home in April of the latter year, when he joined the East Anglian Division (Territorials) as Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quarter-Master General. Indeed he held several senior posts between the Wars, including command of the 1st Battalion, Suffolk Regiment 1929-33, and gained advancement to Brigadier in the 163rd (Norfolk and Suffolk) Infantry Brigade, in November 1937; also see Lot 990 for his son’s Honours and Awards.

Sold with a coloured portrait photograph, the recipient’s commission warrant for the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, Suffolk Regiment, dated 21 April 1903, and regimental histories of the Suffolk Regiment (3), comprising 1635-1913 by Lieutenant-Colonel E. A. H. Webb, 1914-1927 by Lieutenant-Colonel C. C. R. Murphy, and 1928-1946 by Colonel W. N. Nicholson.