British and World Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Victory Medal 1914-19 (3-5241 Cpl. J. Henry, Gord. Highrs.) bent suspension ring, nearly extremely fine £50-70

John Henry was born and lived in Aberdeen and joined the Gordon Highlanders as a regular soldier. In 1914 the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders were serving in Egypt but rapidly returned home with the onset of hostilities and on 7 October they moved to Zeebrugge as part of 20th Brigade, 7th Division. In October they suffered 100 casualties, but on the 16th November a draft arrived from England, which included Corporal John Henry. This brought the strength of the Battalion up to 4 officers and 500 other ranks.

On March 1915 the 2nd Battalion Gordons took part in the Battles at Neuve Chapelle and lost 254 killed, wounded and missing and at Loos they lost 5 officers and 150 other ranks. In June 1916 the Battalion moved to the Mametz-Fricourt area in preparation for the Somme offensive.

In the Somme offensive, the 20th Brigade was using three battalions in the first attack with the 2nd Gordons on the right with Mametz at its objective. At 06.25 on 1 July the final intense bombardment started and three minutes later the 2nd Gordons went ‘over the top’ with the bayonet. The Germans had turned Mametz into a fortress and the Battalion met concentrated machine gun fire but the advance was maintained, and Mametz Station, Shrine Alley, Cemetery Trench and Orchard Alley were all taken. When the Battalion eventual withdrew to Citadel Camp on 3 July the 2nd Gordons had taken 461 casualties. One of those killed on 1 July, the first day of the battle of the Somme, was Corporal John Henry.

The body of Corporal John Henry was recovered and he was buried by his Regiment in a support trench together with three artillery men who died on 9 July 1916. This support trench, just south of Mametz, subsequently became an official Commonwealth War Grave cemetery (Gordon Cemetery, Mametz) but as the graves could not be positively identified, 93 headstones have been erected and arranged in semi-circles around a central cross.

With copied m.i.c. and other research plus two modern photographs of the cemetery and Corporal Henry’s headstone. The m.i.c. confirms that the recipient was entitled to the 1914 Star and clasp.