Auction Catalogue

31 March 2010

Starting at 10:00 AM

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British and World Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Washington Mayfair Hotel  London  W1J 5HE

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Lot

№ 832 x

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31 March 2010

Hammer Price:
£5,200

A rare Great War M.M. and Bar group of four awarded to Corporal J. A. Guy, 1st Anzac Wireless Section and 2nd Divisional Signal Company, Australian Engineers, late 19th and 4th Battalions, Australian Imperial Force, a Gallipoli veteran who was decorated for gallant deeds on the Somme

Military Medal, G.V.R., with Second Award Bar (2269 Sapr. J. A. Guy, A. Wireless Sec. Aust. E.); 1914-15 Star (2269 Pte. J. A. Guy, 19/Bn. A.I.F.); British War and Victory Medals (2269 Cpl. J. A. Guy, 19 Bn. A.I.F.), one or two edge bruises but otherwise generally very fine (4) £3000-4000

M.M. London Gazette 9 July 1917. The original joint recommendation, dated 12 May 1917, states:

‘Near Bullecourt on 3 May 1917, this N.C.O. and man went forward under heavy fire to establish an amplifyer post which they succeeded in doing and in maintaining communication at a time when it was of vital importance. The position had not been consolidated and they were obliged to stand for ten counter-attacks during which time they took four prisoners.’

Bar to M.M. London Gazette 14 January 1918.

John Alfred Guy enlisted in Sydney in May 1915 and was posted to the 19th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force. Embarked for Egypt in H.M.A.T. Argyllshire that September, he would have witnessed active service in the Gallipoli peninsula prior to his unit’s withdrawal at the end of the year, not least in the 19th’s defined sphere of operations in the defence of Pope’s Hill.

Attached to the 4th Battalion in Egypt in early 1916, Guy was embarked for France in March of that year, and is believed to have served in the same unit until his transfer to the 1st Anzac Wireless Section in March 1917, a period encompassing further active service on the Somme and in the Ypres salient. Having then been awarded his first M.M. for the above cited deeds near Bullecourt in May of 1917, Guy was taken on the strength of the 2nd Divisional Signal Company in the following month, with whom he added a Bar to his M.M. before the year’s end. Advanced to Corporal in May 1918, he remained actively employed in France until the end of hostilities and was embarked for Australia in April 1919.