Orders, Decorations and Medals

Memorial Scrolls (2) (Pte. Benjamin Robert Fox, Canadian Infantry Bn.; Pte. George Alfred Fox, Canadian Infantry Bn.), the two mounted in a glass-fronted wooden frame, 520 x 418mm., good condition; together with an unrelated Letter addressed to the Hanwell Fire Brigade, with envelope, this torn, stained and poor (lot) £30-40

Benjamin Robert Fox was born in King’s Lynn on 5 December 1890, the son of Edward Fox, a Brewery Engineer, and his wife, Maria. Benjamin was employed for over five years in the offices of Messrs. J. T. Staunton and Company, Timber Merchants in Kings Lynn and was for a short time a member of the 3rd Battalion Norfolk Regiment. He emigrated to Canada in 1911 with his brothers, George and Percy and was there employed as a Confidential Clerk at the iron and steel works of T. Wilkinson and Company, Vancouver. Benjamin attested for the 158th (Overseas) Battalion, Canadian Infantry on 21 February 1916. Serving in France with the 7th Battalion Canadian Infantry (British Columbia Regiment), he was killed in action on 15 August 1917, aged 26 years. Having no known grave, his name is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial.

George Alfred Fox was born in King’s Lynn on 16 August 1893, the son of Edward and Maria Fox. Educated at All Saint’s School, King’s Lynn, he was employed for some time in the offices of the Building Material Company, King’s Lynn. He emigrated to Canada with his brothers in 1911 and worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. He was employed as a Cook in Vancouver when he attested for the 158th (Overseas) Battalion Canadian Infantry, on 3 March 1916. Serving in France with the 24th Battalion Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment), he was wounded by shrapnel in the abdomen on 15 August 1917 and died at Etaples on 22 August. He was buried in the Etaples Military Cemetery. Both with copied research.

Envelope and letter addressed to the Hanwell Fire Brigade and written by ‘SE.5509 Private J. Burkin, Army Veterinary Corps, British Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, dated 6 May 1915. In it Burkin writes, ‘.... we lost one of our comrades on board a Brighton chap Dan Scutt he comes from Portslade he was stoker at the Brighton Grand Hotel for 3 years we buried him at the Dardanelles on the 3rd of May ...’ With a hand bill from the Grand Electric Theatre, Broadway, Hanwell, torn and stained.