Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Eight: Captain B. R. Vertannes, Indian Defence Forces, late Honourable Artillery Company, Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force, who flew operationally in No. 42 Squadron on the Italian front in 1917-18

1914-15 Star (3639 Pte. B. R. Vertannes, H.A.C.); British War Medal 1914-20 (Capt. B. R. Vertannes, R.A.F.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (2/Lieut. B. R. Vertannes, R.F.C.); 1939-45 Star; Burma Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Volunteer Force Long Service (India and the Colonies), G.V.R. (Pte. B. R. Vertannes, 18-Rangoon Bn. I.D.F.), contact marks, very fine or better (8) £350-400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals to the Coldstream Guards, R.F.C., R.N.A.S. and R.A.F. formed by the late Tom Baugh.

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Benjamin Raphael Vertannes, an Armenian, was born in May 1892, enlisted in Honourable Artillery Company (Infantry) on the outbreak of hostilities and first went out to France in July 1915. Twice hospitalised in the interim, he returned to the U.K. in November 1916, and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in April 1917. Posted to No. 42 Squadron out in Italy that September, he flew operationally in the unit’s R.E. 8s until February 1918, relevant records revealing a busy agenda of bombing raids, reconnaissance flights and occasional contact with enemy aircraft. Vertannes, who ended the War back in the U.K., was appointed an Acting Captain in October 1918 and relinquished his commission in April 1919. Subsequently awarded his Volunteer Force Long Service Medal in January 1923, while serving in the 18-Rangoon Battalion, I.D.F., he was granted an Emergency Commission as a Temporary Captain in the Indian Observer Corps in the 1949-45 War.