Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

1914-15 Star (Sjt. H. L. Willis, S.A. Aviatn. C.), good very fine and rare £80-100

Henry Lionel Willis, who was born at Rougham, near Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, circa 1885, had previously served in the 49th Company, Imperial Yeomanry and Imperial Military Railways, prior to enlisting in the South Africa Aviation Corps at Cape Town in August 1915, when he was assigned the service number Z.2. Embarked for East Africa, via Southampton, he arrived at Kilindin in January 1916, where he remained actively employed until January 1918, gaining a mention in despatches from Smuts for meritorious services in the Field as a Sergeant, S.A.A.C. (London Gazette 8 February 1917 refers). In November 1916, Willis was commissioned as an Honorary Lieutenant & Quarter-Master in the African Scout Battalion, but, after being treated for malaria at Dar es Salaam hospital, transferred to the Military Labour Corps in April 1917 and thence, that July, to the King’s African Rifles. Embarked for Egypt in January 1918, he returned to East Africa four months later, where he was employed as an Acting Captain and Senior Carrier Officer at Kartucol. Awarded the M.C. (London Gazette 27 July 1918 refers), he relinquished his post on account of ill-health in November 1918 and his commission in June 1919.