The Collection of Medals Formed by Bill and Angela Strong

A most unusual post-war C.M.G., civil C.B.E., Great War M.M. group awarded to Lieutenant W. M. Graham, Royal Air Force, late French Aviation Corps and Royal Flying Corps, and afterwards a Judge of the Cairo Court of Appeal

The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamels; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, C.B.E. (Civil) Commander’s 2nd type neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; Military Medal, G.V.R., unnamed as issued to foreign recipients; British War Medal 1914-20 (Lieut. W. M. Graham, R.A.F.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (Lieut. W. M. Graham, R.F.C.); Coronation 1953; France, Croix de Guerre 1914-1916, with bronze oak leaf and star; France, Volunteers Medal 1914-18, clasp, Engage Volontaire, mounted as worn where appropriate, together with a set of related miniature dress medals and R.F.C. badges (3), good very fine and better (19)
£2500-3000

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Bill and Angela Strong Medal Collection.

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C.M.G. London Gazette 2 January 1950.

C.B.E. London Gazette 1 January 1946.

M.M. - verified on the recipient’s R.A.F. service record under authority Census/13.

William Murray Graham was born in December 1884 and was educated at Newton College in Devon and Corpus Christi, Oxford. Qualifying in law, he was called to the Bar by Lincoln’s Inn in 1907 and went out to the Straits Settlements as an Advocate and Solicitor in 1910.

Returning to the U.K. on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, he was unable to obtain a commission on account of having been overseas, so volunteered for civilian service in the British Field Ambulance in Belgium, and later the French Red Cross. Sometime thereafter, he qualified as a pilot in the French Aviation Corps and went into action in H76 Squadron, gaining the French Croix de Guerre for the following deeds (General Order No. 258 issued by General Micheler on 31 August 1917 refers):

‘Of English nationality, he was engaged for the duration of the War in the French Aviation Corps. From the moment of his arrival, he was an admirable volunteer, offering himself for every mission and participating in numerous combats, most notably on 20 May, and on the 6, 24 and 29 July. On 27 July last, having fought a combat with an enemy biplane, he in turn was attacked by a second enemy aircraft which he was unable to see, and in spite of its gunner’s actions, he remained calm in the face of his two adversaries, forcing them to retreat behind their lines.’

As verified in his R.A.F. service record, Graham was also awarded the M.M., an unnamed issue in lieu of his appointment in the French Aviation Corps, in addition to being wounded in May 1917. Transferring to the Royal Flying Corps later that year, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and served out in Italy for a few weeks before returning to the U.K., where he was still employed at the War’s end. Having then served out in Canada on a recruiting appointment, he was placed on the Unemployed List as a Lieutenant in February 1919.

Returning to the legal profession, Graham served as an advisor in the Egyptian Government Service and in 1929 was appointed a Judge of the Mixed Court of Cairo and, from 1934-49 served as a Judge of the Cairo Court of Appeal (C.B.E.), following which he became a Legal Counsellor to the Embassy (C.M.G.). He died in Worcester in November 1956; sold with copied service record and other research.