Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A good Great War M.C. group of seven awarded to Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel H. Skinner, Royal Tank Corps, late Royal Scots and King’s Own Scottish Borderers, in which former corps he was severely wounded in Gallipoli: having then become a founder member of the Tank Corps - or ‘D’ Battalion, Heavy Branch, M.G.C., as it was then known - he won his M.C. in the costly and controversial action at Bullecourt in April 1917

Military Cross, G.V.R.; 1914-15 Star (969 Pte. H. Skinner, R. Scots); British War and Victory Medals (Capt. H. Skinner); India General Service 1908-35, 1 clasp, Waziristan 1921-24 (Lieut. H. Skinner, R. Tank Corps); Defence and War Medals 1939-45, mounted as worn, together with a set of related miniature dress medals, the earlier awards with contact marks and somewhat polished, thus nearly very fine, the remainder rather better (14) £1200-1500

M.C. London Gazette 3 May 1917:

‘This officer penetrated without support into the strongly fortified village of Bullecourt, inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy and, when his tank was disabled, brought back all his crew and valuable parts of his guns and tank under heavy machine-gun fire.’

Hugh Skinner was born in January 1893, the son of an Edinburgh solicitor. Enlisting in the Royal Scots on the outbreak of hostilities, he saw action in Gallipoli, where he was severely wounded in July 1915.

Commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the King’s Own Scottish Borderers in January 1916, he returned to active service out in France in the summer of 1916 and transferred to the Tank Corps - then titled ‘D’ Battalion, Heavy Branch, M.G.C. - at the year’s end. And it was in this capacity that he won his M.C. for the above cited deeds at the first battle of Bullecourt on 3 May 1917 - one of the most controversial actions of the War, the tank and British High Command being the targets of Australian criticism owing to their severe casualties.

A Company of Tanks, by Major W. N. L. Wilson, includes the following account of Skinner in the action on that date:

‘Skinner, after his tank had been towed over the railway embankment by Morris, made straight for Bullecourt, thinking that as the battle had now been in progress for more than two hours the Australians must have fought their way down the trenches into the village. Immediately he entered the village machine-guns played upon his tank, and several of his crew were slightly wounded by the little flakes of metal that fly about inside a Mk. I. tank when it is subjected to really concentrated machine-gun fire. No Australians could be seen. Suddenly he came right to the edge of an enormous crater, and as suddenly stopped. He tried to reverse, but he could not change gear. The tank was absolutely motionless. He held out for some time, and then the Germans brought up a gun and began to shell the tank. Against field-guns in houses he was defenceless so long as his tank could not move. His ammunition was nearly exhausted. There were no signs of the Australians or of British troops. He decided quite properly to withdraw. With great skill he evacuated his crew, taking his guns with him and the little ammunition that remained. Slowly and carefully they worked their way back, and reached the railway embankment without further casualty.’

Returning to the Home Establishment in October 1917 - most probably as a result of wounds, for official records state that he was twice wounded in the Great War - Skinner was back in action on the Western Front in the period October-November 1918.

Post-war, he joined 9th Armoured Car Company, Tank Corps, and later still No. 2 Armoured Car Company, and served in Mesopotamia and India, including participation in the Waziristan operations in 1923-24 (Medal & clasp). Advanced to Captain in June 1928, he returned to India to instruct at the Tank Corps School in 1929-32, prior to being appointed to similar duties at the Tank Gunnery School back in the U.K.

Placed on the Retired List in January 1938, Skinner was recalled on the renewal of hostilities and appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the Army Fighting Vehicle Ranges at Linney Head in Wales, in which capacity he remained employed until August 1947. Once more placed on the Retired List, he settled at Burngate Mead, Wool, where he became a market gardener. He died suddenly in January 1951.