Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria to coincide with the OMRS Convention

A fine Ypres Salient 1914 D.C.M. group of seven awarded to Sergeant-Major T. Harris, Royal Engineers

Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (994 Sjt. T. Harris, 5/F. Coy. R.E.); 1914 Star, with clasp (994 Sjt., R.E.); British War and Victory Medals (994 T.W.O. Cl. 1, R.E.); Army L.S. & G.C., G.V.R. (994 Sjt., R.E.); Army Meritorious Service Medal, G.V.R. (994 T.S. Mjr., D.C.M., R.E.); French Croix de Guerre 1914-1915, with palm good very fine or better (7) £1200-1500

D.C.M. London Gazette 16 January 1915: ‘For gallantry on 8 November [1914] at Polygonveld, in company with one other man, when they repaired a barbed wire fence at night which had been cut by the enemy, whilst under heavy shell fire and without any support from our infantry.’

M.S.M. London Gazette 3 June 1919.

Sergeant-Major T. Harris served with the 5th Field Company, R.E. in the Ypres Salient during the very severe fighting of October and November 1914. Because of the acute shortage of infantry at this period, the sappers were employed in a wide range of duties, and in the famous do or die attack of the Prussian Guard on the Menin Road on 11 November 1914, this small unit won no less than seven D.C.Ms, an exceptional if not unique achievement for the period. An artist’s impression of the above described incident at Polygonveld appears in Deeds That Thrill The Empire.