Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The 1914-15 Star awarded to Captain E. B. Saunders, M.C., Welsh Regiment

1914-15 Star (Capt. E. B. Saunders, Welsh R.), good very fine £80-100

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of Medals to Welsh Regiments formed by the Late Llewellyn Lord.

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Ernest Basil Saunders was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in September 1914 and joined the the 11th Battalion, Welsh Regiment as a Temporary Lieutenant in early 1915. It was, however, as a member of the 9th Battalion that he went to France later in the same year, where he was to serve with distinction and won the M.C. at Messines in June 1917:

‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led his company with conspicuous fearlessness and ability under severe hostile fire, keeping them well in hand for the final assault. Although wounded in the lungs he returned unaided to battalion headquarters, where he made a personal report on the situation. He had been twice wounded before’ (London Gazette 25 August 1917, refers).

Of his previous wounds, one of them was collected at Mametz Wood on the Somme in early July 1916. Saunders, who was also awarded the French Croix de Guerre (London Gazette 5 November 1918, refers), relinquished his commission as a Captain in November 1919. In common with many ex-servicemen, he fell on hard times in the 1920s, working as a chauffeur and, for a short time, serving in the ranks of the Royal Air Force; sold with an original photograph of the recipient taken at Hinges on the La Bassee Canal in August 1918, together with copied research.