Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The 1914 Star awarded to Major O. B. Pritchard, Welsh Regiment, a veteran campaigner of the Victorian and Edwardian era who, after gallant command of the 2nd Battalion on the Western Front, died as a consequence of ‘battle fatigue’ in November 1916

1914 Star, with copy clasp (Major O. B. Pritchard, Welsh R.), good very fine £160-180

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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Osborn Brace Pritchard was born in Donegal in July 1862, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Brace Pritchard, R.M.L.I. Commissioned 2nd Lieutenant in the Welsh Regiment in August 1888, direct from the R.M.C. Sandhurst, he was advanced to Lieutenant in June 1890.

He was subsequently actively employed in the Sudan operations of 1888, including the action at Gemaizah (Medal & clasp; Khedive’s Star), in addition to the operations on the North-West Frontier in 1897-98, with the Tirah Field Force (Medal & 2 clasps).

Advanced to Captain in February 1899, Pritchard next saw action in the Somaliland operations of 1903, in which he was employed as a Special Service Officer (Medal & clasp).

A Major by the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, he was quickly embarked for France, where he served as 2nd-in-command of the 2nd Battalion and was severely wounded at Gheluvelt on 11 November. The regimental history refers to him being hit on no less than three separate occasions, when he ‘behaved most gallantly in leading counter-attacks.’

Pritchard returned to France in late 1915, when he assumed command of 2nd Battalion in the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. The battalion was subsequently employed on the Somme in the summer of 1916, where an enemy shell hit and destroyed his H.Q. dug-out, killing three orderlies and a signaller. Pritchard, who was buried by the explosion, had a very narrow escape. Moreover, his old wounds had started to flare up: one fellow officer later recounted that one of the Colonel’s legs was so badly swollen it was a wonder that he could walk at all; see C. P. Clayton’s The Hungry One for frequent mention of Pritchard in action during this period of operations.

Having been invalided home in September 1916, Pritchard died at his brother-in-law’s residence in Lewisham in late November of the same year. Some accounts state that he died as a result of his old wounds: regimental records are perhaps more reliable:

‘He committed suicide in the U.K. whilst on leave after being replaced as Commanding Officer of the 2nd Battalion. We have no information of the circumstances but it was understood that he was suffering from Battle Fatigue and very cut up concerning the heavy losses suffered by the Battalion.’

Pritchard, who was mentioned in despatches for his leadership at High Wood on the Somme (London Gazette 4 January 1917), is buried in Norwood Cemetery, London; sold with copied research.