Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

The Great War ‘Western Front’ C.M.G., D.S.O. group of six awarded to Brigadier-General W. Stirling, Royal Artillery, who commanded the Royal Artillery 50th Division during the Great War and was five times Mentioned in Despatches - later appointments included Commandant of the School of Artillery, and Commander of the Royal Artillery 2nd Division

The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, C.M.G., Companion’s neck badge, silver-gilt and enamel; Distinguished Service Order, G.V.R., silver-gilt and enamel, with integral top riband bar; 1914 Star, with clasp (Major W. Stirling. R.F.A.); British War and Victory Medals, M.I.D. oak leaf (Brig. Gen. W. Stirling); Delhi Durbar 1911, silver, unnamed as issued, good very fine (6) £1600-2000

C.M.G. London Gazette 1 January 1919

D.S.O. London Gazette 1 January 1917

William Stirling was born on 15 March 1876, the son of General Sir William Stirling, K.C.B., Colonel Commandant, Royal Artillery, and was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. Commissioned Second Lieutenant, Royal Artillery, on 1 March 1896, he was promoted Lieutenant on 21 March 1899, and Captain on 8 January 1902. He served as Adjutant on three separate occasions between May 1906 and October 1911, before receiving his Majority on 26 August 1912. He served during the Great War continuously on the Western Front from 4 November 1914 until the Armistice, first as a temporary Lieutenant-Colonel, 5 December 1915 until 29 December 1916, and later, after a period on the Staff, as Brigadier-General commanding Royal Artillery 50th Division, 1 April 1918 until 27 March 1919, taking part in the Battle of the Aisne and the Hundred Days Offensive. Promoted Lieutenant-Colonel on 30 December 1916, for his service during the Great War he was created a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George; was awarded the Distinguished Service Order; and was five times Mentioned in Despatches (London Gazettes 22 June 1915, 4 January 1917, 21 May 1918, 20 December 1918, and 5 July 1919). After the War he was promoted Colonel, 30 December 1920, and appointed firstly as Instructor, Senior Officers’ School, India, 17 January 1921, and then Commandant of the School of Artillery 6 November 1922, a position he held for four years until going on half-pay in November 1926. He returned to full employment a year later on appointment as Commander of the Royal Artillery 2nd Division at Aldershot, 17 January 1928, a post he held for the next four years before he finally retired at the end of his term with the rank of Brigadier in 1932. He died on 31 October 1949.