Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Private J. Charlton, King’s Own Scottish Borderers
1914-15 Star (16616 Pte. J. Charlton. K.O. Sco: Bord:); Victory Medal 1914-19 (16616 Pte. J. Charlton. K.O. Sco. Bord.) edge bruising, nearly very fine

British War Medal 1914-20 (186139 Pte. N. Henderson. 78-Can. Inf.) light official attempt to obliterate naming; Victory Medal 1914-19 (20946 Pte. H. Aspinall. K.O. Sco. Bord.) good very fine (4) £70-£90

John Charlton was born in Hyde, Cheshire, and attested there for the King’s Own Scottish Borderers. He served with the 7th Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front, and was killed in action on 21 August 1915. He is buried in Lillers Communal Cemetery, France.

Norman Henderson served with the 78th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, during the Great War from 11 November 1916, and after various spells in Hospital or at the Depot joined his unit on the Western Front on 12 April 1917. He deserted on 27 April 1917, and having been apprehended on 1 May was tried and convicted by General Court Martial on 7 June of ‘when on active service Desertion. Finding Guilty. Sentenced to 1 Year Imprisonment with Hard Labour’. He was released under the Suspension of Sentences Act on 17 June 1917, and three days later deserted for a second time. He was apprehended on 24 June, and was again tried and convicted by General Court Martial on 12 July 1917 of ‘Absent without leave. Finding Guilty. Sentenced to 90 Days Field Punishment No. 1’.
Henderson deserted a third time on 17 August 1917, and having been apprehended on 18 November, this time having been absent for 93 days, was again tried and convicted by General Court Martial on 15 December 1917 of ‘when on active service Desertion. Finding Guilty. Sentenced to Death.’ His sentence was commuted to 10 Years imprisonment by General H. S. Horne, General Officer Commanding, 1st Army, on 1 December 1917, and he was admitted to No. 5 Military Prison. He was released from prison on 22 January 1919, after little more than a year’s incarceration, with the remainder of his sentence suspended, under the Suspension of Sentences Act, and a month later, on 25 February 1919, the remainder of his suspended sentence was remitted in full. He proceeded to England on 1 May 1919. Sold with copied service details.