Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Family Group:

Three: Private J. Burton, Machine Gun Corps and East Yorkshire Regiment, who was wounded in action during the Great War, and subsequently served as a Postman in Hull
British War and Victory Medals (67702 Pte. J. Burton. M.G.C.); Imperial Service Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue (James Burton) in Royal Mint case of issue; together with the recipient’s Silver War Badge, the reverse officially numbered ‘348718’, good very fine

Imperial Service Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue (2) (Peter Burton; Miss Audrey Nifton Howard) both in Royal Mint cases of issue, extremely fine (lot) £80-£120

James Burton was born Hull, Yorkshire, on 2 October 1897, and attested there for the East Yorkshire Regiment on 1 June 1916. He served during the Great War with the Machine Gun Corps on the Western Front, and was wounded when he was hit in the face by a fragment of a shell on 9 August 1917, suffering a double fracture of jaw. Admitted to Dublin (83) General Hospital, Boulogne, he was discharged on account of his wounds on 13 February 1918, and was awarded a Silver War Badge.

Following the cessation of hostilities, Burton joined the Post Office in 1919, and was employed as a Postman in Hull. He married Miss Gladys Sturdy in Hull Parish Church on 15 September 1924, and retired in 1957, after 38 years’ service, being awarded the Imperial Service Medal upon his retirement.

Sold with a fragment of a shell, reputedly the piece which injured the recipient during the Great War; the recipient’s silver Pocket Watch, by James Whittle, Blackburn, the white enamel dial signed, with gold hands, black Roman numerals, and subsidiary seconds dial, the outer case with silver marks and numbered 130066, watch diameter 52mm, in working order, with fob chain; an assortment of mainly 19th and early 20th Century coins, of various denominations, such as a George III ‘Cartwheel’ penny, George IV farthings,Victoria half crowns, and a number of George V silver three-pennies, all worn and below collectible grade, a number of which are pierced for wearing on the watch chain; named Central Chancery enclosure for the Imperial Service Medal; General Post Office Certificate of appreciation on his retirement, in scroll tube, addressed to ‘J. Burton, Esq., 24 Tavistock Street, Hull, Yorks.’; Great War Character Certificate; Certificate of Discharge; Field Medical Card; two letters regarding the recipient’s injury; a Soldier’s Iodine First Aid tube; and the recipient’s large Great War Honourable Discharge Certificate, this mounted in a glazed display frame.


Peter Burton was born in Hull on 4 February 1929, the son of James and Gladys Burton, and served as a Postal and Telegraph Officer in Hull from 17 May 1943. He married Miss Audrey Nifton Howard, also a Postal and Telegraph Officer, at Hull Registry Officer on 17 October 1970.

Sold with the named Central Chancery enclosures for both Imperial Service Medal, both housed in glazed display frames.