Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Private J. D. Macdonald, 18 Hussars
1914-15 Star (12826. Pte. J. D. Macdonald. 18th. Hrs); British War Medal 1914-20 (12826. Pte. J. D. Macdonald. 18-Hrs) very fine

Pair: Lieutenant S. Braby, Natal Mounted Rifles, later Royal Air Force
1914-15 (Pte. S. Braby. 3rd M.R.); British War Medal 1914-20 (2. Lieut S. Braby. R.A.F.) very fine

Pair: Private W. T. Harrison, Rifle Brigade
1914-15 Star (S-2805 Pte. W. T. Harrison. Rif. Bde.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (S-2805 Pte. W. T. Harrison. Rif. Bde.) nearly very fine

Pair: Private A. Smith, Royal Army Medical Corps, who died of wounds during the Battle of the Somme on 22 September 1916
1914-15 Star (42391 Pte. A. Smith. R.A.M.C.); Victory Medal 1914-19 (42391 Pte. A. Smith. R.A.M.C.) nearly very fine

Five: Attributed to Mr. A. W. Gordon
1939-45 Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, 1st Army; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, in named card box of issue addressed to ‘Mr A. W. Gordon, 42 Pier Road, Erith, Kent’, good very fine (13) £120-£160

John Diamond Macdonald attested for the 18th Hussars and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 8 January 1915. He was discharged on 25 July 1916, being no longer fit for active service.

Stanley Braby was born in South Africa. He first served with the Natal Mounted Rifles during the Maritz Rebellion from the 1 October 1914 and then in the German South West Africa campaign from the 30 January 1915. He was later commissioned into the Royal Air Force as a Second Lieutenant (Flying), joining No. 10 Training Squadron in April 1918. He was assigned to 62nd Wing, R.A.F. (Aegean Group) which consisted of three composite units each comprising two Flights of bombers and two of fighters, stationed at Stavros and Imbros. From March 1919 he served with the R.A.F. Composite Park at Malta and later Mudros. He was discharged from the R.A.F. in January 1920.

William T. Harrison attested for the Rifle Brigade and served with the 12th (Service) Battalion during the Great War on the Western Front from 21 July 1915. He was advanced Acting Corporal and was discharged to Class ‘Z’ Reserve in March 1919.

Arthur Smith was born in Bolton, Lancashire, and attested for the Royal Army Medical Corps. He served with the 1st Field Ambulance during the Great War on the Western Front from 20 March 1915, and died of wounds on 22 September 1916. He is buried in Dantzig Alley British Cemetery, France.

A. W. Gordon probably served during the Second World War with the 78th Infantry Division, also known as the Battleaxe Division. They fought during the Tunisian campaign with the 1st Army and then transferred to the 8th Army for service in Sicily and Italy. The division ended the war in Vienna, Austria.

Sold with an Eighth Army cloth formation badge; a ring bearing the Eighth army insignia; the recipient’s identity tag which has been converted into a wrist band; and a hand written note stating the following: ‘Eighth Army shoulder badge. First worn at the victory parade in Tunis, and saw service in Italy, and with the Allied Military government in Vienna’; together with a Royal Masonic Hospital certificate presented to ‘Bro. A. W. Gordon’, as a member of the ‘Lodge of Ideal Endeavour’ to commemorate his appointment as ‘Life Governor’ in 1962.