Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A Great War M.M. group of three awarded to Second Lieutenant G. H. E. Kime, Royal Air Force, late Honourable Artillery Company, who was severely wounded whilst serving as an Observer with 10 Squadron over France on 1 October 1918, and died at home on 12 May 1919

Military Medal, G.V.R. (4679 Pte. G. H. E. Kime. 1/H.A.C. - T.F.); British War and Victory Medals (2. Lieut. G. H. E. Kime. R.A.F.) VM officially re-impressed; Memorial Plaque (Gilbert Henry Ernest Kime) good very fine (4) £500-£700

M.M. London Gazette 9 July 1917.

Gilbert Henry Ernest Kime was born in 1894, the son of Jack Henry Kime and Louise Victoria Kime, of East Ham, London. His father died when he was still a boy, and in 1909 his mother re-married Petty Officer Robert King. Kime attested for the Honourable Artillery Company, and served with them during the Great War on the Western Front from 1916, being awarded the Military Medal whilst attached to the Trench Mortar Battery. Commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Essex Regiment on 31 October 1917, he later transferred to the Royal Air Force, and served as an Observer in 10 Squadron on the Western Front. He was severely wounded on 1 October 1918, as the following letter, written by Major Keith Murray to Kime’s mother, states:

‘Dear Mrs. King, Your son 2/Lt G. H. E. Kime of this Squadron was wounded in the leg this morning, and asked me to write and tell you about it. His flight commander saw him this evening at the Casualty Clearing Station- it had been necessary to remove his leg below the knee- the bone had been smashed- the Medical Officer said he was doing quite well, but he was very weak from loss of blood.
Kime and his pilot Bennett were taking some urgently required photos about eight miles over the lines, when they were surprised and attacked by about sixteen enemy scouts- he was hit in the leg almost at once, and also his gun was hit and put out of action. Later his pilot was hit in the leg, and the whole machine very badly damaged, but by good flying the pilot managed to work his way back to tour lines and land on our own aerodrome, where all help was given at once. The pilot did wonderfully well in getting the machine back at all.
I shall be seeing Kime tomorrow and shall write again and tell you how he is. It is most awfully bad luck, for he was tremendously keen on all his work in this battle- and was due to go on leave in three days.’

Kime died in the Royal Air Force Hospital in Swanage, Dorset, on 12 May 1919, almost certainly from the wounds he had received the previous October, and is buried in Woodgrange Park Cemetery, East Ham.

For the medals awarded to the recipient’s step-father, Chief Petty Officer R. King, see Lot 390.