Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Pair: Captain A. D. Hamer, Northern Cyclist Battalion, attached 1/8th (Ardwick) Battalion, Manchester Regiment, who was killed in action at the head of his company near Maubeuge on 6 November 1918

British War and Victory Medals (Capt. A. D. Hamer) with damaged named card boxes of issue; Memorial Plaque (Arthur Derrick Hamer) nearly extremely fine, scarce (3) £280-£320

Arthur Derrick Hamer was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and was the son of Canon C. J. Hamer of The Vicarage, Ilkley, Yorkshire, former Vicar of St. Paul’s Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He was educated at the Royal Grammar School Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and was reading Theology at Queens’ College, Cambridge with the outbreak of the Great War. Hamer initially served with the Northern Cyclist Battalion, before being attached for service with the 1/8th (Ardwick) Battalion, Manchester Regiment in the French theatre of war from July 1918. He was killed in action whilst serving with the Battalion on the Western Front, 6 November 1918.

Hamer’s school Memoriam gives his commanding officer as describing him thus:

‘He was killed in an attack on the morning of November 6th, 1918, near Maubeuge, leading his company with unequalled bravery. He showed an absolute disregard for his own safety, his one thought being to lead his men and to gain his objective, and as a soldier and a Christian he was an example to all of us.’

Captain Hamer is buried in the Hargnies Communal Cemetery, Nord, France.